God's Spiritual Temple

The tabernacle in the wilderness, Solomon's Temple, Zerubbabel's Temple, and Herod's Temple were all considered the very center of God's presence in Israel and Judah throughout many years. The temple was the location where thousands upon thousands of sacrifices were made in response to God's instructions to His people, the children of Israel. But we know that animal sacrifices aren't really what God desired. After the Exodus, Scripture reveals that the Lord's presence was known in the tabernacle of meeting. The Lord's presence was also known in Solomon's Temple, at least for a time as the Scripture clearly shows. But as the children of Israel strayed further and further from God, we no longer read of God's presence being there. This is quite remarkable. It's very telling. Jesus Christ, we know, came to the temple when He was here on the earth, and He certainly made His presence known there, especially the day that He got the whip out and drove the moneylenders out of the temple and reprimanded the religious leaders of the day for making His Father's house a house of merchandise. Now, we understand that the one who became Christ, the one who was born a baby, Mary was His mother, but He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. We know that prior to that, He was known as the Word, the Logos, the spokesman. He was the Father's messenger who worked with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, with Moses, and Joshua, with David, and with Solomon. He worked with them very intimately in many cases, and later He became the Son of God. He divested Himself of His divine nature, you might say, in a sense. He became flesh. He became flesh. He dwelt among us. John 1 tells us all about that. He came to the physical temple. He gave glory to His Father by calling the temple His Father's house, because the Son always brings glory to the Father. He represents the Father. It was the Father's house. It was, in a sense, His house.

But He always does the Father's will. He represents the Father in all things. And as I said, He's one with the Father. The temple also had important political and economic roles to play in Israel's society. In one sense, the temple was the institution that held all of Israel's society together. In the past, they could look back at the temple and God's presence there. In the present, they would come to strive to understand God's will, to sacrifice to God, and then, of course, looking to the future as well. Access to the temple's courts identified who was considered a proper citizen and who was to be excluded from fellowship with Israel. It was an interesting dynamic going on there in regard to the temple's courts. Economically, rooms in the temple functioned as a treasury. It was, in a sense, the society's bank. Ties and offerings were brought to the temple. And so, a large part of Israel's economy passed through the temple, through its personnel, through the storehouses that were there. So, the temple has played a very important role in the lives of God's people throughout the ages. But what role does the temple play in the lives of God's people today? We know that the Zerubbabel's Temple, the last temple that was built, was destroyed in 70 AD. So, there's Ben-No Temple in Israel. In Jerusalem, there's a Temple Mount. And it's quite a place to go visit. If you ever have an opportunity, I would strongly encourage you to go to Jerusalem and see the Temple Mount. People still praying there, praying that a temple would be built on that very spot. Of course, if that happens, there's going to be quite an upheaval in today's society.

So, there is no physical temple in Israel today. Now, an altar could be put up and sacrifices could be instituted without an actual temple. We may see that come to pass. We know some would like to rebuild the temple, but again, that has not been very practical.

But again, what about the temple's role today? Does the temple have any role in today with God's people? Well, the temple has been actually in the process of being built now for many, many years. It's a spiritual temple, and God is building his spiritual house, his spiritual temple. So, I'm not talking about a physical temple like the ones we've been mentioning. I'm talking about the spiritual temple that God is in the process of building. So, what does the Bible reveal about this spiritual temple? And what role do you and I have in the building of God's spiritual temple? So, the title of today's sermon is Building the Spiritual Temple. As background to discussing the spiritual temple, I think it would be interesting, at least, to know certain facts about the physical temples of God throughout history. I mentioned a few things, but around 1444 B.C. before Christ, there was the tabernacle in the wilderness. It was a sort of mobile temple that the people of Israel could move and take with them when they broke camp. God's presence was there in this tabernacle in the wilderness. God would also lead the people by day in a cloud and by night a pillar of fire.

So, his presence was there in the tabernacle in the wilderness. Later, around 966 B.C., King David desired to build a more substantial house for God. He wanted to build a temple. He made elaborate plans. He wasn't allowed to build the temple because he was a bloody man, a warlike man. God did not want him to build the temple. So, his son Solomon was allowed to build the temple. It was a splendid, glorious, beautiful temple. For nearly 400 years, Solomon's temple was the center of worship in Israel. Now, it was neglected during those years as well. In fact, there were a lot of bad kings who really did not respect the temple, did not respect God. And they neglected the temple. There was even an account where they had to clean refuse and debris out of the temple. During the times of Josiah and Hezekiah, a couple of good kings from the house of Judah, there were reforms. The temple was restored to some of its respect at that time, but often the temple was neglected.

Because of Israel's disobedience and unfaithfulness, Solomon's temple was destroyed in 586 B.C. That's when the Babylonians burned Jerusalem. They took many people captive to Babylon. I'm going to go quickly through a little history here. I'm not going to turn to the Scriptures because I don't have time to do that today. But in Ezra 1, it talks about Cyrus and the Persians allowing the Jews to return to their homeland. In 539 B.C., Cyrus and the Persians defeated the Babylonians, and Cyrus shortly made the decree that the Jews could return to their homeland. Then in Ezra 2, it talks about approximately 50,000 Jews under Zerubbabel and Joshua's leadership did return around 536 B.C. Then in Ezra 3, it talks about how worship is restored at Jerusalem. Even though there is, as yet, no temple, work to rebuild Solomon's temple did begin in the second month of 535 B.C. Some of the Jews were ecstatic about the efforts to rebuild, but others who had not seen the first temple wept and lamented at the laying of the foundation of this new and not-so-glorious temple, frankly. It was not nearly as wonderful as Solomon's temple. But if we're not pleasing to God, God has a way of allowing these physical things to go bye-bye. We've even seen that in our modern history of the Church of God. Once a beautiful auditorium, it's not significant when it comes to the Church of God these days. I don't even know what's going on there now. But it is important that we do please God. God will bless us if we do, and if we don't, then there will be consequences to pay for that. Then the Bible talks about that. We've also seen it in our own modern times. In Ezra 4, it talks about how work on the temple was stopped almost immediately and was not resumed until about 15 or 16 years later in 520 B.C. under the Persian king Darius I. The people lost interest in building God's house amidst all the interference from the Samaritans who had been brought into the land after the house of Israel was taken captive. The returning Jews considered the Samaritans as half-breeds who defiled the true worship of God. They saw themselves as the ethnically and religiously pure remnant of their nation and faith. Both Jews and Samaritans claimed descent from Abraham and worshipped, to some degree, the true God, but they were deeply separated from each other. Now, in Haggai chapter 1 and 2, the people were more interested in building nice homes for themselves than they were in obeying God and making the building of the temple a high priority. You can read about that in the book of Haggai. God's curse of poor crops was upon the land for their unfaithfulness in not rebuilding the temple. The people accepted Haggai's message to rebuild as God's word, and within 24 days, work was underway on rebuilding the temple. So Haggai the prophet didn't make a difference. He did bring God's word to the people, and they began to work on the temple, rebuilding the temple.

In Ezra chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, it talks about the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, and how they were instrumental in leading the rebuilding effort at the time. Also, in chapter 5 and 6, it shows local opposition to rebuilding the temple. Soon reappeared, a fellow named Tatani, you might remember that name, some of you, if you're students of the Bible. Tatani was one of the Persian Empire's local officials. He tried to halt the work through intimidation. He took down the names of those doing the work, wrote them down. When that failed, he wrote an official letter to King Darius, reporting what he considered insubordination on the part of the Jewish settlers. Interesting, an opposite effect resulted when Darius discovered that Cyrus had made a decree. This was a decree from a king of Persia. What do they say about the Medes and Persians? Their decrees stand. When this was discovered, Darius commanded Tatani to help the Jews. It backfired on him. In fact, he commanded Tatani to even pay for their expenses from his own regional tax collections. The tables were turned on him. If God is on our side, we don't need to fear anything. If we please God, then God will take care of us. He'll never leave us. He'll never forsake us. He'll always be there for us. The important things will get done in our lives. In Ezra 6, verse 15, it shows the Temple was completed in four years, from 520 to 516 B.C. The Temple again was the center of the Jews' worship for nearly 500 years. This was again Zerubbabel's Temple. This particular Temple was the one that was desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes. You might remember that name. I believe they sacrificed a pig on the altar. So, it was Herod the Great who built a glorious Temple on this same site, the site of the Temple, around 19 B.C. Again, this Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. along with the destruction of Jerusalem. We know again that some are hoping to rebuild the Temple in the near future on this Temple Mount. They've been wanting to do this since 1948, for sure, since Israel was established again. We won't go to Ezekiel 43 through 47, but it talks about the Millennial Temple. Ezekiel's Millennial Temple. Very interesting. Don't know that I understand a lot of it. A lot of prophetic things. A lot of figurative and symbolic wording. But I'm sure it will definitely play a role in the future. So, what does all of this have to do with you and me today? That's the big question today. The most important question is, what does this have to do with us today?

What about this spiritual Temple that I mentioned? Well, frankly, we all need to believe and know that God is now in the process of building a spiritual Temple. I want to share with you seven principles regarding the spiritual Temple and how it relates to us specifically. First of all, let's understand that God is a lot more interested in the building of the spiritual Temple than He ever was in any of the physical Temples. Solomon's Temple in all of its glory, not nearly as glorious as the spiritual Temple that God is building. Let's go to Acts 7.

Acts 7. And we'll start reading in verse 44. Now, this is the address that Stephen is giving that ends up getting him killed.

Acts 7. Verse 44. We're going to be breaking into this discourse from Stephen. He says, Our Father has had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as I mentioned before, as He appointed instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that He had seen, which our Father is having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, into the Promised Land, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.

But Solomon built him a house. Again, David wasn't allowed, but Solomon, his son, was allowed to build the house. David did a lot of gathering of the materials for the house. God allowed that. But Solomon was the one that actually had the house built. Verse 48. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says, Heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. It's kind of a large footstool, isn't it? The whole earth is God's footstool.

What house will you build for me, says the Eternal? Or what is the place of my rest? Has my hand not made all of these things? God has created the entire universe, which is much more vast than any of us ever realized. People are boggling the scientists who are able to look into the universe in greater ways than you and I can, with the naked eye. They are pretty impressed, I would say, by the enormity of the universe.

God has created all things. Stephen gets pretty blunt, beginning in verse 51. He says, "...you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears." That probably didn't go over too well. I don't think they appreciated being called stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. But of course, Christ also called these people hypocrites, didn't he?

Time and time again, he called them hypocrites, the religious leaders of the day. Stephen says, "...you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you." Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? "...and they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers." So again, I don't think they appreciated that either.

"...who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it." So it was God who made this vast universe. He does not dwell in a temple made with hands. Not really.

His presence was there to some degree, but God's much bigger than any building. It's interesting how so many people will do so many ritualistic things, like the sacrifices were ritualistic, but they did serve a purpose. Even today, though, people do a lot of ritualistic things, different religions. In fact, have any of you ever heard of the Marathon Monk?

Anybody? The Marathon Monk. Well, the Marathon Monk, whose real name is Genshin Fujinami. Back in 2003, he was 44 years old, so he's a bit older now. But on September 18th, and by the way, this is coming from the Chicago Tribune back in 2003, this fellow, aged 44, a Buddhist priest nicknamed the Marathon Monk, finished a 7-year, 24,800-mile journey in the Hiai Mountains of Japan. He was intended to be a trek to enlightenment. He wanted to be spiritually enlightened. So he went on this large 7-year journey.

Once a monk starts this journey, I'm reading from the article now. Once a monk starts this journey, he must finish or kill himself. So I have a feeling that most of them finished. According to an Associated Press article, for the first three years, the pilgrim must rise at midnight. So the monk has to get up at midnight.

And for 100 consecutive days during each of the first three years, he has to pray and run 18 miles per day. So 18 miles a day, that's not that big a deal, if you've got all day to do it. But the interesting thing, he would stop 250 times along the way to pray. 250. Daniel prayed three times a day. So this is being super-righteous.

250 times? I don't know how you could even keep track of 250 times. I don't know if he had a counter with him, a sidekick that counted every time he stopped to pray. Maybe. Anyway, during the next two years, on the fourth and fifth year, he must up his schedule to 200 days. So instead of 100 days, he went to 200 days. So I guess he kept basically the same thing, but he did it for 200 days. Now, in the fifth year, the pilgrim must sit and chant mantras for nine days without food, water, or sleep in a trial called Dori, D-O-I-R-I, which means entering the temple.

So again, this was some way to enter the temple, all these rituals. In the sixth year, he must walk 37.5 miles every day for 100 days. In the seventh year, though, this was the real cruncher. He had to run 52.5 miles. That's a double marathon. A marathon, I think, is 26.2 or 3, and he ran 52.5 miles every single day. I don't know how your body could even stand up to that.

So he ran 52.5 miles for 100 days, 18 miles for another 100 days, and then completed a 234-mile trek back to his home base. So that's a lot of dedication, isn't it? It's kind of crazy. That isn't what God requires. God does not require that kind of ritualistic type of worship. If you want to even call it worship, it's not really worship. God does require, though, a repentant heart. That's what God's really looking for, is whether or not we have repentant hearts.

So the first point, the first principle regarding the spiritual temple, is that God is a lot more interested in the building of the spiritual temple in a way that God intends, which we'll go through the next six principles to help you understand that. But God is a lot more interested in building the spiritual temple than he is any physical temple or any types of rituals.

There are certain things that we do do, like we keep the Days of Unleavened Bread, which some people might call that ritualistic, but there's a great meaning behind it, and it's balanced. We just do it once a year, and it's a balanced thing. It's not that bizarre.

Some people think it's pretty strange. But in balance, and if God tells you to do it, then of course that's something that we need to do. So the second principle in building the spiritual temple is to realize that God the Father and Jesus Christ are actively guiding and directing the building of the spiritual temple. So we're not doing it ourselves. God is actively guiding and directing the building of his spiritual temple. We call it God preparing a people. The United Church of God has that as part of its motto.

We're preaching the gospel to the world, and we're also preparing a people for the return of Jesus Christ. So that's an integral part, also, of building the spiritual temple, is realizing that the Father and the Son are actively guiding and directing the building of the temple. So we have to understand that God's in charge, that God has a hand. Of course, we have to allow God to build that temple. Let's go to Galatians 2. Galatians 2, verse 20. Now, we know Paul had to turn his whole life around once he realized that he was persecuting the true Christians.

He says, I have been crucified with Christ. He was one that was encouraging the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the martyrdom of Stephen that we read about earlier. Paul was right there. They were throwing their clothes, their jackets at his feet. He says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. So Christ lived in Paul. Once Paul repented of what he had done, he was struck down on the road to Damascus.

He was spiritually blind. He was persecuting the true Christians. He was having them drug out of their homes, having them killed, having them imprisoned. So God struck him down on the road to Damascus. He became physically blind. And then God healed him. God restored him. He restored his health. He restored him spiritually, as well as physically. And he became a tremendous servant of God. He set a wonderful example of someone totally dedicated and surrendered to doing God's will.

He certainly had to go through a lot of trials along the way. But he was faithful throughout all those trials because he understood that Christ now lived in him. He was baptized. Hands were laid upon him. He received the Spirit of God. And Christ lived in him. He says, it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So all of us have to get there someday. Hopefully we're already there or we're on our way to getting there, learning to surrender ourselves completely as Paul came to do so.

So the second principle, realize that God, that Christ, are actively guiding and directing. Just as they did Paul, just as they intervened in Paul's life, they will intervene in our lives. Maybe not in such dramatic ways. I don't know if any of us have ever been struck down and blinded, but God has a way of getting through to us.

A little more subtle ways normally than that. But the second principle is an important one. Know that God is actively guiding and directing the building of his spiritual temple. Then number three, this is a very important principle now. You individually, if you are a baptized member or one heading toward baptism, one here because you have faith, you believe that God is working within this body of people, then you're on your way toward baptism.

You're an integral part of that spiritual temple. If you've already been baptized and you've received God's Spirit, then, as I said already, Christ lives in you. So you have become a new creation. You are a new person. And actually, God is building that spiritual temple in you.

So let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. We'll consider what Paul says in regard to the spiritual temple. Now 1 Corinthians chapter 3 is written to the saints at Corinth, to God's children at Corinth.

A lot of them were Gentiles. Probably the majority were Gentiles. But there were no doubt some Jewish people or some Israelites as well. But Paul is addressing them. And we know that in Corinth, there were some troubles. There were some issues. They weren't all completely unified. There were some issues. So in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and I'm not going to read much of this. You can go back and read the context later.

But in verse 16, Paul says to the brethren at Corinth, and he does address some of the leaders prior to this. But I believe it's very clear that it's not just the leaders. It's all of God's people who have the Spirit of God. We are all a part of God's spiritual temple. We are building blocks, you might say. Each one of us has an integral role to play. So we are individually called out and chosen by God. God called you. He chose you specifically.

He called you out of this world and gave you a spirit. So do you not know that you are the temple of God? Again, he's talking to the individuals in Corinth. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Peter said, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of your sins. And it was upon the laying on of hands that the Spirit of God was given.

By the way, did you see my announcement that an 88-year-old man was baptized? Did you see that? His name is Walter Medford Peacock. He started attending in Dallas a few months ago. And he wanted to be baptized right then, that day.

He said, well, we don't do things quite that way. And I basically said, you're going to have to be patient. You're going to have to wait. You're going to need to be counseled. He had known about the Church for many, many years, like 30, 40 years ago. He had a bunch of old booklets that he had. But he still lacked a lot of understanding, too.

He wasn't keeping the annual Holy Days. He still has some knowledge that he needs to understand better. But his heart was good. I counseled with him a couple of different times. And we went ahead and baptized him.

He was concerned that he might die before we got the job done. But it was pretty interesting. I had to go to four different motels to find a place that would let us baptize him. So we found a spot and got him baptized just yesterday.

But in the temple of God, we are the temple of God. You are the temple of God individually if God's Spirit dwells in you. And then collectively, we make up the church at Lawton. So this is the body of Christ here in Lawton. There may be others in Lawton who have the Spirit of God. They may not be in this organization. But if they have the Spirit of God, they are members of the body of Christ. So God's the judge of all that. We leave that up to God.

By the fruits, you will know if a person is converted. If they are observing the Ten Commandments, keeping all of them, not just nine of them, or even then, are they really keeping even nine? A lot of people profess to be Christians, but they don't really keep the Law the way that God intended. None of us are perfect, but there are certain truths that God reveals to His people. So 1 Corinthians 3 talks about this temple of God, that the Spirit of God dwells in you.

And reading on verse 17, if anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. I believe it's talking about someone who defiles the temple to the point that they become unrepentant. They're hardened. They refuse to repent. They basically committed the unpardonable sin. They're not repentant at all. They're hard-hearted. He says God will destroy them. We know that God will burn those people in the lake of fire.

For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. So we all make up a collective temple. We're individually a temple. We're collectively a temple here in Lawton. Plus, we're, collectively, anyone who has the Spirit of God around the globe is a part of the greater body of Christ. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9. Do you not know that the unrighteous, Paul says to the church at Corinth, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. A person can't stay in those sins.

They can't practice those sins and be in God's kingdom. He says, and such were some of you. So at one point, some of the people that he was talking to in Corinth were guilty of these things that I just read. Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

So God has the power to justify us, to forgive us, to sanctify us, to set us apart, and to forgive us of all of our sins. So let's go now to verse 19. Here it says, Paul says, Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Again, he's talking to each of the individuals that were there in Corinth, converted men and women. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? Remember, I said we have to surrender to God.

We have to submit to God and surrender to Him. For you are not your own, for you are bought at a price. Therefore, what was the price that was paid for you? The shed blood of Jesus Christ, the shed blood of our Savior. For you are bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. So we're bought at a price, and of course we need to go forward in faith, obedient to God from that point forward. Again, repentant of our sins and striving to obey and to follow God and to keep His commandments.

But we are saved by grace, for sure, because none of us can earn our salvation through keeping the law. We've all blown that already. The wages of sin is death. We're all sinners. We do continue to sin at times because of our flesh, because of the weakness of the flesh. So we have to continually have the sacrifice of Christ applied on our behalf. But we have to admit our sins. We have to be repentant.

We have to strive to put sin out. And the Scripture clearly shows we must be overcomers, and we'll talk more about that as we go along. So let's go to 2 Corinthians 6 as well in regard to this point, because we're still talking about individually how we are individually the temple of God.

2 Corinthians 6, verse 14. Again, speaking to the Corinthians, he says in verse 14, What communion has light with darkness, And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever, And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk among them, I will be their God, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. So God dwells in us by the power of His Spirit. He says, again, I will dwell in them, I will walk among them, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So, again, we are the ones who get to decide whether or not we're going to truly follow God, to follow Christ, to obey, or to disobey. It's a choice. We get to make that choice. We are free moral agents. Life isn't always easy, though. Life is difficult. We understand that. But God tries us and tests us by life's circumstances. A few years ago, there was an article in Leadership, and the Leadership Journal was back in 2011.

It was written by John Ortberg. He's a pastor. I'm a Protestant church of some kind, but I thought the principles that are given were something that we ought to consider. He says, this is an article entitled, God uses stress to help us grow. Any of you going through any stressful moments these days? God helps stress, or uses stress to help us grow. In this leadership article, John Ortberg argues that sometimes stressful and painful situations can actually help us grow. We've heard sermons about that.

We've taught that for many, many years. Ortberg creates this following scenario. Imagine you're handed a script of your newborn child's entire life. You just have a baby, and you're given the script for the baby's life. Better yet, you're given an eraser, and you have five minutes to edit out whatever you want. Not a realistic thing, but something to think about. You read that she is going to have a learning disability in grade school, maybe dyslexic. Reading, which comes easily for some kids, will be laborious for her.

In high school, she will make a great circle of friends. Then, one of her closest friends is going to die of cancer. After high school, she will get into her preferred college, but while she's there, she's going to lose a leg in a car accident.

Following that, she's going to go through a great depression, difficult depression. A few years later, she'll get a great job. Then, she'll lose that job in an economic downturn. She'll get married, and then she'll go through the grief of separation. It kind of sounds to me like a dog named Lucky. You ever heard of that dog named Lucky?

It talks about, this dog is missing. It gives all this description of this dog that's got broken legs, broken arms, blind in one eye, can't see out of the other one, and he answers to the name of Lucky. Anyway, getting back to this scenario, with this script of your child's life and five minutes to edit the script, what would you erase? Psychologist Jonathan Haide poses this question in this hypothetical exercise, wouldn't you want to take out all the stuff that would cause them pain? If you could erase every failure, every disappointment, every period of suffering, would that be a good idea?

Would that cause them to grow into the best version of themselves? Is it possible that we actually need adversity and setbacks, maybe even crises and trauma, to reach the fullest potential of development and growth? Wartburg contends that God doesn't always erase all of our stress and pain before it starts. Instead, God can use the failures, the disappointments, the periods of suffering to help us grow. Wartburg writes, God isn't at work producing the circumstances I want.

God is at work in bad circumstances to produce the me that He wants. So, again, God is working on each and every one of us. He's molding. He's shaping us. He's the master potter. We are the clay. So, again, we need to allow God to do His work in us. So, that third principle, again, was that you individually are an integral part of that spiritual temple to whom Christ will return.

So, we should see ourselves for who we are, not in some kind of vain way, but to realize that that God has entrusted to you His truth. You will be held accountable for that truth. You will be held responsible for that truth. So, it's important that you are faithful to that truth and to realize that God is building His spiritual temple and you are an integral part of that temple.

Which leads me to the fourth point, the fourth principle. We collectively, I've already mentioned this, but we collectively are the spiritual temple to whom Christ is returning. There are other scriptures of Ephesians chapter 2 that talk about the whole building being joined together and fitly framed together. Let's read about Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19. Paul says, now therefore you are no longer strangers. Again, he's talking to true disciples of Christ, true Christians. You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.

So Christ is the chief cornerstone and then He uses apostles and prophets, the written Word of God, of course. This is the foundation upon which we should shape our lives. Verse 21, in whom the whole building, speaking of the church, you know, the church is the entire building, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

So again, we're all in this together. God is calling each one of us as members individually, but collectively we make up the body of Christ in a spiritual sense. In fact, Ephesians chapter 5 speaks of the marital union that is symbolic of this.

We are to marry Jesus Christ, are we not? We are to become the bride of Christ. So in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25, here it says, husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present her to Himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

So individually, we should strive to put sin out of our lives. And collectively, we should strive to represent God and Jesus Christ in our faithfulness as a church, as we go forward in faith, as we preach the gospel, and as we prepare a people for Christ's return. So we are to be the bride of Christ, a glorious church without spot and without wrinkle. And then in 1 Peter chapter 2, it speaks about a spiritual house, again, a spiritual temple. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 1, therefore laying aside all malice, all deceit. So He's talking to you, He's talking to me.

He's saying that we need to lay aside all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisy, all envy, and all evil speaking. As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby. I just saw a little baby a couple days ago. Guardian. You might have heard about guardian? Interesting name. I've never heard of a guardian before. Guardian, I forget his last name, Russian name. Anyway, this little child obviously likes to be fed pretty frequently.

He wants to get milk. You know, feed me, feed me. So as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby. It's amazing how quickly little babies grow, isn't it? You know, they grow very quickly. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, coming to him as to a living stone. Okay, so now he's talking to each and every one of us as a living stone, rejected indeed by men.

Well, coming to Christ as a living stone, rejected indeed by men. This is talking about Christ who's that living stone, but chosen by God and precious, you also as living stones. Christ is the rock. We are the living stones. We're being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices. Again, God's not so interested in physical sacrifices, but he is interested in spiritual sacrifices. In fact, is it Romans 12 verse 1 that says, we are to be living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service.

Therefore, it is also contained in Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and he has become a stone of stumbling and of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation. You're a royal priesthood. You're a holy nation. You are his own special people. This is Peter now talking about this spiritual house. That you are his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. We've all been called out of darkness spiritually. We were in the dark until God called us, opened our minds to truth, real truth and understanding, who once were not a people but are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Now, this is from the book of Hosea, which is an amazing little book that you should read if you haven't read it lately. Hosea, it's quite a story of God's love for his children and how he forgives our sins, how we are restored to him. So we were, for once we were not a people but now we are the people of God. If we've accepted Christ as our Savior, if we repented of our sins, those are the two questions that I ask Walter Peacock. Have you repented of your sin, which is the transgression of God's holy and righteous law? And have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your Lord, your Master, your High Priest, your soon coming King? When a person truly does repent of their sins and accept Christ, then it's time for them to be baptized. So the fourth principle, again, is that collectively we are a spiritual temple to whom Christ is returning. Number five, a fifth principle regarding the spiritual temple, realize there will always be great opposition to building the spiritual temple. Satan is a roaring lion. He's seeking whom he may devour. He's more interested in devouring God's people than anything or anyone else. There will always be great opposition to building the spiritual temple, but with God's help, we must continue to allow the building of the spiritual house.

The scripture says that Satan even has his ministers that masquerade as ministers of light, but truly they are ministers of darkness who teach the people lies. And they deceive the people. Christ said, how be it in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrine the commandments of men? And that's what we see in the world today. There's always going to be great opposition. You know, persecution comes on the Church of God when we start making a difference in the various churches. When people start leaving their churches and start coming to our church, that's what gets religious leaders kind of excited. You know, when they see people leaving their fellowships, that's what was happening back in the 60s. And there was more persecution that was developing at that time. Because religious leaders like to cling, hang on to people. They don't like people leaving and saying, well, you're not teaching the truth on this subject. So there's always going to be great opposition to building the spiritual temple. But again, with God's help, it will continue. In 1 Peter 2, and you know, I'm not going to read all of this. In fact, I'm going to just summarize it. But verses 11 through verse 25, 1 Peter 2 verses 11 through 25, it talks about how we all need to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. That's what it says, that there's fleshly lusts. We're all flesh, and there's the lust of the flesh. There's the pride of life. You know, these things, pride, vanity, envy, jealousy, the works of the flesh, these are things that we all have to fight. You know, I've been fighting the works of the flesh for a long time, since I was 18 years old. I don't think I was doing much fighting before that. I started around age 18 when God called me, opened my mind to the truth. And so I've been fighting this battle. I've been fighting the good fight for a long time. And so have you. Some of you longer than I have. You know, some of you quite a bit longer. So we're to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against our souls, being honorable in our conduct. So we have to learn to say no to the flesh. We have to learn to become self-controlled. We have to say no. We have to learn to walk in the Spirit, the Spirit of God, the fruits of God's Spirit, love, joy, peace, long suffering, you know, kindness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness, meekness. These are all fruits of God's Holy Spirit. That's the way we should live our lives. That's how we should be known by the character that God is developing in us. So we have to learn to be submissive. We have to learn to resist Satan the devil and cling to God and trust in him to work in us and to give us victory over Satan because we can't defeat Satan on our own. You're not powerful enough. You're not strong enough. You need God's help. You need God's Spirit to help you fight the battles and to win the battles. You need God's help. It is God's will that you do good quietly and peacefully. These verses talk about quietly and peacefully. Also, it talks about how there's tremendous liberty in Christ.

But we are to humbly submit one to another, and we are not to use that liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants, as slaves of God, as servants of God. So again, we should abstain from these fleshly lost works of the flesh, which Satan uses to get the best of us. He uses our own carnal nature. The Bible says that the carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to God's law. Neither indeed can be. So we have to yield to the Spirit of God in order to overcome the flesh. In 1 Peter 3, verses 8-18, it talks about how we are all to become of one mind, how we are to become compassionate, how we are to be tender-hearted. You can read these in 1 Peter 2 and 1 Peter 3 a lot of excellent guidance and direction in regard to fighting back against Satan. Also in James, it talks about resist the devil and he will flee from you, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. It also talks about becoming single-minded and not unstable in all your ways by being double-minded. We need to learn to focus. I'm finding the more focused I am, the better person I am. The more involved you are in God's work, I don't have time to be a bad boy anymore.

I'm staying pretty busy these days. I was always busy and that helped me stay out of trouble.

But I'm finding that I'm probably going to be even more focused than ever before.

When more is required, more is expected of you, then hopefully you rise to the challenge and with God's help you grow and overcome. I believe that happens to any of us. The more you immerse yourself in God's Word by studying the Bible, by fasting, by praying, by drawing near to God, by fellowshipping with God's people, by serving, the more you do that, the better person you're going to end up being because you're focused. When you're not focused, then you're likely to walk in the flesh. So you have to learn to resist Satan, resist the pulls of the flesh, and immerse yourself in doing good. The Bible says in Ephesians 2 that we were created for good works. That's why God created us. So we have to be focused on doing good.

So principle number five, always realize that there's going to be great opposition to building the spiritual temple. It's not an easy route. It's not an easy path. Those who surrender to God and submit to Him, it's not easy. It doesn't just get easy once you're baptized. In fact, sometimes it gets much harder because Satan is more interested in deceiving you and sifting you, as the Bible talks about. God allows Satan. Satan is a pawn in God's hands to some degree. God uses him to test people, to try people, and we have to be up to the test. So resist Satan. He will flee from you, draw near to God. God will draw near to you.

Number six, a sixth principle in regard to building the spiritual house, the spiritual temple. Those who endure to the end shall be saved. Let's go to Matthew 24. Read this. It's very clear that you have to endure to the end. You can be in God's church for 40 or 50 years, but if you turn against God willingly, willfully, then you're going to be cast in the lake of fire.

You have to stay faithful, is the point. Matthew 24. That's why we should always take to heart these warnings that God gives us. Because, take heed, lest you fall. That's what the scripture says. Take heed. Anyone is capable of falling. Anyone is capable of backsliding, unless we do our part.

God will do His part. We know that, but we have to do our part.

So in Matthew 24. For nation is going to rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, there will be pestilences, and there will be earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. We've seen all of these things happen. There will be an increase in earthquakes and famines and pestilences as we draw nearer to Christ's return. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and will kill you. There's going to be a great tribulation. And you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will be offended. They will betray one another. They will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up, and they will deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

But he who endures to the end shall be saved. So it's critical that we endure to the end.

And it says in this Gospel that the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. It goes on to talk about the great tribulation, the coming of Jesus Christ, and some of the end-time events that will take place. But the point I'm making here, the sixth point in regard to building the temple, is realize that you need to endure to the end. You have to continue to fight the good fight. You can't give up. I don't care if you've fought 60 years already. You've got to keep fighting until you take your last breath.

Those who endure to the end shall be saved. Then the last point is let no one take your crown.

Again, there's great opposition to building the temple. Satan would like to take your crown. The seventh principle is let no one take your crown. Don't let anything get in the way. Let's go to Revelation chapter 3 as a final scripture. Revelation chapter 3.

Revelation chapter 3 and verse 12. Now, we know that this was revealed to John. This was the revelation of Jesus Christ. That the Father gave him. He says, He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.

And he shall go out no more. I don't know about you, but I'd like to be a pillar in God's temple. I don't just want to be there. I'd like to be a pillar. Because if you're a pillar, you're a strong support.

And you can offer more service for an eternity if you become a pillar in God's house. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. And he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God. And I will write on him my new name. He who overcomes, he who puts sin out of his life and continues to grow and overcome spiritually, that's the one that God will grant eternal life. Let's notice down here, verse 21. To him who overcomes, this is actually to the lukewarm church. We must be from the Philadelphian church. Not lukewarm, but zealous. Even in Laodicea, some will overcome. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne. As I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says.

So there's no need to be Laodicean, but if you become Laodicean, realize that you still can overcome. You don't have to be drugged down. You can rise up with God's help. God can raise you up. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne. As I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So we must, again, stay faithful. We must endure to the end. We must not allow anyone to take our crown. We can become pillars in God's house. The various physical temples that we've talked about did play an integral part in the history of God's people, but the much more important spiritual temple is being built today. God is forming and shaping each and every one of us into a spiritual temple. Both individually and collectively as the church, God's temple is now in the process of being built. You and I must be sure that we are not neglecting the building of this spiritual temple.

We know that, as I mentioned earlier, that the exiles who came back from Babylon, for 16 or 17 years, they neglected the building of the temple. They finally got busy after suffering, after God struck them with some plagues and they woke up. It does take diligent, consistent effort and dedication for us to develop perfect, righteous character. Mr. Armstrong used to say that, that God's in the business of developing perfect, righteous character. God wants us to learn to make the right choice, to do the right thing no matter what, to be the right type of example. It takes real submission and a yielding to the Spirit of God that's in us. God's Spirit dwells in us. We need to learn to yield to that Spirit. We need to learn to walk in the Spirit. So God is doing the work. God is the one who's building the temple, but you must be a willing instrument. You must allow God to work in you and through you and with you. God is doing a glorious work. He's doing a glorious work in you, whether you believe it or not. Hopefully you believe it. If you don't believe it, then it's not likely you'll stay faithful. So we have to believe that God is working in us, that He's doing a glorious work. I know we've all had some rough moments in our lives, but when you look at the big picture and you realize that God is working a glorious work in you because it's the Spirit of God that dwells in you that basically couples with the Spirit in man that goes back to God once we're dead. If we're dead, the Spirit in man goes back to God who gave us that Spirit, but then God will resurrect us. We will have life again, and if we are alive when Christ returns, we'll be changed in a moment. We won't have to even suffer the first death. I don't know if any of us will be alive or not, perhaps.

Perhaps some in this room will be alive at Christ's return. But, brethren, remember God is working a glorious work in you, and you are indeed a part of His spiritual temple.