03.31.2021 | EVERY BELIEVER IS A TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
EVERY BELIEVER IS A TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Sometimes our spiritual pipes get clogged. We need to be cleansed.
The believers in Corinth needed to be cleansed.
The city of Corinth was famous for its sacred prostitution.
There was a temple for Aphrodite in the city, with a thousand sacred prostitutes.
The spirit of the city showed up in the church.
“…a pandemic of loneliness and a pandemic of pornography.” – Josh McDowell
1 Corinthians 6:18 (NLT) – “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19 (NLT) – “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you, and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself.”
1 Corinthians 6:20 – “For God bought you with a high price. So, you must honor God with your body. The body of every believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit.”
We have been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ and we belong to Him.
1 Corinthians 3:16 (NLT) – “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and the Spirit of God lives in you?”
1 Corinthians 3:17 (NLT) – “God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
The gathering of believers is also a temple of the Holy Spirit.
We don’t want to do anything to dishonor the body of Christ, individuals in the body of Christ, or our own bodies.
We are a temple of the Holy Spirit.
The enemy of our souls will do anything he can to rob us of the power of the Holy Spirit living in us.
The enemy wants to keep us bound up, clogged up, and ineffective.
What are some things that the enemy uses to hinder us from flowing in the Holy Spirit?
Jesus wants to cleanse our temples for the Glory of God.
Matthew 21:10 – “And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?’”
Moved: seio, seismos (used with earthquakes)
Matthew 21:12 – “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves.”
What are some of the things the enemy is using to hinder us from drawing near to God in worship? How do we respond?
1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We want to confess, repent, believe, and receive.
Benefits of a cleansed temple:
1. Prayer
Our prayer life expands and grows.
Matthew 21:13a – “My house shall be called a house of prayer.”
2. Power
We begin to move in a greater anointing.
Matthew 21:14 – “Then the blind and the lame came to them in the temple, and He healed them.”
3. Praise
Matthew 21:16b – “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants, You have perfected praise.”