Lesson Outline for Nov 12, 2026
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Goal – To understand the importance of guarding our “eye gates” and protecting God’s temple
- Have you heard your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?
- Do you know the model God gave for guarding the temple, and who led the guards and their duties?
- Do you think of your eyes as gates to the “temple” which require guarding?
- Is it easier to keep the enemy out of our temple, or drive out a lodged enemy?
Hebrew and Greek Terms / Definitions
- lust #G1939 “epithymia” a desire, craving, longing for what is forbidden
- part #G3313 “meros” a part due, assigned to one, one of the constituent parts of the whole, in part, in a measure
Understanding the Temple Blueprint – Ezekiel 40-44
Understanding the temple blueprint given to Ezekiel by God helps us to understand “ourselves” as a temple for God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit living inside each born-again believer in Jesus Christ. The temple was large, had over 90 rooms, was 3 stories tall had multiple gates leading from the outer court and the inner court, it was expansive. And get this, the temple was always guarded, every gate, including roving patrols 24/7, all year long.
Gates are access and control points over territory and places of authority, and where elders/leaders judged cases, where legal rulings were rendered – the same is true today, and even more so spiritually.
Our territory is both in the natural and spiritual realms and are interwoven – guarding in the natural, moves guards in the spiritual. God blesses, honors and rewards obedience.
So, how are you guarding the temple God entrusted to you?
Next week we will look at another gate to our temple – “ear gates”
The green is the author’s notations in the verses below. Bold text added for emphasis
The Temple gates had guards
Both temples built by the Hebrews for God had guards; we are priests and watchman charged with guarding
Eze 43:10-11 ESV – “10 As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. 11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out.”
Mark 11:15-18 ESV – “15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.”
Psa 101:2-3 ESV – “2 I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; 3 I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.”
1 Cor 6:19-20 ESV – “19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
- There’s a standard for our temple, built by God’s standard; expected to be maintained by it too
- We’re priests, serving our High Priest Jesus Christ
- We’re watchman on the walls, guards at the gates and roving patrols to drive out any squatters and illegal activity – allow Jesus Christ to drive out demonic forces
- Our temple has many rooms. All must be opened to Jesus Christ and He will cast out demonic forces as we submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7)
Our “eye gates” are the light of our body
How much light, and where?
Luke 11:34-36 ESV – “34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part (meros) dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
1 John 2:15-16 ESV – “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world–the desires (lust/epithymia) of the flesh (sarx) and the desires (lust/epithymia) of the eyesand pride of life–is not from the Father but is from the world.”
- Our eyes are lamps for our temple, we determine what we let in our “eye gates”
- Can Holy Spirit and darkness be in my body simultaneously?
- Ezek 8; Luke 18:9-14 (Pharisee / Tax Collector), Jesus drove out robbers, so yes;
- And, the demonic worship done in the temple in Kings & Chronicles, and those noted by OT prophets
- We can have “dark in part” – you choose how much light to let in, and in what rooms
- Demons bring an image, set the environment, and then tempt us; Satan’s tactic with Jesus Christ – Jesus didn’t fall for it; — but, we have, we do!
- Demonic forces are granted permission to us; they can reside in the body (eyes) and amplify / increase a person’s evil desires
- Paul is clear in Romans 7:17 – sin is dwelling/residing in a person amplifying evil desire to sin
Life Applications
- Security is – 360 degrees, paramount and continuous – it’s multi-layered
- Describe how to set up security for our “eye gates”
- What about our families?
Last thoughts and considerations
- Lust of the eyes, not lust of the person
- Your eyes are never satisfied (Prov 27:20). Don’t give the enemy a place in your eyes
- “Guards and priests” are disciplined, they submit to the authority placed over them, they understand authority and command and allow in only what is just, pure, lovely, worthy of praise
- We’re accountable for guarding our temple where God’s Spirit resides; and guarding our family’s
Prayer
Father, I commit my temple to You. You created my body for Your Holy Spirit. I have not guarded my eyes as I should. Forgive me Father I bring no excuses, I am guilty of sinning against You with my eyes. My eyes are to bring light into my body, to glorify You. I petition Your forgiveness and ask for You God to grant me repentance. Wipe my windows clean with the blood of Jesus Christ. Seal my eyes for Your purposes and honor. I repent and renounce of all forms of lust and ungodly desire – sexual lust, lust of money, power, prestige, and where I have wasted my time with my eyes, where I have compared myself and others to ungodly pictures I have seen. Wipe my eyes clean and remove the demonic forces from me, especially any residing in my eyes. I come out of agreement with all ungodly spirits, they have no hold on me, I cancel their assignments. Help me guard my eye gates with all diligence and persistence. I ask for You Jesus Christ to give me clear vision, healing over my physical eyes and spiritual eyes. I submit myself to you God, I resist the devils and command them to go – In the Name of Jesus Christ
Additional verses for self-study
Job 31:1 ESV – “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?”
- Job understood spiritual laws and matters – chapters 9, 13, 23, 38-41
Psa 24:7-8 ESV – “7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!”
Prov 27:20 ESV – “Sheol and Abaddon (destruction/ruin) are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.”
- Your eyes are never satisfied. So, don’t give the enemy a place in your eyes
- Set a guard at the eye gates; Abaddon is a spirit of destruction – Satan’s mission is “kill, steal and destroy”
Matt 7:13-14 ESV – “13 Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
- Godly men do hard things; comfort and ease are not our friend
- “Destruction/Destroyer” is also an unclean spirit, Abaddon one such demonic spirit
Rom 7:16-19 ESV – “16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”
- Dwell = to take up residence. Sin is a noun, a thing, it’s demonic and residing
- Two things can reside in a place with many rooms at one time
More on the temple guards can be found here: 1 Chron 9:17-29; 1 Chron 26; 2 Kings 11: 4-19; 2 Chron 23; 2 kings 23:4; John 7:32, 45-46; 18:3, 12; Acts 4:1-3; 5:17-27
