Questions and Answers, Part 21

Selected Scriptures

JOHN:  Well we've given expression to our spirits.  That's what music does and it is not that our minds are not involved but it gives great expression to our spirits, to that emotional side of us.  And now we want to spend a little time giving expression to that cognitive part of us, our minds and thinking on the things of the word of God.  We leave it up to you as to what we talk about.  There are three microphones in the aisles and I just want to encourage you to line up behind one that's near you and ask a question.  It's really helpful if you just ask a question. Sometimes people want to sort of preach a sermon or something, but within reason, of course, if you have something to share that's fine, but kind of gear it in on a specific question and we'll do our best to use the word of God and to give you some answers to the things that are in your heart.  All right?  So let's begin right now.  If you'll just line up behind those microphones and we'll call on you and move right along.  I think we'll start at the right and we just have a sort of a basic policy you have to give your name first.  Okay?

BETTY:  My name is Betty and I'd like to ask a question from I Corinthians 3:16-17.  Do you want me to read it? 

JOHN:  Well that's fine.  You can read it, sure.

BETTY:  Oh okay.  "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.  If any man defiles the temple of God him shall God destroy, but the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."  I want to know to, oh how can I word, in what way could we defile the temple of God to the point of God destroying that temple or that body?

JOHN:  That's a good question.  Now as we look at this you might take your Bible and look at it.  I want you to notice something of importance in terms of the text itself.  It says in verse 16, "No ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you."  Now the pronoun there is very important.  Ye.  He's talking about believers.  Many commentators feel that there is a change or a shift in verse 17 from ye to what?  If any man, and many commentators feel that, and I tend to agree with this, it is possible that this could mean that a Christian could so defile his body that the Lord could just remove him, right?  I Corinthians 11 talks about that.  A Christian desecrating the Lord's table by coming there with sin in his life is weak and sick and some of them were dead.  I John 5 talks about that where it says there is a sin that you don't need to pray about because it's a sin unto death.  In other words there is a sin in a Christian's life, which is the straw that breaks the camel's back and God just takes him home out of the way.  But destroy seems a rather strong word for that and if you notice the shift from ye to "if any man defile the temple of God him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy."  Which temple ye are it seems to be that ye are the temple of God but the defiler is somebody outside the temple, you see.  So that the real thrust of the text is saying that the temple of God, which temple ye are, right?  Are we not a habitation of the Spirit Ephesians 2?  If someone comes in to desecrate or defile that temple he is putting himself in a position to be destroyed by God. 

So I tend to feel that the text is not particularly talking about the destruction of a Christian because of the distinction he makes between if any man, rather than saying if one you.  Now at the same time I say that in that text, I would affirm that there are times in the life of a believer where he could enter into some defilement and forfeit his life.  Now as to what sin that is the Bible does not specify a single sin, but if you follow I Corinthians 11, which seems to be the definitive text on that where some came to the Lord's table and ate unworthily that's general enough to assume that it would be any sin, which was continued in and unrepented of.  So it doesn't necessarily nail down any one sin. 

BETTY:  You mean God would take that particular person home early?  You mean just take the person's life early if they didn't repent of a sin?

JOHN:  Right.  You could die before your time in terms of the fact that is you entered into sin as a Christian and continued in that sin the Lord might remove you.

BETTY:  For what purpose?

JOHN:  Just because you're more trouble than you're worth because you're polluting the assembly.  In other words in the Corinthian church it was better to get rid of some of those people.  Now in some cases, in I Corinthians 5, they were put out of the church, right?  Remember it says take that person because a little leaven, leaven's a whole lump, Chapter 5, and put them out. Turn them over to Satan so they'll learn not to blaspheme because the church cannot really survive the pollution of that kind of thing.  That's why we do church discipline.  But there are times when, and by God's discretion, this would occur when God himself will remove a person in a disciplinary act.

BETTY:  Well then where does that leave that person?  Are his works just burned?

JOHN:  He takes him to heaven.  For him it's a tremendous promotion.

BETTY:  I see.

JOHN:  For him it's a tremendous act of grace.  And even though I Corinthians 5, even though his flesh would be destroyed his spirit will be saved.

BETTY:  I see.  Okay, thank you very much.

JOHN:  You get into another little debate.  See some people in I Corinthians 5 don't think that's a believer either.  They think that can be an unbeliever polluting the assembly, but I think here in this text, I Corinthians 3, it is talking about an individual who is defiling or polluting the sacred temple, somebody who is outside, it may well be the same kind of person in I Corinthians 5 who is having sex with his father's wife who may not even be a Christian at all, we don't know.  But anybody who pollutes the assembly, be he a believer or an unbeliever, is very open to the discipline of God and the ultimate discipline of God could be to take one home.  Good question.  Yes sir.

KEITH:  Hello John.  My name is Keith Mayfield.  First I've got to ask does it have to deal directly with the Bible or can it be our church too.

JOHN:  Sure.  You can ask anything you want.

KEITH:  It's been on my mind a lot and I have asked a lot of people and I never came up with the answer I really want.  A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine asked me to hear him play playing in Long Beach and that night his music he sang and almost 500 people were saved and from what I understand our church does not allow that kind of music in our church.  And that is kind of a rock, but his message is ____.

JOHN:  Who is this person?

KEITH:  Keith Green.

JOHN:  Yeah, Keith Green.

KEITH:  Plus right now I heard Cliff Prichard's the other night at the Greek Theatre and I've never heard a bigger praise.  It was unbelievable.  Donna Summers, Earth Wind and Fire, a group called Kansas, one of the heaviest rock and role bands is now _____ confessionest, her album is just all those people and I just feel that we have the most beautiful musical ministry to people you could possibly have for these people.  But I do feel sincerely inside there's so many people that we're not reaching that I think we can reach if we put more out of music that might reach them because some things might not but the music can.

JOHN:  Let me suggest something to you because you're asking a broad question.  I did a tape on Ephesians 5 on music and the word of God.  I think if you can pick that tape up it'll be a help to you.  Okay?

KEITH:  Ephesians 5?

JOHN:  Yeah, Ephesians 5, Speaking to Yourselves in Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs, Singing and Making Melody in your Heart to the Lord.  What kind of music honors God?  Basically Keith, number one nobody ever got saved through music.  People only get saved through the power of the Holy Spirit, right?

KEITH:  I agree, you're right.

JOHN:  Only through the Holy Spirit.  Only through the drawing of the Father.

KEITH:  It was a correction that's all.

JOHN:  So we're not going to save people through some medium or some media that the Lord couldn't save otherwise; therefore, we want to make sure that whatever means we use fits within the parameters of the definition of holiness and godliness and rightness that the Bible lays out for evangelism and for lifestyle and everything else.  So that's a very important issue that you need to think about.  And I'll cover that somewhat in that tape.  The other thing is when you're dealing with a person who is communicating the gospel and you have this massive response, only God knows how many people were saved. 

KEITH:  Right.

JOHN:  But if there's one thing that we do know it is that if 500 people came forward 500 people were not saved, basically, because even Jesus said there going to be shallow soil, there's going to be weedy soil chocked out and so forth, and plus I wonder sometimes whether or not the gospel, as I've said before, is presented clearly enough for the non elect to reject it.  You know what I'm saying?

KEITH:  I understand.  I have a hard time ________.

JOHN:  I feel that if we're going to evangelize we have to evangelize people within the parameters of biblical definitions of evangelism with a clear presentation of the gospel.  We have to do it in a way with a method that exalts Jesus Christ, honors Jesus Christ, does not confuse people at all, and I think if you'll listen to what I say in that tape you'll understand why Grace Church does not do things in that vernacular.  And I think there are biblical reasons for that.  I think we have to be very careful with whom we identify the Christian message.

It's very easy.  For example I remember speaking in an elementary school one time and I was talking to 500 kids from grades 1 to 3 and I asked at the end of my deal how many of them wanted to ask Jesus in their heart.  All 500 hands went up.  Why I thought I had a revival.  All I had was basically the fact that I had presented the gospel in such a nice way that all these kids thought it was the greatest thing that ever happened to them.  It wasn't that they were all really wanted to get saved at that point, it was that my presentation was inadequate so that they thought that it was easy enough to do that there was no price to pay.  And I think very often when you present Jesus Christ the way He's presented in much of that vernacular the real gospel isn't even there.  In some cases it might be, and I don't want to wash everybody out, but in many cases it isn't even there.  The gospel isn't even there.  In many of those songs you could stick any name you wanted in it and it wouldn't change the lyrics at all.  It could be Buddha, it could be Confucius, it could be anybody.  So there's a lot involved and I think if you'll listen to that tape it might help.  Okay?  I really appreciate the fact you'd ask the question.

KEITH:  Do you think that they're wrong?  That's one thing that really ____ me.

JOHN:  Yeah.

KEITH:  Okay.

JOHN:  I think they might a good and heart motive.  I just think they need to have some corrective to their method.  There's a lot of shallow presentations.  Plus some of those people's lives just don't match up with what they're saying.  Now God will sued Balaam's ass if he has the right message in his mouth, but that doesn't necessarily mean we honor the instrument, see.  You know the gospel will get through even if it's in the wrong medium many times.

MARY:  Hi John, I'm Mary Gordon and I'd like to have Keith write it down be