My Heart--God's Home | Part 2

Is the church God's house?

Here's Adrian Rogers. When Jesus willingly took all the sins of this world upon himself, he gave the opportunity for our hearts to become God's home. In fact, beloved pastor and author Adrian Rogers said, being saved is getting God back in your heart, helping you understand that you are now a temple of the Holy Ghost. How can we be assured that our hearts are God's home?

Can sin still jeopardize God's residence there? If you have your Bible, turn now to 1 Corinthians, chapter 6, we'll begin in verse 19, as Adrian Rogers concludes his powerful message, my heart, God's home. I want to give you four words that start with the letter D, because the whole message is going to be built around these four letters, and I want you to see the first word is design, the second word is desecration, the third word is desolation, and the fourth word is destruction. Now you're going to see a pattern, and it's going to go through all of these houses. First of all, God made Adam, and Adam was to be a house of three rooms. That innermost room, the spirit, was where God dwelt with Adam, but not only was that house designed, that house was secondly desecrated. Adam sinned, he sinned against God, and when he sinned against God, he defiled, he dirtied, he desecrated the house. Adam now has a house that is desolate. It is minus God.

And then what happens is the house designed, the house desecrated, the house desolated is a house destroyed. How did Adam die? God had warned Adam and Eve, in the day that you eat, you'll die. Well, did they die that day?

If you read the Bible, Adam went on to live for 900 years, had children, and yet God said, Adam, in the day that you eat, you'll die. Well, did he die or didn't he die? Well, let me tell you how he died. He died immediately in his spirit. He died progressively in his soul. He died ultimately in his body.

All right, now watch. A house designed, a house desecrated, a house desolated, God moved out, and a house destroyed. That's God's primary house.

That was Adam. Now, second house God moved into. And this is what I want to call God's pattern house, which was the temple. God built a temple for his people in the Old Testament. First of all, it was a tabernacle, which was just a tent. Later, it became a more stately structure, but it's the same idea, the same principle, the tabernacle or the temple. Friend, that temple was nothing more, nothing less than a gigantic pattern. God used the temple to teach a colossal lesson, and I don't want us to miss the lesson.

First of all, a house design. God designed the temple of three rooms, and God says, see that you do it according to the pattern that I gave you, because it's a lesson. A house design, a house desecrated.

Notice, if you will, in Matthew 21, verse 13, what Jesus said about the temple. And he said unto them, it is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves. Now, a house design, a house desecrated, and then what happens? A house desolated. God won't live in a dirty house. Look at Matthew 23, verse 38. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Do you see that? Now, he doesn't call it my Father's house anymore. Before he said, my Father's house shall be a house of prayer. No longer is it my Father's house, now it's your house. Now, the strange thing is that after they had taken the holy temple and made it a den of thieves, they continued to worship in it.

But God was a thousand light years away. He's no longer God's house. It is your house, a house designed, a house desecrated, a den of thieves, a house desolated. Your house is left unto you desolate.

And then what next? A house destroyed. Look in Matthew 24, verses 1-2, and Jesus went out and departed from the temple and His disciples came unto Him for to show Him the buildings of the temple. Jesus said unto them, see ye not all these things verily? I say unto you, there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. Designed, desecrated, desolated, destroyed. God moved out and God moves on. And you can go to where that beautiful temple was once and you will find not one stone upon another. There are other temples that have been preserved, but not this one.

Not this one. Jesus' Word is fulfilled. Now, are you catching a pattern? There's a primary house. There's a pattern house. Now God is moving on. Here's the third house that I want you to see that God moved into. And it's what I want to call God's perfect house. Do you know what God's perfect house was? It was Jesus Christ Himself. Now, notice what Jesus said about Himself here in John chapter 2, verses 19 through 21. Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple.

Do you see Him pointing to Himself? Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, forty and six years this temple was this temple and building.

And wilt thou rear it up in three days? But now notice this, but He spake of the temple of His body. Jesus knew that His body was a temple of God. And it was a perfect temple. First of all, a house design. Jesus said, a body thou hast prepared me.

A house design. He was the second Adam, body, soul and spirit. He was totally perfect. A house design, He could point to anyone and say, which of you convinceth me of sin? This is why He was born of a virgin, to be perfect. He's not the son of Adam, and Adam all died. He came as He did, born of a virgin, to be what He was, sinless. He was what He was, sinless, to do what He did, to die for our sins.

Only a perfect sacrifice could be acceptable before God. Follow with me now, a house design, but now a house desecrated. You say that house? That house, Jesus? Was His temple desecrated?

Absolutely. Read in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to His own way. And the Lord hath laid on Him, on who? On Jesus, the iniquity of us all. First Peter 2 verse 24, who His own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. Him who knew no sin, that's Jesus, God hath made to be sin for us. All we like sheep have gone astray, but God took my sin, your sin, our sin, all the rotten, filthy, dirty, perverted sin of this world, and put that sin upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus never sinned, but my sin, your sin, our sin, their sin, all sin, was laid upon Jesus Christ. A house designed, a house desecrated. What's the next deed? A house desolated. I notice in Matthew 27 verse 46, Jesus is nailed to that hellish machine called a cross in agony and blood, and He cries out about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama, sabatthani, that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

I'll tell you why. God can't live in a dirty house. And when Jesus was willing to become our substitute, when Jesus was willing to take our sins upon Himself, then that perfect house was desecrated. And God the Father turned His back upon God the Son, for the Bible says of God the Father, thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. And here's Jesus bearing the sin of the world on that cross, and God Himself turns His back on the Lord Jesus Christ. You ought to love the Lord Jesus for what He did for you. When David died, David said, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil for thou art with me. Friend, I want to tell you that Jesus walked that dark valley all by Himself. He could not even say, Lord, my God, my Father, be with me. Why hast thou forsaken me? A house designed, a house desecrated, a house desolated, and then what?

A house destroyed. Jesus knew that that temple would be destroyed Himself. John chapter 2 verse 19, Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Jesus knew that He would be destroyed, and who would be the one who would destroy Him? God the Father?

You say, now wait a minute. I thought we crucified Jesus. Well, in the sense that He died for our sins, we did. But the Bible says, It hath pleased the Lord to bruise Him. In Isaiah 53 verse 10, when Jesus took my sin, when Jesus became my substitute, God had to treat Jesus as He would treat me.

A house designed, a house desecrated, a house desolated, and a house destroyed. The Bible says in Romans 8 that God spared not His only Son. If God did not spare Jesus when He was bearing our sins, what makes you think God is going to spare you if you reject the sin-bearer? If there were ever a time when God would have been lenient on sin, it would have been when that sin was upon His Son, Jesus.

If God could not overlook the sin that was on Jesus, I'll tell you, my friend, God cannot overlook your sin. Now, God's primary house was Adam. God's pattern house was the temple. God's perfect house was the Lord Jesus, designed, desecrated, desolated, and destroyed, all of them. That brings me to the final point, and the final point is God's permanent house. Did you know that God has stopped moving?

Did you know that God has moved in and He is not moving out again? First Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19. What, know you not, that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which you have of God? You're not your own, for you're bought with a price.

Oh, what a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. You want to know where God lives?

Right here. God lives in me, and God is never moving out. God is never moving out. Now, you say, Pastor, are you certain that He's not moving out?

I'm absolutely certain that He is not moving out. Notice 2 Corinthians 6, verse 16. For what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them. And the word dwell means to settle down and walk in them, just like you walked with Adam, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. And then look, if you will, in John 14, verse 16. I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with you.

How long? Forever. Look at Ephesians 3, verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. When God moves in, He is not moving out. Now, sometimes we come to church and we say, well, we're coming to God's house. No, you're bringing God's house to church. You see, God lives in you. Now, sometimes we think, well, I've been to church, now it's 12, we're moving out of God's house.

Friend, your heart is not a hotel with checkout time, no. God comes into you, to live in you, to stay in you once and for all. Now, having said that, I want to draw several lessons and we'll be finished. First of all, the lesson concerning salvation. What is salvation? Salvation is not getting man out of earth into heaven.

That's what most people talk about. Don't you want to be saved so you can go to heaven? Well, I want to go to heaven, but that's not what salvation is. That's just the byproduct of salvation.

Now, if you don't hear anything else, you listen to what I'm saying. Salvation is not getting man out of earth into heaven. It is getting God out of heaven into man.

That's what it is. Being saved is getting God back in your heart, helping you to understand that you are now a temple of the Holy Ghost. And it's so wonderful when God does that. This past week I received this letter. To the wonderful people at Love Worth Finding Ministries, hello. My name is Vanessa. I'll leave off her last name because of the nature of this letter.

I'm a single mother of three children. I am writing to let you know how much your program has been touching my life. I want to thank you for your daily broadcast Currently I have been blessed to have a new job as a receptionist.

I sit in the back area office section. I listen to your program here in Milwaukee every day. Thank you for blessing my life and showing me things I need to know in my new walk with Christ. Since I've given my life to Christ, to make a long story short, my life has been changed from being a prostitute and drug addict to a devoted mother with a full-time job. I have learned to trust God in every area of my life. It has been one year and my life has been completely turned around.

Thank you. I just want you to know that your radio program is being heard and is touching lives. I know now that God loves even the worst people and He sends His Word to heal our diseases. I thank Him for changing my life.

I will forever be grateful because God is so good. Keep preaching God's Word. Don't stop. God bless you.

Keep on keeping on. Now this is not a woman who is concerned about going to heaven. She is a person who said, I have life in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not a prostitute anymore. I'm not a drug addict anymore. What is salvation? It is not getting man out of earth into heaven. Thank God for heaven. I'm going to heaven. I hope you are.

See you there. But oh, it's getting God out of heaven to man. Now, not only the lesson concerning salvation, but the lesson concerning security. You see friend, God has stopped moving. God is not moving around anymore. God dwells in our heart by faith and God is never, never, never, never, never going to forsake us. He says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. And actually the Greek language is I will never, never, never, no never, ever, never leave you. He keeps piling up the negatives nor forsake you. He's moved in to settle down. Well, He said, I thought you said God wouldn't live in a dirty house and I'm not perfect.

No friend, I'll tell you what happens now. Because of Calvary's sacrifice, no sin will ever be imputed to you. Romans 4 says blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. If God were to put one half of one sin on your record, He'd have to move out. But sin is never imputed to you. Well, what happens then when I sin? God will carry you to the woodshed and beat the tar out of you. That's what will happen.

Whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives. But you are secure. Some people don't believe in eternal security. They believe you get saved and lost and saved and lost and saved and lost. You become a spiritual neurotic if you believe that.

If you didn't know the next day whether you would have a place at the table, a bedroom or whatever as a little child, after a while you'd become a nervous neurotic. Some people say, oh, I believe in security. I believe in security when I get to heaven. You think, boy, I'm going to jump into heaven, slam the door behind me and say, woohoo, I'm safe now. Well, wait a minute. What makes you think you'd be safe up there if you're not safe down here? The angels fell from heaven. Friends, security is not in a place that's in a person, and His name is Jesus Christ. Oh, I thank God. And the lesson concerning security, He has moved in never to move out again.

And there's also a lesson concerning sanctification. Now, listen to me. I told you how Adam died, and I told you not to forget it, but you forgot it, so I'm going to remind you. Adam died immediately in his spirit. He died progressively in his soul.

He died ultimately in his body. Got it? Say, got it. All right, now listen. When you get saved, God puts all that in reverse, puts all that in reverse. When you get saved, you are justified immediately in your spirit. The Bible speaks of the spirits of just men made perfect.

You are justified immediately. The moment you say yes to Jesus Christ, that moment, hallelujah, you are justified in your spirit. And every sin, every blot, every blur, every blemish, every stain is buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness. Now, not only are you justified immediately in your spirit, you're sanctified progressively in your soul. Adam died progressively in his soul, but you're sanctified progressively in your soul. God is working on you day by day to make you more like the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we're not totally sanctified yet, are we? Philippians 1, 6 says, He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it.

Justified immediately in the spirit, sanctified progressively in the soul, and glorified ultimately in the body. Ultimately, I'm going to be glorified. One of these days, the Bible teaches He's going to change my vile body that it might be like unto His glorious body. That's the reason the Psalmist said, I will be satisfied when I awaken in my likeness. What I'm going to be like, I don't know, but I know one thing, I'm going to be like Jesus.

That's good enough for me, and it ought to be good enough for you. A three year old can ask questions about heaven that nobody can answer. There are some things we know and some things we don't know, some things we can be dogmatic about, some things we can't be dogmatic about, and some things we can be bulldogmatic about. It does not yet appear what we shall be like, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. I am going to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Adam died immediately in his spirit, progressively in his soul, ultimately in his body. I am justified immediately in my spirit, sanctified progressively in my soul, glorified ultimately in my body. What a day it's going to be when the reddening shadows of this life mingle with the purpling dawn of eternity, and Jesus comes, and we'll rise to meet Him in the air. Oh, how we praise Him.

You know, we have a great salvation, don't we? He has moved in. Settle down. He's never moving out. What?

No, you're not. That your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which you have of God, and you're not your own. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit. How many of you would light up a cigarette in here? Please don't answer if you would.

But you can hardly wait to get out. Hey, friend, if you're going to defile anything, it'd be better to defile this than to defile this. See what I'm saying? Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost of God. How many of you would use language out there that you wouldn't use in here?

No, no. We are temples of God. Every day is a holy day. Every place is a sacred place. God lives in us. Because we are temples of God, every day can be holy. Every place is sacred. What an inspiring lesson from God's Word today.

And if that's true, if God lives in your heart and mine, then we are part of the body, part of the same fellowship. And maybe you have a prayer request that you'd like to share with us. At Love Worth Finding, it's one of our greatest honors to come alongside you and pray with you, pray for you. If you can, go to our website, LWF.org, and scroll down to find our prayer wall. You'll find the option to either submit a prayer request or pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for each other's needs. We can't wait to hear from you.

Again, go to LWF.org. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's lesson, request one by the title, My Heart, God's Home, when you call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD. This message is also part of the powerful series, Putting First Things First, How to Have Eternal Life. If you'd like the complete collection, all six insightful messages, call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD or go online to LWF.org slash radio, or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Well, thanks for studying in God's Word with us today. Considering your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, spend time reflecting, how am I living differently from others?

Are there sins I need to repent of? And be sure to tune in next time for more profound truth, Simply Stated, right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener from Arkansas reached out to us on Facebook not long ago with a special message I want to share. She said, Dear Love Worth Finding, I am delighted to see that the legacy of Adrian Rogers lives on since he went home to be with the Lord.

I look forward to reconnecting and hearing more messages from your archives. May God be glorified in all you do at Love Worth Finding. We are honored to be able to share these timeless messages with you. And we're only able to do that because of the generous gifts and prayers from listeners like you. This month is a thank you for your generosity. We want to send you our Walk by Faith booklet collection. This bundle includes powerful messages from Adrian Rogers, such as Live Like a King in Victory, Making Dreams Come True, and The Golden Key of Faith. Request the bundle when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVEGOD. Or you can give online at lwf.org slash radio.