MESSAGES
Demands of Commitment-Part III
From Egypt to the Promised Land
Overcoming Obstacles part - II
Overcoming Obstacles Part -III
Receiving the Promises of God -I
Receiving the Promises of God - II
Reformation: Going Beyond the Obvious
Well Done is Better Than Well Said
When the Church is Gone - Part II
When the Church is Gone - Part III
When the Church is Gone - Part IV
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A FIT HABITATION FOR GOD II COR. 6:14-18 Today's message will be taken from verse 16, (Read vs. 16).
My subject is "A FIT HABITATION FOR GOD". In this verse we are told that we are
the temple of the living God and since we are His temple we are
admonished to separate ourselves from all that is not like Him. It
is also clear from these verses that all are not the Notice that as people of God we are
told to come out and separate ourselves from that which is unclean. God
did not say that He would separate us from the unclean. In
other words we must take some action ourselves. We must choose
to separate ourselves. Now I do not intend to define or set
a standard for what should or should not be considered unclean. It
is not my job, my responsibility nor my place to make such a determination
for another. Romans Rather than looking at the issues of
uncleanness and of being unequally yoked, today we are to try
to gather insight into what it means to be the I KINGS
5:1-6 In preparing to build a house for God
the first thing that Solomon did was order his materials and the
first thing he ordered was cedar trees from EZEK 31:2-9 The cedars of Lebanon are unique trees
of breathtaking beauty, massive size, rich fragrance and with
long lasting remarkably durable high quality timber. These
trees grow quite rapidly, attaining a height of up to 120 feet
with a trunk diameter of as much as 8 feet. The cedars of Lebanon are used in the
scriptures as symbols of all that is desirable in Christian character. They
represent beauty of life, richness of character, fragrance of
personality, and impeccable conduct. These are the trees
that Solomon ordered for use in building the First, this timber is rich-grained,
lustrous and beautiful to behold. As Christians we must ask
ourselves is there a glow of attractiveness to my life.
Second, cedar has a delicate aroma, a soft, delightful fragrance
that permeated the whole building. Are those around us conscious
of the fragrance of Christ in our lives? Third, cedar is
famous for its repulsion of insects of all sorts. Moths,
beetles and termites avoid it. Its presence has a purifying
influence. As Christians do we provide a purifying influence
in this wicked and perverse world we live in? Are we repelling
sin or is sin gaining strength by feeding on us? Fourth,
the cedar of Lebanon is a very durable wood, being quite impervious
to decay. Is our Christian character decaying, becoming soft,
weak or even rotten? We must all answer these questions on
an individual basis. But if we are to be fit habitations
for God we must be strong, rich in fragrance, repelling sin, resisting
corruption and beautiful in character. Ps. 92:12 Now the cedars of Lebanon do not begin
one day as seeds and wake up the next day as tall magnificent
trees. They grow into a majestic beautiful tree. We
are told here that the righteous shall grow in the same way as
the cedars of Lebanon. To understand how we should grow let's
look at the growth of a cedar. A tree grows, as does a soul,
not by internal striving, but by continuous response to certain
external stimuli outside itself. There are specific conditions
that must exist to insure optimum growth. LIFE - growth is impossible with life being
present. Only a live organism is able to grow. Life
is the capacity of an organism to correspond with its environment. Many
can not grow into the beautiful person that God desires because
they are dead. They do not have the life that God has provided.
They do not respond to God nor does He who is the source
of life dwell in them. ROMANS 6:16-18, EPHESIANS
2:1-5
No one can grow into the strong man or woman
of God without the life of God first abiding in them. The
Army says "be all you can be, find your future in the army". No
matter how great a person becomes no one can be the very best
that it is possible for them to be without God. No matter
how great, prominent, prosperous, beautiful or brilliant a person
is he could be much more of all of these things with God. If
you are still dead in your trespasses and sin you can not possible
grow. Some are dead
and do not even recognize it.
Understand that sometimes a dead tree will stand just as
straight and tall as a live tree and if you are not careful you
will think it to be alive too. Let us not deceive ourselves
nor be deceived by others. Some of us need to examine ourselves
to see if we are alive and others of us need to remember that
the evidence of a live tree is fruit bearing. WATER - A flourishing tree may be up to 80%
moisture and therefore there must be a continuous supply of water
available from its environment if growth is to proceed normally. In
Ezek 31:4-7 we saw that the greatness of the cedars of Lebanon
was attributed the water and springs surrounding them. We
are told that their roots went down into abundant waters. JEREMIAH 17:7-8 The believer must trust God if he or
she is going to grow. When we talk about having faith in
God many think mainly of what they are asking God to do for them
or give them. They speak mainly of believing God will come
through for them. When we talk about trusting God we must
consider that God knows what is best for us and that He has everything
in control even if it does not appear to us that things are going
just right. Trust means we give all over to God and we do
not fret about what He is doing with our lives. Without trust
in God it will be impossible for a Christian to grow because we
will find ourselves always pulling against His will for our lives. We
will not yield to the Spirit of God, hindering His cleansing and
rebuilding processes in our lives. JOHN 15:4-5 A tree must rely on its roots to bring in the
moisture that is needed for growth. So the Christian must
continue in Jesus, seeking strength, instruction, and nourishment
from Him if we are to grow and bear fruit. Jesus is the true
fountain of living water (John LIGHT - Light is essential for the growth
of plant life. Without light all plant life would degenerate
and die. When we consider a forest those trees and plants
with the greater access to light grow tall strong and healthy.
But those trees that receive only filtering light will be stunted,
sickly and susceptible to disease. PSALMS 119:130 In order for us as Christians to grow
we must have a steady diet of God's Word. If
we do not study as commanded in II Tim 2:15, then we too will
have our growth stunted, be weak, sickly, powerless Christians
and be susceptible to the disease of false doctrines. The
Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought light into the world. We
must feed on the Gospel and then offer it as a source of life
and nourishment to those dying in darkness. (II Cor.
4:3-4) HEAT - A tree may be flooded with light
but unless the temperature is above 40 ºF there will be little
or no growth. Heat for the tree is a symbol of love in a
Christian. Sad to say, there are many Christians who have
been exposed to a tremendous amount of scriptural light but
they have not grown because they show no love towards others. I Cor.13: 1-3 says “Though I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become
as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the
gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge;
and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,
and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profits me nothing.”
How much scriptural knowledge and understanding I have
is meaningless if I can not respond to others in love. AIR - Plant life must also have air from
which it extracts carbon dioxide and other minerals essential
for growth. In the scriptures air is often a symbol of the
Holy Spirit. For the Christian the Holy Spirit is essential
for growth because one of His responsibilities is to change us
into the image of Christ. (II Cor. 3:18) SOIL - It is common knowledge that the vigor,
quality and strength of any vegetation is influenced by the mineral
content of the soil in which it is growing. It is also well
known that the best soil for plants is that which has been enriched
by the decay of previously living organisms and soil that is easily
broken up. To grow into a fit habitation for God, Christians
must have a heart that is willing to be broken. We must be willing
to die to self and allow Christ to live through us. SPACE - Trees that grow too closely together,
too tightly, in dense groves will actually smother and stunt each
other. There is fierce competition for space in which to
grow. MATTHEW 13:18-23 In our Christian walk we are constantly
surrounded by earthly attractions, human philosophies, and people
with worldly concepts. All of these along with the other
cares of career, family, friends, etc can choke the Word of God
from us and in fact choke the life out of us. All of these
things that compete for our attention must be put in proper perspective
if we are to grow as the cedars of Lebanon. Our relationship
with God must not be choked by the circumstances and care of this
world. The final element that is important in the growth
of the cedars of Lebanon is WEATHER - If a tree is to grow strong and beautiful
like the cedars of Lebanon, it must withstand all types of weather,
from the hot burning sun to the cold icy blizzards. Trees
do not have the luxury of being able to move inside in bad weather. They
stand firmly planted being twisted and battered by the toughest
elements of nature. However wood carvers testify that trees
that have withstood the worse weather conditions are fashioned
with an inner beauty beyond belief. These trees possess wood
with lustrous grain and lovely lines. In applying this to
the Christian John ROMANS 5:1-5 Though when we are in the midst of these
tribulations it is no fun, we are still told to glory or rejoice
in them. We are told to focus on the good that they will
bring to our lives; the character they will develop in us when
we respond as instructed to by God. It is these adversities
that develop strength, endurance, faith and self control. Tribulations
polish up our character in much the same way as weather creates
the beauty in the cedars of Lebanon. Now the cedar of Lebanon was not the
only material that Solomon used in constructing the I KINGS
6:7, 15, 21-22 The outside of the temple was constructed
of stone, elements of the earth as we the living temples of God
are constructed from the earth. The inner lining of this
stone temple was wood from the cedar trees of When the house was finished and the
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