https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/TempleOfTheLord.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: II Corinthians 6:14-7:1<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. What is a temple?<\/p>\n A. In warning Christians not to bind themselves with unbelievers, Paul reminds us\nthat we are the temple of God – II Corinthians 6:16\n
1. It is the place where God dwells – I Corinthians 3:16<\/p>\n
2. Both on an individual scale as well as the church – Ephesians 2:19-22<\/p>\n
B. This is not to say that God is contained within us – I Kings 8:27-29<\/p>\n
1. God’s name is there<\/p>\n
2. It is something that belongs to God – I Corinthians 6:19<\/p>\n
C. It is the place where worship is brought before God<\/p>\n
1. In the Old Testament it was a single physical place<\/p>\n
2. But in the New Testament it changed – John 4:21-24<\/p>\n
D. God’s temple today is the church because <\/p>\n
1. God is there – Matthew 18:20<\/p>\n
2. God’s name is there. We belong to God<\/p>\n
3. God is worshiped there<\/p>\n
E. God’s temple is also each individual Christian<\/p>\n
1. Because God is there<\/p>\n
2. God’s name is there<\/p>\n
3. God is worshiped there<\/p>\n
II. God told us to learn from the Old Testament – I Corinthians 10:11<\/p>\n
A. The idea of a temple was borrowed from the Old Law, so what can we learn<\/p>\n B. As Israel slid into decay and the Babylonian empire began taking captives, the\nprophet Ezekiel was invited to see what was going on at God’s temple\n
III. The corruption of God’s Temple<\/p>\n
A. The idol of jealousy – Ezekiel 8:3-6<\/p>\n 1. The temple was composed several U-shaped courtyards. Ezekiel is\ndeposited in the inner court, next to the temple, by the north gate.\n 2. Being told to look north, through the gate, he sees the idol of jealousy – an\nidol that provokes God to jealousy\n
3. Consider the position<\/p>\n
a. As people come to worship at the altar, it is the first thing seen.<\/p>\n
b. As people leave it is the last thing seen.<\/p>\n c. Those looking toward the temple, don’t see God, they see the idol\nbecause it blocks the view of God’s dwelling.\n 4. God declares that its presence makes Him want to leave, but He forebears\nfor the moment.\n
5. The application:<\/p>\n a. Though we are the temple of the living God, we erect idols of\njealous before our temple\n b. Things that come before God. Things that dominate our lives, on\nwhich we place greater importance.\n c. Notice that the idol is not named. It isn’t just one particular thing\nthat comes between the believer and his God.\n d. Our work can provoke God to jealousy. It can be a higher priority\nin our lives. Instead of making work fit around more important\nthings, we try to fit what should be more important around our\nwork.\n
e. It can be school, sports, social activities<\/p>\n
f. It can be addictive substances<\/p>\n
g. It can be personal wants and desires<\/p>\n h. We’re supposed to belong to God, but we give our residence over\nto other things, provoking God to jealousy\n
B. Hidden idols – Ezekiel 8:7-12<\/p>\n 1. Remember this is a vision. God tells Ezekiel to dig through the wall of the\ncourtyard and there he discovers more idolatry.\n 2. It might be hidden from others, but God sees – Isaiah 29:15; Jeremiah\n23:24\n 3. As shocking as the idolatry is, more shocking is who is involved – the\nelders of Israel\n a. The very leaders of Israel are involved in idolatry, thinking they\ncan hide it.\n b. They are convinced that God doesn’t see it or He doesn’t care\nbecause they decided that God has abandoned them\n
4. Yet it is their sins that are driving a wedge between them and God<\/p>\n
a. Psalms 10:4, 11 – It is a mistake of judging time from man’s view<\/p>\n
b. Psalms 94:7-11 – But God does know<\/p>\n
c. People just think God is like them – Psalms 50:21-22<\/p>\n
5. The application<\/p>\n
a. Secret idols are widespread – pornography, sex, drugs, drinking<\/p>\n
b. We somehow are convinced that no one else sees<\/p>\n c. And because we apparently get away with them, then God doesn’t\ncare either\n
d. And thus the temple of God is corrupted.<\/p>\n
C. Heart elsewhere – Ezekiel 8:14-15<\/p>\n
1. Ezekiel is then led to the north gate where he looks on the women’s court.<\/p>\n
2. The women are there in temple, but they are weeping for Tammuz.<\/p>\n a. Tammuz was a Syrian god who was believed to die during the\nwinter months and came back from the grave at spring time to\nreign during the summer months.\n
b. While it was winter, Tammuz was worshiped by mourning.<\/p>\n 3. Thus we have worshipers coming before God, but they aren’t really there.\nTheir minds are elsewhere.\n
4. We have that today<\/p>\n a. People who come to worship, but they are texting or browsing the\nInternet on their smart phones.\n b. For others, they are physically here, but their minds are elsewhere,\nthinking about matters which are more important to them.\n
c. They are here, but they aren’t really here.<\/p>\n
D. Deliberate denial – Ezekiel 8:16-17<\/p>\n 1. Returning to the inner court, Ezekiel watches as 25 priests turn their backs\non the temple and bow to the rising sun.\n a. The priests had 24 division, plus the high priest, so this represents\nall the members of the priesthood\n b. “Putting the twig to the nose” – we would say “thumbing their\nnoses at God\n 2. These people knew they were doing wrong. They were the religious leader\nof Israel, but they were defying God for their own religion.\n
a. II Chronicles 29:6 – Turning their backs on God<\/p>\n
b. Jeremiah 2:27-28 – Reminds me of evolution<\/p>\n
c. Jeremiah 32:33 – Refusing to listen to God<\/p>\n
IV. How God dealt with those who corrupted His Temple<\/p>\n A. God brought in executioners and a man to record those who should be spared –\nEzekiel 9:1-2\n 1. Only those who were upset at the corruption would be spared – Ezekiel\n9:4-5\n 2. The destruction would start in the temple. God would not spare, even in\nHis own temple. It was already defiled, so He would defile it further –\nEzekiel 9:6-7\n B. Ezekiel knew how widespread the problem was. He feared he would be the only\none left – Ezekiel 9:8\n
C. God’s answer is basically, “If that is what it takes …” – Ezekiel 9:9-10<\/p>\n D. The saddest point is that it doesn’t take long for the one marking the righteous to\nreturn – Ezekiel 9:11\n
V. What will it take for you and I to give up our sins?<\/p>\n A. God’ temple will be kept pure. God is not beyond destroying His temple if it is\ncorrupted.\n B. We should not be so foolish, as the Israelites were, to think that because God’s\ntemple is with us that we are safe – Micah 3:11; Jeremiah 7:4\n
C. Read again II Corinthians 6:14-7:1<\/p>\n
1. You are the temple of God<\/p>\n
2. Don’t bring idols into the temple, don’t compromise with the world<\/p>\n
3. Don’t think you can hide your sins from God<\/p>\n
4. Don’t offer insincere worship<\/p>\n
5. Don’t reject God<\/p>\n
Based on a lesson by Glenn Hamilton<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 6:14-7:1 I. What is a temple? A. In warning Christians not to bind themselves with unbelievers, Paul reminds us that we are the temple of God – II Corinthians 6:16 1. It is the place where God dwells – I Corinthians 3:16 2. Both on an individual scale as well as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[295,304,867,179,93],"class_list":["post-63543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-holiness","tag-idolatry","tag-purity","tag-sin","tag-temple"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45859,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-cleansing-of-the-temple\/","url_meta":{"origin":63543,"position":0},"title":"The Cleansing of the Temple","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 2:13-25 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Under Jewish law, all males were required to travel to Jerusalem three times a year for special feasts - Deuteronomy 16:16-17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sacrifices had to be made and offerings given, but it wasn\u2019t always practical to ship animals or food all the way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53833,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-dwelling-place-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":63543,"position":1},"title":"The Dwelling Place of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Kings 8:22-30 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the world was first created, mankind had direct access to God, but then sin entered the picture - Genesis 3:8 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sin becomes a barrier between us and God - Isaiah 59:1-3 II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God is everywhere - Psalms 139 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22959,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-paul-talking-about-destroying-the-body-with-food-or-sin-in-i-corinthians-316-17\/","url_meta":{"origin":63543,"position":2},"title":"Is Paul talking about destroying the body with food or sin in I Corinthians 3:16-17?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In I Corinthians 3:16,17, \"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye.\" Paul talks about the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1159,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-king-joash-give-us-an-example-of-good-financial-management\/","url_meta":{"origin":63543,"position":3},"title":"Does King Joash give us an example of good financial management?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have some questions about King Joash's prudent management. When instructions are given, does this story establish that they should be followed up regularly? Could you explain the renewed financial policies of King Joash? What do you think caused the people to respond as they did in\u00a0II Chronicles 24:10?\u00a0II\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62176,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-day-of-small-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":63543,"position":4},"title":"A Day of Small Things","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Haggai 2:1-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As Israel began to return from seventy years of captivity, there was great excitement \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Zerubbabel lead the first wave of less than 50,000 people back to Jerusalem. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There was a lot of work to do because Jerusalem was completely destroyed. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But worship\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36155,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-pillars-of-the-temple\/","url_meta":{"origin":63543,"position":5},"title":"The Pillars of the Temple","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant In giving Solomon instructions for building the temple, God gave a somewhat unusual command concerning two pillars at the entrance. \"And he set up the pillars at the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin; and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/temple.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}