“Know ye not that ye are the temple of the Lord, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?”.

This “know ye not” question, along with nine others, appears an unprecedented ten times in the first letter to the Corinthians.

Know you not that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Your glorying is not good.Know you not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

Know you not that we shall judge angels? how much more the things that pertain to this life?

Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind.

Know you 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.

What? know you not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, He said, shall be one flesh.

What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?

Do you not know that they which minister about the holy things live by the things of the temple? and they which wait upon the altar are partakers with the altar?

Know you not that they which run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? So run (in this manner run), so you may obtain.

In this letter to the Corinthians, Paul opens with an appeal for the unity of the Spirit, and descries the divisions that are found to be among them, asking, “Is Christ divided?”. Paul goes on to say that, while there are divisions among them, they are carnal. And that they can not be spoken to as to spiritual individuals, but to carnal. This letter of Paul to the believers at Corinth, is to a carnal bunch, and is an effort to help them.

It is of great note, that unity of the Spirit, IS the Spirit. And the union described, is that of every member; every individual in Christ, holding to the Head. Again, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul makes the appeal to depart from childish division:

“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting (maturing) of the saints,for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth cease to be children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working of the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” (From Ephesians 4:11)

The “joint” or union that produces for all, is the union of every individual in Christ, to Christ, by the Spirit of Christ in him or her. If we have received the Spirit of Christ, we, each of us, have received a measure of who and what He is: a measure capable of producing fullness. So, what has become of this? when did this that was delivered to us in the gift of the Father, the Spirit of Truth, in whom we all have access; when did this become carnal? when did division enter in?

The prophets told of it before:

“…for dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may number all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my my garments among them, and cast lot for my vesture.”

I would like to expound the meaning of “dogs”. It is used to depict and describe a male temple prostitute…the vile and fallacious notion that one can periodically visit a temple, pay money to a man for a relationship with “heaven” through that man, and the fruit of that union becomes some gift from above. Without getting into specifics, needless to say, multitudes upon multitudes have been duped into this “way”. But be warned…no man comes to the Father except by the Son. If I have not the Spirit of Christ, I have no part of him. The book of Revelation describes a great harlot and her bed, and how that she, they that have rolled in that bed with her, and all that has been so conceived and brought forth, will be burned up. It is this harlot of which Paul speaks to the Corinthians (and of which the Lord speaks, saying “Come out of her my people, lest you be partakers of her judgments”.) Make no mistake about it…she and her children will be killed with death.

That being said, one more truth needs to be established. The body of Christ is His own. It is his Vesture. A vesture and a nation of kings and priest unto God. On His vesture is written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That Vesture is a people He has raised and quickened together with Himself in resurrection. KNOW YE NOT THAT YE ARE THE TEMPLE…?

One final definition is called for, and is necessary. The use of the phrase, “cast lot”.

“And they crucified Him, and parted His garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them , and upon my vesture did they cast lots” (Matthew 27:35)

“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do. And they parted His raiment, and cast lots”. (Luke 23:34)

“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part: and also His coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefor among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled , which says, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots”. (John 19:23)

The Strong’s concordance gives “lots” as being from the Greek word “kleros”.

It is using objects, such as straws or bits of wood, to decide by chance drawings, how to apportion or divide up something. Now, the question arises, is Christ divided? indeed, CAN He be divided? If you do a little digging, you will find new meaning to what was fulfilled in Psalm 22, by the company that pressed about Him and attempted to do this to Him. Read the whole Psalm. Everything you read is addressing what took place at the cross. Kleros is the word from which we have the words “Cleric” and “Clergy”.

The garments the prophet spoke of is a people. The Coat, the cloak, the mantle they “Clergied” is the Holy Spirit, or so they would have you believe. For it is a lie.

Read Ephesians 4:11 and also John 19:23. If you understand grammar and sentence structure, and the use of punctuation, something becomes clear. Ephesians 4:11 addressthe birthing of a teaching body. The sentence is structured as four in one, one being the Teacher. John 19:23 is a mimicry of what the Lord did in resurrection.

Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. Jesus is that Prophet which came into the world. Jesus is the one sent of the Father to preach peace and the acceptable year of the Lord. Jesus is the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. Jesus is the one to whom the Father gave the Spirit, who is The Teacher. This is what, in the Spirit, we each receive a measure of. Every one of us, according to the grace of the Father, by faith, receive a measure of everything Christ is; a measure able to produce the fullness.

Ephesians4  is not the declaration of an elitist group of individuals. It is the declaration of Christ in His people, by the Spirit.

The words “Nicodemus” and “Nicolaitan”, are both compound words. Nikos means “rulers, conquerors”. Demos means “people”, as does “laity”. As long as people labor under the illusion that Christ is so divided, they labor under a lie. They labor under the illusion that the body of Christ is carnal.

Nicolaitan means “To utterly vanquish people”. John 3 is an expose’ of the Teacher expounding to the Nicodemus, that one can not be a teacher, without THE TEACHER. And in Christ, all have the Teacher.

Nicene Creed also incorporates the name “Nike”, named for the place where an elitist cult of clergy, presumed to scrabble a few words on a document, and judge you with it. How absurd.

Psalm 22 declares to us, that Christ and a people, a seed, begotten to Him in resurrection, shall prevail over the company of dogs and evil doers. The Lord will be revealed in His people.