A Temple Attitude

Peace. Go with me to a very familiar and good scripture in 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 16.

No, you not. To you and me the others like us. He asks the question, as he asks the Corinthians here. We read it for ourselves there. It applies to us as well. No, you not. That you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. You are the temple of God, the temple of God, where the Spirit of God dwells in you. And then look at verse 17. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. You and I, and the ones that Paul was writing to specifically with this letter, which again applies to all of God's people who have his Spirit, you are the temple of God. But if you defile it, he'll destroy that temple. Now, think about this. If I'm to be the temple of God, and it's because the God's Spirit is there, and I defile it, why does he destroy it? Why would he destroy it? Well, if God can't dwell there, and he can't do a work there, then eventually what purpose is there for having and maintaining it?

It's kind of like an empty building that you can't use anymore.

And it just kind of runs down, and eventually it has to be condemned and torn down.

The temple of God, because of God's Spirit, that dwells there in us. And if any man defile, or actually that word defile also can mean destroy. If any man defiled or destroyed the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are, but if it's defiled and you destroy it, since the temple is where God wants to dwell, and he can't dwell there anymore, he can't do a work there, then eventually, again, what purpose is there for having and maintaining it? It ceases to be a temple. So then you start thinking along those lines, and you think, well, how does one progress to the point that they become the temple of God?

Okay, once you are the temple of God, and God is dwelling there, and you're to maintain it as a temple of God, so he can dwell there, so he can continue to dwell there, and continue to do a work there, and that's the purpose. Well, how did you progress to the point that you become the temple of God? You do it along a very specific and special avenue. How does one regress eventually to the point to where they're no longer the temple of God? If you progress along a certain avenue to become it, then is it possible that you could regress along that same avenue in order to come to the point that you're no longer the temple of God? The same avenue is involved, and that avenue is a specific road that your thoughts travel back and forth on. It's the road, you could say, a road or the road, either way, of mental and spiritual commerce. The traffic of your life flows there. It's the road, or it's the avenue of attitude. It's the avenue of attitude, it's that avenue, it's that road, and that whole subject, this whole subject is so crucial because where the attitude goes, the rest follows. Now, when I talk about temple and progressing to the point where you become the temple of God, where God's Spirit dwells, and that there's an avenue along which you travel to get to that point, which is also the same avenue that you could start regressing on and start destroying and losing yourself as the temple of God, if I take temple and attitude and put it together, and this is what I would like you to title the subject, a temple attitude, a temple attitude, because it is both through the attitude that you arrive at that point through the progression of things, and it's through attitude that you could lose it, and progressing along properly in attitude brings you to that temple point and keeps you there. See, again, verse 16, you are the temple of God because the Spirit of God dwells in you. That's what makes us the temple of God. God is Spirit, and God is holy. He's actually composed of Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit isn't a person. It's Spirit, it's power, it's God's composition, it's God's mind, it's what God is composed of. It's His power. Christ is composed of it. The Father is. They're the two intelligences, specific beings. But as the Scripture says, God is Spirit, and it says He is holy. He is Holy Spirit. He is composed of Holy Spirit. That's what goes forth from Him. That's what He has perfect control over and sends forth. He sends forth His energy, His power. He brings us to a point where He can actually plant part of Himself, His portion through Christ, in us. And when He does that, we become a temple. We become His temple. By what means did we progress to the point to where we could be baptized? To where we could have hands laid on us and receive the Holy Spirit?

It was through this avenue of attitude that God helped clean up and open up. He helped clean it up and opened it up. He helped do that with us. If you notice, three verses in this discussion, the first is Romans 2.4. Romans 2.4.

Just breaking into the thought, but it still brings us something very clearly.

Or, it defies you the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you. It's based on the goodness of God. He's motivated by a goodness toward us. It leads you to repentance. It can't do the repenting for us. It can't make us repent. It can't be it for us. We have to repent, but He leads us to repentance. He leads us to it. He has to be in the process leading and helping us along the way. And then, speculately, you add to that Acts 11.18. Acts 11 and verse 18. And again, breaking into the context, but something here that just stands clearly on its own. When they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God's saying, then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance to life. He's granted them opportunity. He's granted them knowledge. He's granted them understanding. He's opened their minds. He's given unto the Gentiles, specifically among the Gentiles, the ones He would choose to call at this time. He's made possible repentance in their lives. And He's helped them with that repentance. Can't do it for them. Can't do it totally for them, but can provide for them assistance and help the ingredients, the components that are necessary for that to take place.

And then in Acts 5.31, the third one, Acts 5.31, again, breaking into the context here, Him has God referencing Christ. Him has God exalted with His right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance to Israel, to provide that, to provide the opportunity, to provide what goes along to make that possible, and forgiveness of sins.

See, God brought you and me to a realization and an awareness. In this progressing along that avenue, God brought you and me to a realization and awareness of what is clean, of what is pure, of what is right, of what is relevant, what is holy, and what is sacred.

God brought you and me to a point or condition that can be described as reachable and teachable.

He brought us along to that point, helped us along, supported us, encouraged us, inspired us, gave us knowledge, gave us understanding, gave us support and help, to a condition that can be described as reachable and teachable.

The diminishing of God's Holy Spirit and the eventual loss of such involves a reversal of this.

It involves a loss of reachability and teachability. The diminishing of this avenue of attitude, the deterioration, the disintegration of the object is prime reason for the scriptural statements of Ephesians 4.30, 1st, and then 1st Thessalonians 5.19, 2nd. Ephesians 4 and verse 30.

Where it says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption. Grieve not. It doesn't say that once you do something on that avenue of attitude that's a regression, that you automatically lose all God's Spirit. No, you don't. But you grieve God's Spirit. You do diminish. You do affect your content of it negatively.

It's a little bit heavier situation, a little bit longer, farther along on the point of diminishment and loss, obviously. It's a heavier situation in 1st Thessalonians 5.19 that's mentioned. 1st Thessalonians 5 and verse 19. Now, here in Ephesians, it says, don't grieve it. Don't grieve it.

And I dare say there's not a human being alive, and I'm speaking strictly of the firstfruits, those called and chosen in this age. I dare say there's not a one of us as the first fruit of God who hasn't at some point caused grief to God, caused grief to His Spirit, caused grief to that connection with God, to where we've done something, thought something, done something, operated in a way that has brought a little bit of grief.

I don't think there's one of us that hasn't. At least in some measure, maybe at one time or another, grieved God's Spirit. And, of course, God is very merciful. He doesn't yank it away. He works with us. He gives us opportunity because He does want us to be in His Kingdom. But notice what this says here in 1 Thessalonians 5.19, quench not the Spirit. That's a lot heavier. That is a lot heavier.

I mean, it's one thing to grieve it. It's another thing to quench it. It means you've got a fire burning and you quench the fire, you put it out. And, of course, we know there are scriptures in the Bible that warn very severely, strongly, against quenching God's Spirit. Now, you haven't quenched God's Spirit. For one thing, if you had, you wouldn't be here. You haven't quenched God's Spirit. So there's a difference between the grieving and the quenching. Grieving that grows more and more constant and continuous and heavier and heavier and heavier and heavier does lead to quenching. It's like beginning to put some water on a fire. You don't put enough on the fire to put it out, but you keep adding more, keep putting more water, keep putting more. Eventually, the fire is out. The same with craving God's Spirit. Eventually, it results in total wreckage of this avenue until God, through His Spirit, can no longer travel it. They can no longer be there and flow. Titus 1 in verse 15 actually speaks to this. Titus 1 in verse 15 says, "...to the pure, all things are pure. But to them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled." And it eventually comes to that.

Now, we carry God's Spirit every day. We have God's Spirit. But as we know, we have to have a continual flow of God's Spirit from God to us. We are not spiritually self-sufficient unto ourselves.

There's a spiritual receptor in us. We have the begannel of God's Spirit. It must be nurtured. It must be fed. God's Spirit must flow. We have to have daily contact with God. We understand that.

Spiritual survival depends on flow. That flow must be there. Spiritual survival depends on flow.

Spiritual thrival, where you're really thriving, depends on full flow. Survival is just hanging on. And again, it can be fairly common for any true Christian of God. Remember the Body of Christ? They have a period in their life where they feel like, I'm just hanging on by my fingernails. I'm just barely hanging on. And if that's all it is at the time, don't lose that. You're hanging on. You're just surviving. But thrival is real growth. That's where you really grow and develop and really move along into how and what God wants you to be. And the condition of the avenue determines the flow. It's just like traveling down a road, an avenue road. If it's a road with good, smooth pavement and you can just flip right along, that's one thing. But if it's a road that's filled with potholes, broken pavement, cracks, and you're having to go slow and then stop and move around this and move around that, and you can't do very much traveling, certainly not very fast, down a road like that. You do. You're going to break something on the vehicle. Now, 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. I'll just read it again. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 17. If any man defile, and again that word defile there can simply be translated, destroy. If any man defile or destroy the temple of God. And it's talking about the person himself or herself as the temple of God. It's not talking about you destroying some other temple. It's the reference is very personal. Ponketh has said, if any man, if any one of you destroy yourself as the temple of God, then God has no choice but to destroy you someday in the lake of fire, into smoke and ashes. Because there's no reason or purpose for not doing so because you're no longer connected to God. You're no longer His residence. You're no longer the temple of God. So that's why He gives this strong warning, if any man defile the temple of God, Him shall God destroy because the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. Now we do analogies. We do metaphors. We go back and forth. We parallel between the physical things that God has given us as examples, as illustrations, as points to the spiritual, which are the eternal realities. There was a physical temple of God. It was physical. Of course, today there's not a temple of God at this point. The temple of God was destroyed, then revealed, and then destroyed again. Physical building. And for eternity, of course, there will not be a physical temple of God for eternity. It's for a period of time during this temporary time of matter. But, and of course, there's one more to be built in Jerusalem at some point ahead of us here. But the spiritual temple of God is designed for eternity. Let's take the physical temple because, again, even in Scripture, even with what Paul is doing here and in other places, the analogies are drawn. And in his day and time, if you said the temple of God, at least the Jews would automatically think of Herod's temple at Jerusalem. Of course, the analogy is drawn because the physical is a type of the spiritual. Somewhere around 165 BC Antiochus Epiphanes slaughtered a swine upon the altar of God in the temple of God. He slaughtered a swine upon the altar of God in the temple of God in Jerusalem. He purposely, specifically, defiled the altar, the temple, with pig's blood.

Now, again, by way of analogies and all, the altar in the temple represented a connection point with God. It represented a connecting point. It was a connecting point with God. That's what it represented. And it represented cleanness. It represented being cleansed. It represented being forgiven. It represented that through sacrifice, through blood. It represented those things. So this was a deep sacrilege to the holiness of God, to His holy temple. It was an act of severe defilement. And it was meant to be. That's what He wanted it to be, Antiochus Epiphanes, when He did that to the holy temple. It was an act of severe defilement.

And we might be somewhat surprised. We, you know, are not shocked, maybe, because Antiochus, there was nothing about him that was reachable and teachable. Of course, it was a shocker to the Jews. But they couldn't really do anything about it because they were conquered.

They couldn't do anything about it. But He was not reachable. He was not teachable with any of the Jewish traditions or any of God's ways that were practiced by the Jews. But you and I are. You're reachable. You're teachable. We're reachable. We're teachable. Or we're certainly supposed to be. I'll pick it back up in verse 16 again in 1 Corinthians 3.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? And those who don't have God's Spirit dwelling in them yet are still on the road or the avenue that must be traveled to come to that point someday. And as they're traveling along that road being led to that point, it's God's Spirit working with them, even as Christ had told Peter and the others, the Holy Spirit, which is with you, shall be in you. If any man defile the temple of God, and obviously this is referencing, obviously, where a person has progressed to the point where they have truly become the temple of God because God's Spirit is dwelling there in them, and they destroy that residence of God's Spirit, grieving it, grieving it, eventually quenching it to where God no longer in any sense resides there, can't do anything there.

Him shall God destroy for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. Verse 18, let no man deceive himself. Let no man deceive himself.

Actually, I want to switch right here and go over to 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 16.

Let's go over to 2 Corinthians 6.

2 Corinthians 6 and verse 16. And what agreement has the temple of God? Don't you think about this?

He may do the analogy to the physical temple, but he's talking about the spiritual temple.

And what agreement has the temple of God, which temple you are, with idols?

He connects idols with it. For you are the temple, you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

That's a very encouraging statement that also points out the reality of where we're all going to wind up as we progress along an attitude that brings us to the point that we can be the temple of God. And in that sense, I call it the temple attitude because it's the attitude that brings us along to the point where we can become the temple of God. And we process ourselves in a way that we remain the temple of God. I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Notice verse 17 here. We are for to come out from among them and be you separate. There are numerous ways in which you have to draw a separation between you and what's going on around us in order not to be contaminated by it, in order not to take on. I mean, in our day and age, we have to do separations, our perspectives, our attitudes, our concepts, the way we say things or respond. We have to separate ourselves so many times and so many ways from the things around us. It's like I'm not accepting of gayism, and I won't be. I'm not accepting of homosexuality. I'm not accepting of training. If a person says, if a woman says to me, I'm a man, I'm not going to lie by saying, yes, ma'am, you're a man. I'm not accepting of that. I've got a step rate. Now, I've gone on record of saying, if somebody came to me and said, look, I'm gay, I hate it, I hate the lifestyle, I'm trying to come out of it, will you help me come out of it? I'll do everything I can to help them come out of it. They come to me and say, I'm gay, I'm proud of it, what you gonna do about it? Nothing. I'm not gonna have anything to do with you, period. And I won't. I won't have anything to do with them. I won't sanction it. I won't accept it. No separation from those things. I will be their God and they should be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclaimed thing. Two men say, we're getting married.

Would you do the ceremony? No. We're getting married. Will you come to our wedding? No.

We'll not be apart. Touch not the unclaimed thing. I just use that as an example because, frankly, by God's law, that's clear cut. Touch not the unclaimed thing.

And I will receive you. And if you do that, okay, verse 18, and will be a father unto you. And you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. If you will do these things, and of course, if you'll be my temple and if you'll remain as my temple, you're going to wind up being truly, in every sense of the word, my sons and my daughters, fully, eternally, and I'll be your father. To put it into the vernacular, don't bring the unclean into the temple. Antiochus Epiphanes brought a pig and slaughtered it on the altar.

Don't bring the unclean into the temple. Don't defile the altar with the unclean. It is interesting, and again, I just use this to make the points. If we go back to Isaiah, in Isaiah 65, in the light of what Antiochus Epiphanes did, in Isaiah 65, verses 1-7, just read through this rather quickly, and more and more were seeing that in our nation.

These are a smoke in my nostril, in my nose, a fire that burns all the day. Behold, as it is written before me, I will not keep silence, but will even recompense into their bosom. Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together, spes the Lord, which have turned, burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills. Therefore will I measure their former work to their bosom. But it's interesting, verse 4, which ate swine flesh.

And this is right here towards the end of Isaiah, and if you look at chapter 66, the last chapter, verses 15-18, For behold, the Lord will come with fire. Talking about the second coming of Jesus Christ, the day of the Lord, with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the flame of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine flesh, which is so, so intrinsic to Western democracies, to the West, and to Europe, in particular, and the mouths, which is so intrinsic to the Asiatic areas of the world, shall be consumed together, says the Lord. For I know their works and their thoughts, that shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see My glory. Again, you think about the physical temple, the defilement with pig's blood, and you think about the spiritual temple, and choosing to defile the spiritual temple with something that in God's sight is still to this day unclaimed. See, I know better. I've been made reachable and teachable. I want to remain so, and to grow even more so, and 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 want to keep the jocks off of it. I want to try to keep them getting potholes in it, and that takes constant attention and effort. But I've heard some say, well, it really doesn't matter. It's just food. It's just a physical thing.

And they have a whole list of reasons and excuses, and they may even quote scriptures such as, well, you know, Romans 14, 17 says, the kingdom of God is not food and drink.

They misapply that scripture. They misuse it because when it says the kingdom of God is not food and drink, it doesn't mean then it doesn't matter what you eat, it doesn't matter what you drink. We are eating and drinking ourselves into our graves in this day and age. And if you look around even at the health conditions of Americans reaching down, we expect as we get older to have certain issues to have to deal with.

That just seems to be the nature of matter and all, and we understand that. But even down to the youngest anymore, the issues and the problems we're having. And if we have church members who say, well, you know, it's just food and drink, it doesn't matter if I eat this or eat that or drink this or do that because, you know, the kingdom of God is not food and drink. Again, understanding what Paul was really talking about there is important.

There are certain things that I won't eat because I know they're going to shorten my life. Or they're going to mean that even if it doesn't shorten my life, it's going to affect my ability to serve others starting with Angela and three congregations. It's just certain things I won't either do because I know they're not good for me.

And as God's temple and an instrument in His hands, I want to be careful to try to do that which will promote energy, which will try to promote health and longevity of life. But I'll come back to that thought in a little bit. But when people will go to Scripture sometimes like that and they will focus in on, well, the kingdom of God is not food and drinks, so it doesn't really matter what you do, you have to begin to question how reachable and teachable are they? How reachable and teachable are they? Do they not understand what that Scripture is really dealing with and they won't be told or explained?

They won't listen to what it is about? Do they have a personal agenda of what they want to do and keep on doing and intend to keep on doing? Well, what happens is the avenue of attitude gets pulled into this and it becomes adversely affected. See, Satan knows and sees where that avenue has been cleaned up. He knows and sees where it's been opened up for God's flow and he can see. See, Spirit can see Spirit and he can see where that flow is.

He can see it and he looks for any means to put junk on that avenue. He looks for any way to slow the flow hoping eventually to totally bottleneck it. And when it talks about Satan as you know the roaring lion walking around, sticking whom he made devour, he goes for the head. He goes for the attitude. He starts trying to mess that up. He goes for that avenue because he knows, again, the saying where the attitude goes, the rest will follow.

Where it goes, the rest has to follow. It has no choice. He understands the unspiritual working of destruction and he wants to keep that avenue sprinkled and strewn and stimulated with as many lusts as possible because those are distractions and they are diversions and they are obstacles and they are roadblocks and they are potholes because he knows eventually there will be sufficient spiritual shutdown. A person can't play his game and win. They can't. They can't travel that avenue with him and stay open to God. And the more a person allows Satan to be on that avenue, the more God is closed out, the more he is limited.

It's just like that water line that I had to replace. I want to tell you what, if you saw the way that pipe looked inside that old galvanized line that was, I don't know, 50 years old or whatever, first of all, you'd wonder how did I have the amount of water pressure in the house I did have with all the blockage that was inside that pipe. And secondly, you'd think, I'm sure glad I wasn't drinking that. I mean, it was about half closed off from all the buildup and the junk and the rust and everything inside that pipe.

The more junk Satan can screw there, the less God can travel it. Notice Psalm 94, verse 20. Psalm 94.

Okay, you are the temple of God. You have God's Spirit. God dwells there through His Spirit.

There's a flow going on along the avenue of attitude. The kind of attitude that has progressed, allowed progression to the point of becoming the temple of God. And the kind of attitude that allows you to maintain is the temple of God. And God's having fellowship with you. Verse 20, Psalm 94.

Now first of all, what would the throne of iniquity be?

Who is the chief iniquitor? Who is the chief one of iniquity? As Satan.

He has the throne. He's the God of this world. That right there is a reference to Satan.

Because the chief one of iniquity, who sits on a throne, David writes, shall the throne of iniquity, or in other words, shall Satan have fellowship with you, with you, God? Of course not. It's a rhetorical statement. He says, that throne of iniquity, which frames mischief by law, who simply, constantly, continuously, corrupts, constantly, continuously frames mischief. Just like a law, like it's a force within him, that he's self-generated, he can't stop himself, he is so given over to corruption and sin, he's got to do it. Shall that kind of throne of iniquity have fellowship with you?

It's a rhetorical question because the answer is obvious. No. No.

Well, to what degree can we afford to allow ourselves to have fellowship with it? In 1 Corinthians 17, I'm not going to turn back there, but again, that word defile.

Antiochus Epiphanes also placed a statue of Jupiter Olympus in the temple, a false god in the physical temple of the true god. It was a very open act of idolatry.

You know, first of all, he slaughtered a pig on the altar. Then he set up this idol, this specific idol in the temple. Remember what we read in 2 Corinthians 6, 16?

See, part of our ability to grow, to develop, to connect the dots is to be able to see what the lessons are in the physical for our use in the spiritual realm.

Talking to the spiritual temples of God, these men and women of God, these members of the body of Christ in Corinth, the first fruits that were there in the Corinthian church, like unto us.

And what agreement, verse 16, and what agreement has the temple of God, which you are, with idols? With idols.

But now, none of us would ever do what Antiochus did, would we? I mean, he set up an idol in the physical temple of God. I mean, we would never bring a false god into ourselves as the temple and set it up, would we? Or would we? Colossians 3, verse 5. Colossians 3.

And verse 5 says, Mortifier, kill therefore your members which are upon the earth. And very specifically, you know, chose what's on, part of what's on that list. That's all flameth. Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil, compute, and then he says covetousness, which is idolatry.

If I give in to coveting, if I start coveting, if there is something that I covet, start coveting, I'm the same as opening the doors of the temple, bringing in an idol and setting it up in myself as the temple of God. I'm setting up an idol in myself because that's what covetousness is. Let's say I, whatever it would be that I would covet and I don't repent of that, I'm allowing an idol to be in the temple of God. Covetousness is lust. Lust is connected to idolatry. Lust is how we latch ourselves to the wrong things.

Latching ourselves to the wrong things makes them a guide unto us. It can be a person.

It can be a thing. It can be a substance. It could even be an attitude.

Something that, on the one hand, is that intangible but can have very tangible.

Somebody could make themselves be a guide in their own eyes. Somebody could even make themselves be an idol unto themselves. But whatever it is, it's introducing an idol into the temple of God. And 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 so that avenue of attitude is absolutely affected. There's no way to avoid it being affected. And whatever degree of reachability and teachability there was, well, it's diminished, and it will continue to diminish. And if it's not hit it off, eventually it will wind up being a quenching situation. See, here's one of the things that's true about all of our operations.

Attitudes and actions can never be separated. Attitudes and actions can never be separated.

Just like a spring with its stream that flows from that spring, actions flow from attitudes. And attitudes produce actions. The attitude is a special and crucial avenue, and the things we load on it do impact it. Back in 1 Corinthians, this time in chapter 6, verses 19 and 20, the attitude again is a special and crucial avenue, and the things we load on it impact it. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20.

What? Again, I mean, look at the emphasis more than once in these letters to the Corinthian brethren. What? No, you're not. 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 are bought with a price. Now, notice the remainder of verse 20, specifically what it says, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit or your mind.

Both. It's not just the spiritual realm, it's not just the realm of the spirit or the mind, it's also the realm of the body, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's, which belong to Him. When a person soaks their flesh and their mind with alcohol, they're bringing an idol into the temple. Now, I might pause there and back up in chapter 6 here, 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 10, talking about those who will not inherit the kingdom of God. It says, North Aids, North Tebets, North Drunkards.

Now, revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Now, wait a minute. I thought that Romans 14, 17 said that the kingdom of God is not in food and drink. Beer and wine and hard liquor, for instance, that's drink.

So, you can't... it doesn't matter how much alcohol you drink.

Okay, if the kingdom of God is not in food and drink and alcohol is drink, well, it doesn't matter. Well, then why is Paul condemning those who don't use it properly?

In saying that if you're a drunkard, if you're soaking your flesh and mind in alcohol, you're a drunkard, you're not going to be in the kingdom of God? Well, that sounds like, hmm, you didn't remain the temple of God. You defiled the temple, you destroyed the temple, you brought in... you brought an idol into the temple. And that's what a person is doing.

And if they're reachable and teachable, you can get that across to them and they can use it wisely and properly or not use it at all. Well, when you fill your fiber, your cells with nicotine, you're bringing an idol into the temple.

When you puff on the marijuana, you're bringing an idol into the temple.

You have an idol. See, these messages that are sprinkled in the Bible, you start connecting the dots and you start putting things together. For those who are reachable and teachable, it becomes very clear what it means to keep the temple clean and pure and holy so God can be there.

And like I said, there's not a one of us who hasn't at one time or another done some measure of grieving, giving God grief, grieving God's Spirit, but you haven't quenched it or you wouldn't be here. But eventually it leads to quenching if that avenue is not cleaned up and cleared properly. So there's good strong flow of God's Spirit. But to accept and tolerate something with one's staff that we know is wrong, that's a form of idolatry. Those are idols in the temple.

And again, these are simple and clear examples. They're easy to understand, especially to the reachable and teachable. And they're obviously others. But a lot of times we pick those examples that are easy to understand because it helps to not just make the point, but give us a good framework or springboard to spring off of into deeper understanding. And they're obviously others. Look at 1 Corinthians 6 again, verses 15 and 16. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 15 and 16.

Know you not that your bodies are the 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 he which is joined to a harlot is one body, produced as he shall be one flesh? Don't have those wrong sexual relations.

It's amazing what you can run into with people, how they can kid themselves, go into a type of denial.

It was brought to my attention one time a situation that needed addressing that one of the church members, a man, a baptized member of the church who theoretically is the temple of God, was giving business to the hookers down in the red light district. And I took a deacon with me and I went to his house and I confronted him about it. And I didn't let him dodge it and he admitted, yeah, yeah, that's what he was doing.

And you know how he excused himself? He said, but when I'm with him, I'm preaching the kingdom of God to him. I kid you not. I know it's classic, but you'd be surprised what I've run into in his thing over the years, in these 50 years. When I'm with him, giving them his business, I'm preaching the kingdom of God to them. How far into denial can you get with something that's not good enough? I had to... his fellowshiping?

He wasn't even of a mind to even be reachable at that point.

My understanding eventually, of course, has left that area. And my understanding is that he did, later, come to his senses, as we say, and repented, and he got back on track. And I surely hope that he did. I hope that that was the outcome. The opportunity for God to dwell on us is connected to attitude. The depth of that dwelling is connected to attitude. The road to becoming the temple of God is connected to attitude. Remaining the temple of God is connected to attitude. And that avenue of attitude has got to be kept open and clean. Give it due diligence.

I will close with this scripture in Proverbs 4, 23. Proverbs 4, in verse 23, because it has attitude connection. It's an attitude scripture, keep your heart, keep your mind, keep your attitude, keep your motivations with all diligence. For out of it are the issues of life so crucial to maintain a temple attitude.