God's Promises to His People

It is an honor to be able to be here with you all tonight. I appreciate the opportunity to come and worship with you through the study of the Word of God and Prayer. The elders and the church at Pray’s Mill greet you and we pray that we could continue a partnership in the gospel in whatever way the Lord sees fit.

I want to share a little bit of my testimony with you so you have an idea of who I am and how the Lord has worked in my life over the years. My name is Buck Braswell, I have been married to my wife Vickie for 25 years this April. We have two daughters Emilee and Laura who are in their early twenties, both married. Emilee has had our first two grandchildren J who is almost 4 and Beverly named after my mom who is 5 weeks old. We are learning how great grandchildren are.

We are from North Florida, a little town called Mayo. We left there in 2010 and moved to Raleigh, NC area with my job at Osmose where I have been employed since 1998. In 2014 I was offered a position in Peachtree City, at our corporate office and that is how we landed here. Those are the real high level logistical details.

Now for the important part, my gospel testimony. I grew up in the Methodist church, as lost as I could be. We were there every Sunday, but I had know true understanding of the gospel. My parents were great, they did loved me and my brother, taught us how to work hard and tried to instill a general morality into us. However, as you all know apart from God doing his work in our heart and saving us all our efforts at morality are like filthy rags. So I was like many teenagers and young men, I looked pretty good on the outside, but was full of dead mens bones, a white washed tomb. I lived a life of immorality but was able to keep it mostly hidden from the people I needed to.

But by the grace of God after Vickie and I were married, we were still attending the Methodist church for a little longer, she finally told me, I can’t do this any more. If we are going to go to church we need to go somewhere there is some life. So we went to a Baptist church down the road. This is where I would be introduced to a young preacher named Kyle Giddens. Kyle preached the Scriptures like I had never heard. He unpacked them verse by verse, and explained the gospel in a way that I finally by the power of the Spirit and the Word, saw my sin, and that Christ died for me and rose again that I might be saved. It was under Kyle’s ministry in 2000 that God saved me. That year, my Mom, Dad, and Vickie were all baptized, I held out a little longer than they did but finally trusted Christ and made my profession public through baptism.

My wife and I continued to grow under Kyle’s preaching and discipleship to the point I began to have this desire to be able to teach the Scriptures as he did, that people may come to know the Lord. So in 2007 I approached Kyle on a Sunday night and asked him to help me assess this desire to preach God’s word. It was at that time that Kyle started a two year personal discipleship program with me to help me prepare for the ministry. As I mentioned in 2010 we moved to North Carolina, I had begun taking online classes at the Baptist College of FL, so I transferred to the College at Southeastern when we got settled up there. In 2018 I finally finished my associate of Divinity degree at Southeastern. In 2014 we moved to GA where we began attending Pray’s Mill. After Pastor Josh Buice met with our family got to know our story and understand my desire he and David Crowe begin to prepare me for eldership at Pray’s Mill so in 2016 I was ordained as an elder at Pray’s Mill where I have been serving since. There are a lot of details in betwen I would be glad to share with any of you if you are interested but let’s get to that of utmost importance, God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible Word.

Turn with me if you will to

2 Corinthians 6:14–18 ESV

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

As I begin to pray and think through what to share with you all tonight. I went back and forth on different Scriptures or doctrines we could study. But, the more I thought about it this text seem to be one that would be one that encourages and challenges the church of God. Especially as you walk through this season of seeking a pastor to shepherd the church. We are working our way through 2 Corinthians in Sunday School at Pray’s Mill and I am picking up for you right were we left off last week. Because I do think this text provides great hope. We are going to primarily unpack

The second half of verse 16, through verse 18, but we needed the 14-16 verse for context. But here is the main point of the message tonight.

The church of God is to remain separate from those who reject God as we trust in the promises of God.

We will look at this passage under two headings.

The Church is the Temple of God

The Church is to Live according to the Promises of God

First,

I. The Church is the Temple of God

2 Corinthians 6:16b For we are the temple of the living God;

Now, let me set the context of how Paul landed at this statement in chapter 6. Paul has written this second letter to the Corinthians because he has gotten word that there are some false teacher aka “super apostles” that are attacking his ministry. He has written to the Corinthians to commend and defend his motives and ministry. He reminds them how God has given him the ministry of reconciliation, used him to preach Christ to them, how he has loved them, taught them, and how he continues to loves them. Let me give you a couple of verses that lead us to this section.

2 Corinthians 4:1–2 ESV

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

Do you see how Paul is calling them to remember his faithfulness in ministry?

2 Corinthians 5:18–21 ESV

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Do you hear Paul explaining how God has given him this ministry of reconciliation?

He reminds them that they have been reconciled, made right to God through the righteousness of Christ. He lays down the gospel in verse 21 reminding them of God’s plan of redemption.

That on the cross God made his own Son, the second person of the trinity, the incarnate One to be sin, even though he is the only One who never sinned.

And why did he do it? That we might become the righteousness of God!

God poured his holy, righteous, wrath out on Jesus Christ that we deserved. Jesus took this punishment for our sin, that was credited to him, so that he might give us his righteousness to reconcile us to God! What a powerful message!

This is the reason Paul can say to the Corinthians.

For we are the temple of the living God.

Now in the context of the entire Bible we know that in the OT the temple is the place where God met with his people for worship, for communion with them. There were specific instruction for how the temple was constructed, who was allowed to enter the the temple, and the way in which God was to be worshipped at the temple.

As we come to the New Testament, and the New Covenant in Christ the temple in Jerusalem is replaced by the church, the Holy Spirit indwelt people of God.

Paul has already written to the Corinthian church regarding this truth. So they would have understood what he was saying. They knew they were temples of the living God individually and corporately.

1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

In this passage Paul reminds them since they are the individual temples of the living God they are to flee immorality and glorify God in their bodies.

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 ESV

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Paul then goes on to remind them that they are to seek to build up, not destroy God’s corporate temple. The individual members of the temple of God are to strive to build on the foundation that has been laid which is Jesus Christ. Everything we do must be Christ centered and Christ exalting. That we all grow in our knowledge and likeness of Jesus so that the church may be edified and equipped for the work of ministry.

Now specifically, notice here what Paul is contrasting when he reminds us that we are the temple of the living God.

2 Corinthians 6:16 ESV

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Paul says, as the temple of the living God you we have not agreement with idols. There is no place for false God’s in the sanctuary of God. Where God’s people gather for worship, the idols of the world must be kept out. We must worship as God’s chosen people, who are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We must do this as a separate people, a called out assembly, who seek to please God in every area of our life.

I want to share a quote with you and then ask you if understanding the truth that we are the temple of God will change the way we live today as the church of God.

Scott Hafemann writes, “there is nothing more significant from this passage than Paul’s persuasion that the church is the place of God’s presence within the history of redemption. Today, however, the church is often merely “a conspiracy of cordiality,” in which we refuse to confront each other out of a lukewarm definition of “love” that “keeps everyone as distant from everyone else as possible.… This accounts for why, to many people, church becomes suffocatingly superficial. Everybody agrees to talk about everything here except what matters.… The loneliness and detachment of modern life, the way we are all made strangers, infects the church too.”

Hafemann, S. J. (2000). 2 Corinthians (pp. 297–298). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

How often do we meditate on the truth that we are the temple of the Living God?

Do we live together in “a conspiracy of cordiality” where we refuse to confront one another out of a shallow definition of love?

Do we talk about superficial things or the unsearchable truths of the Scriptures?

Do we function as the modern world, detached as strangers, or do we affirm our love for Christ and for one another out of an understanding of our calling, our common justification, and our adoption in Christ.

As the temple of the living God,

The church is the bride of Christ called to proclaim the Word of God, administer baptism and the Lord’s supper, and exercise church discipline.  The church is the organism through which God accomplishes his mission in the world.  It is the main agent for all ministry of the Word, including the ministry of counseling and discipleship. (Doctrine of the Church ACBC).

Notice how Paul follows this first truth that the Corinthians are the Temple of the Living God.

He then calls them to remember,

II. The Church is to Live According to the Promises of God (17-18)

Paul lays out three truths God’s regarding God’s promises to his people.

See the second half of verse 16, as God said,

We know the entirety of Scripture is God speaking and God breathed but here the significance is Paul is quoting from the Old Testament to remind the Corinthians who they are as Gods’ temple.

First,

God promises his people they are a,

A. Divine Dwelling

2 Corinthians 6:16c I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

In the Old Testament God taught that he had chosen Israel, not because they were strong and mighty, but because of his mercy and love. He chose them and promised to be with them, to protect them, provide for them and reign over them.

He dwelt among them in his temple, in the glory cloud and in the ark of the covenant. In the New testament God chooses us, calls us out of darkness, and dwells in us by His Spirit. It is through his Holy Spirit that he convicts us, causes us to be brought from death to life, and then continually illuminates his Word to us that we might be transformed from one degree of glory to another, Paul writes to the Corinthians.

Could there me a more glorious, grace filled promise! Even though we don’t deserve this divine indwelling of God’s Spirit, he give it to us for our good and his glory!

We are no longer people of darkness, children of wrath, but we are the people of the one, true living God!

Peter says it this way,

1 Peter 2:9–10 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

How often do you ponder on the this truth, that as the temple of God you are the not only owned by God but he lives in you!

Secondly, as a the temple of God we are,

B. Divinely Distinct (17)

2 Corinthians 6:17 ESV

Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,

Paul reminds the Corinthians from the OT that they are to be a distinct nation and a separate people. Not to be mixed with the pagan nations around them. He has called them out of the pagan nations out of idolatry and darkness. Therefore they are to be noticeably different from those around them.

Leviticus 20:24 ESV

But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples.

Leviticus 20:26 ESV

You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

There are things that the world touches that we are to keep our hands off of. The church is to not only separate from the sinful practices of the world, but they are to keep from allowing idolatrous worship into the church.

C. Divine Adoption (18)

2 Corinthians 6:18 ESV

and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Not only did God, by His Spirit, and through His Son,

Call us out of darkness,

Free us from the bonds of sin and death,

Cause us to be born again,

Release us from condemnation,

Promise us a unfading and undefiled inheritance,

He adopted us as Sons and Daughters!

There are certain books and quotes that you read that stick with you and really grow you in your understanding of doctrine. J.I. Packers knowing God is one of those books. In his chapter on adoption he writes this,

In adoption, God takes us into his family and fellowship—he establishes us as his children and heirs. Closeness, affection and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with God the Judge [justification] is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father [adoption] is a greater. (207)

Look I love my Dad, and I would not trade him for any other dad in this world. But when I compare him to God as Father he pails in comparison. Whether you had a great father, a horrible father, or if you don’t even know your father, God promises that he will be a father to you! He will love you, care for you, provide for you, and protect you in ways no earthly father can.

Notice how Paul closes this verse,

says, the Lord Almighty.” The Lord Almighty promises his church that they are his people. There for we should stand firm and remain steadfast in Him. We should not waver when it comes to trusting him, believing in him, and depending on Him. We should be willing to obey him to the point of death, knowing that He will raise us to eternal life in Christ.

It is the Lord Almighty that calls us to separate from the world. Not to come out of the world, into a Christian Ghetto, but not to be of the world, worshiping the things they worship, and engaging in the sinful practices they engage in.

Finally, we should be the most hope filled people in the world, knowing that the Lord Almighty has adopted us! We are children of the Mighty God, brother and sisters, not only to one another, but to our elder brother, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Here are a couple things to remember as we rejoice in God’s promises to his people. This declaration that the church is God’s temple, and the following promises follow a strong call not to be unequally yoked. As God’s people we must not partner with those who promote a false gospel. We must not allow the false god’s of this world to infiltrate our hearts and our worship gatherings.

We must remember the previous verses,

2 Corinthians 6:14–16 ESV

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So as God’s people we must be particular in our partnerships.

We must as we just considered, remember the promises of God as his temple.

And if I come back we will consider verses,

2 Corinthians 7:1–3 ESV

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

Here Paul calls the church at Corinth to pursue purity as God’s people.

I hope tonight God’s word has brought you great hope recognizing the work he has done in you as individual temples of God, and what God has done through you as a local assembly of baptized believers or his corporate temple. It is my understanding Rehobeth is 154 years old, what a legacy as a longstanding, local, temple of God!