Do you want your Christian life to be effective and bear fruit? Put the Word of God to work. Follow the instructions in II Peter 1:2-9. Be diligent concerning God’s promises, exercise your faith to develop virtue, grow in knowledge, increase in self-control, be steadfast, practice Godliness and show Christian love

to others. How can you improve in these areas as you go about your everyday

activities and relationships?

My three books:

• YOUR BODY IS GOD’S TEMPLE
• SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY
• 33 TINGS THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS TO DO FOR YOU

We are made up in three parts, spiritual, emotional and physical; I Thess. 5:23 and all 3 require daily nourishment.

“To recognize and receive the wondrous truth of being God’s Temple is the beginning of walking and living a supernatural life”. ~~ Michael Ellison

When you live as God’s Temple, He will give you keys, which means ‘competent authority’. Matt. 16:18,19. There are 14 mysteries in the New Testament and the spiritual authority principle is the first one being taught. Amazing! Matt. 13:11

There are at least 33 things the Holy Spirit will do for you, because you are His Temple. He is the power behind the God-given spiritual authority. Imagine that the Holy Spirit will pray for you!

Romans 8:26-28. However, it is very important to understand that the Holy Spirit desperately wants a relationship with us. Ephesians 4:23-32. And it is important to remember that the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity:

• God the Father
• God the son
• God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus Christ in His last words on earth; Acts 1:7,8.

Grace and faith are gifts from God; Romans 12:3. Do not ask God for more grace and faith – thank Him and praise Him for what HE is giving you and then follow Him.

Peace is also a gift because Christ Jesus gave us His peace; John 14:27

Jesus promised to always be with us; His presence - Matt. 28:20

God has given us everything we need for life and godliness; II Peter 1:3.

Because of His Divine Power (dunamis, word for the Holy Spirit, meaning miraculous power), God has given us all things we need to live Godly lives.

We have the mind of Christ; I Cor. 2:16. Because we are the Temple of God, we can have true wisdom; I Cor. 2:6-16.

We are given great and precious promises to live by. There are approximately 3500 - 5000 promises in the Word of God, some research indicates even more. This is the vital importance of having a Biblical worldview for all of life. Only 8% of Christians have a Biblical worldview and only 2% of them teach their children,

according to Barna Research.

Virtue – moral goodness – went out from Jesus Christ and He healed a great multitude and cast our demons; Luke 6:17-19

Understanding that I am God’s Temple has radically changed my life. It will:

1. Add to your faith – remember, faith is a gift

2. Virtue – moral goodness

3. Knowledge – discernment to fully perceive God’s Word; Psa. 119:11

4. Temperance – self control

5. Patience – perfects Christian character – James 1:2-9

6. Godliness – an attitude that is well pleasing to God

7. Brotherly love – love of people

8. Charity – agape love. “Now abideth faith, hope, charity… but the greatest

of these is charity”. I Cor. 13

The results of obedience to Almighty God that comes when you live life as the Temple of God:

“For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from

being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they

have been cleansed from their past sins.” II Peter 1:8

“For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be

barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that

lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he

was purged from his old sins”. II Peter 1:9

We are partakers of the divine nature. This is a mind blowing thought. Peter reminds us that we are partakers of the divine nature. II Peter 1:4 - ‘partakers’ in Greek means ‘fellowship’ or ‘sharing’ (koinonia).

There are 7 words that have the same meaning of Koinonia:

1. Partakers

2. Communion

3. Fellowship

4. Contribution

5. Distribution

6. Partner

7. Communication

Consider that all seven words are about our attitude to God and to other people. Peter is telling us, as a way to escape corruption, that is in the world through lust, which a strong desire to do anything against the Lord because you are HIS Temple!

“The Bible has all the answers we need if we would only read it and obey

it”. ~~ President Ronald Reagan

Amos prophesied that in the Last Days there will be a famine of the Word of God; 8:11,12.

Repentance is the key to receive the fabulous promises of God. As you live your life as the Temple of God, how important is repentance? Consider that repentance was the theme of the first sermons preached by:

• John the Baptist Matt. 3:2
• Jesus Christ Matt. 4:17
• Apostle Peter Acts 2:38

How important is repentance?

“Without repentance there is no salvation but repentance does not end with salvation.” ~~ Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones

“A repentant attitude upon a life will bring God’s special blessing.”

~~ David Wilkerson

God says, “I WILL IF YOU WILL…”

The word ‘if’ is very interesting. It is one of the most important words in the Bible because it speaks directly to our responsibility to God. Most promises in the Bible have conditions and the word ‘if’ speaks to those conditions. Our responses to God’s commands affect our relationship with Him and determine our receiving

from Him. Jesus used the word ‘if’ all the time. Almost half of the occurrences in the New Testament are in the four Gospels. Jesus always put the word ‘if’ on man’s responsibility and never on God’s side. The following are some of the biggest ‘ifs’ in the Word of God:

• F we do four things, God will heal (divine intervention) our land
• Most exciting Scripture – John 15:11-17 – “IF” is used 3 times – ‘abide’ (to

       dwell) – 8 times; 8 is the number of new beginnings (Noah)

• There is no darkness in God if we obey these 5 things: I John 1:5-10
• IF you do not forgive others, the Lord cannot forgive you. Matt. 6:14,15.

       Since your body is God’s Temple, the Lord cannot tolerate unconfessed sin.

• God cannot hear your prayers if there is iniquity in your heart. But God will

       forgive so He can hear our prayers. Praise God – HE is holy and dwells in

      the praises of HIS people. Ps. 22:3

The Story of King Hezekiah (Wall Street Journal was correct)

Hezekiah became king at 25 after his disobedient father Ahaz, who hated God, died. II Kings 16). King Hezekiah was called the greatest king ever. II Kings 18:1-9. This story is told in chapter 13 of my book, “Your body is God’s Temple."

In all, the kind made 25 key decisions which can apply to us today for revival. This is an incredible Biblical story on how God reacted when His people cared for the brick and mortar temple. The key point here is how much more important this principle is today given that we are now God’s Temple.

Major Decisions Made by the King:

The first thing Hezekiah did was to repair the Temple of God. II Chron. 29:3-11. Application: the best way for us to begin to repair our bodies – God’s Temple – is to repent from sin (I John 1:5-10). There are five ‘ifs’ which means ‘our decision’. Hezekiah was a God-fearing man (II Chron. 29:2) God give us the same choice

today – ‘choose you this day whom you will serve’. Joshua 24:14,15

Hezekiah encouraged his people to prepare for worship in the repaired temple with music and singing (II Chron. 29:12-31). We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1,2). Praise of God is a New Testament sacrifice which is to be offered continually, being the fruit of our lips – giving thanks to His

Name.

The people celebrated Passover with great joy, as we should in Communion. I Cor. 11:17-34

Hezekiah restored the Passover which had not been celebrated in about 200 years.

The three steps of preparation for Passover were:

1. He purged idols from Jerusalem

2. Blood was sprinkled

3. Repentance of sin; II Chron. 30:1-4.

We celebrate Communion/Lord’s Table/Eucharist not with the blood of lambs but because of the blood and body of Jesus Christ whose spirit now dwells within us as His Temple. We also need to prepare for Communion. I Cor. 11:26-29

Hezekiah honoured and kept the Passover and here is what God did:

1. God forgave all who repented of their sin

2. God healed the people physically

3. There was a great time of worship/praise and joy

4. The Word of God was taught

5. The people were blessed and their prayers went right to Heaven

(II Chron. 30:15-27)

Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones and Charles Spurgeon have probably been the two most powerful preachers that we are aware of. Dr. Jones preached so honestly and forcefully that the secular media in Wales made this statement: “the preaching of Dr. Jones probably saved Wales from becoming the first Communist country in

Europe."

CONCLUSION:

As I understand with my life experiences, living as God’s Temple, that the Lord

responds to at least four major principles:

1. Repentance: God cannot hear our prayers if we do not repent nor can He

have fellowship with us; Psa. 66:18-20; I John 1:5-10

2. Obedience: demonstrates our faith and trust in God. “Obedience is better

than sacrifice”. I Samuel 15:22

3. Faith: “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”. Hebrews 11:6

4. Praising the Lord, despite our problems. Why? “God dwells in the praises of His people.”. Psa. 22:3. DAVID TELLS US TO PRAISE GOD 7 TIMES A DAY; Psalm 119:164. A good way to do this is to simply say the word,

HALLELUJAH! Why seven? Seven is the number of completion and is mentioned over 700 times. HALLELUJAH means to PRAISE THE LORD. It is the only word that I know that is pronounced the same in every

language on earth today! AMAZING!!

Barry Borthistle

A Spiritual Entrepreneur

bborthistle@shaw.ca