In the sermon 'You Are The Temple of God' by David Green, based on 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, the speaker emphasizes that the church, collectively, is the temple of God where the Spirit of God dwells. Paul uses this metaphor to remind the Corinthian church of their sacredness and the seriousness of divisions among them. The sermon explains that 'temple' in this context refers to the innermost sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, symbolizing a deep spiritual truth rather than a physical structure. The speaker warns against defiling the church, equating it with the destruction of the temple under the Old Covenant, where such acts were met with severe consequences. Green stresses unity within the church, urging believers to focus on Christ rather than human leaders, and to uphold holiness, reflecting the unchanged nature of God from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The sermon concludes with a call to avoid gossip and slander against other churches and to remain faithful to the teachings of Christ.

So in 1st Corinthians chapter 3, and where we want to go today is right where we left off last time, which is, we'll start reading at verse 16 this morning. So, 1 Corinthians chapter 3, we read verse 16, we'll read to the end of the chapter, but our text will simply be verses 16 and 17. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, 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 are. Let no man deceive himself.

If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men, for all things are yours whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come all are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's. Today's sermon is on the subject of you are the temple of God.

You are the temple of God. Verse 16 and 17 there says, no you not. In other words, do you not know? This is a form of question that Paul often uses in his writing for a topic that they might lose sight of. And here he says, do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells within you?

In the context, he's not writing about individual Christians, but rather he's writing about the church at Corinth. Now it's important to know that individual Christians do have the Spirit of God dwelling within us. Let's not lose sight of that. And let's not take this any further than what we should take it. But understand the context here, and this is important.

They are called the temple of God, not like that they were called God's building earlier in verse 9. Remember he said there in verse 9, For we are laborers together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. Remember he said that. He used that illustration. But it's not the same sense there because he used that in the sense that God is the builder.

But here, he means something deeper. In fact, this is very deep. That word temple doesn't mean the entirety of the temple. In fact, in the LSB and other translations, they used the word sanctuary here, because he didn't mean the entirety of the temple. In the Greek, He meant the innermost part of the temple where God dwelt, the Holy of Holies.

As I said, God, the Spirit of God, indwells His people and by extension, He indwells His church. And in this, if you keep in mind what He's saying here, know you not that you are the temple of God, that you are the sanctuary of God. The Spirit of God dwells in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy which temple ye are." Paul made much about using the proper materials for the building when he was talking about the coming judgment.

And I spent some time there in the previous verses. The Holy Spirit puts much emphasis on that. Now we come to this, and there were consequences in the Old Testament of going against the way that God had set up the temple and the Holy of Holies. And there are consequences of defiling, destroying the church. All this is very serious.

If any man destroy or defile the temple of God. In other words, if anyone destroy or defile the church of the living God. In the context, this is what he's saying. Him shall God destroy. For the temple, the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, the temple of God, the church of God is holy.

It is consecrated. It is set apart for sacred use. He doesn't mean the building. Means the actual church, the people, the assembly. Being that it is holy, sacred, then it follows that its destruction is sacrilege punishable by death.

Under the Old Covenant, going back to the Old Testament, the temple was physical. It was a physical building. Indeed, when we talk about the temple, we talk about the Holy of Holies, when we talk about all that, it was physical that he's talking about. And when he says destruction of the temple and death. Physical temple, physical death.

Those follow. But here, I believe this is spiritual. He says to the church at Corinth, you belong to the same class of the temple of God and destruction of you equals to the same punishment. Why is Paul bringing this up? It's easy to pull this passage out of its context and make something out of it that it's not.

Make some Doctrine out of it. Make us puffed up and all of that sort of thing. But Paul wrote this in a letter, And we've seen that as we've gone along. The Holy Spirit intended for us to study it, to make some conclusions here. This was not written in a vacuum for us to just lift these verses out and make something out of it that it's not.

There were obvious divisions among the church at Corinth. There was divisions over men. Some said they were of Paul, some said they were of Apollos, some said they were of Peter. So there were divisions there. He just finished writing about the coming judgment.

And indeed, judgment is coming. How careful they needed to be on building on the true foundation which is Christ. And how serious, how serious it is for them to consider their own works. Know ye not. Put aside all of the squabbling that you're doing over these men.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. When you're divided over Peter and Paul and Apollos, do you not know, do you not remember that you are the sanctuary of God, that the Spirit of God dwells in you. It wasn't that one side was wrong about Peter and one side was wrong about Paul or one side was wrong about Apollos. They had taken their eyes off of the truth of who God is. And that's why there were carnal divisions among them.

And he says, if any man, Any man, that means even if it be the most unknown attender of the church at Corinth, or even Paul or Apollos, or Peter, if any man defile the sanctuary, the temple of God, him shall God destroy. No one is above this, you see. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are? How careful we must be to remember this. How careful they must need it to be to remember this.

This is the reminder that Paul sticks here, not in a vacuum. This is all related to what's been happening. What are the practicalities for us as we think about this truth? Because what was said of the church at Corinth is true for every church, including Sovereign Grace Baptist Church. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?

Do you not know that you are the sanctuary of God? That the Spirit of God dwells in you? This sanctuary. Him shall God destroy. You've seen.

As I said, we're not to take this too far. The temple that was in Jerusalem is gone. It's destroyed. If you were to go to Jerusalem right now, there is no temple there. The Mount is there.

There's evidences of it if you dig and you look, the wailing walls there, those sorts of things, but that inner sanctuary is gone. We could say, well, the Romans destroyed it. Yes, the Romans did destroy it in 8070, but the destruction of the temple actually began when Christ died on the cross and the veil of the temple was written too. When the Holy of Holies was laid bare, that was significant. But the temple did not transfer over to the church because there's a lot of differences between the old covenant worship and the new covenant worship.

Check the floor of the place where we're meeting. You will not find blood stains all over the place. The Old Testament worship was a very bloody worship. Lots of animals were sacrificed. We don't do that now.

We don't do that now. There's a lot of Sabbath days and holy days that are not on our calendars. You know, and we could go on and on. Read the Old Testament and you'll see There's a lot of differences. The church is not the temple in the literal sense.

But at the same time, that doesn't mean that just because the Old Covenant way of worship is done, it doesn't mean that the Old Testament is no longer relevant for us. In fact, it has a great place in our teaching as well as in our understanding of the New Testament. And so the major And so the major connection here is not so much about the Church of Jesus Christ somehow transforming from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Baptism is not what used to be circumcision and all of those sorts of things, and as you go out and talk to people and you you hear what they say, sometimes they make connections from one to the other. That's just not true.

But the connection is this. And I believe that this is the overall connection that I get from reading this is let us realize that the God of the temple, the God of the Old Testament, The God that met with the high priest there in the Holy of Holies, the Spirit of God that came down from heaven And met them there is the same today that meets with us. Indeed, Jesus Christ being our great high priest. Let us realize that God is holy and he demands holiness. Think of this.

Paul has spent so much time addressing the church at Corinth. He spent time addressing the vision. We're already in chapter 3, ending chapter 3 already of this chapter, of this book. I mean, Paul knows that there's other things going on within that church, and so do you if you've read 1 Corinthians. He's yet to address the fornication in the church.

He's yet to address the fact that they are abusing the Supper. He's yet to address any other thing that's coming up in this letter, But he starts off addressing the divisions. Why is this? And as I look at this and I think about that, and I think about our modern day, how much different would it be in our modern day? I know if I was writing to a church that somehow asked me for help, I probably wouldn't put that at the front.

I might put the fornication at the front. I might put something else at the front. Maybe we've got our priorities wrong in our modern day. He knew that the root of the problem going on in that church was the divisions. And as he brings all that to the forefront, he brings up the coming judgment, and he says, ye are the temple of God, that the Spirit of God dwells in you.

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy which temple ye are." He's reminding them that God has not changed. Indeed, this idea of division and unity is key thing throughout the scripture over in Proverbs chapter 6. Proverbs chapter 6 in the Old Testament. Verse 16-19 says, These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven, are an abomination unto him, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, and heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, or in other words a heart that devises wicked thoughts, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he that soweth discord or strife among the brethren." That's Old Testament. He says these things the Lord hates.

They're an abomination. Abomination is something that the Lord absolutely despises. But yet, as you go off of the pages of the Old Testament, it doesn't somehow change because in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 Chapter 1, in verse 10, as he started out this letter he said, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, by His authority, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, and that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. And then he writes about the contentions that were in there in chapter three and verse three, he says, for ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as men? And then even to the church at Ephesus He says this, Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 through 3.

I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called with all loneliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. See endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The unity of the spirit, what's that? Not unity over traditions, not unity over preferences, but unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. We're to be united, not in legalism or traditions, but in the faith.

The two go hand in hand. And that's what we find here. Thinking back to the Old Testament then, When it had to do with the temple, the physical temple, in the Old Testament, only the high priest on the Day of Atonement could enter into the Holy of Holies. That was it. Anyone else, You walk in there, you're dead on the spot.

God did not look kindly on those who would defile the temple. Has he changed? Well, apparently not. And in Matthew chapter 18, Matthew chapter 18, verses 6 through 10, Verse 6-10. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me?

What's Jesus say here? It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them out from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life halted or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven, for the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost." You see, in the Old Testament, there was just one high priest that could enter into the Holy of Holies once a year. Anybody else that did, dead. If the high priest didn't do everything right, he was dead.

But now, Jesus is our High Priest. We don't live in great fear or trembling like that. It's different now, however, there is this warning. God still demands holiness. We're free in Christ.

We're not free to go rogue on the church. We're not free to go rogue on the church. We're not free to go rogue in Christianity Do whatever we want and cause conflict and issues Especially the way that happens so often And as you look through the scriptures, you find that Though the New Testament, as you go through, you find church after church, they all had issues, they all had problems, They had to be dealt with. There's an emphasis throughout all of them. It wasn't about the size of the churches.

There wasn't an emphasis about the size. You know, a lot of times that's what happens in our day. How big's your church? How big's your church? How big's the bank account?

What's going on? What's your building look like? That's the emphasis in our day. In their day, that was not the emphasis. A lot of the churches they met in homes, and if a church meets in a home, what's that tell you?

Probably small, right? Even when Jesus met to give the Great Commission, There was only 11 of them that met there. What's the emphasis that's in the New Testament? The emphasis was on the purity of the churches. The emphasis was on these things that we're reading about here in 1 Corinthians, the things that we read about in Galatians.

These are the things that are important. It doesn't mean that we need to be on a witch hunt to look at each other and find somebody that's doing something wrong. No, no. Those things come out, sadly. Let us all examine our own hearts.

No, you're not. You 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 are." There's nothing in the world for anybody to worry about so long as we're following Jesus and the Scriptures, so long as we're walking in the Spirit. Right?

And so that's the message. Paul gave them that reminder and thank God that he did. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that as well. Praise God that he meets with us even in this these days that we live in. What was true for the Church of Corinth is true today.

And by the way, Corinth was a messed up church, and if it was the church across town, we might look at them and say, I don't even know if they're a true church. We might cut fellowship off with them and all that sort of thing, but Paul writing under the inspiration of spirit, he said, no you not, that you are the temple of God. So be careful how you treat that messed up church across town or that one you hear about on the internet, watch out. You may be guilty of slandering or vilifying one of the Lord's churches. Churches.

Our business is not to spread gossip or slander about other churches. Our business is to be faithful where we're at. And so keep that in mind as well as we think about these things. Because to be honest with you I don't know if I would have thought the Church of Cornet was a straight church If if I lived in that day all the things going on with them And all that and so these things ought to give us pause And and consider consider not only our own lives, but also the things that we do, the way that we act and react towards other churches as well. May God add the blessing to the preaching of his word.

Brother Barry, would you please.