The Human Sanctuary and Temple of God-11 quotes

Non-family members represent all whom you are not related to, which would basically be everyone else in the entire world. This would obviously include neighbors, friends, acquaintances and even strangers. Since we are talking about an extremely large mass of people here, then is it really true that God would have all of His followers love the entire human population of earth, irregardless of race, nationality, creed, color or cast?

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him....Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another....If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:9, 11-12.

God manifested and expressed His self-sacrificing and self-denying love for every human being on this earth, including those who were not yet connected with Him and who did not even know of Him. If those of His followers want to indeed have God dwelling in them as His holy Sanctuary and Temple and also have His love perfected in them, then they must also follow God's example and unselfishly love all human beings, irregardless of race, nationality, creed, color or cast, and also irregardless of whether they know the people or not.

“Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.” Exodus 20:13-17.

The Hebrew word for “neighbor” used in these verses is “reya”, and it translates and means “an associate, companion, fellow, neighbor, another” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, word #7453). So the word neighbor used here is not just referring to someone who lives next door to your home, but is referring to anyone who is basically living within your ability to come in contact with them and do these forbidden sins against. You cannot commit adultery against someone you were not able to personally come into contact with. And neither can you steal or covet anything of your neighbor’s that you were unable to personally see for yourself first. So then the context of a neighbor used in these verses would be dealing with another human being living within your traveling and contacting ability.

“...love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:8-10.

These commandments of God dealing with loving our neighbor are prohibitions that specifically restrict God’s followers from doing these different actions against them. These commands deal with what not to do to others, and thus are not commands specifically telling God’s followers to do actions of personal kindness for another. This means that if you keep yourself from doing any of these sins against another with whom you are able to come in contact with, then you are indeed showing true unselfish love for your neighbor, and thus are fulfilling God’s law, even though you may not have personally done anything for them in actions of kindness! This clearly shows us that you can reveal true self-sacrificing and self-denying love for another by just not sinning against them!

Many have the idea that you must show an active love for another by doing acts of kindness for them, or you are not revealing true Godly love for that person. But this is not true according to God’s word, because if you have chosen not to sin against another, then you are indeed revealing true unselfish Godly love for them, albeit in a passive way, and you are indeed fulfilling God’s law!

That deaf person could not hear if you were cursing them, but others could hear – including God. And that blind person could not see if you were placing things in their pathway to stumble over, but others could see – including God. So even though the person themselves were not aware of what you did to them, yet God still prohibits His followers from doing such things that “worketh ill to his neighbor”. So again we see that it is by not doing certain things to another, even though they may never know, that we would be revealing the true self-sacrificing and self-denying form of love to them, albeit a passive form of this unselfish Godly love.

So there is a passive form of Godly love that can be shown to others by not doing certain things against them, and we also know that there is an active form of Godly love that can be shown to others by doing certain things for them. Both forms do indeed reveal true unselfish Godly love for others, and not just the active form of love alone. As this is true, then let us make sure that our ideas on how to reveal true Godly love for our neighbors are not one-sided, but are instead well balanced according to all of God’s word, so that we may avoid misjudging one another in this issue of showing Godly love to others.

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” Luke 10:27-37.

Now this well known passage from Christ is mainly used to show who makes up our neighbor. But this idea was not the only point that Christ was seeking to make. The main subject was love being shown to “thy neighbor”, and thus Christ was revealing the active form of this love to His questioner and listeners. That Samaritan who did all these neighborly acts of kindness in caring for that person he chanced to come into contact with, thereby revealed this active form of unselfish Godly love for his neighbor.

Christ specifically mentioned in this passage those who were proud of their devotion in worshiping God and leading and guiding others into understanding the truth – being the priest and the Levite, and yet He depicted these as being devoid of showing forth this active form of Godly love. While the other who was not known for their devotion in worshiping God or of leading and guiding others into the understanding of the truth – being the Samaritan, Christ depicted as indeed showing forth this active form of Godly love. By depicting this story in this way, Christ was rebuking the proud and self-centered professors of religion whose own interests led them to manifest and express the false Satanic form of selfish love towards others, and thereby revealed their faith to be dead. While Christ was honoring the humble and lowly whose self-sacrificing and self-denying actions reveal the true Godly form of love, and thereby showed their faith to be alive and real.

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [true self-denying and self-sacrificing love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

Let us also avoid such spiritual pride and selfishness that causes us to seek only our own interests and which shows us to be false Christians. But instead let us always remain humble and lowly and look to see how we may unselfishly help others we come into contact with, and thereby show that we are indeed Christ’s true followers. Yet this active form of Godly love involves even more than this.

“Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house [to care for], and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.” Deuteronomy 22:1-4.

God’s followers are not just to manifest a loving concern for their neighbor’s personal welfare, but are also to manifest a loving and unselfish concern for any of their possessions of wealth as well – not in greedily coveting these for ourselves, but in protecting these for our neighbor's sake. So not only are we to seek to protect our neighbor from personal harm, but we are also to seek to protect their property and possessions of wealth from harm as well.

We are to lovingly honor and respect the elderly whenever we may meet them. If you are on a crowded bus, and you see an elderly person get on and they are going to have to stand for lack of available seats, then show them respect by giving them your seat to sit in. Or you can help them walk across a busy street; or aid them with their groceries; or hold the door open for them to enter; or let them move ahead of you in a line; or even by going to a nursing or rest home and singing hymns to them; etc. Wherever you see that the elderly have a need of help, or see that you have an opportunity to do them some kindness, then do so and thus show them the loving honor and respect that God would have you do.

“Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:15-16.

If someone comes to you accusing another of sinning, that you are not to just go ahead and instantly believe what you are told and then further become a talebearer by spreading the same accusations on to others within your influence. This is because you do not want to be guilty of misjudging them and becoming unrighteous yourself, and thus bringing their blood upon you. But instead, before you believe and spread any accusations against another, you are first to take the time to fully investigate into the matter, carefully gathering up all facts from both sides and then prayerfully weighing the evidence, so that your judgement can be based upon a full knowledge of the real facts in the issue and therefore can be completely righteous. This is necessary because whatever judgement you give towards another, whether righteous because it is not biased but solidly based upon the facts, or unrighteous because it is biased and based upon others things besides facts – upon such things as feelings or sympathy or friendship with the accuser, or from prejudice or hate or disliking of the accused, you yourself will be judged in the exact same way!

We all need to take the time to fully investigate into any matter that deals with someone we know being accused of doing wrong, in order that we can be able to pass a righteous judgment upon them, as well as a righteous judgment upon all false accusers, and thereby truly express and manifest the unselfish Godly form of love to our neighbor.

“Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:16-18.

If someone has hurt you in some way, that you are not to try to imagine the reason why they did it to you, and thus be led into imagining the worst about them, which will then further lead you towards hating and not loving them in your hearts. But you are instead to express and manifest true Godly love for them by personally going to them and talking with them about the matter, and even rebuking them if it is indeed a sin that they committed against you. And if after doing this, and they choose not to repent, then you are not to hold a grudge against them, but to instead leave them with God to deal with. This is because you are to seek for love, truth and peace to be established within your community, and not for hate, falsehood and division to instead become established.

Is this common business practice of the buyer showing true unselfish Godly love to the person selling the item to them, or revealing false selfish Satanic love? This buyer knew the real value of the item, but just pretended that it was of little value so that he could buy it at a greatly reduced price, and then turn around and make a huge profit. In other words, the buyer knowingly took advantage of the ignorance of the seller in order to gain extra money for themself. So as this was true, then whose interests were motivating this buyer to do what they did? It was their own selfish interests. This means that this buyer was not manifesting and expressing unselfish love for his neighbor, but instead selfish love. So let all business people among us show true unselfish Godly love for one another by giving all a fair price for what they are selling to us, and not seek to selfishly and unjustly take advantage of them just for a quick profit.

Instead of allowing our friends to continue doing things that we know have hurt us, or we know will hurt them, whether spiritually, mentally or physically, we are not to keep it to ourselves, but we are to lovingly go to them and show them the truth of what they have done to us, or what they are doing to themselves, and then help them to change for the better.

“Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them. By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.” Psalms 41:9-13.

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48.

If in our loving efforts to help our friend overcome his or her sins against us, or their sins and bad habits against themselves, and our friend then decides not to change for the better, or even turns traitor against us and becomes our enemy, what does the Bible tell us to do? First, we are to stop reproving them, but to also continue loving them by doing good to them. Next we are to avoid treating them as they are treating us, or in other words we are not to try to find some way to get revenge, but we are instead to pray for them until God tells us to stop. And finally, until our friend changes and is no longer our enemy, then we are no longer to seek to be in their company or connected with them, but are instead to leave them in the hands of God to deal with.

“Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:14-21.

“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:8-11.

Strangers do not just represent someone you do not know, but more fully applies to those who are foreigners or aliens to your community. So strangers would be visitors from other States, or even foreigners from other countries. Then how are we to reveal true unselfish Godly love for strangers?

“And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 10:33-34.

Instead of ignoring, shying away from, or even mistreating strangers and foreigners among us, we are to love them as ourselves. We are not to vex or add to their troubles by making life harder on them, including making it more difficult for them to live and work in our community. But we are instead to treat them as if they had lived among us all their lives – “as one born among you”! As this is true, then what are some ways in which we can actively reveal our love for all strangers?

“And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 19:9-10.

We are to share with these strangers some of the bountiful blessings that God has showered upon us, and are not to hoard up all these blessings just for ourselves. And if we truly follow God’s will to actively reveal our love for strangers and foreigners among us, then we may just find that these strangers are not ordinary at all.

“And there came two angels [strangers] to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.” Genesis 19:1-3.

This incident continues on in Genesis 19:4-9 and shows us that Lot was willing to protect these complete strangers from all physical harm even though it would cost him his most dearest possessions – his daughters – and even his own life! Lot truly revealed that he indeed loved these strangers as himself, and thereby showed the true Godly form of self-denying and self-sacrificing love! And because Lot revealed such unselfish love for these strangers who had just come into his community, what then occurred? God rewarded and blessed Lot by allowing him and his family to escape from being destroyed along with the wicked (Genesis 19:12-25)! And dear ones, God will surely do the same with us, if we show the same loving concern for the welfare of strangers who come into our midst!

We have now explored into this area of the type of love that should be expressed and manifested towards all non-family members with whom we come in contact with, whether neighbors, friends, or even strangers, foreigners and aliens. If you choose to follow God’s will in all these matters, you would be expressing and manifesting the true self-denying and self-sacrificing type of this emotion of love. This would show that you are cleansing yourselves from the wrong Satanic kind of this emotion, and thus revealing that God is truly dwelling in you as His sanctuary and temple and not Lucifer. But by knowingly choosing not to follow God’s will in these matters, then you would be expressing and manifesting the false self-pleasing and selfish type of this emotion of love dealing with all non-family members. This would show that you are making yourselves more filthy, and thus reveal that Lucifer is truly dwelling in you as his synagogue and not God.