1 Corinthians (Program #25) – Building or Destroying the Temple of God

There are many sober warnings in the Bible. Most people associate these warnings with the paralle of facing eternity without Christ that is to be unsaved. Well this certainly is the focus of many of these warnings.  But we must be aware that several of the most serous warnings in the Bible are spoken to believers. Those who are already saved. Such a warning is found in 1 Corinthians  3:17 “If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, and such are you.”

But what it is to destroy the temple? How could an unbeliever really damage God’s eternal building. No, it is the believers that are engaged everyday of their Christians life in building and building the temple. And it is the believers that have these words to sow into their heart.  We will look today what it is to damage to corrupt even to ruin God’s building on earth.

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1 Corinthians (Program #23) – God’s Farm and God’s Building

The sequence in 1 Corinthians is really marvelous. Most readers of the Bible are aware that the church in Corinth was full of problems. The very same kind of problems that may plague our church today; division, jealousies, strive and ambition just to name a few.

In short the Corinthians were lacking in the genuine experience of Christ as life. So the apostle Paul after pointing out these problems then points them to life and building. Actually this loving care of the apostle in the word of God is for all of us.

1 Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated land, God’s building.”

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1 Corinthians (Program #20) – The Building Work with Transformed Materials (1)

The goal of the Christian life is not merely to live a proper and upright life, died and then go to heaven. The goal as presented in 1 Corinthians has to do with being built up into a spiritual building that ultimately becomes God’s dwelling place on earth with His people. In short this building is the church becoming the real temple of God on earth.

What a high calling, our real work in the Christian life is a building work.  And to this end Paul instructed the Corinthians believers and us in chapter three of 1 Corinthians :

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated land, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. But let each man take heed how he builds upon it. For another foundation no one is able to lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble, the work of each will become manifest; for the day will declare it, because it is revealed by fire. ”

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1 Corinthians (Program #17) – The Church, God’s Farm, God’s Building (2)

The believers in Corinth in the early church were rich in many things. They have received the initial gifts of the divine life and the Holy Spirit. They were enriched in all knowledge and they even have many miraculous gifts in their midst.  Yet Paul referred to them as infants or babes in Christ. How could that be with all that God had given them?   Primarily is because they neglect the mater of life and growing spiritually in the divine life. So, the apostle Paul points out to them in clear types and pictures the importance and necessity of the divine life.

Listen again as his words are so full of references to life and growth:

3:5-9 “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Ministers through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to beach one of them. I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.  So then neither is he who plants anything nor he who waters, but God who causes the growth.  Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated land, God’s building.”

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1 Corinthians (Program #16) – The Church, God’s Farm, God’s Building (1)

The first two chapters of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians are very rich in their presentation of Christ. Paul clearly was doing all he could to bring the troubled Corinthians to Christ in their experience.

But in Chapter three Paul turns his focus to the church. Though not in shallow or superficial language rather he speaks in marvelous profound expressions referring to the church in types.  First as a farm growing, producing a rich crop. Then as a building and ultimately as a temple, a divine dwelling place, build out of priceless materials such as gold, silver and precious stones. Of course these materials are not literally either but types of the transformation work that the Holy Spirit is engaged in with all of us, God’s redeemed.

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Exodus (Program #117) – The Priestly Garments (2)

Today we are going to bring you again one of our highlight programs from a previous life study and in our life study of Exodus, we are at a point of looking at the precious stones.   These messages are bringing us to the vision in Scripture of God’s building.  We had an outstanding message several months ago when we were in the life study of the book of Acts on this very thing, God’s building as seen in Scripture.  We feel it is a good time to go back and revisit that message.

As Christians we all know Christ as our Savior and our Lord.  We may also know Him as our friend even our healer and many other precious items.   Yet can we say that we, like Peter in Acts 4, know Christ as the stone for God’s building?

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Exodus (Program #116) – The Priestly Garments (1)

Of all the major items presented to man in the Bible, perhaps none is as misunderstood and mysterious as the church.  Of course, to most people, the church is quite simple; it’s the building on the street corner.  Others though have seen more, that the church is not the physical building at all but is really composed of all the believers, the people of God.  But the revelation doesn’t stop here.  We are going to see a clear and wonderful picture of the church, God’s building.

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Exodus (Program #111) – The Court of the Tabernacle (2)

The book of Exodus is the story of how God delivered His people out of their bondage and captivity. Eventually bringing them to the mountain of God to receive the ten commandments. Though this may have seemed like the high peak of their experience to them; to God, all of these was in preparation for the real peak – the revelation of the tabernacle, His building. How about us? Are we like the children of Israel concerned for our own well-being and personal spiritual mountaintop experiences or are we occupied with what occupies God?

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Acts (Program #15) – The Propagation in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria through the Ministry of Peter’s Company (11)

As Christians, we all know Christ as our Savior and our Lord. We may also know Him as our friend, even our healer, and many other precious items. Yet, can we say that we, like Peter in Acts chapter 4, know Christ as the stone for God’s building?  Stay tuned for today’s life study of the Bible as we get a priceless view into the very heart of God.

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Genesis (Program #91) – A Bird’s-Eye View of God’s Building in the Scriptures

We have a very interesting life study today, in a sense it is inserted into our life study of Genesis because it deals with much more than just Genesis.  It’s really going to be an overview of the entire divine revelation.   Why is this an appropriate point for such an overview?

This is a point at which Jacob is brought back again to Bethel.  We talked about Bethel and saw how he first encounter Bethel at that he put the stone down as a pillow and had a dream concerning the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending, then he woke up and said this is Bethel, the House of God.  Brother Lee calls that a major turning point in Genesis and in fact it is a major turning point in the whole Bible, because it brings us to God’s heart desire, that is Bethel, to have a house where He, Himself can dwell with mankind.

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