THE K I N G ’S BUS I NES S Introduction This lesson is scheduled as a “health lesson,”—and of course,' one can draw inferences as to the health of the body from it. But it is a soul health lesson, and one of the most LESSON definitely spiritual in EXPOSITION the whole Bible, and T. O. Horton our space is all too limited in which to treat it as it should be treated. (1) THE BODIES OF BELIEVERS— God’s Temple. 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. Remember this message is to those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their sin offering and have become children of God by faith in Him. How simple and practical is the method of salva tion! Christ died for our sins. As many as received Him to them gave He authority to proclaim themselves chil dren of God. As soon as Christ is ac cepted with the heart and confessed with the mouth, the Holy Spirit at once takes possession of and seals such an one until the day of redemption, and he becomes a sanctuary—a temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. 3:16). The Holy Spirit comes to dwell forever in the body of clay. (1 Cor. 6:19, 20). And there is another verse in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians which should be read also (2 Cor. 6:16): “And w h a t a g reem e n t h a th th e tem ple of God w ith idols? fop ye a re th e tem ple of th e liv in g God; a s God h a th said, I w ill dw ell in them , an d w a lk in th em ; an d I w ill be th e ir God, an d th ey sh a ll be m y people.” It may be that 1 Cor. 3:16 relates primarily to the individual and has ref erence to the body as a temple for wor ship and service; th a t 1 Cor. 6:19, 20 refers to the body in social life—the maintenance of the body in communion with God; and 2 Cor. 6:16 to the body in conjunction with the whole body of believers, as separated from the world. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is seen as-the Spirit of promise, resting upon and working with believers; but in the New Testament He is seen as the
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Spirit of possession,—dwelling in and working through the believers. Man is a trinity,—body, soul and spirit—as typed in the Tabernacle, which is God’s ideal for all time. The pattern was given to Moses by Jehovah in the mount, and corresponds to man; the body—the outer coverings; the soul —the Holy Place; th e spirit,—the Holy of holies. When the Tabernacle was finished the glory of God filled the place (Read Ex. 40). Here God dwelt by His Spirit. The temple was a sacred place, set apart for God. Here He met His peo ple, set His seal and received worship. No material building now is sacred in the sense that the body of a believer is sacred. Christ’s own estimate is “one soul vs. the whple world,’’---and one indwelt believer is of far greater value than all of the cathedrals in the world. The glory departed from the old temple and never returned. The glory returned and rested upon Christ a t bap tism and filled Him and led Him. The early church was filled and led a t Pente cost. All believers are to be filled (Eph. 5:18) and led (Rom. 8:14). The Holy Spirit lives in every be liever, imparting the life of Christ. The Holy Spirit never leaves a believer (John 14:16). The body of the believer is, then, a sanctuary—a . meeting place between God and man. A sacred place in which the believer worships God. God does not deal directly with the body, but indirectly through the Spirit within the body. While sacred, it is still an earthen vessel (2 Cor. 4:7; 2 Cor. 5 :1 ), a mortal body (Rom. 8:11), a body of humiliation (Phil. 3:21 R, V.) but de stined to be a glorified body. In this body there is an old nature and a new nature, in which the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. This body was bought with a blood sacrifice. We are
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