05/05/2019
We have spoken of idols, and how real they can be in our lives. We have discussed the effect they can have on us spiritually as well, but today we will look at something a bit more divisive; something about our association with others who worship false gods, because if we are not careful that influence can cause us to become separated from our special relationship with God... our righteousness.
“What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
2 Corinthians 6:16 ESV
“We are the temple of the living God.” What a thrilling and powerful statement that is. In the past weeks there has been much in the news about the fire which destroyed a large portion of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It affected not only Catholic believers, but those of all denominations. There is something incredibly sacred about places of worship... so special are they that we feel a sense of holiness when we enter them. Do you feel it when you enter your place of worship? Perhaps you are meeting in a school cafeteria, a home, or some other building that has a totally different purpose during the majority of the week, but that on Sunday becomes your sanctuary; your cathedral! When this happens that place is transformed by the presence of God. It also happens to us as individuals when we worship together. Listen to these words of Jesus...
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."”
Matthew 18:20 ESV
So in an instant of transformation, a clearing in the woods, a tent in a campground, a hospital room, a converted storefront, a local meeting place, a farmer’s field, or a shepherd’s pasture... even a burning bush can become a temple... Holy. When this happens then we are told to treat it differently, and to feel that transformation.
“Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."”
Exodus 3:5 ESV
The presence of a God makes a place holy. So if Jesus abides in us, and God abides in Him, then by simple extrapolation we have become filled with the presence of God... and thus we too are the temple of God, and have become holy. Do you allow this to occur within yourself, or do you merely permit Jesus to brush by you? Are you the moth that flies about the light, but never commits itself?
“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
John 17:22-23 ESV
So we are the temple of God, and by so being there is a transformation that occurs in us, and a residual effect that lasts when we renter the world. This is why Notre Dame Cathedral is so special... it is not because it is the sole place where men worship God, but it is a place where God has met with us, continues to meet us, and where the afterglow of that meeting remains strong.
“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.”
Exodus 34:29-30 ESV
We carry within us the presence of God through the indwelling of Jesus Christ. You don’t necessarily glow with a visible light, but His Spirit radiates from you, and is discernible to those you come in contact with. This glow can be seen by believers and unbelievers alike, but... God does not tolerate sin, so lest it be snuffed out we need to choose wisely those with which we form partnerships and close relationships. Sowing our seed in a sinners field to bring the truth and vine of Jesus to Him is one thing, but allowing the seeds of sin to find fertile ground in our field is altogether different... it separates us from God’s eternal harvest.
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Galatians 6:7-8 ESV
In this way we must be careful to maintain our close association with other believers, and not develop partnerships with the worldly. Even at the moment of His ascension Jesus sent us out to deliver the good news to the lost... but His intention was not for us to join them...
“And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
Mark 16:15 ESV
Jesus intended for us to carry His light... the glow of God... the seeds of faith... to those who had not heard, and for them to accept the redemption and grace that would cleanse them from sin so that they might join us... for them to see the glow in us as a beacon.
“"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the glow of your presence, and your Son Jesus Christ who dwells within me. I thank you for abiding in Jesus, and thus abiding in me. I thank you for the holiness you bring to this my body that you have created, and in this way I pray that my spiritual shoes will always be removed, and my heart circumcised on this your Holy ground. Help me Holy Father as I go into the world to broadcast the gospel of Jesus, and while I am doing your bidding, deliver me from the world’s evil, even as you distance me from the sin that resides there. Lead me from all temptation Merciful Father, give me strength, and make me to radiate your holiness as I walk into the field of the lost to sow the seeds of faith that you have given me for them. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who makes me to shine with your light, and to be a messenger of your goodness and truth to all men. Praised be your name as my feet are washed clean of the dust of these unrighteous fields, and may all the glory be yours as those same fields become purified by your Word, and through the vine which is your Son Jesus.
“Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness,"”
1 Corinthians 3:16-19 ESV
Rich Forbes