The text is going to be in 1
Corinthians chapter 3, but I'd like you to turn to Psalm 86. You know, I was thinking about
the message I'm going to attempt to bring tonight. I don't know
how it's going to come out. I hope the Lord blesses it. But
how long did it take you to prepare this message? And I was thinking
this, and I'm not saying this facetiously. How long did it
take you to prepare this message that I'm going to preach tonight?
And I thought, it's taken me 25 years. That's a long time,
but I don't believe I could have preached this message as it ought
to have been preached. I'm not saying I'm going to preach
it the way it ought to be preached now, but I'm talking about as far
as my understanding goes. I don't think I could have preached this
message five years ago the way I preach it tonight. And I think
it's taken 25 years to prepare this message so that God would
be pleased to bless it. Let's read verses 1 and 2 of
Psalm 86. Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear
me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am holy. for I am holy. O thou my God, save thy servant
that trusteth in thee." Now, when's the last time somebody
came up to you and said, I am holy? You'd probably not feel real
comfortable with that person, would you? I can remember reading
this particular verse of Scripture and thinking, I just don't think
I could say that. David almost seems self-righteous when he
says that. I am holy. But he is speaking under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he says, I am holy. Now, who is speaking here? Well,
this is one of what we call the Messianic Psalms. You know how
many Messianic psalms there are? 150. Every single one of them. We really don't understand the
psalm unless we see, first of all, these are the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And He says, I am holy. We don't have any problem with
that at all, do we? When He says, I am holy, we say, yes, sir.
He is holy. But these are also the words
of David. David says, I am holy. And I hope that by the end of
this message, we will understand why David said that. Every believer
can say the same thing. I And. Now, would you turn to our text
in First Corinthians, Chapter three. In verse 16 and 17, we read. First Corinthians, Chapter three,
verses 16 and 17. No, you not that you are the
temple of God. And that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you. That's an awesome thought, isn't
it? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are. Now, he's speaking to the church
of Corinth. And we've seen all kinds of problems with this church,
haven't we? I mean, you go through all the problems that he addresses
with this church. And yet he says to this group
of people, the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. Now, this is true of every individual
believer. Every local church and the universal
church, you are the temple of God. God actually dwells in you. If it didn't say that, I wouldn't
believe it, would you? The mighty creator of the universe dwells
within me. The God of glory, the one who
said, light be and light was, actually dwells in my heart,
the one whom the heavens cannot contain. The heavens cannot contain
him, yet it says he dwells in my heart. Turn to Ezekiel 36. Verse 26. A new heart also will I give
you. And a new spirit will I put within
you, a heart that was not there before, a spirit that was not
put there before. And I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh and I'll give you a heart of flesh and
I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes
and you shall keep my judgments and do them. Now, this is a great
mystery. That's all I can say about it.
This is not something we can understand. We can only believe. God himself, the spirit of God,
the spirit of Christ dwells in the heart of every believer.
Look in 1 Corinthians 6. Verse 19. 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? Look in 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians. Verse 16. And what agreement
hath the temple of God with Isis? For you are 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, do you see that? God says, I will dwell in them.
I will walk in them. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. In whom? Verse 22. Ephesians
chapter 2, verse 22. in whom you also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Now,
that's true of every believer. You are a habitation of God. The God of glory actually walks
in you. And that's just an awesome, awesome
thought. Now, back to our text. Verse 16, Know ye not that you
are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you? Now, if any man defile the temple
of God, verse 17, if any man defile the temple of God, him
shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy,
which temple you are. Now, you'll find this interesting,
the word defile and the word destroy in verse 17 is the exact
same word. It means to destroy by corrupting,
to destroy by defiling. So if any man destroy the temple
of God, that person God will destroy. Now, how can the temple
of God be destroyed? How can the temple of God be
defiled? Can a true believer be corrupted
and destroyed? Now, you know the answer to that
question. It's no. If I'm saved by grace,
if I'm saved by Christ's righteousness, I can't be corrupted and finally
destroyed. It's not going to happen. A true
believer cannot be corrupted and destroyed. Oh, he can fall
and trip and you know that, but he can't be destroyed. Christ
said, my sheep shall never perish. That means never. What about
the universal church? Can it be corrupted and destroyed?
Now, by the universal church, I mean all of the elect, every
believer from every age. That's the church universal.
That's all of God's people. Can they be destroyed? Well,
absolutely not. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it that he might present to himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it
should be holy and without blame before him. That's what the church
is to Christ. The universal church, our Lord
said, this is the will of Him to send me, of all which He has
given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. God's church, the church, the church of God's elect, the
church for which Christ died, cannot be corrupted or destroyed. So an individual believer cannot
be corrupted and destroyed. The universal church cannot be
corrupted and destroyed. What can a local church? What
we're doing right now. Can a local church be corrupted
and destroyed? Yes, it can. As a matter of fact,
it's going to happen to every local church. That's such a scary
thought, but it is true. Eventually, it happens to every
local church. Error in doctrine, sinful practices,
False teachers will creep in, people seeking to draw disciples
after themselves, and that church is corrupted and eventually destroyed. It will happen here if the Lord
does not first return. I only hope and pray I'm dead
when it happens, and I hope you're dead when it happens, too. I
say that very meaningfully, but it's going to happen. It's going
to happen. That's a sobering thought, isn't
it? Where's the church at Ephesus? Where's the church at Laodicea?
Where's the church at Pergamos? I could go on and on with these
news. Where's the church of Corinth? There are no more. The local
church can be corrupted and destroyed. But that man who brings that
corrupting influences, God will eternally destroy them forever
in hell. That's what he's saying. If any
man defile the temple of God, that is the person that God will
destroy. For the temple of God is holy,
which temple you are." That's hard to grasp, isn't it?
David said, and David said it, yes, it was the Lord's word,
but David said it too. I am holy. It's hard to say that, isn't
it? I am holy. Well, what does holiness mean?
What is holy? Well, the word means separate. It means other. I love that definition. Other. It means He's just not
like you and I by nature. He is holy. It's absolute moral
purity. It's a state of sinlessness.
Turn to Psalm 22 for a moment, and I think if you want to understand,
have some understanding of what holiness is. I believe this scripture
gives us a clear understanding if it can be understood as to
what holiness is, maybe more than any other scripture. Verse
one, Psalm 22, verse one. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?" Who's speaking there? Now, you know that is
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. My God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime
and you hear not. And in the night season and am
not silent. Here's the reason. But thou art
holy. That's why God forsook his son. Because He is holy. He hates sin. He cannot let sin go unpunished. Mystery of mysteries, Christ
Jesus the Lord on Calvary's tree was made sin. And me and you
don't have any idea what that means. He was made sin and God
forsook Him. He forsook His own Son. That
is holy. You want to know what holiness
is? To stay to sinlessness. Holiness cannot sin. Holiness
does not even have the potential to sin. If it could, it wouldn't
be holy. Wasn't Adam holy before he fell?
No. No. He was innocent. He was morally
upright, but he wasn't holy. If he was holy, he would have
never fallen. Holiness is perfection. The believer is called by this
term more than any other term in the scriptures, a saint. You
know what that means? A holy one. I'm a saint. You know, we are corrupted in
our idea of what a saint is by thinking, well, a saint is a
saint so-and-so who he's had so much merit that's made him
this kind of saint. No, every believer is a saint, a sanctified
one, a holy one. And if God calls us holy brethren,
it's not a meaningless title. I go back to what David said.
He said, I am holy. That's hard to say, isn't it?
I mean, even right now when I say it, it's hard to say because
I don't much feel holy. When I say I am holy, I can't
say, oh, I feel so morally pure. I feel so cleansed. I feel so... In 1 John chapter 4, verse 17,
we read, As he is, so are we in this world. That means right Now, let me
ask you a question. Is he holy? Me too. If he is, I am. That's how real union with Christ
is. As he is in this world, so are
we right now. And I can say I am holy. Without
it being a lie, without it being hypocrisy, if God says I'm holy,
I am holy. Now, the word holy is the word
sanctify. We read the word sanctification.
As a matter of fact, I believe that the word in the Bible that
most comprehensively describes God's salvation is the word sanctification. It means to take something common
and ordinary and to set it apart for holy purposes. The believer was set apart in
eternal election to be holy. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him. The believer was sanctified in
Christ Jesus when Christ Jesus died on Calvary Street. Listen
to this scripture, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11, by the which will,
by God's will, by the which will we are sanctified. Once for all. Now, this sanctification
that he's speaking of is a sanctification that is complete. Once for all
is actually in the perfect tense, perfectly completed. never to
be repeated. We are sanctified once for all
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. When Christ
died, God said concerning everybody he died for, he's holy. God said that. This is not man's
word. This is God's word. Sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. God said they're
holy. And we are sanctified, made holy
by the Spirit of God. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13 says,
But we're bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. Would you turn to Ephesians four,
I'd like you to look at this. He says in verse. Twenty one, if so be that you've
heard of him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus
that you put off. concerning the former conversation,
the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lesson,
you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put
on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness. If God has saved me, I possess
a holy nature. True holiness, not false holiness,
not just me saying I'm holy. I mean true holiness. God's Spirit within me. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Let me show you a few more scriptures
on this. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 3. Let it not be the outward adorning
of the plaiting of the hair, and of the wearing of gold, or
the putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the
heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament
of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great
price." not corruptible. Turn over to 1 John chapter 3.
Holiness is a state of sinlessness. Holiness cannot sin. Verse 9, 1 John chapter 3 verse
9. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him
that Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but by incorruptible,
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever, that holy
seed, whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin. The holy
nature does not sin. That means he doesn't practice
sin. Now, wait a minute. That's not
what it says. It says he doesn't commit sin. The holy nature does
not commit sin. That's what John is speaking
of. Now, there was a time, listen real carefully, and I hope this
will be helpful to understand this, because when I talk about
this, you start thinking, well, where is that holy nature you're
speaking of? I'm looking within, I can't see it very well, or
I can't see it at all would probably be a better way to put it. There was a time when I did not
love God. And I do now. the holy nature that he's given
me. It's not the old man that loves
God that has been helped by the Holy Spirit. It's not the old
man that believes the gospel as it's helped by the Holy Spirit.
It's the new man that was not there before. The reason I love
God is because he has given me a holy nature. And you know what? It takes holiness
to see holiness. You can talk about holiness to
your average religious person who really has no idea what you're
talking about. Can't see it. It takes holiness to see holiness
and to have some understanding of holiness. It's a holy nature. It's the new creation. You know,
a denial of a believer having a holy nature in reality is a
denial of total depravity. Here's why. If I deny that a
believer has a holy nature, I'm also saying it's the old nature
as it's helped or assisted by God and the Holy Spirit that
believes and repents. My old nature is nothing but
corruption and nothing but sin. It is nothing but that. So a
denial of this holy nature in reality is a denial of total
depravity. Now, the old nature is still
there, and that's why everything we do and think is affected by
sin. But I want you to think about
this. Do you know when I am brought
into heaven and I'm made to see the Lord Jesus Christ and sin
will be gone and I'll see him as he is and I'll be just like
him and I won't sin anymore. That's what I'm looking forward
to. I'm looking forward to being without sin, not sinning anymore,
not being plagued with my wickedness and my unbelief. Oh, perfectly
conformed to His image, holy in His sight. Do you know that
nature I'm going to have in heaven? I have right now. The only difference between now
and heaven is this sinful flesh is taken away. We just don't
have any idea how much this flesh drags us down, do we? Boy, it
surely does. It surely does. Do I see a holy nature? Well,
let me answer that with a yes and with a no. First, I'm going
to answer it with a no. No sin is always there. And if I said it, there's sin
in it. If I breathe, there's sin in it. And if you know who
God is, you know that's true concerning yourself. I don't
have to convince you of it. You know that's true concerning
yourself. Sin is, David said, my sin is ever before me. It's always there. But it is
also true. I really do love God. As he's revealed in his word,
that's the holy nature. I love you. I love you. You know what that is? That's
the holy nature, that's the new birth, that's regeneration. Now
every believer is holy and we're called upon to be holy. Turn
to 1 Peter chapter 1. Verse 13. Wherefore, gird up the loins
of your mind, be sober, and hope to be in, for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ
as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former
lusts and your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is
holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. I turn back
to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, so you were called upon to be holy
in all manner of conversation. You know, John said in 1 John
chapter 2, these things write unto you that you sin not. You know, right now. Every one
of us are to make it our ambition. To never sin again. Be ye holy, he said, for I am
holy. Now look here in 1 Corinthians.
I want to look at where he says you're holy to the temple of
God and see what brought this on. In 1 Corinthians 6, verse
19, he said, What? Don't you know that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have
of God and you're not your own? Don't you know that? Now, what
has he been talking about? Well, he says in verse 18, flee
fornication. Now that's a reference to sexual
sin, sex outside of the covenant of marriage. And what does he
say to do? Flee from it. Run from it. Don't give in to that. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is
without the body, but he that committeth fornication, sin against
his own body. That body that you're using to
commit that sin is the temple of the Holy Spirit, is what he's
saying. Now, that gives you some idea as to why it's so bad. What?
Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,
which is in you and which you have of God, and you're not your
own? For you're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. Now, this church in
Corinth, there was a lot of sexual sin going on. Look in chapter
five, verse one, it's reported commonly, everybody knows about
this, that there's fornication among you. And what Paul is rebuking
them about is the fact that they were OK with it. Look what he
said. He said in verse two, you're
puffed up. This is not grieving you and
you've not rather mourned that he that has done this deed might
be taken away from you. He said you're OK with this.
Well, you know, flesh is flesh. And what what was going on in
Corinth is that this culture was given over to this. I mean,
it was part of their life. I mean, it's not that big a deal.
It's just natural. I mean, people follow their nature. And Paul
is saying you can't have that attitude. Don't you know that
your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Now, here's the
point I want to make. If I have a holy nature, it's
going to affect my conduct. It surely will. It's going to
affect my conduct. And if it doesn't affect my conduct, I don't have a holy nature. Now,
your sin is always with you. Your evil heart is always with
you. Your corrupt desires are always with you. I realize that.
They're always there, breathing on you. And you can't get away
from them. And when you think you've pressed
it down, it comes up all the stronger. I realize that. Don't
misunderstand me, but it's also true that knowing the Lord, this
holy nature within, if it doesn't affect my conduct, because I
don't have a holy nature. That's what He says. Look in
2 Corinthians 6. Verse 16, he says, What a grieving
at the temple of God with idols, for you are the temple of the
living God. As God has said, I'll dwell in them and walk in
them and I'll be their God and they shall be my people. Now,
here's another reference to us being the temple of God. Let's
see what he was talking about. Look in verse 14. Now, he says
to the church of Corinth being not unequally yoked together. With unbelievers. Now. That, first of all, is a reference
to marriage. Don't young people do not marry
an unbeliever. You are in trouble if you do. Don't participate in an unbeliever's
religious activities. Don't do that. Don't be unequally
yoked with them. Don't make them your companions
and your friends, the people you hang out with. Be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Now, evil communications,
the scripture says, corrupt good manners. They're always going
to bring you down. You're never going to bring them
up. That's what's going to happen. That's why it says, don't be
unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Now look what it
goes on to say. For what fellowship, and look at the word used here,
what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion
hath light with darkness? What concord, that's where we
get the word symphony from, harmony, what harmony hath Christ with
Belial or the devil? What part hath he that believeth
with an infidel and an unbeliever? What agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? Absolutely none. You are the
temple of the living God. As God has said, I dwell in them,
and walk in them, and I'll be their God, and they shall be
my people. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord. Don't try to reform them. Come
out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean
things. What's the unclean thing we're
forbidden to touch? I can remember, I don't know how many times I've
read that verse of scripture. I said, I wish I knew exactly
what it was I'm not supposed to touch. She's talking about
cigarettes or beer or something. I mean, is that what that's talking
about? The unclean thing is this. We are all as an unclean thing,
and our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Don't you touch
that unclean thing. That makes you unclean all over.
Come out and be ye separate. Touch not the unclean thing,
and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and you
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Boy,
that sure does sound attractive to me. That's what I want. Look
in Ephesians chapter 2. Now, first, if I have a holy
nature, it's going to affect my conduct, isn't it? He said,
flee fornication. Secondly, if I had this holy
nature, I want to be around people that have the same nature. That's
who I want to be around. I want to be around folks like
that. I don't want to be around those other people. Now, I'm
not talking about having a morally superior, self-righteous, haughty,
holier-than-thou attitude. That's abominable. But I am saying
the people I want to be intimate with, that I want to See, my
friends, the people I want to be with forever are those people
who love God. Those people, I can have communion
with them. I can have fellowship with them. I can have concord
with them. That's what he's talking about. So it affects who we want
to be with. If we have birds of a feather flock together,
don't they? We like being around, you know I like being around
people who believe what I do. Don't you? I sure do. I just feel a
lot more comfortable around those folks. I do. And I look here
in Ephesians 2. I forgot to turn there. Let me
get there. OK. Verse 21. In whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are built together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit. Now, not only am I interested
In being around people with this nature that I'm speaking of. This is so awesome, I want to
be a habitation of God. Where He actually walks and dwells
in my heart. And that's what the church is.
Fitly framed together. You know, you're right where
the Lord put you. That's a good place to be, isn't
it? Right where the Lord has placed you. I like being where
the Lord's put me. and you're fitly framed together,
built up for a habitation of God through the Spirit. Now,
David said in Psalm 86, verses 1 and 2, Bow down thine ear,
O Lord, hear me, for I am poor and needy. The same one who said,
I'm holy, said, I'm poor and needy. You know when I say I'm
holy, you know what else I say? from the very depths of my heart
with true conviction. I say I'm holy and I say I'm
the very chief of sinners. Say at the same time. Same time. I'm poor and I'm needy. I'm holy. If I'm what David was, a believer,
I too am holy. I've been set apart to be holy. In divine election. I've been
declared by God himself to be holy. When Christ died on the
cross, all my sin was taken care of. I was. God said I'm holy. I was actually made holy in the
new birth when I was given a new nature, a holy nature. That's
the nature that loves God. And that's the nature. Let me
tell you this. That's the nature that hates sin. Don't you hate
your sin? Despise it, don't you? Don't
you hate the old man? Don't you look forward to getting
rid of you? David said, as for me, I'll behold
thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied. when I awake
in thy likeness." Now, I'm in his likeness right now, but I
can't see it. I'm not going to be able to see
it and experience it until this flesh is dropped. I am holy. Holy people, this is my closing
statement. Here's what all holy people have
in common. Holy people believe God to be
holy. And holy people are afraid to
look anywhere but Christ and Christ alone. Amen. Let's pray.