Temple Of God? Or Whitewashed Tomb?

 

1st Corinthians 3:16-17

"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."

The scriptures that I am going to contrast here are similar to the wheat and tares parable. The word is telling us that we can be a temple of God by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, or we can be a white washed tomb, like the Pharisees of Jesus' day, and false prophets and pastors of today!

You can look good on the outside, dress nice, smell good, skin beautiful and fresh, but inside your heart you can be full of every unclean thing! Evil spirits, strongholds in the mind, have a lying tongue and be a tool used by the devil!

Or you can have God's Spirit indwelling your heart and be full of light, love, peace, joy, all the fruits of the Spirit, and shining and glowing from the inside out! You can be a tool used by God for His kingdom and His purposes, to do good works for His glory!

1st Corinthians 6:18-20

"Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."

The time is coming when people will finally learn that the church building is NOT the church, and realize that your body IS the temple of God, IF so be that His Spirit dwells within you!

We must also realize and understand that everytime you lay with a man or woman outside of marriage you are joining yourself to that person! It's a spiritual and physical act of intimacy, and this how soul ties are made and you become more oppressed by evil, everytime you sin in this way!

Jesus told the Pharisees multiple times, that you can look good on the outside with your religious robes and clothing, but inwardly, in the heart and mind, you are full of dead men's bones! Totally Unclean!

Matthew 23:25-28

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

The same thing is happening today! Instead of Pharisees, insert the title of Pastors, False Apostles, and Prophets, who say they have been sent by God to lead, feed and shepherd the sheep of the Lord, but many have not! These are the wolves in sheep's clothing!

Which one are you? A temple or a tomb?

Examine yourself and ask the Lord Jesus to reveal exactly which one you are!

In Christ Jesus,

Tyrone

Hypocrisy and Hypocrites

I would like to share one of the things that Jesus rebuked harshly and directly, without fear of men and without compromising the word of God and it was called: Hypocrisy and/or Hypocrites. Let us go directly to the point of what these words mean:

Hypocrisy

5272. hupokrisis hoop-ok'-ree-sis from 5271; acting under a feigned part, i.e. (figuratively) deceit ("hypocrisy"):--condemnation, dissimulation, hypocrisy.

Hypocrite

5273. hupokrites hoop-ok-ree-tace' from 5271; an actor under an assumed character (stage-player), i.e. (figuratively) a dissembler ("hypocrite":--hypocrite.

We normally use the word "pharisee" to describe a person who calls himself a christian but they just act like if they were christians, but in reality do not live like a true disciple of  Jesus Christ at all. The pharisees were actually Jewish religious people who were supposed to obey the law given by God to Moses. So, let us check what this word means as well:

Pharisee

5330. Pharisaios far-is-ah'-yos of Hebrew origin (compare 6567 ) ,a separatist, i.e. exclusively religious; a Pharisean, i.e. Jewish sectary:--Pharisee.

Wikipedia - from Hebrew פְּרוּשִׁים pĕrûšîm, pl. of פָּרוּשׁ pārûš, meaning “set apart);


Let us check the scriptures why Jesus rebuked the hypocrites so harshly:

Matthew 23:1-5 ; 13-16 ; 23-28 ; 29-36

 ¹ Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, ² saying: “The scribes ( 1122. grammateus gram-mat-yooce' from 1121. a writer, i.e. (professionally) scribe or secretary:--scribe, town-clerk. )  and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ Therefore whatever they tell you to observe,^[a]that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. ⁴ For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. ⁵ But all their works they do to be seen by men.

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ¹⁴ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.^[c]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.^{[f] 26} Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.    

Verse 28

The word hypocrisy in this verse is-  5212. humeteros hoo-met'-er-os from 5210; yours, i.e. pertaining to you:--your (own).

The word lawlessness is-  458. anomia an-om-ee'-ah from 459; illegality, i.e. violation of law or (genitive case) wickedness:--iniquity, X transgress(-ion of) the law, unrighteousness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
³¹ “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. ³³ Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? ³⁴ Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ³⁵ that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Matthew 6: 1- 8 ; 16-18

¹ “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ³ But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.<sup>[a]


5</sup> “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.^{[b] 7} And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

¹⁶ “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ¹⁷ But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.^[d]

Matthew 7:1-5

¹ “Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ³ And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Matthew 15:7-9 ; 15-20 Jesus speaking:

 ⁷ Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
⁸ ‘ These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And^[e]honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
⁹ And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”<sup>[f]

15</sup> Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
¹⁶ So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? ¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰ These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Matthew 22:17-18

¹⁷ Tell us (pharisees), therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?

Luke 12: 1-3 ; 56

¹ In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. ³ Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁵⁶ Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?

Luke 13:14-17

¹⁴ But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
¹⁵ The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite!^[b] Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? ¹⁶ So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” ¹⁷ And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

Romans 12:9

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy (dissimulation). Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.

hypocrisy in this verse is dissimulation:

505. anupokritos an-oo-pok'-ree-tos from 1 (as a negative particle) and a presumed derivative of 5271; undissembled, i.e. sincere:--without dissimulation (hypocrisy), unfeigned.

1 Timothy 1:5

⁵ Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith (unpretended faith, without dissimulation - greek: 505)

1 Timothy 4:2

¹ Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, ² speaking lies in hypocrisy (strong's number: 5272- see above), having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, ³ forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

1 Peter 2:1-3 (Interlinear Greek English Bible)

¹ Then, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies (5272), and envies, and all evil words, ² as newborn babes, desire the pure soul-nourishing milk , that you may grow by it,  if indeed you tasted that the Lord is good.

Concluding, we clearly see in the scriptures that Jesus does not want us just obeying words written as a tradition, a ritual or a habit, but He wants us to obey His commands with all the love in our hearts, we must obey Him from the heart, not just because somebody is demanding you to do so! Or just for men to see what you are doing for Christ or people! Hypocrites today are those who even preach and teach the word of God but they themselves do not obey it! Let us not deceive ourselves, but let us obey God with all our hearts, souls and minds and LIVE the abundant life that Christ has for us on the earth and in heaven!

We must know that to be a real disciple of Christ envolves dying to self, to your own will, envolves suffering, persecution, sincerity, prayer, fastings, reading and obeying the scriptures and have much pure love in order to overcome the world, the flesh and satan and to grow into maturity with Christ.

I pray that you may NOT be found a hypocrite, BUT a faithful servant of Jesus Christ filled with His Holy Spirit and dressed spiritually with the full armor of God.

Ephesians 6:10-18

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.


May God bless all those who truly walk in Him and grant repentance to those who are hypocrites,

Cynthia R. Palmer