The Old Covenant Temple

As Christians, we are the temple of God. In the Old Testament, God Almighty established with the priesthood how the house of God should be built as this was the place His Spirit would dwell on earth (Exodus 25).

The temple of God, then the tabernacle of God, consisted of three courts: the outer court, the holy place and the holy of holies. It was in the holy of holies that God’s Spirit dwelt. As it was ordained in the old covenant, the temple of God was a direct representation of the temple of God today.

In Acts 7 and 17, both Apostle Paul and Steven the martyr tell us that through the New Covenant made when Christ died on the cross of Calvary, God no longer dwells in buildings made by men.

1 Corinthians 6:19, “For 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?”

Just as the temple of God in the old covenant had three courts, the temple of God today, which is you and I as the body of Christ, has three courts. We have the body, soul and spirit. As the presence of God dwelt in the holy of holies in the old covenant, it still dwells in the holy of holies today. Your spirit is where God dwells. It is important that we understand this.

You might have been told by somebody that you can’t have a demon because you said a prayer of salvation. There is no need to be confused as to whether Christians can have demons.

Jesus In The Temple

Matthew 21:12, “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”.

Jesus was out walking and passed by the temple of God in Jerusalem. He noticed that merchants and traders, buyers and sellers were selling in the temple courts. Jesus was angered and took leather cords. He literally made a whip to drive the animals and traders out. They were in the outer courts of the temple. Defilement was happening in the outer court but the holy of holies was intact. That is to show you that there can be defilement in the temple of God, yet the Spirit of God in that temple is unaffected.

The zeal for God’s house consumed Christ (Psalm 69:9, John 2:17). I believe that in our day and generation, the zeal for God’s house still consumes Jesus Christ. He is still angered when He sees that there is defilement in His temple. That is why He ordained you and I to drive that defilement out of the temple courts, (Mark 3:15, Mark 16:16-18).

Deliverance Is A Journey

I have heard many people share testimony of their deliverance but only that they received partial freedom and are coming back for more freedom. Deliverance is a journey and every journey has an end. In deliverance, the confrontation between light and darkness is final. Jesus didn’t kick out some of the merchants and later come back for more, He drove them all out; it was final.

Confrontation is like uprooting the weeds in your garden. Confession is killing the seeds before they grow roots. Click To Tweet

Reasons You Desire More Deliverance

I want to puncture these lies so you can walk in your freedom. We are not meant to walk from deliverance to deliverance. We are supposed to walk from deliverance to dominion to discipleship.

1. The demon left but came back in. You have certain doors that need to be closed. Deliverance needs to be a complete package – you must be taught how to close the doors so they don’t come back again.
2. The demon never left. Some people mess with demons but don’t cast them out and this is dangerous. God does not expose without the intention of expelling. If God has given you someone to pray for and the demon is exposed, you have the grace and authority to expel it. Such a person isn’t coming back for more deliverance – they never were delivered.
3. Some demons were not cast out. This temple was not cleansed.
4. The demon’s legal right wasn’t revoked. Things like family curses, unforgiveness, secret sins, and spiritual ‘subscriptions’ need to be canceled. They are strangers, not inhabitants.
5. The demon is on the outside lying that it is still on the inside. Satan is the father of lies. There is nothing of the truth in demons. This is a lie. Before your deliverance, they weren’t saying they were inside you; they said they were not there. The opposite of what they say is the reality. Don’t believe the lies of the enemy.
6. The person developed spiritual or emotional muscle memory. People rely on their past experiences of the presence of God or of demons to assess their situation, due to lack of spiritual discernment. Emotional reactions are not a prerequisite for a touch from the Holy Spirit. The emotional reaction you are having to the Spirit of God can hinder the Spirit of God from actually touching you. God does not need to involve your feelings to deliver or touch you. If you don’t feel anything or have any emotional reaction, that does not mean God is not touching you. But if you react the same way every time you are in a place of prayer, you might have put your emotional reaction as a prerequisite rather than a result of God touching you.

The danger with such reactions is it can become a tradition and tradition leads to religion. Instead, let us be open to God and let whatever He wants to happen, happen. Many people believe they need more deliverance. You don’t need more deliverance. You need to change your focus from going for confrontational prayer to confession.

Confrontation To Confession

After deliverance, switch your focus from confrontation to confession. I am not talking about the confession of God’s Word but the confession of sin. Confession and deliverance are very similar. Deliverance uproots the weeds but confession kills the seeds planted before they can take root.

Confrontation is reactive. You are responding to something that has been established. Confession is proactive. You are not giving satan a foothold. Click To Tweet

That is how to maintain your garden. Don’t allow more of the devil’s seeds to take root. Deliverance is coming for help for the chains to be broken. Confession is you standing up, taking control of your life and disarming the enemy of your soul.

Sometimes, people’s confession to God in private doesn’t actually bring them to genuine repentance. Such confess because they feel bad rather than they actually want to turn away from it. That is not genuine repentance or confession. I encourage public deliverance because then there is evidence of what God has done. The Bible asks who puts a lamp under a cover? As deliverances are done in public, sometimes confession must be too. You can confess to your pastor because it is harder not to be genuinely repentant when someone is listening to you. Sometimes you need to confess publicly so you can come to the point of genuine repentance. Who do you confess to? You husband or wife? Pastor?

Scriptures On Confession Of Sin

James 5:16, “Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” 

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 

Psalm 32:3, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.”

It is time to come back to the truth. In Acts 19, revival broke out in Ephesus when Apostle Paul preached the gospel of repentance.

Sin attracts demons like blood attracts sharks. Click To Tweet

Confession Leads To Culture Of Purity

Acts 19:17-20, “This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all… So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.”

The only way that revival can be sustained in our day and generation is through a culture of purity. A culture of purity can only be established through transparency. The culture of purity is what sustains revival. Confession is part of the process of sanctification. Sanctification is dying to sin more and more and living to righteousness more and more. Please understand that as a Christian, you are no longer just part of the old covenant when God dwelt in buildings and tabernacles; God lives in you today.

John 17:16-17, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.”

This is how to be sanctified. The process of sanctification happens after deliverance. The process of sanctification is not just emptying yourself of dirt; it is filling yourself up with Jesus. Deliverance removes the source of dirt and defilement in your life. This can be likened to removing a tea bag from a cup of water. After your deliverance you need to do what the Bible instructs in Romans 12:2 and Colossians 3:2 to renew your mind. Let your mind rise and seek the things that are above where Christ is seated. The only way you will truly experience repentance is if you stop focusing on getting rid of your problems and focus on filling yourself up with the Word of God.

Filling yourself up with Jesus and His Word is the only way to truly overcome temptation. Click To Tweet

Sermon By Rikhard Hartikainen; Blog By Edward Gardiner

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