Our Lord asked questions like
that of the religious Jews. Have you not read? Don't you know what the word
of God says? He said to Philip, don't you know me? I've been
so long with you that you don't know me. Clearly saying it's
time to learn this. It's time that we understood
this. That we're the temple of God. What a remarkable statement
that is. And it seems appropriate that
Paul would ask this question the way he does because I also
wonder if we know this. Do we walk around in this life with
the understanding that we are the temple of God? You may already be even thinking
that this can't be literally true. That God doesn't actually
live in his people. Well, let's look at some scripture
together. First Corinthians 619, if you turn to these with me,
they're all, well, the next two are close here in the Ephesians. But look at First Corinthians
619 with me. What, know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have
of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with
a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
which are God's. That's an interesting application
of the fact that we're the temple of the Holy Spirit. We belong
to Him. We're to glorify Him in these bodies. And look at
2 Corinthians 6, 14. And notice while we're here,
or while we have that verse fresh in our mind there, in 1 Corinthians
6, 19, that's clearly talking about individuals. Don't you
know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? You are bought
with a price. You are not your own. Glorify
God in your body. That's talking about believers
as individuals. Look at 2 Corinthians 6, 14. Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light
with darkness, and what concord hath Christ with Bilal? Now this
is just a fact to be taken into account, being unequally yoked
together with unbelievers. That includes in marriage, without
doubt, It includes really in anything to be yoked together,
you know, is when animals are yoked to share in a specific
task, to take a path together. And if one is heading in another
direction from the other, it can't happen, it can't work.
So that would include a lot of things. Somebody asked me one
time, should I go into business with an unbeliever? I said, well,
I can't answer that except to say that you're not going to
be on the same page. You're just not. If you can be
successful that way, have at it. But you're not going to be
doing it for the same reasons as a believer and an unbeliever.
You're not going to have the same priorities. You're not going
to have the same goals or purpose in it. And so my recommendation
is it would be tough. Be careful. But that's just application
of this. Just one of many. In what agreement
hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them and walk in them. You see again here a different
application. Be careful who you join yourself
to in this world, in any sense, because you're the temple of
God. You're the temple of the living
God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them,
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Now in Ephesians 2.21, And that could be, that's talking
about, it's hard to say whether it's individuals or the church
that's spoken of there in 2 Corinthians 6, 14 through 16. It's true of
both. Keep that in mind. It's true
of both. Each believer is the temple of God. That's clear from
where we read in 1 Corinthians 6. But also keep this in mind,
Ephesians 2.21, Ephesians 2.21, in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. We're
living stones in the house of God, in the church of God. So
as a church, we're the temple of the living God. Not this building,
not any building, not a location. Not a dot on a map, but the church,
the people of God are the temple of God. That's where he meets.
That's where he communes with his people. That's where Christ,
the sacrifice is worshiped. And God has come to in his name,
in the name of Christ and worshiped where his church find themselves
accepted in the beloved. the church of the Lord. So see
what it says in whom, verse 22, in whom ye also are builded together
for inhabitation of God through the spirit, the church. Now there's
an important distinction, though it's true of both. It's true
of the individual believer and it's true of the church. I think
it's important to distinguish this because as we saw in 1 Corinthians
6, it's clear that each individual It's true. In Ephesians 2, it's
talking about the building, the church. On this rock, I'll build
my church. And our text, I'm pretty sure, I
believe this, I'm gonna say, yeah, it is this.
I believe our text is also speaking of the church there at Corinth.
not each of them as individuals. And let's look at it again at
the context altogether, and we'll begin in verse 10 this time,
and I'll show you why that's important. It's not life or death,
it's not heresy to disagree with this, but I wanna show you why
I think that. Verse 10 of our chapter in 1
Corinthians 3. Look at verse 10 and we'll read
through to our context. According to the grace of God
which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the
foundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take
heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man
build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, that's
one type of building. Wood, hay, stubble, that's clearly
a different type of material. Verse 13, every man's work shall
be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall
be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every
man's work of what sort it is. The reason we say two different
kinds of buildings there in verse 12 is because gold, silver and
granite or marble can't be burned. It's not gonna be affected by
the fire. But wood, hay and stubble, they go away in the fire. But
verse 15, if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss,
but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Now, verse
16, know you not that you are the temple of God and that the
spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple
of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy,
which temple ye are. You see, either Paul is completely
changing the subject. from building on the foundation,
just one foundation. It's not a church at all unless
it's built on Christ. The one foundation which no man
can lay other than that is laid by God in his word, which is
Jesus Christ. So I believe it's a continuation
of that context to say you're the temple of the living God,
the church. That building that's built, or the foundation upon
which it's built, is what's built upon that, the church is. And
there are those who build gold, silver, precious stones by God's
grace, they are able to not know anything but Christ. It's a work
that can't be burned up when trial or whatever comes. It can't
be burned up. But then some build wood, hay,
and stubble. And he says, they'll be saved
so as by fire. It doesn't mean necessarily if
you're building on the foundation. then you know the Lord Jesus
Christ, but the flesh enters in and you build wood, hay and
stubble. You're distracted from the simplicity
that's in Christ and you bring into it all kinds of fleshly
nonsense and that's gonna burn up in the fire. That's not gonna
withstand the test of time and trial and the scrutiny of God. And then there's a third. It
looks like to me here, there's a third category. You're the
temple of God. What's built on the foundation
is the church, the temple of God. And there's a third guy
here that defiles that temple. He doesn't even build wood, hay
and stubble. He comes in and he preaches blasphemy. And it may not be evident right
away. It may not be immediately evident that that's what he's
doing, but he comes into the church. I've seen it happen.
Maybe you have too. He'll come into a place where
the foundation has been laid and he defiles that temple right
out completely. And in that case, he's not going
to be saved even so as by fire. He's a goner. God will destroy
him for that. If anybody tries to do that,
tries to lay another foundation. To defile the temple would be
to not preach Christ at all, or to preach him plus, preach
him and. That's not the gospel at all.
If you add anything to Christ and his finished work of salvation,
that's not even wood, hay, and stubble, and you're not gonna
be saved at all. You see that? And here's why
I think that's important, because the defilement, because of verse
17, A believer is the temple of God, and that can't be defiled. No way. You're not gonna be defiled.
God's not gonna let that happen. If he left you to yourself for
five seconds, you're a goner. But he don't do that. He dwells
in you. And the church at large, or if
you wanna call it the universal church, or whatever you wanna
call it, the elect of God in this world, not one of them shall
fall, not one. It's not possible to deceive
them, and it's not possible to defile them. But a local church
now, in the context of what he's talking about, that can be defiled. That can be destroyed, that can
be torn down. Just about every one of us might
be able to think of examples of that. And whoever's responsible
for that's a goner. He's a goner. There ain't any
hope for him. And so I believe it's important
to distinguish that because we need to understand there's no
defiling the temple where God dwells in his people. We can disgrace him, we can fall,
we can stumble, we can sin and disgrace him, but we can't destroy
that temple. And that, by the way, the word
defile and destroy in verse 17, same word. If you destroy his
temple, he'll destroy you. The only way that can happen
is in a local church. It's not gonna happen. In what
we call, like I say, the universal church, not one of his sheep
will be lost, not one. Not one individual can be destroyed
if Christ truly dwells in us. But you can come into a local
church that's built upon the foundation of the gospel of Christ,
Jesus Christ, the only foundation, you can tear that to pieces and
God will destroy you for it. I think that's plain. And if
I'm wrong about that, we're not going to be enemies, are we?
If you disagree with that, big deal. But I think it is important
that we know we can't be defiled if we're his. He's not going
to lose us. It's not because of our so-called
faithfulness or Perseverance is because of his
preservation. We persevere because he preserves. Now why is it destruction for
the man who defiles the church, for anybody who tries to lay
another foundation or comes in and is destructive to what God
has built? That's all in God's design and
purpose. The Lord chose Judas, knowing
he was a devil from the beginning. It's all by God's design, if
he's pleased to do that. But why is that man, and in that
case, it must needs be that the son of man be betrayed, but woe
unto that man by who he's betrayed. And that's true today, that's
true tonight. Woe unto the man. that defiles
that temple. Why? Because it's holy. You see
that in the text? Because it's holy. It's God's. It's God's. Remember where we
read a while ago? You are God's temple. Listen to Acts 20, 28. Take heed therefore in fact turn
there. I believe we'll be brief tonight
So let's turn to the to the scriptures that I do have for us to look
at Acts 20 28 Here's what we mean by holy.
I could sit here all night and try to explain to you what it
means that we're holy unto the Lord. And there just isn't any
definition. It's gonna have to be defined
by the word of God. Acts 20, 28, take heed therefore
unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy
Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which
he hath purchased. with his own blood. We're sanctified,
made holy by the blood of Christ. Holy and precious unto the Lord.
At infinite cost, he redeemed us from our sins. He's very jealous. He said, it'd be better you go
ahead and tie a millstone around your neck and jump into the ocean.
And you'll be better off than if you, if you offend one of
my little And that's true, as I said, individually
and as the church, it's true now. We're holy unto the Lord. He bought us with his own precious
blood. Ephesians 5.25, if you want to turn over there, this
is familiar. How many times do we turn to this passage of scripture
and various truths are taught? And I believe light is shed on
so many things here in this passage, Ephesians 5, 25. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. You
see, this sheds light on Acts 20, 28 where we read, what does
it mean that he's purchased the church with his own blood? Well,
he loved the church, he gave himself for it, what for? That
he might sanctify. That word is holy, that he might
make it holy and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish. You see that? I don't know how
you're gonna define holiness better than that. Without spot,
see the word holy at the end of verse 27 there? Without blemish,
no spots, no wrinkles, glorious, like he's glorious. He predestinated
us to be conformed to the image of his dear son. This is true
of every individual believer. And clearly, the church is mentioned
here in that passage. His people, his church, the church
that he builds, and nobody or anything can prevail against
his church. And if we understand that in
the context, I believe that's best, about it being defiled, the temple
being defiled. There's just one way that can
happen. it seems like to me. So verse 18, let no man deceive
himself. Don't be a fool. That's pretty
sad when you don't even need somebody else to deceive. You
don't need Satan. Don't blame it on Satan. I'm the idiot. There's nobody I can blame. Don't
deceive yourself. If any man among you seemeth
to be wise in this world, We know what that's talking about.
There are know-it-alls, there are people who other people look
up to for knowing things. Let him become a fool that he
may be wise. Now on this same subject of glorying
in men, You see how the context shows us that when he's talking
about building on the foundation, that's what we just talked about
has to be understood in that context. Same context here. They gloried in men saying, I'm
of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas. Why would anybody
boast like that? Well, I know more than you. My preacher's smarter than yours,
and so I'm smarter than you. If you were as smart as me, you
would adhere to, you would do what I did, what I did. Paul says here that you need
to realize in this thing of glorying and boasting in the flesh, you
need to realize you're a fool. Not only the context prior to
that verse, let no man deceive himself. If any man among you
seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he
may be wise. Not only the context before it,
important, but look right after it. Look at verses 21 and 22. In the same breath here, let
no man deceive himself, verse 18. Verse 21, therefore let no
man glory in men. For all things are yours, whether
Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death,
or things present, or things to come, it's all yours. Why would you glory in a man,
in an individual, in the flesh? That man is nothing. If you seem to be wise, if you
seem to be wise to yourself, or if you make it that way to
others, if you cause people to believe you're wise in this world,
but by promoting yourself in that manner, you've deceived
yourself and you've deceived them. People can seem to be wise. You know how you can seem to
be wise? Not be wise, but seem to be wise. You know how to do that? Compare
yourself to other idiots. A worm can look like a mighty
fine worm if he just compares himself to other worms. He can
work that out, you know. But someday you're going to have
to face the fact that you're a worm. I'd say the sooner the better,
wouldn't you? If the Lord would reveal that
to us. How can a man stop deceiving
himself and become a fool that he may be wise? Look to Christ. Don't look at everybody else.
Don't look at your past, you know, and I'm so much better
now and all that. Look to Christ. That's how you
stop deceiving yourself and become a fool. And only smart people
know that they're fools. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. And as our text says, when you're
wise, you'll know that you're a fool. Christ is made into us
wisdom. And when we take our place at
his feet, realizing that we have nothing, that we know nothing,
that we are nothing, then Christ is our wisdom. And
you're wise indeed when it comes to that. Verse 19 in our text,
for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For
it is written, he taketh the wise in their own craftiness. He taketh the wise. What passes
for wisdom in this world is called foolishness by God. the wisdom
of this world, that which is estimated to be wise. God calls
it foolishness. Whose definition are you gonna
go with? And furthermore, this verse says that it is that which
the world considers wisdom, their own craftiness, which means cunning. And here's another definition
of that word craftiness. A specious, False wisdom. Specious, that's a word you don't
hear often. S-P-E-C-I-O-U-S. It just means false, suspect,
or false wisdom. And that's their downfall. He
taken the wise in their own craftiness. in their own pretense of wisdom. The idea of God taking them,
it sets them in opposition to God and shows God the word is
grasping with the hand and not in a loving way. God takes them. What is it that makes them the
adversary of God and causes them to fall to him in this way? Their
own wisdom, what they call wisdom. Knowledge puffeth up. That's
our text. We become wise in our own conceit
and pride goeth before a fall. They're ever learning and never
able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Learning, studying,
dotting I's and crossing T's. The Lord said to the religious
Jews, you search the scriptures because in them you think you
have life, but they are they which testify of me and you will
not come to me that you might have life, knowing the Bible
and yet not knowing Christ. If that's true, do you really
know the Bible? They act like it, they pretend
to, They have a specious wisdom about the Bible. They can argue
with you all day long. Those who pursue a knowledge
of man-deduced doctrine. Anything that you call doctrine.
Can I be plain about this? Anything that you consider to
be doctrine or own as your doctrine. It's not that. Throw it away. Throw it away. You don't need
to know what God meant by what he said. You need to know what
God said. People try to explain what God
meant by that. Who are you to do that? Who am
I to do that? This is our doctrine. Christ
is our doctrine. We may agree with somebody and
that's fine, but they better be agreeing with Christ or don't
you agree with them? And agreeing with them means
nothing. The fact that you agree with them, why would you use
their name? It's God you're agreeing with. Those who pursue a knowledge
of man deduced doctrine and take stances on points. I've had men try to get me, well,
you've got to take a stance. No, I don't. No, I don't. My stance is shut
up and believe God. Quit arguing about stuff. That's
my stance. By the grace of God, It's their
own so-called wisdom that betrays them. It's their IQ that causes them
to miss Christ. Their problem is that they're
so smart that Christ is not enough. That's too smart. I could give
you 20 names without even thinking about it hard. But it's not about
that. It's about you and me. by the grace of God. God says that's the definition
of a fool. Well, let's look at verse 20
and we'll close tonight. And again, the Lord knoweth the
thoughts of the wise that they are vain. Being wise by this
world's definition causes your thoughts to be vain, which means useless
or of no purpose. That's a problem. If the shape
of the earth is to you of vital importance in the matter of the
gospel and the salvation of sinners by Christ, your thoughts are
useless and of no purpose. And I state that not to offend
anybody or just be deliberately offensive, but that's a perfect
example of what we're talking about. Anything, There's a reason
why Paul said, I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus
Christ. The gospel is a person and what
he did for sinners and him crucified. He wasn't whistling Dixie when
he said that. There's a reason he said that. It doesn't matter what it is. And time is too short and the
gospel too vital to be nice about it. Your thoughts of lapsarianism
are vain. They're useless. Your thoughts
of pleasing God by anything that you do at all whatsoever, by
religious repetitive prayers or making of symbols and Ritualistic
traditions, it's vain, it's useless, it's of no purpose. To think
that God would accept even your best is a vain thought. Here's the opposite of that.
This is what we pray for. Turn with me to Colossians 3,
1 and close it. Colossians 3 1 If you then be risen with Christ
seek those things which are above Now look at verse 2 set your
affection on things above not on things on the earth You see
the teaching of those two passages I just read? If you be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above. Set your affection
on things above. Seek it where your treasure is,
that's where your heart's gonna be. What your affection is upon,
that's what you're gonna seek. And both of those things are
said here. Seek, seek. How are you gonna do that? Because
you're smart? No, because that's what you love. And what are we talking about?
Christ sitting on the right hand of God. Christ sitting on the right hand
of God is sandwiched between those two things. Seeking those
things above and setting your affection on things above. What things? to the Lord Jesus
Christ, having died for your sins, risen from the dead, ascended,
exalted by God to the very throne, and sitting there making intercession
for you. That's what we love, and that's
where we're looking. That's what matters. Not all of the vanity of religion
in this world. That's what matters. Christ,
exalted, the sovereign Christ, Him sitting there as our mediator,
as our representative, as our sin offering, as our righteousness. The word for set your affection
is to feel to think, to be wise, to have understanding. That's our text. God keep us from being removed
from the simplicity that's in Christ.