Temple Housework…

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

Let’s start off our day with some Scripture.

Romans 12: 1-2

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect Will of God.”

The renewing of our minds.  I’ve spent some time looking at this passage

and the context around it.  By the sweet and beautiful mercies of God— by one of the most wonderful things about Him that Paul could call upon— Paul asks us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice.  It occurred to me today that this implies something deeper— As we are talking about the renewing of our minds— We are to present our minds to Jesus

as a living sacrifice.

So I got to thinking.  The text doesn’t say

that we are to begrudgingly submit our minds to Jesus.  The text says we are to present our minds to Jesus for renewal.  That got me wondering—

What is the definition of “present”?

Present: (verb)

- To make a gift to

- To give or bestow formally

- To bring before the public, to bring or introduce int he presence of someone especially superior rank or status

- To offer to view: Show; to bring to one’s attention

- To lay before a court as an object of inquiry, to bring a formal public charge, indictment, or presentment against.

- To nominate to a benefice

- To aim, point, or direct so as to face something or in a particular direction (presenting arms)

- To act the part of: Perform

We are to make a gift of our minds to Jesus.  We are to give our minds to Him and set them apart for Him.  Holy means to be set apart.  Yesterday, while I was on a walk with my dog, I asked myself: How much of my mind have I set apart and given to Jesus?  Have I considered that I share all my headspace with Him?

1 Corinthians 3: 16

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

Our minds are meant to be a temple for God.  A temple for God is where He lives, where His Presence is.  The more I thought about it, the more I started thinking about Jesus and how He felt about the temples He visited.    

After Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on a colt we find this.

Matthew 21: 12-17

“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, ‘It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves’.  Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ They were indignant and said to Him, ‘Do You hear what these are saying?’  And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes.  Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?’  Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.”

To say that Jesus was passionate about the temples of God

is an understatement.  Our bodies are a temple for God.  The mind is part of the body as a whole.

I propose that it follows— Jesus is just as passionate about the temple of our minds as He is about the temple in our text here.  I think we might do well to pause for a moment and think about exactly how Jesus reacts when the temple has been made into a den of thieves.

Jesus drives out, with passion, those that sell doves and the money changers.  These were people that were stealing coin from people visiting the temple.  They had a scheme going where people’s sacrificial animals were being found unfit.  They would then charge extra for the sacrificial animals that they had to sell in the temple and Jesus had none of it.  The temple of God is meant to be a house of prayer.

So how is our temple doing?

Would we say our minds are a house of prayer?

Or is our mind a den of thieves?

The double minded man is unstable in all his ways.  And let’s not forget the next verse in 1 Corinthians we are looking at.

1 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.”

God gives to every man according to his works and without partiality.

The Greek word used for destroy in this passage is…

Phtheiro (Greek)

- To shrivel or wither, to spoil or ruin, corrupt, defile, destroy

Now Jesus drives the thieves out of the temple in our passage in Matthew.  Do we think He will do anything differently to the temple of our minds?

Now, we might be wondering why I begin with this thought today.  Because we are beginning to take the step of doing good works to increase our faith.  Doing good works to increase our faith requires action.  Action requires thought first.  Thought comes from our mind.  Our will enacts that which our mind thinks so what are we thinking?

John 15: 1-8

“ I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

So what are the fruits of our mind?

Because…

Galatians 5: 22-23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.”

Good works start with a thought.  Thoughts are the fruits of our minds.  Jesus is the True vine from which the fruits of our mind are meant to come from.  Do we think it follows that God would prune and tend to our thoughts the same way as described in our passage?  Does it not seem to make sense that we would be aiding in this with Jesus if we are abiding in Him?

Maybe we need some more encouragement.

Matthew 12: 25-37

“But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then will his kingdom stand?  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?   Therefore they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  And then he will plunder his house.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.  Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.  Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers!  How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways as James teaches.  Our minds are like a kingdom.  Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.  How is one way Satan can bind us into inaction?  Through binding our thoughts.  Which we really do on our own.  If what we are studying here today follows, our mind is a temple for The Holy Spirit to dwell in.  Jesus is passionate about the state of temples.  Our thoughts are fruits of the mind.  Jesus is the true vine.  If the fruits of our mind are not for Jesus, what are they?

So are we trying to make the tree of our mind good?

If we have good treasures in our mind, then it follows that we will bring forth good fruits.  If we have evil treasures in our mind, we will bring forth evil fruits.  If we are to give account for every idle word, does it not follow we will be asked to give account of every idle thought?

What does idle mean?

The words used is…

Argos (Greek)

- Inactive, unemployed, lazy, useless: barren, idle, slow

In English….

Idle: (Adjective)

- Not occupied or employed, having no employment: inactive, not turned to normal or appropriate use, not scheduled to compete

- Lacking worth or basis: Vain

- Shiftless, lazy, having no evident lawful means of support

So let’s do another experiment today.  Let’s get our chronicling journals ready to take notes.  Let’s take a deep breath, steel ourselves and take a look at the temple of our mind today.  What I’m going to do is keep track of times I become aware of idleness in my mind.  Let’s not forget that when our mind is idle, it is most certainly not focused on Jesus.  Now this doesn’t mean we need to panic.  It doesn’t mean we need to worry about blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  It doesn’t mean we need to explode our head with worry, but it does start to be a foundation for us to begin the work of Sanctifying our mind for Jesus and building an even better temple for Him with our minds because, if you’re anything like me, there was a long way to go when I got started and there’s a long way to go still.

But who are we walking that way with?

Jesus.

Eternal Jesus.

Omnipotent Jesus.

He who is faithful and trustworthy to finish what He started within us.