Build Up, Don’t Tear Down

When I was a teenager I was told that I should avoid alcohol and tobacco because they would be bad for my health and that my body was the temple of the Holy Spirit.  When I was older I wondered why I wasn’t told to eat sensibly, get exercise, get sufficient rest  and not to overwork.  For some reason only alcohol and tobacco were singled out.  It seems inconsistent.

I.  The Body as Temple:  I Corinthians 6:19

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

So if we read just this verse then, yes, our body is the temple and we should take care of it.  However, we may want to read the preceding verses.

I Corinthians 6: 13-20

Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

¹⁸ Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

So when we read the verse in context we see that it is talking about sexual immorality.  That is a far cry from physical health.  Now, it is important to realize that the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts through our faith in Jesus Christ.  (Ephesians 3:17)  Rather than simply taking care of our physical health we should think in terms of Christ being with us always.  Would Christ approve of our activities?  Of the shows that we watch?  Of the conversations that we have?  Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  We should live our lives with the knowledge that Christ is with us.

II.  Living Stones:  I Peter 2:4-5

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Here we read that we are being built into a spiritual house.  It is another one of the various ways that scripture talks about the church, the people of God, the body of Christ.

This same idea is repeated in Ephesians 2:19-22

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

So, both individually and corporately we are called a temple for the Holy Spirit.

III.  Build Up, Don’t Tear Down.  I Corinthians 3:19-22

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. ¹⁰ According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

I am reminded of the old saying “Only one life, it will soon be past.  Only what is done for Christ will last.”  It is understood that we have jobs, families and various activities that take up our time, but it is important that we seek to serve God in helping to build up the temple.  We can do this in a whole variety of ways.  Some of them are as simple as our attendance at services and our prayers.    We should seek to build rather than to tear down  the people of God.  This is true both for individuals and for churches.

The role that we play in building up the people of God will be rewarded.

We are warned that if we defile or tear down the temple of God we will be destroyed.  These are strong words and should be taken seriously.

We are called to build up, not to tear down.

 

These are the sermon notes from 9/23/18.  Any advertisements that might appear are placed by WordPress.  I have no control over them, nor do I receive any money from them.