Sanctuary

Introduction:

When the Lord speaks of a sanctuary in the Old Testament he says the Sanctuary the Most Holy Place.

Ezekiel 45:3 NKJV

So this is the district you shall measure: twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide; in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

Ezekiel 45:4 NKJV

It shall be a holy section of the land, belonging to the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to the Lord; it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.

The Sanctuary was where The Ark of the Covenant was to be placed the Most Holy Place. The place where only God could dwell and only one time a year the priest were to go in that place that was covered by a veil and if they were not cleansed enough if they were not pure enough they would not live the experience of putting the atonement offering on the Ark as instructed by the lord they had a rope around their legs and bells so if someone heard the bells or thought they had been in there too long they would pull them out. Going in to get them unprepared was certain that it would not be good for the person that went in after them.

There wasn’t much inside the Ark of the Covenant it was covenant that God made with Moses. It wasn’t about the piece of furniture it wasn’t about what was inside or the Gold. It was a space in the Israelites camp that was made Holy in where the Lord God could reside in all his power and it was kept holy so he could have a foot hold among them on earth.

In the same way when we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior we are cleaned out from all our sin and a space is made for the Holy Spirit to reside. To live inside of us and making us The Most Holy Place for him to reside. The Scripture speaks of how to keep the space Holy and what we need to do as Christians to keep our temples in order for the Holy Spirit to speak.

Sanctuary means a refuge a safe place in English.

In Greek and Hebrew Sanctuary means the Holy of Holies, temple.

I know i have thought sometimes that my room is my sanctuary because its my place with my stuff and my peace and my quiet away from the world and my family. If i go into my room they have to knock to enter. I sleep there which is most pleasant to me. Its comfortable. So we may have a mis conception when the word will say later that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit that is not figurative language. He is with us in everything we do. EVERYTHING and that is why repentance is so important because it keeps the Holy of Holiness in side of us a clean place for the Holy Spirit uncluttered by the things of the world or our sin

Lord prepare me to be a Sanctuary

Do you know this song?

Lord prepare me to be a Sanctuary

Pure and Holy

Tried and True

And with Thanksgiving

I’ll be a living Sanctuary for you

This song is what we are striving for in being the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Sanctuary- keeping the temple Holy, keeping our bodies pure.

The only scripture in the bible that says “ your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” talks about sexual sin defiling our temples.

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 NKJV

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 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? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

I think the reason people are so uncomfortable to talk about sexual sin in the church or with friends that are Christians is because we have down played it?

It’s normal to see people living together before they get married in our culture. Getting in a dating relationship and having sex is normalized in our society. Even though the bible says things like this.

Pastor Deadra.....who told you about my personal life? Nobody. I mean i lived in the world I’m right there with you. No husband i ever had did i wait till the wedding night. I lived with Liora’s dad before i was married to him before she was conceived. I was no less Christian now than i was then. So by no means am i judging any one. The bible says all sin is the same.

I’m sorry God picks these subjects and we need to know that we should flee sexual immorality because we are sinning against our own body. So we have talked before about soul damage. If you are not married, if the man your with is not your husband and the woman is not your wife then you may be inadvertently damaging your soul, your connection to God and defiling the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Deadra marriage is just a piece of paper. No it is not. I used to think that, that’s how i picked the wrong men and I've been divorced twice. It’s about so much more than that. It is a commitment to God.

But both parties have to be committed that was not the case in my divorces, one man was abusive and one man was a cheater. I was committed to God and the commitment I made but they were not. One was not a christian and one was not. So when it comes down to it both people have to be devoted to the marriage and when that is not the case divorce happens. Some of you might be divorced, some of you might have baby mamma or baby daddies, It’s not over for you. God is a forgiving god and even in the midst of failure he will be glorified if you clean up your side of the street and keep your eyes on Jesus. He will bless you.

God made sex for marriage and the world has made it normalized and perverted it in many ways.

It was meant to be a sweet connection between a man and wife that makes them one.

The Frozen Pole. Spiritually connected.

There is spiritual damage when we sin against our bodies.

Gluttony, Drugs, Alcohol, Cutting, Not Eating, Not Eating Healthy, Not taking my medicine that i need ( some people have chemical imbalances because were created that way),

We keep our temple Holy by being careful what we do with our bodies.

What about what we see and hear? Can that defile our temple?

Our temple has a brain that thinks and stores things in it.

Everything we see and hear can be influences for our good or for evil. We must guard our eyes and ears. The devil attacks us with things that we have seen and heard it is very rare that it is not something we had not heard or seen that he will use against us.

I was talking to a lady about a dream the other day and it was clearly a night mare but it stemmed off things in real life at first before it got scary. He will always use things we are afraid of or familiar with first.

Asian Religion portrays these-Monkeys- Hear not evil, See no evil, Speak no evil. There is something to this if we do not hear and see evil there is less probability that is will come out of our mouths. If it comes out of our mouth then it has taken root in our brain.

Luke 11:34–36 NKJV

The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”

There are things you cannot un-see and un-hear. Horrible emotional memories of lost loved ones. Emotional memories of abuse and neglect. Maybe even things in your web browser. Or even that brother or sister not wearing the right clothes in front of you that cause u to stumble.

Side note.

Skinny jeans- designed to show off parts of the body if your a man and your wearing them you are causing a sister to stumble, or if you share pictures with your shirt off and your muscles showing on fb. Its not just women that do this and in the culture we live in these things are cool and handsome. Being sexy to another human being is considered beautiful but what images are you leaving with them that’s gonna cause them problems later.

Women- if you can see any part of your body that should only be for a husband or a future husband cover it up. Do not wear your clothes too tight, do not show glimpses of things that in the world its ok to show. No short short or short skirts. Men are visual they won’t stop at you look good they will wonder what is underneath if your doing that they are not going to respect you they will end up objectifying you and it will be our fault our brothers are sinning. The reason the old testament tells women to cover up and beware women adorned in make up and too much jewelry is because that’s what prostitutes did in that day and age to get clients. And respectable women kept their selves covered and saved those sights for their husbands. Its really quite beautiful if your covered and your man is the only one that gets a glimpse of your temple then he will love it even more cause its all his. Same with women guys if you keep it for her and you make sure you are enticing every woman in the place she will love you more. It makes it special and sacred the way God intended us to be.

I am not a fan of scary movies or senseless violence.

I am not a fan of movies with a lot of sex either for the above point because i don’t want to get pulled into pornography. Pornography is an addiction that can turn into something not about sex at all and once it reaches that point it has you.

In fact i rarely watch chick flicks any more i used to love love. Well the things is ladies men don’t think like that those movies are written my women. A lot of the love songs we adore written my women. You get a real man they are going to struggle with what we call romantic and every time they do something like that you should praise them because is not natural for them.

In the same way it is not natural for a woman to give a man respect. It has to be learned and every man desires respect in different ways and we have to learn what he needs as far as respect goes. He feels loved that way.

Pastor Deadra how do you know all that many many mistakes in marriage and then going to experts in books to find out what i did. My failed marriages are not all on the men i married some of it was me being ignorant to what they needed. Men and women are literally two different species our brain chemistry is different. If you love a man or woman you have to learn about them in order to succeed in a relationship with them. If you don’t commit to this it will not work and God will not be honored. It is not easy and you will have to sacrifice.

How many times have you heard of young impressionable minds seeing something on tv or on a movie and then trying to do it in real life hurting someone or themselves.

I don’t listen to music from my past especially songs that take me back to parties or old love lives or abuse. I remember listening to a certain female artist when my first ex husband was being abusive and it would somehow help me release some of my hurt and anger. It was years before i could listen to those songs and not relieve those events.

If you can’t listen to it because it takes you to a place that drags you backward don’t listen to it. Secular music can be nasty, unholy, sacrilegious, and just plain bad for you but not all of it and you have to discern what is best for you to hear.

The truth is i listen to just Christian music. I rarely listen to anything but because i love to worship my God and king and that music does more for my soul than any secular bad ever. I have a few favorite bands from the 80s i like 80s music the most and some hip hop a particular bad from my teenage years, but i am very careful if it starts effecting my soul and spirit i do not listen to it.

I don’t listen to people and think its truth especially when its about the bible, test the spirits do your own study don’t take my word for it. Pray to God you will be blessed as you go deeper into study about these things.

These are just a few examples from my life but i’m sure even as i was speaking things came to mind that aren’t the best things for you to see or hear.

I was watching a movie remake of Mulan actually listening it and was so disheartened that they took her spunk and strength from the original movie where she was a woman over coming and helping in a mans world and they showed it like she had some special chi that was like witchcraft and that’s why she was special. Listen fiction is fiction.

But i am so tired of the world using fiction to show the power of evil when there is a supernatural power in Christians that is beyond any thing the devil can offer. It make me sick that the wonder of God is replaced for witchcraft and good vampires which is an ox y moron in itself. Evil can never be good. And there are some people that can’t watch that stuff and believe it or get so dragged into it that they can’t separate that is evil compared to a Holy God and for those people even some of my loved ones we pray for them ad we cover them in prayer till God shows them its not good for them.

Romans 14:16–17 NKJV

Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

If you stop hearing and watching something long enough it will fade in your mind and the more you put the word of God in its place the less space it can take up in your head.

Matthew 13:15 NKJV

For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’

Matthew 13:16–17 NKJV

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

You can look at the other senses a body has Touch, Taste, Smell, etc and see how you might be using those to defile the temple of the Holy Spirit also although i am not going to go into detail here. Any way you use your body that is sin stated by the word of God it is against the temple of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirits main home is in you.

Holy Spirit

Acts 2:33 NKJV

Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

Luke 11:13 NKJV

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

The Holy Sprit is a miraculous gift. God sent Jesus because were sinners and separated from him. God could not have a relationship with us because of our sin. Jesus pays the price and the Holy Spirit is able to come in as his blood bridges away for the Holy Spirit to enter a sinful human man or woman. The truly miraculous part is that a piece of God a form of God lives on the inside of us. The Holy Spirit is God. A from of God.

( water example triune God)

1 John 5:7 NKJV

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

And he is living in our sinful earth suits making us supernatural. And the Apostle Paul in the above verse encourages us to take seriously that he does. Do we take it seriously ? or are we in control and forget he is there? Or are we more like the Carrie Underwood song Jesus take the wheel....it should say Holy Spirit take the wheel because he is inside of every born again believer........Christian.

a. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 1:13–14 NKJV

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Evidence of the Holy Spirit living in you, shows that you are saved.

b. Helper and Guide

John 14:15–17 NKJV

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Romans 8:14 NKJV

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

c. Remember

John 14:26 NKJV

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

d. Prayer

Romans 8:26–28 NKJV

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

e. Wisdom

Isaiah 11:2 NKJV

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

f. Gift giver

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

And so much more because the Holy Spirit is a form of God

2 Corinthians 3:17–18 NKJV

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Romans 15:30 NKJV

Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me,

If the Holy Spirit is that important how can we don’t be careful how we treat his house. The Body the temple for the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion :

The bible was written was inspired product of the holy spirit and was infused with the Holy spirit. Thats why its a living word. That’s why the Holy spiirt itself living in you will not guide you outside of his inspired word.

Scripture interprets Scripture