Book of 2 Corinthians - Ch. 6, Vs. 16-Ch. 7, Vs. 16 (04/29/2001)

2 Corinthians 6 .16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?

For ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said,

I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their

God, and they shall be my people. Now the question comes.

It's understood that we are the temple of the living God. What does it mean, we are the temple?

Purge. All right.

I will dwell in them, and walk in them. Debbie, what does it mean,

I will dwell in and walk in? It means he's going to renounce his spirit, actually.

All right. Now, Charlie, what ramifications comes with,

I will dwell in and walk in you? What ramifications?

What is the outcome, or the process in which he walks in you?

Well, I just think the

Holy Spirit living in you, and if you walk in God's way, you know. Bill, where is 2

Corinthians 6 .16? We've just read the verse, and it says,

I will dwell in them, and walk in them. Now, that means more than just being present, and walking along with you.

What does it mean? It means he'll direct your steps. All right, from outside?

From inside. From inside, he will direct your steps.

I had asked you last week to research the scripture, Galatians 5 .19.

Let me read it for you. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these.

These are the works of the flesh. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which

I tell you before, or as I have also told you in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

And I ask you to bring back an explanation of the word do. Verge, let me hear yours.

We shouldn't practice that, or we shouldn't be doing it. We shouldn't practice those types of evil to those people.

And if we do, or if we practice those, then that's a slander on the kingdom of God.

All right. Jesse, what does the word do mean? All right.

Greg, does the word do, is the word do a culmination of your will?

So then, to do such thing means what? You want to do it. You want to do such things.

Now, where does the distinction come between those that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God?

Does that mean that if you go out and do one of these things that it listed, that you will not inherit the kingdom of God?

But that's what it says. All right.

Let me hear your explanation. Clarence. If I make that sin, and do it futilely, individually, and not ask for forgiveness and remorse, and repent of it, then

God is not in you. He said that time and again. If you practice that in your life in that way, in the spirit of the

Lord, and you do it by smoking a transgression, then we all sin, but not individually.

All right. That's very good. Yes. The do and the hope for those, if you say, well, he mentioned it one time.

The first thing he said, 11, he said, in such words, some of you, but you are watched, and you are sanctified, but you have been justified in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ. So he lists those things before. Thieves, murderers, co -assistants, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals.

He lists that stuff. And he says, such words, some of you. That means they might have done it, but they're not doing it.

All the time in the world. All right. What about those that never do those? Never commit any of these?

Well, there's two reasons. We all sin. We do some sin that we do.

Virg, what about those that don't commit any of these? There are those, brother, there are those that are blackmailed against Christ and never commit it.

I mean, he's getting a sin, a sin in God's eyes.

I mean, I know that a lot of people put the different grips on sin, but when

God looks at sin, and we see sin, sin, and not a particular sin.

So I'd say Christ is the only one that's ever been able to not have any of these against him.

All right. Very good. Then those of us that live in this world have done one of these, right?

I wish you'd raise your hand when you speak, so I could, before you speak.

Now, I will dwell in them and walk in them. For God to dwell in you, you must have been chosen before the foundation of the world.

You must belong to him. Whether you know it or not yet, he'll let you know at the right time.

But he will dwell in you. Well, I think we've worked that over about as much as we can.

And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. For you are the temple of God.

The Christian is himself the sanctuary of the Lord. As is proved by the passage quoted from Leviticus 26 .12,

and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

God dwells in his people as the Shekinah glory dwelt between the cherubs.

17. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be separate, saith the

Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the

Lord Almighty. What's the mean, come out from among them? What's be separate mean?

All right, Greg, is it possible for you to live in this world and be separate from them?

Do you want to know how Greg says it's impossible? What do you say, David? Greg talked about physically in partnership or close companionship with someone who's not one.

And you can live that way, but you're supposed to practice that.

So we can't be removed. Just like David said, I don't pray for you,

I pray that you take this out of the world, that they are not out of the world. All right, is it?

Yes. You're not conforming to the world.

You're in the world, but I think you're the devil to conform to something.

All right, Jesse, what if you entered into a partnership with someone and later on found out that they were the devil?

It's never a good partnership. All right. What if they were bringing in $10 ,000 a month to you?

That's right. If the money makes the difference, you're wrong to start with. Well, what

I think we forget is the money is the Lord's, not that man's. It's the

Lord's money, so he will do what he would with it. And he could end it with you still in the partnership.

He could what? He could end it with you in the partnership. Yes. Or out of the partnership, but if you do it.

All right. So if we've discovered something downstream we didn't know in the beginning, we should bring it to a close some way or other.

God expects and requires his saints should make a separation from all uncleanliness, but especially from the uncleanliness of idolatry.

God expects a separation from us, from our unclean courses, from all unclean company, from the presence and appearance of all uncleanliness, from communion with idolatrous churches, and from communicating with what is sinful in the truest churches of Christ upon Earth.

Now, that's a big mouthful. What if you're attending a church and it comes to your attention that they're practicing something that is absolutely opposed to God?

Bill, what should you do? I don't know.

I think, firstly, you should do a change at that age.

It's a change of the church. I think that the ultimate difference is you might have to sever that relationship.

All right. If you can't change it, get out. A quickening encouragement to back this exhortation,

I will receive you and be a father to you. Here's a two -fold promise. Of reception,

I will receive you. Of adoption, I will be a father to you. God will receive them both into his house and heart.

Yes? We were doing a study at Lincoln with a lady, a

Bible study in town. And we saw this week in our discussion, stubbornness is idolatry.

And I don't think in that sense, what was that again? No, it was in Stanford, right?

I don't know. And stubbornness was idolatry. And we were surprised right now.

And the reason that is is that you want your way, so you put your way before God or your desire before God.

And that's idolatry. That's right. And it says, stubbornness is an idolatry act.

Everything else is witchcraft. It's rebellion. What is it? Rebellion is a witchcraft.

So if you're rebellious, that's witchcraft. We never think of that. And stubbornness is idolatry.

It's an idolatry. So all the ladies were kind of bummed. Because they could see the extent that there was stubbornness in many of the ladies on doing their own thing.

That's like our conversation. We won't use a, quote, cuss word.

But we'll use gosh or darn or something that is a watered down subversion of that.

So we have to be very careful and not participate in that that we know is wrong, no matter what level it is.

Second Corinthians chapter 7, verse 1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

It's plain to see he's talking to Christians. Having, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh.

Greg, how do you do that? All right.

My voice is giving out. You and I need to be aware of the fact that we're living in a world today.

We live here. We're in among them. And that world gives respectability to sins.

Does it not? Even in areas of which we're not aware.

Most people today say that alcohol is all right. Is it? It's all right if you're careful how you use it.

It is well advertised in the media. Does that make it right? The other day

I heard an advertisement which said the mark of the mature man, of the mature, sensible, and successful man today is one who is able to drink cocktails.

I used to have a nephew that when he started in business, he thought he had to participate in that, social drinking.

He found out right quick that it wasn't so. Now, the ad which

I was quoting was not from the Southern Comfort or Old Crow or some other brand of whiskey.

It was an advertisement from an organization which deals with alcoholics. They added there are some people who just don't know how to handle their liquor.

I don't say there are. There are a lot of them. Several million of them that we the taxpayers are paying hospital bills for the liquor interest to receive this.

We have wronged no man. We have corrupted no man. We have defrauded no man.

Now, Paul didn't come to take up an offering for all sorts of perfections of offering for this and offering for that.

Church supports this and supports that. I'm so glad I'm not in that kind of a church anymore.

I speak not this to condemn you for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die and to live with you.

Paul constantly had these people in his heart. We should do the same.

Great is my boldness of speech towards you. Great is my glorifying of you.

I am filled with comfort. I am seating joyful in all of our tribulations.

For when we were coming to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side without where fightings within were fears, fightings, great opposition to the gospel.

And in him for preaching it, fears lest his first epistle should not have been produced the desired effect.

He was very, very aware that being separated from someone that you want so much to correct and you write a letter, it's very seldom that that letter will convey your thoughts.

The best you can do is not like talking eye to eye.

Nevertheless, God that comfort those that are cast down comforted us by the coming of Titus.

You remember Titus brought good news. And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you when he told us your earnest desires, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me so that I rejoice the more.

For though I made you sorry with a letter, he wrote a letter very stern.

I do not repent, though I did repent, for I perceive that the same epistle has made you sorry, though it were but for a season.

So I had many doubts in my mind when I wrote that first letter. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed in repentance, for you were made sorry after a godly manner that you might receive damage by us in nothing.

Let me inject a personal note here. When was the last time you went to your preacher and put your arm around him and genuinely supported him?

You're praying for him. You know what a heavy load he carries and told him so.

I see that you're standing for God in it, and I want to stand with you.

I'm not going to ask for hands, but you answer in your heart. How long has it been since you did that?

Ten, for godly sorrow worketh repentance and salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

The sorrow of the world worketh death. The sorrow of this age, it can only end in death.

Did you ever hear about the little boat on the Mississippi River that every time it blew its whistle, it drifted back downstream?

It didn't have a big enough boiler. It could either turn the paddle wheel or blow the whistle.

Well, some people are like that. Lots of whistles for going forward. For behold, this selfsame thing that you sorrowed after a godly start, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, what revenge in all things you have proved yourself to be clear in this matter.

The difference between worldly and godly sorrow is one has supreme respect to the creature, the other to the creator.

A worldly person can be sorry. He can even be sorry for you right after he's sorry for himself.

But that's worldly. Wherefore, though I wrote unto you,

I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.

Now, a wrong is done to correct it to address yourself to that wrong so that it will correct the individual is wrong.

You must have God in mind. You must, in correcting him, you must build him up.

You must have God as your focus point, not the individual, not to find something wrong with him, not to tear him down as opposed to yourself.

That's pride. But in correcting the individual, first of all, do it privately.

If so, you must do it to support God, not the world.

I think we fall down here a lot. Greg does something that I see is wrong and I go to him and I explain to him that he shouldn't be doing that.

And I think that I'm doing it right and I'm able to tell him. Well, don't take that attitude.

Don't go to someone knowing you're right. Always suspect the other person as being right, but you know this as far as I know this is wrong.

You go to him to find out if you're wrong or if he's right. That's the only way that things can be corrected.

Any questions? I apologize for my voice.

Yes? Some people look at it as conflict and I see that as an opportunity to grow in Christ Jesus and to avoid,

Jesus did not avoid that which he thought brought shame to his father when he came up to the church and saw the indignation of them showing irreverence toward the house of God.

He saw that as an opportunity to correct and get rid of it.

He didn't avoid the conflict. He could have been very easily been avoided that. That's right.

Because he was the real devil. That's right. But he didn't avoid it and I think that not that you go extremely into it, but if you're doing your daily stuff and he reveals something to you in earnest prayer,

I think we have to address things. Because how can you confess your sins one to another?

How can you grow in Christ Jesus? It's like we're all children.

Can we address the conflicts of our children? Or do we just say, don't think about them being bad.

They're going to be alright. I think we have to address them. The Lord brings us to life. We have to say this is the wrong life.

That's right. You have to address it. But be careful to not address it until you're right.

You may be, but don't present that. I think if you go back to verse 10, the sorrow of the world produces death.

In my mind, I see that if we grieve over a subject, a substance or a subject of suffering, in the sense to be repentant in our own soul or in others, it brings a sense of relief to repent of that sin and fulfill a comfort.

Whereas in a worldly sense, if people grieve over a sin, not because of the sins, but because they didn't accomplish the act, didn't fulfill the lives for what it was, and so it hurts the private ego, so it creates a sense of death.

If you go one step farther when you're talking about seeing other people's sins,

I think there's danger if a sin of an individual where a person sins a person individually,

I think I should just forgive them. All hearts should just pray to the Lord and say, please forgive them and block it out of the mind and go forward.

That's right. If it's a sin that's punitive in church, a sin that has a moral application that affects the identity of a

Christian, affects the beliefs of the Christian or the whole body of the church because of the moral application, or causes a doctrinal issue, then

I think it has to be addressed in a scriptural way that the person has to go to those persons and say, is there something morally wrong, is there something good in the unity of the church, or is there something with a doctrinal issue and if they don't change, you would bring another fellow believer along with you and then at that point, the third step is to go to the church.

Those issues we should confront with not the individual sins that they do to us.

That's right. I personally, my personal belief, that first of all, as I think one has to look at one's, one has to be very careful and look at one's own sinful nature before one starts pointing out the sins of others.

Yeah. And this is, and for those who know me, this is probably very against what

I appear to be. I don't think as a female that it's my responsibility to point out someone's sins in the church life.

I think that is the responsibility of my husband. Yes. That's right. I may, as a wife, in confidence, speak to my husband about something that I see or feel or think, but I don't think that as a female in the church,

I should say those things. You're right. You're 100 % right.

Yes. ...and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both

I and my Father and my house have sinned. What we forget is that the sins of the church are our sins because we're one body.

We are one in Christ Jesus. So when one is doing something, it should hurt us deeply.

It should grieve us because they are, not that that sin responsibility is taken because they've done that, but it should grieve us as it did in the alliance.

He was just a little cupbearer who drank and tested the wine and the poison. He was a barman.

But yet he grieved for his people. He grieved for... and set all of us in test.

So we have to be aware that when things are happening in the body, that it should grieve our hearts because it's our sin too.

It's our church body. It's what we reflect in the community, in the home as Christ Jesus.

So although the individual may be sinning, it should hurt us. It should grieve us deeply.

Well, it does that all right. Bill, you want to say something? Okay. Now, where are we?

Twelve. Have we read that? Therefore we were comforted in your comfort.

Yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.

I'm the best of friends, Brother Ernie. But if I have boasted anything to him of you,

I am not ashamed. But as we speak all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which

I made before Titus, is found a truth. It's not boasting when you're telling the truth.

And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembered the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling he received him.

I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.

Wouldn't it be nice if somebody could say that of us? I have confidence in you of all things.

Well, I'm going to have to quit. Is there a word from anybody?

Does God, does God have confidence in you, not collectively, individually, in all things?

You don't need to answer that except in your heart. Does he?

Or am I holding something back? Anything else?

You didn't raise, you didn't raise your hand. Okay. I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.

I like to think so. They had their problems. We have our problems. But he was confident in all things.

No? Nor any worse. David, do you want to close out with anything?

Alright. We'll hold it till then. Well, let's stand and Virg, will you dismiss us, please?

I dear Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for this thank you gift of the Holy Spirit from heaven to the world.

As we go our lives, the

Spirit leads us. Thank you for such a strong blessing to recharge

His health. Thank you for so many blessings that you give us and so many prayers that you continue to answer this church and each one of us for such a powerful body.

I'm so thankful that we serve God. Lord, I thank you for the school year and the blessings that you've given us,

Lord. Thank you for the school that the kids have and they continue. We'll just be with Brother David He brings the message,

Lord. Give him the Holy Spirit and give him the divine words to be spoken. All these things