A.Pre-marital & extra marital & all forms of illicit sex are forbidden in the Bible. But they are even more heinous in God’s eyes when the believer engages in this immoral sexual activity because the believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is “WHERE GOD LIVES.”
B. The most sacred place on earth to the Jew was the Temple of God & the most sacred place in the Temple was the Holy of Holies. It wasn’t the building itself which made it holy, but the presence of God Who indwelt that building. It was so sacred that only one man out of the millions of men in Israel or the world could go inside the Holy of Holies and then only on one special day of the entire year, and then only if he brought with him the proper blood sacrifice.
ILLUS.: Just think of how special this one man must have felt to be the only one chosen by God to enter this sacred place & see the glory of God over the Mercy Seat! He alone of all of humanity had this sacred honor.
TRANS.: I want to relate all of this O.T. doctrine 💫 to the N.T. doctrine of the sacredness of the believer’s body today, which is the Temple of God or “WHERE GOD LIVES.”
I. THE HOLY OF HOLIES:
A. The Temple of God:
1. The glory of God filled the Temple as the Holy Spirit fills our “temple” today. 2. Today God doesn’t indwell a building, but He does indwells bodies!
ILLUS.: ✨Once the veil of the Temple was rent at Christ’s sacrifice on the cross the glory of God ✨(i.e., the Holy Spirit) could now indwell every believer’s body. ✨In many churches, candles burn, statues & pictures & icons adorn the building & the building is reverenced! ✨But the church bldg. is merely a meeting place where the “temples” come to visit to study, praise & worship! A church building should NOT be referred to as “the house of God” – ✨it is only the house or building where the people of God meet.
B. The Most Holy Place:
Lev.16:1-2 And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died; 2 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
Lev.16:17 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
1. No man, but one - the High Priest - chosen by God Himself could even look inside the Holy of Holies. 2. The place was so holy that even that chosen one entered w/fear & trembling.
C. The Man of God:
Ex.29:44-45 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office. 45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
Lev.10:1-3 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. 2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
ILLUS.: No one but the High Priest dared to intrude into that sacred office. That man must be especially called by God.
II. THE HOLY SPIRIT:
A. The Temple of God: (The believer’s body)
1 Cor.6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1. Today we are God’s holy temple. 2. First comes the blood to cleanse, then comes the oil to sanctify.
Lev.14:14-17 And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 15 And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: 16 And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD: 17 And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering…
ILLUS.: As spiritual lepers, alienated from God, we must first be cleansed by the blood & then & only then will the Holy Spirit enter & sanctify us.
B. The Most Holy Place: (The believer’s spirit)
1. Our body is His Temple, our spirit is the most holy place of His abode. 2. Upon redemption, the Spirit quickens our dead spirit & comes in to indwell us.
C. The Man of God:
1. This is why the believer must stay clean, pure, healthy & yielded! 2. The man, woman or child indwelt by the Holy Spirit must be careful not to offend, grieve, quench or lie to the Holy Ghost.
III. THE HOLY BELIEVER:
1 Cor.3:16-17 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
A. The Temple of God:
ILLUS.: It is interesting that in the context of the Tabernacle & the Holy of Holies in Lev.16, we have the rules concerning sexual activity for the O.T. believers. God speaks out against all forms of immoral & illicit sexual activity: homosexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, etc. and in the context of 1 Cor.6:19-20, v.16-18 warns about immoral sexual activity!
1 Cor.6:16-18 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
B. The Most Holy Place:
1. There must be a modesty & a mystique about the human body. 2. Children should not even see their parents nakedness.
Gen.9:21-25 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. 24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
C. The Man of God:
1. There are some interesting parallels between the O.T. teaching on the literal Temple of Israel & the N.T. body of the believer. a. God chose only one man to enter and/or look upon the holy of holies & only one man chosen by God should look upon a woman in the marital sense.
ILLUS.: 👩A young lady should not choose a husband because he is handsome, successful, educated or wealthy, but she should 🙏ask God to choose her husband for her. 🤵He alone is to be her “high priest” - the only one who is to share in that which is most sacred. 👿This is why adultery & fornication is so wrong! 👿A young woman should never expose her body to the eyes of any but her husband or to allow any other man to touch her body sexually. (My personal opinion is that a father should not even change a little girl’s diapers or see her naked because of his fallen sinful nature. That is how depraved the human heart is. If you don’t agree, check the criminal records of sex perverts.)
b. Only one man was allowed to touch the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies:
Sam.6:6-8 And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. 8 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day.
c. Only one man could look w/in the holy of holies, the same is true of the body of a lady; it is reserved for only one man.
ILLUS.: Just as the veil of the holy of holies separated its furnishings from the 👀 of the people, except for one man, even so should modest apparelseparate the body of a lady from all but one man. Hollywood, TV, the internet, etc. all emphasize a woman’s body even to sell toothpaste!
1 Tim.2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array…
Deut.22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
1 Cor.11:14-15 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
ILLUS.: Many Jews would no doubt have liked to have looked into the holy of holies, but only one man, the God-called man, the High Priest was permitted to do so. It is also natural for a young man to want to look upon the body of a woman (that’s why pornography is so popular!),
💥💥but men are to restrain themselves & yield to the Holy Ghost, realizing that the body of a lady is so sacred that it is to be reserved for only one man.
💥💥Women have a responsibility to God to dress modestly & not dress sensuously to attract the lustful gaze of men other than their own husbands. The ungodly have commercialized sex & have profaned the sacredness of a woman’s body.
QUOTE: Jack Hyles: “Fortunate is that man who has such a temple that has been reserved for him, and fortunate is that lady who has a temple that has been reserved for her.” (What Hyles said was true even if he didn’t practice it or listen to his own counsel.)
ILLUS.: One young bride whose father was a preacher was thrilled to hear his daughter tell him just before being married: “Daddy, in a few minutes I will become a wife. After you pronounce us man & wife, we will kiss. Now, Daddy, here is the wedding present: This will be the first time I have ever kissed a boy. I have wanted to, but I wanted more to give you this present.” Tears filled the eyes of a happy & proud father who realized that here was a holy of holies that had been veiled from the eyes of lustful men & reserved for that chosen high priest that he alone may see, touch & enter. - Hyles, p.151 “Meet the Holy Spirit”
CONCL.: “THE HOLY OF HOLIES, THE HOLY SPIRIT & YOU” - that has been our subject. It is a very practical study & we have merely “touched the hem of the garment” of the true riches of this teaching.
💥If we truly are the Temple of God & “WHERE GOD LIVES” the ramifications of this truth should decide many activities, sights & sounds which are permitted to enter our “holy of holies.” 💥You have been bought with a price - the Lord belongs to you...do YOU belong to Him?