Are You Committing the Abomination of Desolation
Key Passage: Matthew 24
Date: June 7, 2024
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Matthew chapter number 24, Matthew chapter number 24. And we’re going to read a lot of the Bible, a little bit of a Bible study night, if you will.
We’re going to title it, “Are You Committing the Abomination of the Desolation?” And are you committing the Abomination of the Desolation? Somebody just said, that means the Abomination of Desolation is when the wrong team wins the championship. That’s what it is, you know. But we’re going to study up a little bit on it tonight. And Matthew 24 in God’s Word tonight.
And you pray for me. I think the last time—we’ll go over to Daniel here in a little bit—the last time I did this years and years and years ago at the very beginning, I felt like I was kind of just grounding in details and lost everybody. And I don’t want to do that tonight. So you pray that God will bless and help us to grasp what all the Bible says. We’re going to go through a lot of Bible tonight.
Matthew chapter 24. This is what’s often called the Olivet Discourse, and Jesus and his apostles—disciples—there in the temple, they went outside, and the apostles said, “Hey, Jesus, man, look at this magnificent temple.” And Jesus wasn’t too impressed with it. He said, “I tell you what, one day you’re not—not one stone’s going to be left upon top of the other.” And they’re like, “Whoa, man, when’s that going to happen?” And they ask him actually three questions, and Jesus gives them answers to those.
It’s found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this thing here. A little different angle, but let’s look at it here in Matthew. And we’re going to start in verse number four, Matthew 24 and verse number four of God’s Word tonight.
Verse number four, Matthew 24, verse number four. And Jesus answered and said unto them, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, ‘I am Christ,’ and shall deceive many.”
Let me just say a word about that. You know, Islam is a very large religion in our world, and Mohammed is their Messiah. You see, now they’ll still believe in Jesus—not in Jesus, they’ll believe about Jesus. He’s a prophet, but not in Jesus, that he died and rose again physically. See, he’s not the Messiah; Mohammed. I’m just saying, verse number five has been fulfilled many times, millions of times in their day and time. The Pope is supposed to be the vicar of hell. You understand? “For many shall come in my name, saying, ‘I am Christ.’” That means that you know the one, the Savior. And shall deceive many. That’s already been fulfilled. You understand that?
Verse number six, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” I believe it’s describing where we’re living at today, these verses. We’re about to hit the rapture. We’re not there yet in this reference of what I believe. “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars,” but I love this: “see that ye be not troubled.” That’s the Lord talking to you about as things get worse and worse, and, you know, how bad is it going to be and all that? And I understand, that’s not a bad question. I’m not trying to say that. But I’m not saying right in the middle of this, he says, “See that ye be not troubled.” Don’t get too shook up about it. It’s going to have to come to pass. See, “See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” We’re not quite there. We’ll be talking about these coming Sundays, you know, things that last Sunday on this end-time study, we’re going to talk about signs. And there’s so many of them, kind of like which one do you choose? But that’s part of it. And don’t get shook up. The end is not yet. It’s all right.
Verse number seven, “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There shall be famines.” We mentioned that this morning—Ukraine, Russia war—“and pestilence.” COVID. I never heard of COVID until, what, 2019, right at the end of it there, you know? I never heard of that. Corona, that’s been around the coronavirus for years. I never heard of it. Actually, I only get Lysol can before 2020. It was on there, but I just didn’t know of it. But the pestilence is all over nowadays. They can’t keep up with the flu shot. There’s so many strands of the flu, they can’t put them all in there. There’s just so many nowadays, pestilence. We’re living in this. “There shall be famines and pestilence and earthquakes in diverse places.” Places they used to say, “No, we don’t have earthquakes here.” They’re having them there. That’s what’s talking about. Not just frequency, but where it happened.
Verse number eight, “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” I believe that’s the rapture when the rapture takes place right there. All right, the rapture. I’ve got in my Bible right under verse number eight, “The rapture happens right.” “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted.” This morning, all about the tribulation period, “and shall kill you.” I believe it’s Revelation 20, talked about their heads are cut off. “And shall kill you during the tribulation period. And ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” Notice that. Not true today. Not all nations. You’re not hated. You know, there’s some Christian—a lot of Christians in America, not all. But during the tribulation period, the Christians will be hated of all nations. The beginning part, even Israel, the beginning part.
Verse number 10, it’s talking about the tribulation after the rapture. “Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” They’ll be the false prophet leading them. I think it’s the Pope. I think the great whore of the book of Revelation—I don’t know that we’ll get it in this study—I believe it’s the Roman Catholic Church. If we have time, we’ll cover Revelation 17.
“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” It’s not talking about the salvation of your soul. It’s talking about the salvation of your body. You can make it through the tribulation period. All right? You’ve got a chance to be ushered into the millennium reign. Okay. “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; then shall the end come.” Some will say, “Well, the gospel has got to be preached all around the globe before Jesus can come back.” No, no. This is after the rapture here. It’s talking about the end. Brother Moreland, can we get that graph up there real quick here? And I know you’re standing. I’m sorry. I’m trying to go quick. But it’s after—it’s over here. That’s the end he’s talking about, when Jesus comes back here. So before this happens, the gospel will be preached around the world. All right. So everything’s done. Jesus has come back at any time. All right. So that’s what he’s referencing there in verse number 14.
Now verse number 15, we’re getting to the Abomination of Desolation. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.” Whoso readeth, let him understand. Notice the urgency of this. “Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.” He says, with this abomination of the desolation, specifically to the Jewish people in Judea, when that happens, he said, “Don’t collect $200. Just get out of Dodge, get to the mountains.” God has a special place for the protection for the Jewish people, the second half of the tribulation period.
Better run. It’s going to be horrible after this. The Antichrist, he’s going to have the world chasing the Jewish people all across this globe like hounds after a deer. And he’s telling them when that happens, Jewish people, you better get out of Dodge. That’s what we’re talking about, the urgency here. “Then let them which be in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.” Don’t go down to get your goods, just get out of Dodge. “Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.” Don’t go back to get your jacket, just leave town. Get to the mountains. They’re coming after you, Jewish people. The Antichrist and the world that he’s the leader of is coming after you. Get out of Dodge. “I warned of them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.” You got a baby there? You’re pregnant or you’ve got a little baby? Oh, wow. You don’t want that to be going on when they’re going to be chasing you, trying to kill you. The Antichrist is going to turn on the Jewish nation and children of Israel just with a vengeance and run. “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” They’re still trying to keep those Old Testament Sabbath days.
“For then shall be great tribulation,” second half of the tribulation period after the abomination of the desolation, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved. But for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened.”
Would you go back to verse number 15 very briefly there?
Verse number 15, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.” Whoso readeth, let him understand. Would you go over to Daniel? He’s talking here about that. Would you go over to Daniel chapter number nine?
When this abomination of desolation was spoken of in Matthew and in Mark, both passages, he said, “Spoken of by Daniel.” So let’s go over to Daniel. Let’s find out exactly what is the abomination of the desolation. Daniel chapter number nine. And if you would, let’s start at the beginning. Would you just go to verse number two to kind of get our minds oriented just a minute here?
Daniel 9. And I’ll start verse number 1. Daniel 9 in verse number 1. And the Bible there says—remember that Jesus referring back to this—he says, “In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans.” Remember Daniel, he served under really under three kings altogether. “In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books”—he’s talking about these Old Testament books, specifically Jeremiah—“by books the number of the”—what’s the next word?—“years.” I really want you to understand the context here is years. All right. And he’s trying to find out what’s going to happen to the nation of Israel. They have been in bondage, and he’s really seeking the Lord through prayer and supplication and fast. And God did enlighten. He showed Daniel a lot of things. That’s what it’s talking about.
“In the first year of the realm, I, Daniel understood by the book, by books, the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolation of Jerusalem.” Now he’s talking there about the 70 years of captivity, okay? Nation of Israel that backslid. So 70 years they were in captivity. During that time, Daniel was praying, “Lord, please tell me what’s going to happen to the nation of Israel.” And God explains. He gives him a revelation, all right? The context is years.
Now look a little bit later in this chapter. Look down to verse number 24, if you would. Daniel 9:24. Now this gets a little technical, so please stick with me through this, all right? Daniel 9, we’re in verse number 24 of God’s Word.
Verse number 24, “Seventy weeks.” Now let’s stop for a second. Let’s just talk about 70 weeks, all right? Of course, we understand 70, and then weeks—a week we talk of as seven days, all right? Or seven. They get a little bit very just technical, seven, seven days typically. But it’s talking about years. So we’ve got 70 sevens of years. Well, help me out all you mathematicians out there, you know, I run out of fingers, amen, you know. 70 times seven is what? 490. But we’re talking about weeks here or years, and actually 70 times 7 is 490 years. God’s given Daniel a revelation. I’m going to show you what’s going to happen in 490 years of Israel. What’s going to happen to them? All right? Understand what’s going on here.
All right, let’s keep reading. That’s what we’re talking about, 70 weeks or 70 sevens of years, right? “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people”—that’s the children of Israel—“and upon thy holy city”—that’s Jerusalem—“to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins.” This transgression is going to be fulfilled. My wrath is going to be poured out on it. “And to make reconciliation for iniquity.” That’s Jesus, as he had died on the cross in this book. “And to bring in everlasting righteousness and to fill up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.” Of course, that’s Jesus Christ when he comes back here. He’s coming back, second coming of Christ on the white horse, the Battle of Armageddon. He’s actually going to set up his throne over, specifically Israel, but really over the world, and specifically in Jerusalem on the throne of David. He is the most holy. He’s going to rule and reign over this world. And he said, “I’m going to tell you, I’m going to give you a lot of things that’s going to happen leading up to this,” all right? That’s what we’re talking about.
Verse number 25, “Know ye therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” All right. Now there’s several dates they’ll give for that. I’m not going to go there because they’ll argue about the exact date of that. Someone just gets real particular about that when the command to rebuild. Remember Cyrus, he was one of them, Artaxerxes, and others, and they give the command, “Hey, go back. You, the children of Israel, the 70 years is fulfilled, you go back and you rebuild Jerusalem, the temple, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, the wall.” Remember all that? And he’s saying this command to go back and rebuild. That’s like a time marker right there. “Know ye therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore”—not actually when they went back, but to the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem—“unto the Messiah, the Prince”—that’s Jesus’ time—“shall be seven weeks.” All right? Now help me out. Help me out, you mathematicians. Seven. And then we got weeks, seven. Seven times seven is what? 49. All right. So we got 49 years rebuilding Jerusalem, the commandment to rebuild. And they went and they rebuilt, and actually the temple and the wall and all that, 49 years. We know the struggle of it from Ezra and Nehemiah. Here’s another time schedule here. “And threescore and two weeks”—scores always 20, so you got 60—“and two weeks,” so you’re 62 times seven years, that’s 434. All right, you got that. “And that from that”—that’s another timeline—“unto the Messiah, that there also, there’s an argument about exactly when that started. But they rebuilt the Jerusalem, the temple there, 49 years, and now from thereafter that, 434 years, and the streets should be built again and the wall even in troublesome times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah”—that’s Jesus—“be cut off, but not for himself.” All right?
So here’s what I’m getting at. He said, “All right, there’s two groups here: there’s 49 years, there’s 434 years, and that leads up to Jesus’ time when he died on the cross, not for himself. He died for me and you, for the will of the Father.” And he said, “Now this, this is complete.” But help me out. If we’ve got 49 and 434, how many got it all together? Somebody get your calculator out, get your fingers out? 483. So we’ve got seven years left, or what is often called Daniel’s 70th week. That’s where they get that from. That’s why you hear people talk about Daniel’s 70th week. That’s the seven-year tribulation period, all right? So he’s been revealed. Daniel’s been given all this revelation, and we’ve got one week or seven years hadn’t happened yet, and that’s the tribulation period. All right? So that’s where we’re at in this prophecy here that God gave to Daniel after he was fasting and praying and spending time supplicating with the Lord.
So we’re—oh, verse number 26, “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.” “And the people of the prince.” Now he doesn’t use to say Messiah here. Messiah is capital M, Messiah. Now he’s talking about this prince. Who is this prince? He’s actually talking about now the anti-Messiah, the Antichrist. He becomes the one-world prince or leader during the tribulation. People were talking about that this morning. “And the people of the prince that shall come”—the Antichrist that shall come—“shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” Now, then destroying the city, the sanctuary, we believe he’s talking about in A.D. 70 when Titus came in and he just wiped Jerusalem out. That’s what Jesus was talking about over there, Matthew 24. Not one stone will be left upon another.
All right. That’s why some will say the Antichrist must be Roman because of the people of the prince. Only problem of that, let me just try to complicate that a little bit more here. Of course, the Bible talks about that, but can I just say when Titus came in there in A.D. 70, that Roman military was very mixed. They had conquered many different nations and they put them out there in the heat of the battle because they a lot of times would kind of keep their soldiers back a little bit because they don’t want their people getting killed, you know. So actually the people that took it was pretty diverse. So I don’t know if it’d be real strong on the Antichrist must be Roman because actually the Roman—I mean, that Roman military that destroyed Jerusalem was pretty mixed. You understand that? So just a thought there for those who are just trying to figure out who the Antichrist is, you know. I mean, you all know it’s Jared Kushner, you know, Kester. We all know that because of the place he had there was the address was 666. I’m joking, all right? That’s what many would say, all right? But we don’t know. He’ll be revealed during the tribulation period. You understand that. But the Messiah’s been cut off, but not for himself. “And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.”
“And the end thereof shall be with a flood.” “And unto the end of the war, desolations are determined.” Now, the flood there, I think he’s talking about the second half of the tribulation period. The Antichrist, he gets the world behind him, just going after the children of Israel. They’re trying to wipe them out. I mean, they love him at first, but more that middle of it—we’ll get to the near the second—he turns on them, and he goes after the children of Israel. And I tend to think—some will say it’s a media flood, and maybe that’s true, just flooding the media with filth against the children of Israel, the Jewish people. And I tend to think there’s some truth to that, but I tend to think, you know, Satan and the Antichrist, they always try to counterfeit what God does. Satan can’t create anything. He just tries to mess up what God does. You remember back, Noah and the flood, and the children of the devil, they were all destroyed by a flood. And I tend to think that the Antichrist tries to bring a flood. We know he has some power over this world and even over some natural phenomena. He can do that. We understand that from Scripture. We have time to show that. I think he actually tries to bring a flood against the children of Israel hiding in the mountains. Matthew 24 talks about. And, of course, God intervenes there and he can’t match God. But I think that’s what he’s talking about. And I kind of leave that up for debate. Some of this you just studied for years and years and maybe not come to a strong conclusion on some of it. I think there’s talk about, “And unto the end of the war, desolations are determined.”
Here’s verse number 27. Here’s where we need to really get. And I hope I didn’t confuse you too much and all that. Brother Jim says, “Man, where in the world is he going?” You know, we’ve been gone for eight years, and he’s been all over the place coming back here, you know. “Verse number 27, verse number, here’s where: ‘And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.’” Help me out. How long is one week here in the Scripture? Seven years. If you hear them, and they have—but if you hear them getting serious about talking about a peace contract in Israel, with Israel, not just with Israel, with many—boy, all those Muslim countries around, Iraq, Syria, even some of these other, a little bit more peaceful, Jordan and Egypt and all these others. If you see them signing or making a seven-year peace contract, you better start tuning in for the trumpet.
The Antichrist, this prince, he’ll be able to—we’ve not had peace in the Middle East, and we won’t until Jesus comes back. But at the beginning, he’ll just sweep on there on the scene like he’s somebody. He is so persuasive. We read that this morning in second place on his two. And he’ll actually get them over in the Middle East to sign many of those nations. Those signs didn’t say all, but many will sign this seven-year peace contract. And he’ll say, “All right, we, we”—I tend to think—we don’t have time to do it, but I tend to think if you start doing the revelation, it didn’t—the measurement is not necessarily on the outer part of the temple, but the inner part of the temple. Now I think he kind of narrows that. Remember on the temple mount now they—well, they battle over there. This is Islam’s holy, most holy side, and Israel’s most holy site, and he’ll be able to work a bargain to deal where they’re side by side. And they’ll start offering their sacrifices to get into the temple, at least the inner part. That’s by the third temple. Well, they’ve already made their instruments and they’re getting everything ready. That’s where the red heifer comes in. They’ve got to have that to cleanse all the altar to start the sacrifices back up. That’s where you hear all these things. And he lets them—he signs his seven-year peace contract. And boy, everyone thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. He’s bringing peace to the Middle East. Remember this morning that first seal? They give him the crown of the world. That’s what’s going on. That’s what we’re talking about here. Verse number 27. Verse 27 is a key verse. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week”—that’s the tribulation period. He looks one to foot the beginning. Here it is.
“And in the midst of the week”—three and a half years, right in the middle of this chart right here, right here, abomination of desolation, right there—“in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice”—that’s the temple—“to roll from the sacrifices again, an oblation.” That’s not blood sacrifice, other sacrifices. “And oblations to cease.” Israel, you can’t do that anymore. No more sacrifices. Get out of the temple. “And for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate.” Now the specifics on that is—I’ll tell you what I tend to think. I tend to think there’s a man called Antiochus Epiphanes. His—like we have many types of Jesus, he’s the type of the Antichrist. And he was a very wicked man that back in Israel’s history at one point went in there, conquered them, and he went into the most holy place. And there’s a little debate about the exact effort, but he took a pig. You know, they’re not supposed to mess with the swine. And he took this swine, this pig, and he slaughtered it, and he took his blood and his guts, and he put it all over the holy place, the sacrifice, the most holy place. I think the Antichrist is going to do somewhat like that. He’s going to commit an abomination of desolation. Not only that, we’ll read it in just a little bit here in 2 Thessalonians 2. It describes it there also.
“But in the midst of the week, he breaks the covenant, and he gets no more sacrifices, oblations, and the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” God’s got a plan. All right. You won’t war, you got war. Now that’s what is referencing back in Matthew and Mark when it talks about the abomination of the desolation spoken of in Daniel.
All right. One more passage, if you will, as far as just studying this out. Would you look over in Second Thessalonians? Second Thessalonians chapter number two. And then we’re going to try to get a little bit more practical today and you’re in my life. Second Thessalonians chapter number two. And we studied to touch this morning, and it’s very much about the day of Christ or the tribulation period. And he describes a little bit of what goes on during that time. But would you look in verse number three? Second Thessalonians verse number three. “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come”—that is Christ, the tribulation period—“except there come a falling away first.” Well, that’s happened, apostasy. “And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” Well, he’s not revealed yet, so we’re not living in the tribulation period. By the way, they thought they were. They were living under severe persecution, even some of it kind of wrote a letter, act like it was from Paul, and Paul said, “Don’t be fooled by that. You’ve got to have a falling away and the man of sin, man of perdition must be revealed, and you’re not living in that time. It’s not the tribulation period,” all right? But it does describe it a little bit, all right?
He’s talking about the man of sin to reveal the Antichrist, the son of perdition. Watch this, verse number four. “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” You see, the abomination of desolation, yes, there probably is some kind of a slaughter of a pig or something like that, but not all of that. But the Antichrist is so about himself. By the way, right along here, I believe is when there’s war in heaven, Revelation 12, remember the devil is kicked out. And he comes down and he actually becomes—he lives, he resides inside the Antichrist. He’s not demon-possessed only, but he becomes devil-possessed. That’s why he has all these special powers of lying and deceptiveness and wonders. It talks about a little bit later on there in that chapter 2 of the Second of this Lord.
And the devil—what was those sins, the five “I wills”? “I will be like the Most High God. I will ascend the sides of the north.” I mean, he wants to be God. So he’s possessed the Antichrist. The Antichrist goes into the most holy place. He just defiles it. And then he sets himself up as God. No longer can you worship Jehovah. No wonder by the end of the tribulation period, he actually even turns on the false prophet because he just thinks he’s everything. And this abomination of the desolation, man, he goes in that temple and he just says, “Hey, you don’t bow down to anybody, you bow down to me.” Remember kind of reminds you of Nebuchadnezzar and his image? Yeah. Same thing that goes on, and he goes into the temple and the most holy place, and he’s against anything that is godly or Christ-like. That’s when he breaks the covenant with the children of Israel. He says, “We’re going to”—children of Israel, God said, “Hey, when that happens, you better flee because he’s coming after you.” And he’s coming after you with a vengeance. And actually Israel—we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We’re going to try to study about Israel one of these Sundays—but Israel has a great revival in the end. And God said, “I’m going to use the nation of Israel beginning,” and he does go back and use them. The gifts and callings of God without repentance, that’s Romans 11, where he’s talking about that. But the Antichrist, he says, “I’m it.” He says, “Children of Israel, 144,000 Jewish witnesses, I’m going to get them.” And he wants everybody just to bow down to him. It’ll be a sad time. That’s when it goes from being the tribulation period to the Great Tribulation period.
Now let’s just change just for a second, just for a second. Would you look over to 1 Corinthians chapter 6? First Corinthians chapter 6. We’ve done a lot of Bible study today. And I pray it’s helpful. Maybe when you read your Bible, it’ll be like, “Hey, I kind of get a little bit more.” I hope it’s like that. I appreciate that. Let’s try to make it just a little bit practical for us here. Look over in 1st Corinthians chapter 6.
Would you look in verse number 19, please? 1 Corinthians 6. Would you look in verse number 19? He says, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you?” See, we’ll be out of here at this time. But right now, I’m talking about the Holy Spirit. We’ll be out of here. But right now, your body is this temple. “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price.” It’s very important. “Therefore glorify who?” Well, the Antichrist glorified himself. By the way, I think we can somewhat commit the abomination of desolation when we just become all about glorifying us. He said, “No, no, no. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. You’re paid with the price of the blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit.”
What’s your God’s friend? Who controls or who ought to control our body? Who are we? Who should we all about glorifying with our body? Satan is just so slick, he could just get where we’re just trying to glorify. That’s the spirit of the Antichrist. He’ll commit that to the max of the abomination and desolation. No, no, no. I’m supposed to be about glorifying because this is his temple. It’s sacred territory.
Hey, would you take—if somehow we could pick up the temple of God and take it somewhere—would you take the temple of God to the places you take your body? If we could somehow say something in the temple or have the temple say something, would you have the temple of God say what you say? Talk like you talk, like I told. Our body is this temple. Would I take, maybe what I put in my mouth, whether it be alcohol, whether it be food or whatever it may be? Would I actually take the drugs or whatever may be and put it in the temple of God? If I take that in my body, I’m doing that. My body is a temple of a living God. Would I watch what I bring in, what I watch and bring it into the temple, maybe in the most holy place? Would I bring that in, those things that—would I bring that in and set that in the temple of God? Well, when I watch it, I’m doing that, because my body is this temple.
And if it’s all about glorifying me on what I want and what I think and what I feel and what I want to do and all that other stuff that it’s about glorifying—well, that’s what the head of Christ does. And Satan leads you to do that. You know, it’s so serious what we do with our bodies. It’s such a serious, sacred thing. That’s why fornication or adultery is such a—and there’s the blood of Christ, but it’s such a damning sin. There’s the blood of Christ, and praise the Lord for that, but, oh, friend, would you look at some verses here, the context of what you kind of see it? They’re looking at verse number 15, 1 Corinthians 6. Would you look at verse number 15?
“Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid!” By the way, I can do that in my heart if I just look at a woman to lust. I’ve committed adultery already within my heart. There’s a touch difference, but with the heart. “What? Verse number 16, what? Know ye not, that he that is joined to an harlot is one body? For two saith he, shall be one flesh. He is joining of the Lord as one spirit. Flee fornication. And every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committed fornication sinned against his own body.”
I thought about a man—just studied this—I thought about a man that he went into sin for a while, just went into a sinful time in his life, and God had saved him out of a sinful life and redeemed him and just changed his life, but he had a lapse, and he went out in his sin, and he had such amazing—my wife will know exactly what I’m talking about, I’m sure—but amazing wife. She was just incredible. And we had met with both of them together and separately and all that stuff. But I’ll never forget, they were trying to reconcile and get things back together. Praise the Lord, they’re married today. But after that, for a while after that, he had so much physical problems. And just his health was shot. And I remember him sitting in his office over here, and he said, “Pastor, I feel like I’m being judged. I’m being chased.” By the way, 1 Corinthians 3:17, I think it is. Let’s look at that. I think that’s it. I can’t quote it. I’m going to look it up. “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” And he referenced back over here at 1 Corinthians 6. That man, and he said, “You know, the Bible talks about if you’re joined to a harlot.” And he said, “I feel like I’ve just ruined it.” And his health was horrible. He’d been to doctor after doctor that couldn’t explain it all. He couldn’t get rid of it. Praise the Lord for God’s grace and mercy. I’m just talking about it. It does so much damage because your body is sacred. Your body’s a temple.
I think about another man. Years and years ago, the beginning of the church, a couple, they came to church very wealthy. He drove a dualie pickup truck, owned a company of national—I mean, I’m not talking about just local, national companies. They lived in our day and time. The house would probably be about—I told my wife, what do you think? We were talking about the day. “Do you think about a million or maybe a half?” And she said, “Oh, probably more.” I’m always kind of figuring a low. It may be about a $2.5 million home today. She drove a Beamer. All that. And they had some marital problems. And he cheated on her years ago. And they got out of church before that happened. But they got out of church. We still have contact. I haven’t seen him. I’ve seen maybe a year or two ago, then recently. And he’s living in his car now, literally. Been divorced years ago. His mind’s messed up. Can’t keep one thought, just one strain. His mind’s just all over. I’m telling you, those are such damning sins. Now, there’s the grace of God.
This body is His temple. It’s sacred. What I do and what I don’t do, or if I’m all about myself, glorifying myself, what I want to do, what I want to say, and where I want to go and all the rest of that—the Antichrist, he uses that temple all for himself. That’s why he says over here.
Go back over there, First Corinthians 6. Would you do that? Look at verse number 17. Look at verse number 17. First Corinthians 6. Look at verse number 17. “He that is joined unto the Lord”—woo-hoo! I like this—“is one spirit.” By the way, we’re baptized by the Holy Ghost into one spirit. You get saved. He’s talking about it. “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth, that is without the body, but he that committed fornication sinned against his own body. What? Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God.”
Think about Jesus over there. Philippians 2, he made himself of no reputation. Jesus wasn’t all about himself. He was bringing glory to God the Father. “Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Oh, friend, let’s say, “Hey, my body’s for your glory. What I do or don’t do, or where I go and what I drink and what I say,” and it’s not for me, it’s for your glory. It’s His.
By the way, the thing that keeps the Antichrist at bay is what? The Holy Spirit. What hinders him? What keeps him back? Second Thessalonians 2:7, “Who wants to—only he who lets will now let.” He’s talking about hindering him. What’s that? That’s the Holy Spirit. So when I say, “Holy Spirit, I want you to have a throne in my temple,” I want to plead the blood of Jesus Christ as my sacrifice and Holy Spirit, I want you to take my body. I want to be crucified with Christ. “Nevertheless not I, but Christ liveth in me.” And you let the Spirit of Christ get on the seat of your temple, and it becomes all about glorifying God.
And you know what? The devil, the Antichrist, he can’t touch you because the Holy Spirit says, “No, this is where my residence is, and I’m sitting on the throne here.” He doesn’t stand a chance. Why? Because it’s not about me anymore, you anymore; it’s about glorifying God. And the Holy Spirit moves in and He fills us, He anoints us, He baptizes us. He overflows like water flowing out. Remember that flowing out of your belly? Because why? The Holy Spirit’s on the throne room of the temple, your body. That’s where the power comes, that’s where the joy comes, that’s where the peace comes, that’s where victory comes. The friend is so vital. Whose glory am I about? The Antichrist, all about him. But all born-again Christian ought to be about glorifying.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Heads bowed, eyes closed. Oh, be a good night for all of us, myself included, all of us, just say, “Lord, I want my heart pure, the core of us, the sinner, the most holy place, if you will, the heart. Boy, would you purify my heart? I want you in the throne room. I want to be about bringing you glory.” Would you let him know that tonight? Would you let him know that?
Would you please stand? We’re going to have a word of prayer. Let’s spend some time saying, “Oh, Holy Spirit, I want you to be on the throne of my heart. I want to be all about bringing glory to God.” Would you let him know that?
Father, thank you for your Word, Lord. It’s an amazing, amazing book. Thank you for it. Lord, help us to be about your glory. Would you sit on the throne of our temple, our heart? Help us to be more about you, less about us. And Lord, we thank you for what you do. In Jesus’ name we ask, amen.
John the Baptist, he said, greatest man born among women. He said, “I must decrease, but he must increase.” He is all about the glory of God. That’s what he wants. Let’s bring glory to God. You know, next week we want a lot of people to be saved. He said, “You bring much glory when you bear much fruit.” But for the glory of God. The glory of God, that’s so important. What a privilege we get to go let his light shine through us in this dark world. Amen. That’s—that’s exciting. And that’s what they want. They see the Lord shining through you, they’ll be like, “Hey, there’s something going on there, right there.” You know, and that’s exciting. What a privilege we are His temple. Wow. And He’s living inside of you, you’re born-again Christian. Let’s give Him glory. Everything we do be for His glory. Glad you’re here in church on a Sunday night.
And I’m excited about next Sunday. Let’s be working and praying. Lord, we want to bring glory to you. And he said over to John 15, bear much fruit, bring Him some glory. And so let’s do it for His name, for His glory, for His sake. And glad you’re in church tonight. Appreciate all your faithfulness to the Lord. And amen.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - Are you committing the abomination of the desolation - - Sunday PM 1242022