Psalm 79:1-4 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance;
they have defiled Your holy temple
and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2They have given the corpses of Your servants
as food to the birds of the air,
the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
a scorn and derision to those around us.”
Now, I am not going to be writing about this historical
situation which took place long ago, but I am going to be looking into what this
says more metaphorically (figuratively) speaking, for I believe there is a
message here which applies to the church, at least to the church here in the USA
today.
God’s Holy Temple
Now the church is the collective body of believers in Jesus
Christ throughout the world. We, the people of God, are the church, the temple
of God in whom God dwells by His Spirit. The church is not a physical building.
It is not a church denomination. It is not to be incorporated under (merged
with) the state (the government) and with the world. And it is not to be a
business being marketed to the people of the world. But sadly, this is what so
many people have turned her into, which is against what God commands.
[Matthew 21:12-13;
John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; 2
Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22;
Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]
We, the body of
believers in Christ Jesus are God’s Holy Temple, His church. And as His body we
are to be doing the work of the Lord in obedience to His commands. And we are
to be ministering to one another within the body of Christ in helping one
another to come to spiritual maturity in Christ and to walk worthy of the Lord
in all of who we are and say and do. And we are to be speaking the truth of God’s
Word to one another in love so we will not be taken captive by liars and
deceivers who are teaching a false gospel.
For we, as the body
of Christ, are to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching
and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God. And we are to be exhorting
one another every day so that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness
of sin. And we are to meet together in order to encourage and to stir one
another up to love and to good works (of God). And if we can’t meet in person,
we can gather together on the internet.
And we are to be taking the message of the gospel to the
people of the world via whatever means are available to us, such as what I am
using now, which is the internet. For we are to proclaim the excellencies of
God who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light. And we are to be
calling all people to forsake their lives of sin and to follow our Lord Jesus
in obedience to His commands in holy living, as what we live by in daily
practice. For if sin and disobedience are what we practice we will not have
eternal life with God.
[Matthew 5:13-16;
Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts
2:14-18,42-47; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians
12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians
4:1-16; Ephesians 5:11-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians
3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20; 1 Peter
2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]
The Nations Have
Invaded
Who are the nations who have invaded and defiled God’s holy temple, His church? They are the church denominations which have incorporated under (merged with) the state (the government) and with the world who are marketing the church to the people of the world. And they are the world and the state (the government) who are in partnership now with “the church.” And so they have altered the gospel and what “church” is supposed to be in order to attract the world to their gatherings and to grow their numbers.
They have defiled
God’s holy temple, His church, by turning the church into a business to be
marketed to the world, and thus the church, the body of Christ, no longer
operates as the biblical body of Christ. For the gatherings are largely
targeted at attracting and entertaining the world, and so many of them are
being run like stage productions while most of “the church” sits in rows and
takes it all in but has no opportunity to encourage and to exhort one another in
our walks of faith to our Lord, as each part does its work.
Therefore, so much
of what is called “the church” barely resembles the biblical body of Christ in
appearance and in practice because so much of “the church” has allowed “the
nations” to defile God’s holy temple. And so much of it has discarded the
saints of God who are God’s messengers, for they teach the biblical gospel
which so many people are now rejecting for it teaches God’s requirements for
death to sin and for obedience to God’s commands for our salvation from sin and
for eternal life with God.
For Jesus
Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily
(die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if we hold on to living in sin
and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die
daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to His
commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone
who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING
(obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
The Nations Have Invaded
An Original Work / August 1, 2026
Christ’s
Free Servant, Sue J Love
Zeal for Your House
Based off John 2:17; Psalms 69:9
An Original Work / August 1, 2016
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Zeal for Your house,
it consumes me.
Lord, I love my
times with You.
I love to worship
You and sing Your praises.
Time in Your Word
brings me closer to You,
List’ning to You
speaking to me,
Gently guiding me in
truth.
Lord, You are my
life’s example,
Showing me how I
should live.
I love to walk with
You where’er You lead me.
No greater joy have
I when serving You.
Loving, giving,
resting in Your strength,
I’m yielding to Your
will.
Zeal for Your house,
it consumes me.
See the church
turned upside down:
Marketing ventures
taking place of worship,
Men of the gospel
turning into clowns.
Gospel message made
appealing,
So the world will
feel at home.
Lord, we need a
great revival.
Turn their hearts,
Lord, back to You.
Open the blind eyes,
turn them all from darkness,
Lord, to the light.
May they return to You,
Turn from their sin,
forsake idols,
Be restored to God
again.
