Introduction to the Temple of God
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Today’s sermon is called A Deep Dive into the Temple and the Fear of the Lord A deep dive into the temple and the fear of the Lord, and we’re continuing our Bible study through 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16 and 17 is where we’re at today, so let’s pray and then we’ll get started right into our study. Father, please open our hearts and our minds to understand the things that have been freely given to us and the truth about who you are and our relationship with you and all that Jesus Christ has done for us. We love you, but not nearly as much as you love us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen, amen. Thank you, guys, for diving into the word of God with me.
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God is intense. It doesn’t mean he’s camping, it means this sermon might scare you. Oh, that was a boo. I got a boo on that. Well done, nate, thank you. This sermon might scare you, and actually I hope it does a little bit. It’s not for wimps, but I looked around and I was like there’s no wimps here, so we can handle it Right. Laura, absolutely.
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Our God is light and in him is no darkness at all. So if you think about, when you go into your kitchen, you turn on the light. Do you have to yell at the darkness for it to leave? No, it just leaves, because light and darkness cannot be together. Why? Why is God so intense? It’s because he cares deeply. He doesn’t just let things go.
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Everything is accounted for and perfect with God. Anyone have a experience in accounting. You’re an accountant. Accounting is the opposite of how my brain works. So my wife does all the financial, everything for us and our family. She takes care of me because I have. My brain does not work that way. I’m like if I need it, I buy it. I don’t understand the problem here, but my wife is very much asked the question why do we need it? Tell me, why Give me a justification? And then do we have the money, which I never thought of that question.
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So with God, everything is accounted for and perfect and he loves us. There’s no good enough with God, it has to be perfect. There’s no, almost there. There’s no darkness mixed in with the light, and this is actually great news for us. Okay, because we get to enjoy his presence and his love with total assurance and peace, with no fear that there’s going to sneak in some darkness or some. You know, there’s nothing that we have to be worried about with our relationship with God.
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But it’s not good for us if we want to hide our sin or, worse yet our sin or, worse yet, claim that we deserve to live the way we choose, with no regard to his will and his holiness. So that’s dangerous, and it’s dangerous even for us to live that way, because God you know that’s called grieving the Holy Spirit. When you choose to just say, I know that you love me, but I’m going to track dirt into your beautiful house, that grieves the Holy Spirit. It’s not about breaking rules. It’s not like God is up there with just tons of rules. It’s about breaking hearts.
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God has a heart and our lives matter deeply to his heart. He cares more about your life than you do. God desires purity in the inward life of men Because he is pure and he wants to be united and have fellowship with you, and so he desires purity in our lives. Now he’s done the work of making us pure in Christ, but we can sully ourselves with sin and with the world. He wants to dwell in us and with us. He is pure. So we have to be pure and we are pure, but again, we can walk in ways that that get us dirty, like when you’re out on the beach with your brand new white sandals and you didn’t know that there was black tar everywhere on these beautiful. Well, I knew, but I didn’t know because I hadn’t experienced it. So my excuse is it. So my excuse is yeah, I was a good example of sin. Sometimes we don’t act like we’re pure, okay. Sometimes we don’t believe that we are pure, so we choose to walk in our own way, choosing our own actions, and so what happens is we don’t act like who we really are, which is pure.
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So let’s read our text and see where it goes. It says do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? So Paul asks a rhetorical question, saying don’t you guys know this? This is like basic. If anyone defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are? So Paul says don’t you know? Do you not know? We have to know that we are the temple. It’s vital to understanding what real life is all about. Real life is not about enjoying your life. It’s understanding you’re the temple of God and you live with God. Real life is not about retiring or doing what you want. It’s about this connection. This is what real life is all about. And he says if you defile this, god will destroy you, because you are holy and we’re going to deep dive into this today. You, because you are holy and we’re going to deep dive into this today. So get out your scuba gear, because this won’t be surface level. But, like I said, I know you guys can do it. I know you can do it.
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So let’s start by going back to the Old Testament to investigate this temple thing and discover what God says about this temple. So it’s important as we study the Bible, that you understand that the Old Testament, everything written in the Old Testament, was written for us. Even though we live in New Testament times, the Old Testament was written for us and it’s written for us to understand all the things that Jesus changed and how Jesus’s life is available to us. So the Old Testament is vital to study. Even though we don’t live under that old covenant that God made with Israel, we live in a new covenant that we have with Jesus and it’s very vital to understand that. So we can only understand all that Jesus did for us in in the gospel of grace by seeing the Old Testament through these grace glasses. So the way to study the Bible is to understand what Jesus did first, and then you lay that, you kind of put those glasses on, and then you can understand why the Old Testament says the things that it says. And then you can understand it, Because if you just read the Old Testament you’re like, wow, we should do human sacrifices again or whatever. Okay, and those things are not what they seem for today.
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All right, so let’s, we’re going to go to 1 Kings, chapter 9. So we’re going to dive in. I’m going to read you nine verses out of 1 Kings. It says, when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do, that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. And the Lord said to him I’ve heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before me. I have consecrated or dedicated this house which you have built to put my name there forever and my eyes and my heart will
God’s Intensity and Purity
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be there perpetually. So this is about 1,500 years before Jesus came, the Jews built the David came and then David’s son, solomon, wanted to build a house for the Lord, so he built the temple that has since been destroyed, was destroyed after Jesus came, but it’s that same temple Now.
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God says. Now, if you walk before me, as your father David walked, in integrity of heart, in uprightness, to do according to all that I’ve commanded you, if you keep my statutes and my judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David, your father, saying you shall not fail to have a man over the throne of Israel. But if you, or your sons at all, turn from following me and do not keep my commandments and my statutes, as I have said before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them and this house which I have consecrated for my name. I will cast out of my sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among the peoples. And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by will be astonished and will hiss and say why has the Lord done this to the land and to this house? And they will answer Because they forsook the Lord, their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and embraced other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore, the Lord has brought all this calamity on them.
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So just a few things I want to point out from that narrative that we just read. First of all, the design was good. The design was for their good. God had a plan to bless them. He’s like you, serve me, worship me and guess what? I am going to supernaturally protect you, help you. It’s going to be great, but the better something is, the more severe the consequences are for messing it up. You don’t give a Lamborghini to a first-time driver with a learner’s permit, right? They can’t even go the right way in Mario Kart. You’re not going to entrust them with a quarter million dollar sports car. You don’t let people mess around with priceless works of art. You might have saw the article this week. As you were reading the articles, I’ll read it to you.
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Tourist caught on camera smashing crystal studded Van Gogh chair at art museum. Did you guys read this? You saw it. Good job. Security footage captured culprit fleeing after crushing a Swarovski covered chair at Italy’s Palazzo Maffei on June 15th, just seven days ago. And it goes on to say a tourist was caught crushing the chair by trying to sit on it and take a selfie, and he did crush it. They were able to put it back together, but the museum is like the nightmare of every museum has become our reality. The chair was described as being extremely fragile. This irresponsible gesture caused serious damage to the Van Gogh chair.
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They said A relationship with God is more valuable than anything in this world, and when we understand this, it’s called having the fear of the Lord. Have you guys heard that term before? The fear of the Lord? Have you guys heard that term before the fear of the Lord? Now, the sad thing is, when most of us grew up, hearing that it was a way for people to try to control you say you should be afraid of going to hell and by doing the wrong things and breaking my rules. That’s how it was explained to most of us. But that’s not the fear of the Lord. So we got hurt, we got church hurt by people who took this term and said I want you to behave a certain way, even if it’s fake, because I want you to be afraid of acting a different way. God never chooses to motivate us by fear, but the fear of the Lord is very real, and it is this where you consider your relationship with God, your connection with God, of such great value that you treat it with the honor and respect that it deserves. You’re not out there doing wheelies in your Lamborghini. Your relationship with God is real and important. It’s very real, and that is what the fear of the Lord is. It’s not you should be afraid of God, it’s you should be afraid of breaking God’s heart because you value him. How many times did he say in that text they would leave me, they would abandon worship of me and worship other gods. That broke his heart. It wasn’t about him being possessive you’re my people. No, he’s saying you’re my people, I love you, I give my life for you, I care about you, and that relationship is what he’s being taught about here. So let’s see what happened with Solomon. Do you guys think he kept the fear of the Lord? No, anyone read the story. Okay, let’s see. This is fun.
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In 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, or 1 Kings, chapter 11, it says but King Solomon loved many foreign
The Temple in the Old Testament
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women there’s his problem right there as well as the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Sodonians, the Hittites and from the nations whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel you shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn your heart after other gods. Did you see that God’s not racist? He doesn’t say don’t marry them because they’re a skin color. He says their culture is committed to a different God and if you marry them, you will love them, and so you will want to take their God as your God, and it will mess up our relationship. That’s what’s going on here. So that’s why he disallowed this intermarriage with these other nations. Solomon clung to these in love. Oh, solomon was very loving to these women. Yeah, that’s what screwed up his life. We’ll see.
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And he had 700 wives, bro, princesses and 300 concubines and, as you could guess, his wives turned his heart away. They turned away his heart from the Lord, for it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not loyal to the Lord, his God, and as his father David. For Solomon went after Astaroth, the god of Sidonians, after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not fully follow the Lord as his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on a hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the people of Ammon, and he did likewise for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrifice to their gods.
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So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart turned from the Lord, god of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. Therefore, the Lord said to Solomon because you’ve done this, you’ve not kept my commandments, my statutes, which I have commanded you I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Nevertheless, I’m not going to do it in your days, for the sake of your father, david, I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear the whole kingdom. I will give you one tribe for the sake of my servant, david, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.
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So Solomon got messed up because he loved other things more than God. He didn’t treasure his relationship with God, he didn’t have the fear of the Lord. We cannot live that way. We’re not designed to live that way. See, the problem is we think it’s the path of life that we’ve discovered. Oh, I’m happy when my wives aren’t nagging me about building these high places and work to worship the things they love. I’m more happy when they stop nagging me. Okay, but that’s not what led to happiness. We think it’s a path of life, but it leads only to death, and God has tried over and over again to tell us to follow his way, but we think we know better. So we choose to love other things more than God, and that is called idolatry Idolatry. So now we’re putting definitions to all these church words that we’ve heard and look at how idolatry. So now we’re putting definitions to all these church words that we’ve heard and look at how idolatry ends up. Solomon is devastated, he’s sad, he regrets living the way that he does, and his kingdom, his legacy, is now messed up, ruined. You might think that’s the end of the story, but God is actually way more patient and full of second chances for all the people that he loves, which is really great news.
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So look at 2 Chronicles 36, verse 15. It says and the Lord, god of their fathers, sent warnings to them by his messengers. So his people go on and they keep living their lives and God sends warnings to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending them. We call these the prophets in the Old Testament. So God would speak to a prophet and the prophet would go and speak to Israel because he had compassion on the people. God doesn’t just leave them and say, fine, you don’t love me, I’m going to take my ball and go home. No, he pursues them because he loves them. He had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. That’s the temple that we’re studying here.
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But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against the people, and there till there was no remedy. So he brought against them, against the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword and in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on their young men or virgin, on the aged or weak. He gave them all into his hand and all the articles of the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, the treasures of the king and all his leaders, all these he took to Babylon until Trump bombed them. Just kidding, that was yesterday. Babylon is never mind. Oh, he ties current events in so well, sorry. And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon. They became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill all the words of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah.
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So here we see the destruction of the temple. Okay, because Solomon’s disobedience and the country just followed his example, god destroyed his temple, and it happened because they didn’t have the fear of the Lord. And you know who the people blame every time God’s judgment comes. God, you know who we blame every time something bad happens in our lives. God, mostly. Every time we say stuff like just let me live my life, you can’t tell me what to do, instead of understanding that we were bought with a price. You are not your own. You are the temple of God. You were dedicated to God’s service and to him, to love him, to be the thing that loves him most in this earth. We’re not talking about unbelievers here, okay. This temple talk. What we’re talking about today is only for people who believe in Jesus. You are God’s dwelling place. God loves you and he desires for you to love him and serve him. Of course, unbelievers
Solomon’s Downfall Through Idolatry
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don’t follow the Lord, but we should. We are his people.
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So now let’s turn our view to the New Testament and see how the New Testament writers describe the church as the temple of the Lord In Ephesians, chapter two, 2, verse 19,. He says now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners to God. You are fellow citizens, with the saints and members of the household of God being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. What’s this building? He’s talking about the temple being the chief cornerstone. What’s this building? He’s talking about the temple In whom the whole building, being fit together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you are also being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. So God tells us that our identity is that we are his temple, you are citizens with God, you are saints, you are part of his family. These are identity words. When you think of yourself, do you think of yourself? I’m a citizen of God’s kingdom, I am a saint identified with God and holy for him, and I’m part of his family and we’re all built on Jesus. It’s what he did is the only thing that matters in our church, in any church, and we all fit together perfectly as we grow into his temple.
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Why does God do it this way? Because so the spirit will have a place to dwell. God’s spirit Now is God everywhere. Yes, that’s called omnipresence. God is everywhere. He sees everything everywhere. Okay, but God chooses to dwell, which is a different level of his presence, and he chooses to dwell in. Everyone is a different level of his presence, and he chooses to dwell in everyone that calls himself a believer. That is a true believer. The Spirit dwells with us, and so God desires to build the old temple man, it was fancy, it was special, and we are no less. We are fancy, we are special. So how do we interact with this? What do we actually do Today? It’s 2025. It’s June 22nd 2025.
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How do we interact with this? Well, peter says this in 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 4. It says coming to him. Let me start that over Coming to him. Those three words are so important. What am I supposed to do? Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious you also as living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. Through Jesus, we are built up and grow as the temple as we come to him. You don’t get built up as you come to church. You build up as you come to him. You don’t get built up as you come to church. You built up as you come to him. You don’t get built up as you follow the rules. You get built up by coming to him. This is an active thing. You choose to come to him Instead of coming to someone else, choosing something else. You choose to come to him Instead of coming to someone else, choosing something else. You choose him. How do we come to him? I hear you all asking that question. Well, how do I do this? I want to do this. I
The Church as God’s New Temple
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know you want to do this, so how do I do it?
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Faith and humility is the way we come to him. I call it F and H Faith and humility, faith and humility. Faith and humility. We have to come to him in faith, saying Jesus, I’m going to trust you. Whatever the situation is, I’m going to trust you. And then we come in humility, saying Jesus, I need you. So if you can take that step to say Jesus, I trust you and Jesus I need you. So if you can take that step to say Jesus I trust you and Jesus I need you, and the next step is what do you think? Jesus, I trust you, jesus I need you, and we repeat that, and no matter what the situation is, that is how we come to him and how we are then built up.
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Jesus is able to take anyone who comes to him and make them exactly what he wants them to be. The purpose of us being the temple is so that we can serve God and love him and be his light to this world. Those are the spiritual sacrifices it’s talking about. God does want you to serve him, but he doesn’t want you to do it on your own or by trying harder. Watch me, go and serve God. He never says do that. He says come to me and I’ll do it through you. Your job is to be coming to me over and over. What do I do tomorrow morning? Come to me. What do I do tomorrow night? Come to me. What do I do when things are bad? Come to me. What do I do when things are good? There you go. This is not that hard. Why does he want us to serve him? Because he is worthy to be loved and served. God is worthy.
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Sometimes I see a movie and I’m like that movie was great, you should see that movie. And so I go around telling people I loved this movie, you should see this movie. Why do you want me to see that movie so bad? Because it’s good, exactly it is worthy to be watched. Why do you want me to see that movie so bad? Because it’s good, exactly it is worthy to be watched. Maybe it’ll speak to your life, maybe it’ll change your life, I don’t know. But I tell you what it was good artistry, it was good filming. It was good cinematography. It was good writing. It had qualities that are worthy for me to watch and say that was good.
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Well, god is like the infinite level of all those things. He is worth our time, he is worth our attention, he is worth our lives being poured out as offerings to him. But how does that happen? Not anyone can serve him. You have to be the holy temple, you have to be coming to him. And how does that happen? Not, anyone can serve him. You have to be the holy temple, you have to be coming to him.
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And that describes a relationship. It doesn’t describe a building. Again, the temple is not a building. The temple is people who have a relationship with God. And a lot of people think they have a relationship with God, but they just go to a building and they fake it and they’re like I’m a Christian because I go to church every Sunday. You’re like tell me about your relationship with God. I go to church every Sunday. Tell me about when you come to God. I come to church on Sundays. You’re not getting me. A relationship with God has nothing to do with the place you are. It’s where you’re coming to. What happens when we refuse to believe? We are God’s temple, because you are God’s temple, you are holy, but we man, a lot of us, refuse to believe that.
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In Acts, chapter 4, verse 32, this one’s crazy, okay. So the end of Acts, chapter 4, the church is just getting started and God is teaching the people about how different the church is from the Old Testament and this crazy thing happens. So it says the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Oh man, this is a beautiful church we have being established here. Everyone loves each other. It’s awesome. Neither did anyone say any of the things that he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. So their love was so legit that they were just like it’s not my house, it’s our house, it’s not my car, it’s our car. And with great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This was new life that the world had never seen before, and great grace was upon them all. I mean the church is just rocking. This is like maybe two to three to five years after Jesus has risen. I mean it is just rocking right now, taking over the world.
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Nor was there anyone among them who lacked, for there were all their possessions of lands or houses. Those who had lands or houses. They sold them and brought the proceeds of all the things that were sold and laid them at the apostles’ feet and they distributed to each one who had need. Okay, so they were just loving each other, selling things they didn’t need. And then it says this and Joseph, who was also named Barnabas, so we know him later by the apostles, which is translated son of encouragement, a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. Okay, so things you need to know. Cyprus was like Beverly Hills. If you had land in Cyprus, you were filthy, stinking rich. And so if this guy, joseph, who we’ll call Barnabas because that’s his nickname, if Barney, had land in Cyprus, he was rich and he sold this land for a lot of money. And it was common knowledge that he came and brought it and everyone was like, oh my goodness, look at all the poor people we’ve fed, look at all the good that was done. And everyone was
Coming to Him: Faith and Humility
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like man, barney is awesome. Look at what God is doing through Barney, barney is great. So look at chapter 5.
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But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and they kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and then they brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. Okay, nothing wrong with that, except when you tie it to what happened before we find out. What is going on really is that they wanted to appear like they were as generous as Barney. But Peter said Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and kept back part of the price for the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your control. Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You’ve not lied to men, but to God.
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Ananias and his wife Sapphira have chosen to not. What are they missing in their life? They’re missing the fear of the Lord. They’re missing the fear of the Lord. They wanted to serve God like a part of the temple. They wanted to be a part of this beautiful new temple that God was raising up in the world. But they did not want to be pure. They did not have the fear of the Lord. And it’s not that they didn’t give all the money, because that’s not what Peter questions them on. He says you lied about how much of the money you were giving because you wanted to live a life comparing yourself to Barney. That’s their problem. They wanted to compare their self with another Christian because they wanted the glory. And who’s supposed to get the glory in the temple? God right. To get the glory in the temple? God Right.
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Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things and the young man arose and wrapped him up and carried him out and burned him, buried him. This is a first youth group activity. I just came up with that. That was funny. Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in not knowing what had happened, and Peter answered her hey, tell me whether you sold the land for so much? And she said yes, for so much. And Peter said to her how is it that you agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out. Then, immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last, and the young man carried and found her dead and carried her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church. Great fear came upon all the church. Great fear came upon all the church and all those who heard these things. So Ananias and Sapphira did not have the fear of the Lord.
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They thought the temple was about getting credit and earning points about how they looked
Ananias and Sapphira: Lacking Fear of the Lord
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among people. Make sure you wear a dress, make sure you wear a tie, make sure you don’t talk about the dirty things that you’ve done this week. But it’s not. The temple of God is about holiness. So does that mean you have to be perfect to come to church? No, in fact, the church is the perfect place to come when you screwed up. In fact, the church is the perfect place to come when you screwed up, because the church is here to tell you here is grace for you, here is what Jesus has done for you, here is blood to wash away the stain that you have got in your life. In fact, it’s already forgiven. Come and remember who you are. You know, like Mufasa, remember, remember who you are. Lion King reference second week in a row.
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The church is about holiness, not that just God is holy, but God has made us holy too, Truth and righteousness in the heart, and that we get this with complete surrender to God and his will, not to earn points, but because of love, because God loved us and he shared his life with us. He shared his holiness with us. Now let’s just refer back to our original text that we read as we’ve deep dived into the temple, and I want to read it again to us 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, god will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are. What is Paul trying to teach us? What is Paul teaching you? The fear of the Lord.
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I’m sure that if you have listened to these words today and you’ve considered them, that God’s Holy Spirit is working in your hearts and lives, you might have come in and participated in all kinds of evil things. You might have screwed up this week really bad. The church is where you need to come, but not to hide those things. And I don’t need you to stand up and say I did this Because it’s not my eyes that I don’t need to know. I can. You can tell me if you want, but I don’t care. I will tell you what Jesus says about it.
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If you confess your sin to the Lord, he’s faithful and just to forgive all sin, all you can walk away right now clean and pure in God’s sight and you can live in that forever. It’s scary Because if we choose in this moment to say yeah, no, thanks. That’s scary Because God is not a joke. If you’re not holy, you’re unholy. And that’s scary Because you’ve been separated from the only source of good and life, because sin separates us from God. So we have to know that we’re holy and that is offered to every single person in here today.
Speaker 1 39:31
Jesus loves you and Jesus became a man for you. Jesus died on the cross for your sin and he offers that forgiveness to any person who will say please me, please forgive me, I want to be holy. Come and live inside me and change me and make me holy. I cannot change myself. That’s how you begin a relationship with God and you know how you grow in a relationship with God. Keep saying I cannot change myself. But, jesus, I’m going to look to you, I’m going to trust you and I’m going to keep learning what you have done for me and who I am. In you you are the temple of God and the spirit dwells in you. That’s what Paul teaches us today.
Speaker 1 40:17
So you won’t be happy living your life, because it’s not just your life anymore. That’s the crazy thing God does in the gospel. He says your life and my life are unionized, we are put together, and so I love doing the things you love because I’m part of you. So if you love gardening, then God loves gardening through you. If you love racing, god loves that too. But also the things God loves you love, and God loves righteousness in all things, and so God will. You will grieve. Your own soul, your own spirit will be grieved if you choose to participate in sinful things, and that’s what happens and we preach. Jesus alone is our life. He saved us, he offered it to us, we accepted it and then we walk and live in him. He is our life.
Speaker 1 41:24
Would you all bow your heads and close your eyes with me today? Would you all bow your heads and close your eyes with me today? There may be people in here today that have never experienced the great joy of having the burden, the backpack weighted down, with our sinful burden on our back, lifted up by a friend. And if you’re out here today and you would like to be forgiven of your sin, and if you’re watching
Closing Prayer and Invitation
Speaker 1 41:59
online and the Spirit of God is knocking on the door of your heart and he’s speaking to you and saying you are my child, I did this for you. If you choose to respond today and say Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sin, that you’re offering me forgiveness today and I ask you for it, give it to me, know that God is moving that in your heart. That’s not your own idea. And you can respond right now saying Jesus saved me.
Speaker 1 42:38
And now, if you’ve been a child of God and you’ve been wandering and you’ve been hiding things and you know that you have not been the holy temple of God, the comfortable place for the Spirit of God, but you’ve brought dirty things into your heart and into your soul and you would like to know and remember that you are pure and that you are holy, you have every right to enjoy a pure relationship with God right now and just say God, thank you for the cleansing of Jesus Christ in my life.
Speaker 1 43:15
I believe that I am still pure, even though I have participated in things I shouldn’t, even though I’m committed to things I shouldn’t be. I choose you and I don’t even have the strength to know what comes in the next five minutes, but I choose you and I need you. Jesus is here for you also right now, and he is moving in your heart right now. Jesus, we need you. Jesus, we trust in you alone. We don’t deserve to be your temple, but we are your temple. We don’t deserve for you to rest and rule over us, but we believe and we accept that you rest in us and you rule over us, and we gladly surrender and submit to the Lord of the universe, the King of all hearts, jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name we pray Amen.