A Temple Attitude

I want to bring two things together today as far as the subject is concerned. First, let's go to 1 Corinthians 3, verses 16 and 17. 1 Corinthians 3, verses 16 and 17. Paul, in writing to the Corinthian church, says this, and he's obviously reminding them of something that they have been taught. He says, don't you know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. And that word, defile, there can also be rendered destroy.

If any man destroy the temple of God, him shall God destroy. So he tells them in this first letter to them, he reminds them, you are the temple of God. And you're the temple of God because God's Spirit dwells in you. But if you destroy the temple of God, then God will have to destroy you. You think about that, temple of God, because of having God's Spirit, and defiling or destroying the temple. If they're the temple of God because God dwells in them through his Spirit, then if God can't, number one, dwell there.

And number two, cannot do a work there, then eventually what purpose is there for having and maintaining it? It ceases to be a temple. It's that simple. If he can't dwell there, if he can't do a work there, then eventually, in the ultimate, what purpose is there for having it, or maintaining it, because it's no longer a temple of God. It ceases to be a temple. So being the temple of God, by the indwelling of God's Spirit, that's the first thing.

The second thing that I'll add to that, how does one progress to the point that they become the temple of God? How does a person progress to the point that they become the temple of God? They do it along a very specific and special avenue. How does one regress? Regress eventually to the point to where they're no longer the temple of God? Well, it involves that same avenue.

And that avenue is a special road that our thoughts travel back and forth on. It's a road of mental and spiritual commerce. The traffic of our life and our thoughts, the commerce of our mental and spiritual thoughts, travel there. And it's the avenue of attitude. That's the second thing I would add in, the first being the temple of God, and the second, the avenue of attitude.

Now, last time I was here, two weeks ago, I spoke on, it is finished, but I'm not. And this subject today ties in very much with the I'm not part. And this whole subject is crucial because, as the saying goes, and it's very true, where the attitude goes, the rest follows. So if you take the temple of God, and you take the avenue of attitude and put them together, you have what I call a temple attitude.

And that's how I title the subject, a temple attitude. A temple attitude. Because as the temple of God, it relates to attitude, there's a relationship, and you talk about attitude, there's a relationship to the temple. Okay, back in verse 16 again. Know you're not that you are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwells in you. We're the temple of God because God's spirit dwells in us. That's what makes us the temple.

But by what means did, again, we progress to a point to where we could be baptized, we could have hands laid upon us and receive God's spirit. Well, it's through that avenue of attitude. And through that avenue of attitude that God helped clean up and helped us open up. There is no doing it totally on our own. And there's no God doing it for us in spite of what we do, just like He cannot repent for us. He can help us in the issue, and He will help us in the issue and the issues.

But He cannot do for us that which we must do for ourself, and that which we must do for ourself, no matter how well we do it, without God's involvement it comes to not. And we all realize that. But it's through the avenue of attitude that God helps clean us up and open us up to receive Him, His spirit, and to become a temple of God. Notice three scriptures in succession along this line. Romans 2 and verse 4. Romans 2. And I do emphasize God's help in the matter. In Romans 2 and verse 4, where He is writing to the spiritual Jews, the Christian converts of the Romans in verse 4 in this letter, He says, "...are despise you the riches of His goodness, His goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that..." And He points this out, the goodness of God leads you to repentance.

God is involved. It's His goodness. Good heart, a good perspective upon what He wants for us, the goodness of God leads you to repentance. It's kind of like leading a horse to drink. Now, you can't make the horse drink, but you can certainly lead it to the water trough and hope that it's thirsty enough it will drink. But the goodness of God leads you to repentance. Acts 11 verse 18 is the second one, the second Scripture of these three here. Acts 11 and verse 18.

Now, this is in the aftermath of God illustrating very clearly through Peter and the vision He was given in Acts 10. That God is opening up the church to the Gentiles. That there will be Gentile converts that will be as much part of the Aclaecia, the church as the Jewish converts. And so in the aftermath of that, this statement is made in verse 18 of Acts 11. And when they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God's saying. Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. He's granted the opportunity among them also. And then if we go to the third Scripture, Acts 5 and verse 31, here in this account in Acts 5, where Peter and the others have told the religious authorities who called Him on the carpet that we ought to obey God rather than men.

That God gives His Spirit to those who obey Him. In verse 31, Him, referencing Christ, has God exalted with His right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. God brings a person to a realization and an awareness of what is clean, what is pure. Oh, you mean there are some things that could be unclean? Absolutely. You mean there are some things that might be impure? Absolutely.

You mean there are things that are clean? Absolutely. There are things that are pure? Absolutely. Brings to an awareness of what is right and what is relevant. Oh, right as opposed to what's wrong? Yes. Relevant versus what's irrelevant. Yeah. What is holy? Yeah. What is sacred? It's just like this day to day. From sunset last night to sunset tonight is holy time.

Well, you can't make time holy. Somebody... There are those who say that. No, I can't. You're right. I can't make time holy. Never have made time holy. I'm not God. God is God. Question is, can He make time holy? Absolutely. He's made time holy. That's why we're here. Because this is His holy Sabbath. It is holy time. But you begin to distinguish. God brings us to these realizations and awareness. God brings us to a point or condition. He works with us.

It takes longer with some than others. But He works with us and He brings us to a point or a condition that can be described as reachable and teachable. To where we're reachable and where we're teachable. The diminishing of God's Spirit and the eventual loss of such involves a reversal. In other words, it's a loss of reachability. It's a loss of teachability. The diminishing of that second part, the avenue of attitude, the deterioration and disintegration of that is prime reason for the scriptural statements that we find in two places. First one is Ephesians 4.30. Ephesians 4. And verse 30. And it reveals something about God's Spirit that must flow with us.

You are the temple of God because God's Spirit dwells in you. So if it ceases to dwell in you, then you cease to be the temple of God. How did God prepare you for it to dwell in you? Through attitude. How does that all get reversed? One way or the other? Through attitude. He tells the Ephesians, he says, Chapter 4, verse 30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.

Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Don't do that which constricts it, constrains its working, diminishes it, puts it under the account of negative conditions to where it starts receding. I would add to that the second scripture is 1 Thessalonians 5.19. Now, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 19.

A little statement of four words, but powerful. Quench not the Spirit. Those two scriptures tell us there is such a spiritual issue or condition of grieving. There is such a spiritual issue or condition of quenching. Nobody in their right spiritual mind wants to grieve God through His Spirit. No one in their right spiritual mind wants to quench the Spirit by which God works with us. But ongoing grieving and ongoing quenching eventually results in total wreckage of this avenue until God through His Spirit can no longer travel it. Titus 1 and verse 15.

Interesting statement here, and it does have to do with that avenue of attitude when you think about it. It has to do with the atmosphere of the mind, the approach, perspective. It has to do with attitude. Titus 1 and verse 15 says, "...to the pure all things are pure, but to them that are defiled." Remember that term, defiling the temple?

"...to them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled." Spiritual survival depends on flow. Just like if a person is lost in the wilderness, so to speak, and they've got to survive, they have got to have at least some measure of water and food.

It may not be enough to thrive on, but they've got to have at least enough to be able to keep going. And they may shed a lot of pounds and get down to like a skeleton before it's over. They can survive in the kind of mode that will reduce them to a skeleton for quite some time. They can survive for a time. Spiritual survival depends on flow, but spiritual thrival depends on full flow. Just like to be a fully fledged, flesh-and-blood human being, healthy, and with good weight and all, they have to have more than just survival level food and drink, don't they? Survival is just hanging on. Thrival is real growth. And the condition of the avenue determines the flow. The condition of the avenue determines whether it is thrival or just barely survival. 1 Corinthians 3, again, and verse 17 again. Paul is established in verse 16. You are the temple because of God's Spirit that dwells in you. That's what makes us the temple of God. And then he says, if any man defile or destroy the temple of God, him shall God destroy because the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. And as I said, if in the ultimate we cease to be the temple of God, then there's no reason to maintain us. Defile. Alexander the Great, and by the way, I think in the world tomorrow, in the last great day, he's going to be referred to as Alexander the Little, or Alexander the Least, but not the Great. I can put it that way for sure. But he was somewhere around, I believe he was 33, 31 or 33, when he died. And the traditions say that when he had conquered the known world, pretty much that he squalled like a baby because there were no more worlds to conquer. That's what tradition says, some histories say. And they also say, I guess he was very depressed because there were no more worlds to conquer the way he saw it, or he'd gone as far as he could, whatever. And he died in a drunken debauch. But he was a young man, no older than my youngest son at this point. But he died, and his empire, the Greco- the Grecian empire, Greco- the Grecian- Greco empire, get it right here- he broke up into four parts. And four generals of his each got a part of the empire. Well, a little bit of time goes along, and the part that had a lot to do with the part of the Middle East that had Jerusalem and Judah in it, there was a little leader that has become famous in history. His name is Anticus. Epiphanes. Rings of El. Most of us have heard that name before, maybe read some about him. But this particular leader of one of those four branches wore it against Judah and Jerusalem and was successful. Around 165 BC, around 165 BC, he went into the physical temple of God, and he slaughtered a swine on the altar and drenched it in swine's blood with the pig on the altar. He defiled the temple with pig blood. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew the Jews' religion. He knew that that was an act of defilement, and he did it specifically for that reason.

The altar represented a connection point, a connecting point. It represented the connecting point with God. The altar represented cleanness, being cleansed, being forgiven through sacrifice, through blood. That's what it represented. This was a deep sacrilege to the holiness of God, to His holy temple. It was an act on His part of severe physical defilement. Now, some of us in here, possibly all of us, but I know some of us are already aware of that particular defilement, Banticus epiphanes. We might be somewhat surprised, but not shocked. Not shocked by what he did, because there was nothing reachable about Antiochus Epiphanes. There was nothing teachable. You couldn't reach him. You couldn't teach him. But, brethren, you and I are reachable and teachable, or certainly supposed to be. Notice 2 Corinthians 6 verses 16 through 18. Here's the second letter to the Corinthians. I, myself, find it interesting that in the first letter, there's quite a bit of emphasis put on them being the temple of God. And in this second letter, there's a pretty strong emphasis also, once again, put on them being the temple of God. In verse 16, 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 16, and what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are. Once again, he's telling them what he told them, and he's adding a little bit more to it. Some additional. But he's reminding them once again, you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them. God says, I will dwell in them, and I will walk in them. And how does he do that? Through his spirit. You are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, wherefore, as a result, and as an admonishment, and a requirement, come out from among them and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. And I will receive you. And then a very powerful, comforting verse, verse 18, and will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord, Almighty. Antiochus, don't bring the unclean into the temple. Sir, don't bring the unclean into the temple. Ma'am, don't bring the unclean into the temple. Eclaecia, don't defile the altar with the unclean. Two scriptures, Isaiah 65 and Isaiah 66, those two chapters. Let's go back there, briefly. Isaiah 65 and Isaiah 66, chronologically, we're dealing chronologically with those chapters, with a time setting that hasn't finished yet, a time setting that is not dry, dusty history, a time setting that applies every bit to our day as much as it has ever applied to any day. And some of the things that are mentioned in these chapters, especially chapter 66, can be dogmatically tied to the conclusion of this age. Don't bring the unclean into the temple. Don't defile the altar with the unclean. Picking it up in verse 1 of chapter 65. Isaiah 65 verse 1. I am sought of them that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought me not. I said, Behold me, behold me to a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people. Verse 2, referencing His people. Verse 1, referencing Gentiles. In verse 2, I have spread out my hands all day to a rebellious people, to Israel, which walks in a way that was not good after their own thoughts, a people that provokes me to anger continually to my face, the sacrifice in gardens and burnt incense. They are religious upon altars of brick, which remain among the graves. They are religious, but there are no living sustenance inside. And large end monuments which eat swine's flesh and broth of abominable things is in their vessels.

Chapter 66 verses 15 through 18.

66 verse 15, for behold, the Lord will come with fire, with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, His rebuke with flames of fire. That's the day of the Lord. That's the time of the seven trumpets. We covered some of that on the day of trumpets. For by fire and by sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, not just Judah, not just Israel, all flesh, the planet, the globe, and the slain of the Lord shall be many.

They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the mist, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouths shall be consumed together, says the Lord. He says, for by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh. When you say swine's flesh and the mouths, you're talking about the globe. You go about as far away from here as you can to the Orient. They don't call it the Orient anymore.

The mouths is the delicacy. Mice are delicacies. You come to the other way, about as far as you can go over here, and everything about the pig is eaten except the oink. They just haven't figured out how to market that yet, as far as I know. These are in-your-face scriptures if you want to defile the temple and defile the altar as the temple of God. See, I know better. I've been made reachable and teachable. I want to remain so.

I want to grow even more so. I want to keep the avenue of attitude wide open. I want to keep the roadblocks off of it. I want to keep the wrecks off of it. I don't want to keep the junk off of it. And that takes constant attention and effort. But some will say, some will say, even in the church, quote, even in the church.

It's a very tiny minority in the church, but some will say, well, it really doesn't matter. It's just food. It's just a physical thing. And it may have a whole list of reasons and excuses why it's okay. And it may even quote scriptures.

And I'm not afraid of the scriptures. They may even quote Romans 14, 17. Let's read it. Romans 14, 17. That's one that sometimes would be quoted. It's just food. It doesn't matter. It's just a physical thing. And don't you remember what Paul wrote to the Romans? In Romans 14, verse 17, Paul said, For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. See, there you go. That covers it. It doesn't matter. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy and the Holy Spirit. And why do they take that whole approach? Because, number one, they're not truly reachable and teachable. Number two, they don't understand what Romans 14, 17 is actually talking about.

And they won't be told. And number three, they have a personal agenda of what they want to do, and they intend to keep on doing it. Now, I will come back to a little extra thought on Romans 14, 17 in a little bit, but I will say this before we move on. And then I will come back with another thought on it later. But what Paul is talking about here is not clean versus unclean.

He's talking basically the difference between vegetarian and meat. If you want to be totally vegetarian, or you want to also eat meat, and also there may be some reference to what was called the shambles, where you could go buy clean meats that had maybe been sacrificed in temples. But the avenue of attitude is absolutely pulled into this, and it's adversely affected. Satan knows and he sees where the avenue has been cleaned up and opened up for God's flow, and he looks for any means to throw junk on it. He looks for any way to slow the flow, hoping eventually to totally bottleneck it.

You know, sometimes the people of God that are at most risk are those who consider that most of the Bible does not have current meaning. 1 Peter 5 and verse 8. Peter's basically an old man by the way. Age, when, at that time? But regardless, probably in his 60s, he knows his time's up. He knows shortly he's going to be martyred. He's not going to die a natural death. He knows that. Christ told him when he was a young man that he would be martyred someday.

And as he is imparting what he's lived and learned and seen and concerned with, he tells the ecclesia in 1 Peter 5.8, he says, Be sober, be vigilant, be alert, be aware because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour. Oh, I'm hungry. I wonder if I can get an arm over here. I wonder if I can get a leg. No? I wonder if I can get a head. He goes for the attitude. He goes for the head like any big cat will do. He goes for the jugglers, we say.

He goes for that avenue because he knows. Where the attitude goes, the rest will follow. No one in here is 100 years old. Now, there's a lady over in Poplar Bluff. If she makes it into December to a certain date, she'll turn 100. But we don't...

We are shy by full representation in here. Our Max is basically the biblical...what I call the biblical lady. That's roughly around that. Max. The one that Peter warned us about, he's been working with humans on scene almost 6,000 years. He's got...by the time we were born, he had a tremendous amount of working experience with humans under his belt. But the God who's eternal, without beginning or end, has seen to it that more than enough proper countermeasures are recorded in his word to exercise as we learn them and are willing to exercise them.

But the devil knows that where the attitude goes, the rest will follow. Let's put another way. Where the attitude goes, the rest has to follow. It has no choice. Satan understands the unspiritual workings of destruction. Keep that avenue sprinkled. Keep it strewn. Keep it stimulated with as many lusts as possible, and you'll eventually have sufficient spiritual shutdown. I knew. I know. Man is still alive. But a member of the church, a member of the Eclaecia years ago, ever so often he would get a hankering for bacon. And he would have, whether he was eating out some place, here his wife was in the church, here his kids were growing up in the church.

And sometimes he would order a side of bacon to go with his eggs or whatever. And he knew better. But he wanted it. That was lust. He wanted it. And that man today has morphed all the way over to where he won't even turn his lights on on the Sabbath.

From one ditch into another ditch. And usually people who are in a ditch are only comfortable with a ditch. They're not comfortable going down the balanced middle of the road. They've got to go into the other ditch. A person cannot play Satan's game and win. They cannot allow him to travel that avenue with him and stay open and close to God. And the more a person allows Satan to be on that avenue of attitude with him, the more God is simply crowded off, closed off. And the more junk that Satan can screw there, the less God can travel it.

A rhetorical question David makes is in Psalm 94 and verse 20. And it speaks to this. It's a rhetorical question. And it speaks to this in Psalm 94 and verse 20. David said, shall the throne of iniquity? What is the throne of iniquity? That's Satan. That's the fallen Lucifer. He says, shall the throne of iniquity shall Satan shall Lucifer have fellowship with you, with you, God? Will you walk with him? It's rhetorical. David knew the answer. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 17. If any man defile or destroy the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Antiochus, Epiphanes also at that time placed a statue of Jupiter Olympus in the temple. He purposely put a false God in the temple, the physical temple of the true God. It was an overt act of idolatry. And again, he knew exactly what he was doing. It is interesting, if I go back to 2 Corinthians 6 verse 16, what I read a little earlier, the very first part of 2 Corinthians 6 verse 16.

See, Paul was well versed. He was a brilliant student. He was well versed with Judah's history and with Antiochus' Epiphanes and with the atrocities in the physical temple. And Paul draws these analogies and these references. And speaking to them as God's current temple with God's Spirit, he says, what agreement has the temple of God with idols?

When Antiochus put a statue of Jupiter Olympus in there, it didn't fit. It was a contradiction. It was a false God. Before the true God, it was an overt act of idolatry. He knew what he was doing. Now, brethren, we wouldn't do that, would we? We would never do what Antiochus did, would we? I mean, we would never bring a false God into the temple and set it up, would we?

We as the temple of God? We individually as the temple of God because God's Spirit was a...we would never bring a false God into the temple and set it up, would we? Well, first of all, would we? Colossians 3 and verse 5. Colossians 3 and verse 5. The very first word says, mortify, which is an old King James word meaning kill. Kill therefore, subdue, diminish, kill. You're members which are upon earth, and it tells you exactly which ones it's talking about. It doesn't leave it to guesswork, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence.

And this last part is what I want to focus on, covetousness, which is idolatry. He says covetousness is idolatry. What is covetousness? It's lust. It's lust. Lust is connected to and with idolatry. Lust is how we latch ourselves to the wrong things, and latching ourselves to the wrong things makes them a guide to us. If I knowingly accept and I knowingly tolerate something wrong in my thinking that I know is wrong and in my upbringing that I know is wrong, if I knowingly accept it and tolerate it, maybe I have something in my thinking and operating that's wrong and I don't know it.

If I'm reachable and teachable, God's going to show it to me. And then I've got a decision to make whether I now will continue now to knowingly accept and tolerate that in my thinking or my operating or rejected. To knowingly accept and tolerate something wrong in our thinking and operating is a form of idolatry.

It brings another God, a false God, into the temple of God before him, and the avenue of attitude is absolutely affected. A temple attitude is being diminished. A temple attitude is being lost. What's connected together? What helps us to connect and be the temple of God by and through having His Spirit is affected. And whatever degree of reachability and teachability there was, it is diminished and it continues to diminish. Something that...you know, we live in a day and an age where you can't address problems because you get on too many toes.

You can't address problems in our society, our nation, because it's not politically correct. How do you solve a problem if you're not allowed to look at the causes? But if the causes are not considered politically correct, you gotta, you know, to address the causes, you gotta stay away from them. Well, you're automatically being blocked out from any solutions. And something that so many times does not recognize is that attitudes and actions can never be separated. You cannot separate attitudes and actions just like a spring, just like a spring with its stream.

You have a spring bubbling up and it produces a little stream that flows from the spring. And over in the Ozarks, there are some pretty big springs that produce not little streams, they can produce creeks. And enough of them produce little small rivers. Actions flow from attitudes and attitudes produce actions. The attitude is a special and crucial avenue. The things we load on it impact it.

Let's go now. We haven't been to 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Corinthians 6, 19, and 20. But in 1 Corinthians 6 now, and again, like I said, Paul puts a lot of emphasis on this. He emphasizes it in both letters. Verses 19 and 20 of chapter 6 of the first letter. What? Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you?

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 or your mind which are God's. Belong to him. When a person, a member of the body of Christ, soaks their flesh and soaks their mind in alcohol. They have an idol in the temple. When a person soaks their flesh and their mind in alcohol, they have an idol in the temple. I am not talking about God's allowance for moderate drinking.

There is that allowance in his word. But I'll read the words of in this same chapter here, verses 9 and 10. Paul says beginning in verse 9 of this chapter, Don't you know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?

Don't be deceived! Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. In that list of those who will not be in the kingdom of God are drunkards. Now, I said I would add another thought to what Paul wrote to the Romans when he says the kingdom of God is not food and drink.

What is alcohol and getting drunk drinking it if it's not drink? It is drink. Like I said, Paul wasn't talking about the issue of clean versus unclean back there. It was a totally different subject. He's not going to say in one place, Oh, don't worry about what you eat and drink. You just eat anything you want. You drink anything you want or however much you want because that doesn't matter. That's not the kingdom of God. Here he says you drink too much, you won't be in the kingdom. So obviously, he is not putting a carte blanche on off food and drink no matter what, no stipulations.

He's talking about a very specific subject back there that is not clean versus unclean he's dealing with. But again, that takes looking at it in context and being reachable and teachable. But here he says, nor drunkards. Notice he goes on to say, and such were some of you. Say they'd repented. He had all kinds in front of him who had repent. They weren't practicing those things anymore as such. When you fill your fiber, when you transfer through the bloodstream to every cell in your body, nicotine, you have brought an idol into the temple. Period. When you take nicotine throughout your body as it does go to all your cells, you have brought an idol into the temple.

In our society, marijuana is very acceptable to many young people. And even too many of my generation, the Baby Boomers, the first druggie generation, marijuana is acceptable. We are aware of that. We have two states. There will be more to fall in time. It could be another one, but I'm only aware of Washington State and Colorado right now that have legalized marijuana. Marijuana really incorporates the aspects of excess alcohol and the smoking. It's a combination of the two because the whole purpose for smoking marijuana is to get stoned. I've never smoked it, never wanted to, and never will. I never was tempted. I cared too much about my mind and all, and my health.

But from the very first puff on, you start getting stoned. Not to mention, if somebody came to me and said, Mr. Bing, you think we shouldn't use marijuana? That's right. I think we should not. Absolutely not. Well, I don't see it that way. It doesn't harm. It's not harmful. It doesn't hurt anything. I'm not going to waste my time talking to the person because in this day and age of internet, anybody that wants to be reachable and teachable has an open mind. They can go to the internet.

They can read, and they'll find that it's a greater poison even physically to the body. It's a greater poison to the body even than nicotine. But there's more to it than just that. What it does to the mentality, what it does to the psychology over time, not to mention it is first and foremost drunkenness. And you might be surprised we have any number of young people in the church who don't see anything that wrong with it. Now, hopefully that's a minority, but it is some.

And what I'm talking about today is a temple attitude which I don't require of you. I don't require it of me. God requires it. And I want to obey God, so therefore, because God requires it of me and of us, we should require it of ourselves. You know, to accept and tolerate something with ourselves that we know is wrong is a form of idolatry. They're idols in the temple.

And obviously, sometimes it takes time to get the temple cleaned out. It takes time. It's a growth process. It's an overcoming process. You know, you don't just sweep things clean all at once. It takes time. God knows that. But do you have a broom in your hand? Or are you sweeping? Or are you trying to clean? Or does he say, oh, they're just absolutely accepting it. Now, those examples are just simply clear, simple and clear examples, easy to understand.

You know, to the reachable and the teachable. And there are obviously other examples. Again, in this same chapter here, Chapter 6, where we are, in 15 and 16, verses 15 and 16. And again, like I said, Paul put quite a bit of an emphasis on this. He says, don't you know, verse 15, don't you know that your bodies are the members of Christ?

You know, you've been baptized into Christ. Don't you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid. What? Don't you know that which is joined to a harlot is one body in that sexual act?

For two says he shall be one flesh. Why is Paul emphasizing so many of the things he's emphasizing? Because Corinth was one of the sin cities of that world. You could get anything in Corinth. Everything was accessible. The converts of Corinth came out of the society around them. They came out of that world. And guess what was part of that world?

Temples with temple prostitutes. And how they practiced some of those false religions that included time with a temple prostitute as part of the religious rite. Would Paul be emphasizing this so strongly? If none of these were maybe slipping up, slipping back in to some of that stuff, knowing human nature, knowing human weaknesses, doing cracks in the character, chronic problems that have to be overcome, I suspect that some... Hey, where are you going today? You going to services?

No, I'm going to go...I think I'm going to go visit the temple. I haven't been down there in a long time. I think I'm going to go down there today. Well, you shouldn't. You've been cleaned up from that. Yeah, but this one time, if I only do it once every two years, that won't hurt. Why does Paul address certain things unless they need addressing?

Years ago, and I have mentioned this before in a sermon or two, years ago, it was brought to my attention that one of our baptized members of the congregation was giving... I'll just say, giving street walkers business. He was doing the very thing that the Apostle Paul in verses 15 and 16 here said, you don't do it. So I confronted him about it. You know what he basically said to me? He didn't deny he was doing it.

Mr. Vane, you've got to understand, when I am with him, I'm preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God to them. Let's see, is that before your business, during your business, or after your business, or all through the whole affair? He had lost his reachability and his teachability so bad, it had just about shut down the avenue of attitude completely with him, and he was very rapidly ceasing to be, in any sense, the temple of God. Well, I took the action that I knew was expected by Jesus Christ my head of me.

And I will say, X amount of time went on. And the day came that he came to his spiritual senses and he got back on track, which I was glad for that. Very happy about that outcome. The opportunity for God to dwell in us is connected to attitude. The depth of dwelling is connected to it. The road to becoming the temple of God is connected to it. Remaining the temple of God is connected to it. That avenue has to be kept open and clear. We have to give it due diligence. I will close with this Scripture back in Proverbs. It's Proverbs 4 and verse 23.

Proverbs 4 and verse 23. Oftentimes, the word heart used in the Bible can also be synonymous with attitude. Proverbs 4 and verse 23. Keep your heart with all diligence, can also be rendered, keep your heart above all keeping. A real top-notch priority.

Really emphasized. Keep your heart, your attitude with all diligence, above all keeping. Because out of it are the issues of life. So important to maintain a temple attitude to remain a temple of God's Spirit.