Where does God live? As we study the Bible, it seems God doesn’t seem to stay put…until recently.
God’s first house was Adam. Adam was to be a royal residence: designed with a body, soul, and spirit. When Adam sinned against God, he desecrated his spirit; therefore, our very Holy God was forced to move out.
God’s second house was the temple. God built a temple for His people in the Old Testament, to teach colossal lessons of holiness, sacrifice, and fellowship. We recognize that this house was desecrated in Matthew 21:13 when Jesus said: “And
Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here’s Adrian Rogers.
SPEAKER 02 :
1 Corinthians 6, verse 19. Find it in your Bibles and look up here for just a moment. And let me ask you this question. Do you know where God lives? Well, if you wanted to write him a letter, do you have the address? Do you have the zip code? Where is God’s house? Now, when we come to church, we say, we’re going to God’s house. What is this beautiful building? Is this God’s house? Where does God live? What is his address? Well, you know, the truth of the matter is, That is, you study the Bible, God has been living in a series of houses. God has been moving in and moving out and moving in and moving out. He doesn’t seem to stay put until recently in one particular place. He moves from house to house. And what happens is that God moves into a house, the house gets defiled and dirty, and God moves out because God will not live in a dirty house. Now, you may live in a dirty house. God won’t live in a dirty house. I heard about some college boys that wanted to keep the team mascot that happened to be a goat in the college dorm. And they said, you can’t do that. What about the smell? Oh, they said, the goat can get used to that smell. We did. Now, college boys will live in a dirty house, but God will not. where does god live well look first corinthians chapter 6 verse 19 what know you not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you which you have of god and you’re not your own for you’re bought with a price therefore glorify god in your body and in your spirit which are god’s where does god live God lives in us. In the Old Testament, God had a temple for His people. In the New Testament, God has a people for His temple. God lives in us. Our hearts are a royal residence. I want you to notice some various houses that God has lived in and moved out of. For example, God’s primary house was a man named Adam. God’s primary house was Adam. The Bible says in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living soul. Now you want to know what man is? Man is body, soul, and spirit. God made man’s body from the dust of the ground and God gave man a spirit by the breath of life. God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. That’s the Spirit of God. And man became a living soul. Now, the Scripture that corresponds to that is 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 23, a key Scripture if you’re going to understand the Bible. So, jot it down. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 23, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray, God, that your whole spirit… AND SOUL AND BODY BE PRESERVED BLAMELESS UNTO THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, FAITHFUL AS HE WHO CALLETH YOU, WHO ALSO WILL DO IT. SO SITTING IN YOUR CHAIR THIS MORNING IS SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY. LET’S PUT THEM IN REVERSE ORDER SO IT’D BE MORE EASILY UNDERSTOOD. FIRST OF ALL, YOUR BODY. YOU HAVE A BODY. YOU HIDE YOUR HAIR, YOUR SKIN, YOUR BONE, YOUR SINEW, THAT EXTRA FLESH. Avoir de quoi, that’s your body. With your body, you have physical life. And you know the physical world, roughly speaking, the world beneath you. And then the Bible says that you have a soul. Now, what is your soul? The Greek word for soul is the word psuche. It’s a word we anglicize and get psyche from, psychology from, psychiatric. Your soul is the emotional part of you, the cognitive part of you that lives in your body. It’s your mind, your emotion, your will. All of those things that make you the wonderful person that you are in your personality. Your intelligence, your sense of humor, your proclivities, your idiosyncrasies, all of those things that make you the person you are, mind, emotion, and will, that is your soul. Now with your body, you have physical life and you know the world beneath you. With your soul, you have psychological life. You know the world within and around you. But what about your spirit? I used to think soul and spirit were about the same, six of one, half a dozen of another. But that isn’t what our Scripture says. Our Scripture says, and I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body. God makes a differentiation between spirit and soul, doesn’t He? What does Hebrews 4.12 say? For the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing asunder between soul and spirit. SO GOD DIVIDES BETWEEN SOUL AND SPIRIT. WHAT IS YOUR SPIRIT? YOUR SPIRIT IS THAT PART OF YOUR NATURE THAT ENABLES YOU TO KNOW GOD. FOR GOD IS A SPIRIT AND THEY THAT WORSHIP HIM MUST WORSHIP HIM HOW? IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH AND WHEN WE GET SAVED, GOD’S SPIRIT BEARS WITNESS WITH OUR SPIRIT THAT WE’RE CHILDREN OF GOD. NOW, PLANTS HAVE A BODY BUT THEY DON’T HAVE A SOUL. Animals, they may surprise you, but they have a soul. Soul, the word soul means conscious life. In the book of Genesis, the Bible speaks of living creatures having nepesh, or soul. Your dog has mind, emotion, and will. But what makes man more than a clever animal is he has a spirit. Dogs never pray. Some may, but not most. I had one I thought might have. Dogs don’t pray. Dogs don’t think of eternity. You see, plants have inanimate life. Animals have animate life. But humans have spiritual life. God put into you a spirit. God breathed into your nostrils the breath of life. You became a living soul because God’s spirit is in you. It’s the spirit that is the organ of spiritual knowledge. And so God made man to live in. Adam was a house of three rooms. Do you know God likes threes? Because God is a triune God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everything God made reflects His triunity. Space is what? Height, width, and depth. Now height is not width, width is not depth, and depth is not height. They’re all different, but they’re all the same. They are distinguishable, but inseparable, like Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Not only space, but time. Time is past, present, and future. The past is not the present. The present is not the future. The future is not the past. They’re all distinguishable, all inseparable. You can’t have one without the other. And everything God has created is time and space in the natural realm. It reflects the triunity of And when God made a man like Randy over here, God made him body, soul, and spirit. And I pray, God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when God made Adam, when Adam came off the assembly line, Adam was to be a royal residence. God was to live in Adam’s house. When the Bible says that God walked with Adam, do you think God in physical form took Adam by the hand and walked with him? No, God was not on the outside, God was on the inside. God was in Adam’s spirit and Adam walked in fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden. Adam was God’s primary house. BUT 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. The Bible says God will walk with him, live with him that is of a humble and a contrite spirit. And so here was a house designed. God designed his house of three rooms. A primary house that was 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. Genesis chapter 3, verse 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat. Plain English, they sinned. They transgress the law of God, and sin is the transgression of the law. They disobeyed God. And so here was a beautiful house that God had made, and now they have desecrated, they have dirtied the house. Well, then, when they did that… What’s the next step? The house is desolated. God moves out. God said in Genesis 3, 19, “…in the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread till thou return unto the ground. For out of it thou wast thou taken, and for dust thou art, and under dust…” Thou shalt return. Now what happened is this, that when Adam sinned, God moved out. And now Adam is minus God in his spirit. And his spirit is dead. But his soul and his body are still alive. Adam now has a house that is desolate. It is minus God. Now, rather than being God-centered, he’s self-centered. And rather than the spirit having dominance over the soul, the soul has dominance. The mind, the emotion, and the will. Now, here’s a house designed. Here’s a house desecrated. And then it is a house desolated. God moves out. Adam is now minus God in his spirit. And rather than being a spiritual man, he’s a soulish man. And then what happens is the house designed, the house desecrated, the house desolated is a house destroyed. God says in verse 19, you’re going to return to dust. You’re going to be destroyed. Now again, I want you to think with me. I’m getting technical now, but it’ll all come together. 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. Now, it’s very important. I’ll bring that back to you in a little bit, so don’t forget it. And if you do forget it, you’re in bad trouble. All right, now listen to me. He died immediately in his spirit. What does it mean to be lost? Do you have to be a bank robber, a rapist, an axe murderer? No. To be lost is to be minus God. How much sin does it take to be minus God? One half of one sin. God won’t live in a dirty house. God just moved out of Adam. He’s just minus God. Now he is ungodly. Without God, God is on the outside. And no longer is Adam a royal residence. And so God moves out. The minute Adam sinned, he died immediately again. in his spirit. That’s the reason the Bible says, He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Your heart is thumping. Your mind is working. But you’re dead. The Bible says, She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she lives. Adam died immediately in his spirit. Adam died progressively in his soul. What’s his soul? The mind, emotion, and will. His mind, meant to be centered on God, becomes a garden of weeds. Fears and neuroses and disappointments and sorrows come into his heart, into his mind, into his soul. He dies progressively in his soul and he died ultimately in his body. Now the seeds of death were in him the minute he sinned. Many of us at Christmas time buy what we call a living tree. It’s not. You go down there where they have all those trees stacked up. That’s not a living tree. That’s a dead tree. And when did it die? The minute that man cut it down. It’s dead. Now, it may look alive, but wait till about New Year’s. It’s dead already. Now, people come to church, and like that tree, you’re all decorated. You look so good, so fresh. But you’re separated from the life of God and just given enough time. What happened when you sinned against God, which we have all done? You’re separated from God. So you died immediately in the spirit, progressively in the soul, and ultimately in the body. Your body is winding down to the grave. 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. Again, it was a house of three rooms. If you know anything about the tabernacle and the temple, three basic rooms. There was the outer court. That’s a place of sacrifice. There was the inner court. That’s where people met together and fellowshiped together. And then there was the innermost court called the Holy of Holies. That’s where the Shekinah glory of God was. Now what was that temple? Friend, that temple was nothing more, nothing less than a gigantic pattern. As a matter of fact, the book of Hebrews calls it a pattern. Just a pattern. It’s an object lesson. It corresponds to the human body. The outer court was the place of sacrifice where the brazen altar was. We represent our bodies, what? A living sacrifice. The inner court was a place where the people met and worshiped and had fellowship together like we’re having in this church. And that represents the soul. We fellowship with one another on a soulish plane. But then that innermost place represents the human spirit. that holy of holies. Well, this was God’s pattern house. 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 DESIGNED, 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 THESE. NOW, A HOUSE DESIGNED, 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 DESOLATED. DO YOU SEE THAT? NOW, HE DOESN’T CALL IT MY FATHER’S HOUSE ANYMORE. BEFORE HE SAID, MY FATHER’S HOUSE SHOULD 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. IT IS 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’s 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.'” 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 was this temple in 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 designed. Jesus said, a body thou hast prepared me. A house designed. He was the second Adam, body, soul, and spirit. He was totally perfect. Perfect. A house designed, he could point to anyone and say, which of you convinces me of sin? This is why he was born of a virgin, to be perfect. He’s not a 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 designed… 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. 1 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 has 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 the cross in agony and blood. And he cries out about the ninth hour. Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. 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. Amen. 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? 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19. What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which you have of God? And 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 he 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, 12 noon. 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 from 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 a 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 Loveworth Finding Ministries, hello. 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’ve 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’s concerned about going to heaven. She is a person who said, I have life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a prostitute anymore. 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, oh, 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, you say, 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, you’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 then 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, WHOO-HOO, 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, it’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’ll praise Him. You know, we have a great salvation, don’t we? He has moved in. Settle down. He’s never moving out. What? Know ye 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? Oh, no. We are temples of God. Every day is a holy day. Every place is a sacred place. God lives in me. Isn’t that neat? Isn’t that wonderful? I hope you get in on it. Would you bow your heads in prayer? Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. If you’re not saved and you want to be saved, let’s get it settled today. I promise you on the authority of the Word of God that Jesus, who saved this precious girl that we talked about, will save you. You say, well, Adrian, I’m not a prostitute and a drug addict. You know what Jesus said? TO THE PHARISEES WHO WERE SELF-RIGHTEOUS, HE SAID, PROSTITUTES AND TAX COLLECTORS, THAT MEANS THOSE WHO ABUSE THE PEOPLE, ARE GOING TO HEAVEN BEFORE YOU BECAUSE THEY SAW THAT THEY WERE SINNERS. NOW, FRIEND, THERE’S NO ONE SO BAD THEY CAN’T BE SAVED AND NO ONE SO GOOD THEY NEED NOT BE SAVED. DO YOU WANT TO BE SAVED? I WANT YOU TO PRAY THIS PRAYER. DEAR GOD, I AM A SINNER. I AM LOST. I need to be saved. I want to be saved. Jesus, you died to save me. Lord, you promised to save me if I would trust you. I do trust you, Jesus. I believe you shed your blood on the cross for me. I believe that God raised you from the dead and I receive you now. Pray it. I receive you now, this moment, as my Lord and Savior. Forgive my sin. Save me, Lord Jesus. Pray it from your heart. Save me, Lord Jesus. Did you ask him? Then pray this way. Thank you for doing it. I receive it by faith and that settles it. I don’t look for a feeling or ask for a sign. I stand on your word. And now, Lord Jesus, I will make it public. I will not be ashamed of you. I will make it public. In your name I pray. Amen.
SPEAKER 01 :
If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with Him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.
