I invite you to take your Bible this morning and turn with me to First Corinthians chapter three. We're going to look this morning at verses nine through 17. As I said at the beginning of our service this morning today, we continue our sermon series that we began two weeks ago, though Dr. Henry Crobendom, whom Bill prayed for this morning, preached for us last Sunday. That was a great encouragement to me. I pray that it was to to you as well. We come back to the second sermon now in our sermon series that focuses on the church of Jesus Christ. As I stated two weeks ago, one of the reasons why I want to do this sermon series and we're going to do this over the course of the next month or so. And then I actually think right now my plan is when we finish First Timothy in the evening, we'll switch and we'll carry this on for even a few more weeks after that. One of the reasons I want us to focus so much attention on the church of Jesus Christ and its importance is because of so much confusion that exists broadly in the Christian church, in the evangelical church today with regard to, one, the nature of the church. What is the church? It's two or three people gathered together In a home for Bible study, is that the church? What is the church? What does it look like? What is the church supposed to do? But also because there is so little sense, I believe, in our world today, unlike previous generations of Christians, so little sense of the importance and the centrality of the church. Today, We hear much about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and that is certainly absolutely vital. We need a we need a personal relationship, but we also need the Church of Jesus Christ. And one of the hallmarks of reformed churches historically has been a recognition of the absolute primacy, the centrality, the importance of the church. In fact, if you look in your bulletin, this long announcement, which was there two weeks ago, is back on the nature of the church. But I would encourage you to spend time reflecting on this, reflecting on the words of Cyprian, who said, you cannot have God for your father if you do not have the church for your mother. Or John Calvin, who, in response to Cyprian or drawing on Cyprian's words, wrote, let us learn from the simple title mother. how useful, indeed necessary it is that we should know her. For there is no other way to enter into life unless this mother conceive us in her womb, give us birth, nourish us at her breast, and lastly, unless she keep us under her care and guidance until putting off mortal flesh, we become like the angels. Our weakness does not allow us to be dismissed from her school until we have been pupils all our lives. Furthermore, away from her bosom, one cannot hope for any forgiveness of sins or any salvation. And our own confession, the Westminster Confession, states that outside of the church, there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. So historically, even the reformers, not simply Roman Catholicism, but those who reacted against the abuses And the distortion of scripture by Roman Catholicism, even the reformers said, we need the church. The church is absolutely central. And this, as we said two weeks ago, simply reflects biblical teaching. That's what the Bible teaches about the church of Jesus Christ. And this is highlighted for us, as I said two weeks ago, in the descriptions that the Bible uses about the church, and we're not talking here about the church universal. We're talking about local churches, individual congregations of the body of Christ, because remember, that's whom Paul is writing to. That's who the biblical writers typically in Paul's letters anyhow address. And Paul says, as we saw two weeks ago to Timothy, that I'm writing these things to you so that you might know how people ought to behave in the household of God in the church, how you ought to behave together, which is the church of the living God. It is the pillar and foundation of the truth, not just the church universal big you, but the church, the local church, Paul says, is the pillar and the foundation of the truth, and those are sobering words. The church has been entrusted with the word of God. The church is to guard that word and the church is to proclaim that word without the local church. The word loses its power in the world. This morning, we come to Paul's statement here in First Corinthians, chapter three, that the church is the temple of the living God. What we're attempting to see and what I'm attempting to show in this series is that the church is God's ordained instrument. For Christians to grow and for God's work in the world to be accomplished, the local church, the fellowship of believers, the fellowship of the local body is God's ordained instrument for Christians to grow and for God's work to be accomplished in the world. There are other things that are helpful and good, and I'm not opposed to them. Parachurch organizations can do much for the advance of the gospel in the world. Your own Bible studies with your own friends, these are good and helpful things, but it is especially in the local church. with God's people gathered together, that we grow and mature in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is writing of local churches and he's writing of local churches when he says to us this morning, you are the temple of God. So let's hear God's word this morning. First Corinthians chapter three. I'm actually going to begin at the end of the previous paragraph in verse nine. And then read this morning through verse 17, hear the word of the Lord. For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it. because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 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. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God does stand forever. Let's again look to God this morning in prayer. Our Father, we thank you for your church. We thank you for this dwelling place, the place where where you come and you dwell in the midst, where you have said in your word that you especially meet with your people. Oh, God, the heavens and the earth cannot contain you, and yet you have told us that this In the assembly of your saints, this is the place where you come and you reveal yourself to us here. No, God, we pray that you would pour your spirit out into our hearts, into our lives and on this assembly of your people today. Show us your glory, we pray with Moses. Reveal yourself today. In our midst, we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. One of the key emphases in the Old Testament. Is that on the tabernacle or the temple where God said he would dwell with his people? In fact, after The Israelites come out of Egypt and God delivers them through the Red Sea and destroys their enemies. And then after God guides them through the wilderness to Mount Sinai and God gives His law to them, twelve chapters, the whole final, essentially one third of the book of Exodus is devoted to instructions for building the tabernacle. Twelve chapters. We see in Kings, First Kings, detailed instructions for the building of the temple, instructions given to Solomon, passed on to the builders for the building of the temple. After exile, when God's people have fallen into sin, they have strayed, they have wandered away, And God has sent them into exile, but God brings them back after the exile. God says to his people, you live in paneled houses, but my house is in ruins. That ought not to be. You live in luxury, but my house lies in ruins. Why? Why this emphasis on God's temple? When God created and inhabited The heavens and the earth, when God dwells everywhere and can't be confined to one space. Why does God put so much emphasis on the temple? Well, the answer is it's the special place where God dwelt in the midst of his people. In the Old Testament, it was the special place where God met with his people. Turn back with me to Exodus chapter 25. And look with me at verse 22. Exodus 25. Look with me at verse 22. God has is giving instructions here. This is the beginning of his instructions for the building of the tabernacle. And God actually begins with the Ark of the Covenant, which is to be in the most holy place of the Holy of Holies. And God has given instructions. But notice what he says in verse 22. There I will meet with you. And from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. There I will meet with you. There I will speak to you. There I will reveal to you my ways and my commands. Above, or between, several times we see In the Old Testament, God is being described as the one who dwells above or between or on the cherubim, that is, in the Holy of Holies on top of the Ark of the Covenant. He dwells there in the midst of his people. And as God continues for seven more chapters through chapter 31 of Exodus to give instructions for his people. He lays out in great detail what each part of the tabernacle is to look like. And much of that is assumed later. The detail is not the same later with regard to the temple, but much of the detail is assumed later. But seven chapters, God goes on to describe in detail what it is to look like. And then there's a pause. Chapter 32, God is God has given instructions for his people, for the for the tabernacle. Basically, we can say God has been giving instructions for the way God's people are to worship him. And what do God's people do in Exodus chapter 32? They turn to false worship. They build the golden calf. And at the end of that, after Moses has interceded once, For the people, God says, OK, I'm going to send my angel before you and I'm going to drive out the inhabitants of the promised land and I'm going to give you a good land. You'll have everything you want there. It's a land flowing with milk and honey. I'm going to send my angel before you to do that. And many of us would be tempted to say that would be great. We get all we want. God fights our battles. We have milk and honey. We have a great place to live. But what does Moses say? No, God, no. We don't want your angel going before us, we need you in our midst. God says, I will not go, I cannot go in your midst because you are a stiff necked people. If I go in your midst, I'm going to consume you. And Moses said, then it's not worth it. It's not worth it to go if you aren't with us. And Moses intercedes and says, God, dwell in the midst of your people, as Ed Clowney puts it in his book on the church, God at a safe distance is not good enough. God at a safe distance. Is not good enough. God must be in the midst of his people, and so Moses intercedes for his people. And of course, this is a foreshadowing of Christ's intercession. Christ's interceding work. That enables God to be in our midst, even though we remain a stiff necked people. But our sins have been forgiven. We're clothed in Christ's righteousness and God dwells in our midst. But the tabernacle, the temple became God's special dwelling place, became the place where God met with his people. It was also a reminder. In God's instructions and by the very format of the temple of the tabernacle, that God was a holy God. He was a consuming fire. When people entered in, when the Israelites entered into the temple courts, what's the first thing that they saw? The altar of sacrifice, a constant reminder of their sin and a constant reminder that we cannot come into the presence of a holy God unless our sins are atoned for. But God in the midst of his people, that is the significance of the temple in the Old Testament. And so it is significant as we come back now to first Corinthians, chapter three at the Apostle Paul says, do you not know, verse 16, that you are God's temple? You are God's temple. The church becomes The special dwelling place of God. This is the place where God meets with his people in a special way. Now, notice when we talk about the church, we are not talking about the building. Now, this is a place of worship, this is a place that should be treated with respect, but there's nothing holy about the building. We need to remember that. Treat it respectfully. It's where God's people meet to worship Him. But what is holy is the assembly of the saints. And that's what Paul says here. Verse 17, God's temple is holy. Because God is in our midst. In verse 16, When Paul says, do you not know that you are God's temple? Many of you have the ESV, as I'm reading from this morning, and you see a footnote there. It says the Greek for you is plural. And it's plural. in verses 16 and 17. Now, actually, later in First Corinthians, chapter six, in the same book, Paul is going to use the singular and say to God's people, don't you know that your body is the temple of the living God? And therefore, we should watch how we we use our body in the service of God and not in the service of sin. But here it's you, plural, you, the saints, You, the assembly of God's people gathered for worship, you are God's temple. Of course, God dwells everywhere. God can meet with us at home, God can meet with us as we meet with other believers, but God says my dwelling, my temple is the place where my church constructed, as I have indicated in my word, with particular leadership structures, with particular marks of the church that we're going to talk about in the coming weeks. You. My church. Are my temple. And God meets with us here. There is something that happens in the assembly of God's people, if I can put it this way, as we as a church meet together to worship, to praise Him. There is something that happens here in the assembly that does not happen any other way in the Christian life. That does not happen for us out on the mountainside. As glorious and wonderful as that is, that does not happen when even in family worship. And, you know, that's a big thing for me. So I keep coming back to it and I use every chance I get to get it in, like this morning, how important it is for family worship. But not even there. There is something about the assembly, God's people gathered together, where God comes and meets and pours out his spirit, pours out his grace on his people in a special way. As I said two weeks ago, I hear many people talking about their search for God. I just want to find God. But you know what? They're going everywhere. But where God says there, I will be. In the church. When my people are assembled for worship, you want to find me. That's where you go. We oftentimes talk today about. How the church is impoverished, how Christianity is impoverished, and I think there are probably a variety of reasons for that one is I don't know that the word is central in many of our churches the way it should be. I don't know if prayer is a priority in many churches the way it should be. But one of the reasons why the church and Christians are impoverished is because we have lost a sense of the absolute centrality and importance of the Church of Jesus Christ. We have lost a sense and we have lost our richness, we have lost our power, we have lost our boldness because of it. We are impoverished, the evangelical church at large, because we have lost a sense of the absolute centrality of the Church of Jesus Christ and God's people gathered together in worship and in service. Church is the temple of the living God. Secondly, we see in this passage this morning that As I've already stated, because the church, the assembly of God's people is God's temple, that means the assembly of God's people is a holy place. When we gather together and God comes in our midst, we are standing on holy ground, as God said to Moses. This is holy ground This is a holy place again, not the building, but we as we assemble together, this is. Holy ground. Paul says in verse 17, if anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him for God's temple is holy and you Corinthians, you sovereign grace, Presbyterian church, you plural are. That temple, you assembled, are holy. And if anyone destroys it, God will destroy him. Now, let's talk a little about the context of this statement. Paul in first Corinthians, chapter three, is talking about those who are seeking to serve the church. And he says in verse 12, for instance, if if anyone builds on the foundation who is Christ, if anyone builds With gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. And Paul basically states, be careful how you build. He's asking the question, how are we building on the foundation of Jesus Christ? And in particular, in this context, I think Paul is calling God's people to use divine wisdom, not human wisdom. Verse 18, Paul says, let no one deceive you. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him because become a fool, that he may become wise. It's so easy to get sucked into human wisdom to human ways of thinking. Bill, in his prayer this morning, actually, and we didn't coordinate this, Bill, in his prayer this morning, actually mentioned two of them. One, churches being built on a business model. Two, churches being built and the gospel being preached according to a therapeutic model. That's drawing on the wisdom of the world. Not the wisdom of Scripture. God's holy Word. Be careful how you build. Use divine wisdom, not human wisdom. God is in the midst. This is holy ground. The church gathered for worship is an uncommon assembly. This is not just a group of people getting together. To have a good time. Which is what some people want in church. Well, I don't have fun there anymore. I want to have a good time. Entertain me. Give me a good time. That's why I come to church. I don't come to hear a guy talk for 40 minutes. We are an uncommon assembly. This is a gathering of God's people where God says, I will come and I will dwell in your midst. It carries a threat of judgment because this is holy, the assembly of God's people is holy. It carries a threat of judgment. If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. We've seen many churches be destroyed in a variety of ways. leaders who lead their people into error and false teaching and false doctrine, division, backbiting, discontent, a whole host of things. And God gives us a warning. This is a holy place. This church is a holy place. Watch out. God said in Exodus chapter 33, I will not go with you. You're a stiff necked people. I won't go with you lest I consume you. And Paul draws on that language here. Don't destroy the temple of the living God. You are that temple. Don't destroy it because God will destroy you. But now, just as Moses has interceded, so Christ is interceding for us. So Christ has provided atonement for our sins. So are our sins have been have been blotted out. We are clothed when we trust in Christ, in his righteousness and Christ ever lives to intercede for us. Now, God comes and he he dwells in our midst. As Moses has interceded, so Christ is our advocate interceding at the right hand of the father, we come. to God with joy, but we also come with reverence and awe. Reverence and awe never disappears, even under New Covenant worship. We don't come with the same fear as the Israelites, as the writer to the Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 12. We don't come before God with the same fear of God's judgment and punishment because our sins have been put away. They've been dealt with in Christ. But we come with reverence and all God is still a consuming fire. As we meet for worship, this is a holy place. To put it differently, there is or there should be no such thing as, quote, casual worship. Go to websites of churches today. You'll see it over and over again. We provide casual worship. In the Bible, there is no such thing. Can you imagine Paul? Can you imagine Moses? Can you imagine the writer to the Hebrews? Can you imagine Jesus saying, come for casual worship? There's no such thing in Scripture because God is here. God comes to meet with his people. How do we prepare? How do we approach worship? Come with reverence. Come with all. When you come into the assembly of God's people, you are standing on holy ground. Which is an amazing fact. If you're visiting with us today, I just want to be clear. You don't come here and stand on holy ground because we're such holy people. We're a bunch of sinners. That's one thing you need to understand, if you have an interest in joining us, we're a bunch of sinners. Many people come and they get so many come, they like the church, they get excited about the church. It's a loving place. It's a wonderful place. I love Sovereign Grace. I love this body of believers, but pretty soon the light dawns. Yeah, they are sinners. They're just like the rest. And we are. But this is holy ground because in the assembly of God's people, God dwells in our midst. But third, God's temple, the third thing about God's temple. is that it is a place of safety. Reflect with me on the language that the Old Testament uses. The Bible refers to a place where God's people met with him as a sanctuary. What does sanctuary mean? Basically, it has two basic meanings. Sanctuary, on the one hand, means it is a place set apart. It is a holy place. But the second thing that sanctuary means is that it is a place of safety. A place of safety. A sanctuary. A place to run to. A place where we can find refuge in the difficulties and trials and dangers of the world today. It's a place of safety. And that's what the church is. Look with me at 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. We don't have time to read this passage. We actually looked at this last Sunday evening. For those who are here, let me encourage you. We talked about church discipline. If you weren't here, I encourage you to go back and listen to that sermon on church discipline. I dealt with this in more detail. But in First Corinthians, chapter five, Paul here is dealing with the immoral brother and he is instructing the church in twelve verses, five times in a variety of ways. He says to put this immoral brother in unrepentant sin out of your midst. But notice, in particular, the language that Paul uses in verse five. He says, when you let's start with verse four, when you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present with the power of the Lord Jesus, notice that when you're assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, my spirit is present with the power of the Lord Jesus. You are to deliver this man to Satan. For the destruction of the flesh. So that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Deliver him to Satan. First of all, for the destruction of the flesh. What's that mean? The flesh is typically the sinful nature. Why ultimately for his good, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. This act of church discipline is not a hateful thing. It's a loving thing. For his salvation. But the language is so strange. Paul uses it one other time. He uses the same language in Second Thessalonians. Hand him over to Satan. What in the world does Paul mean? Does Paul mean send him to hell? No, absolutely not. Because Paul's desire here is for his spirit to be saved. He says, hand him over to Satan, which means to put him outside the church. In the place ruled by the prince of the power of the air. In other words, to be outside the church, to be outside the fellowship of God's people is to be in a place of danger. It's to be in a place of spiritual danger. Satan reigns there. Hand him over to Satan. The flip side, then, is to be in the church, to be with God's people, to meet with God's people. is to be in a place of safety. The church, the assembly of God's people is a place of safety. I have heard many people in my years as a as a both a pastor and a teacher. Many people say to me, I can be just as good a Christian or even a better one away from the church. Those bunch of hypocrites, they don't even focus on spiritual things half the time. Be careful. Those hypocrites, those sinners. Our centers. But they are the temple of the living God. They are where God in his unfathomable mercy. Chooses to dwell, that is where God reveals himself, that is where God shows forth his glory. Do you view this assembly as a sanctuary? As a safe place where you come to meet with the living God. I'm going to close there this morning, we could make a fourth point and I'll say it very briefly, and that is what we're going to come back to this, actually. The church is the building where the church is, the temple also means that we individually become the building block. for that temple. First Peter 2.5, you like living stones are being built into a spiritual house. Ephesians 2.22, you are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. We are the living stones. We are The building blocks, how important then is life together? How important then is that we use our gifts to serve the church? How important then is that we be with God's people when they meet for worship? When when when you are not here, an important block is missing. And we are not what we can be or what we should be. I had an assistant several years ago who used to pray in his prayers, a beautiful prayer, used to pray for those who couldn't be there on a particular Sunday. And there are a variety of reasons why we can't be here on a particular Sunday and pray for their safe return. But he would always pray, we are worse because they are not here with us. And a beautiful prayer, that's exactly what this biblical teaching means. We are the building blocks. And when we are not together, something is missing from our assembly. The key here, we are God's dwelling. A Christian should be able to say, that's where I want to be. How lovely. is your dwelling place, O God, where you dwell in the midst of your people. I was glad that I had a mother who, when I would groan and complain about going to church on Sunday morning, would quote to me, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. I am glad that I had a faithful mother who used to tell me that many phases in life almost every Sunday. Is that what you say to your kids? Is that what you say to yourself? I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Is your prayer, the prayer of David that I started with this morning and the call to worship, one thing, one thing have I asked of the Lord? And that will I seek after. And I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the Lord. And to seek him in his temple. One thing. One thing. The Bible says, people of God, one thing. your meaning in life, your purpose in life, is to gather with God's people to worship Him. Let's pray together. Our God, it is an amazing, astounding, a mind-boggling thing to us that You choose in Your providence In your wisdom, you choose, O God, to dwell in the midst of a sinful people, a redeemed people, yes, but a people who still remain sinners. And yet, O God, that is the place where you say, I will dwell. Our God, we praise you and we worship you for that because we do not deserve it. We certainly have not earned it. But God, You have been gracious to us. And so we pray that our heart's desire might be to worship You, to love You, to gather with Your people, to give You the praise, the glory, and the honor that You deserve. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.