Sunday we'll have lunch together
after the morning service and there will be no p.m. service
next Sunday. Verse 24 1st Corinthians 6 the
text I just read for you are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your
body, that body that houses your soul that you're in right now,
your body. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. Now, what a command. Glorify God in your body and
in your spirit, which are God's. And his motive that he brings
for us to do that is found in the first part of this verse,
for you are bought with a price. That's enough. No other reason is needed. You
are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. Now that price that
you were bought with was his precious blood. You are bought by him. This was his purpose. This was
his reason for coming into this world. You were bought with this
precious price, his own precious blood. That's what you cost him. You personally. Therefore, glorify
God in your body. I think of what Paul said to
the Romans in Romans chapter 12 verse 1. He said, I beseech
you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies. Same body he's speaking of here.
A living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. Anything else is unreasonable. He bought you, he redeemed you,
he paid the ransom for you to be his bride, his companion, his brother, his friend. Therefore, glorify
God in your body. This thought begins in verse
12 of 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Paul says, all things are lawful
unto me. I can eat pork. I can play ball on what is called
the Sabbath day. I can Eat meat sacrificed to
idols. Eat sacrificed to a pagan idol. There's no sin in that for me
to eat that meat. All things are lawful to me.
You see, sin is not in things. All things are lawful to me. I think of what Paul said to
the Colossians. Why do you live according to
man-made rules? Touch not, taste not, and handle
not, which all are to perish with the using. All things are
lawful to me. All things. But all things are not expedient. All things are not necessary.
All things are not important. He repeats himself, all things
are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power
of any. Now, while all things are lawful,
I'm not going to be brought under the power and control of any
of these things. May God give us the grace not
to be brought under the power and control of anything. You
see addiction. There's nothing wrong with alcohol. There's something wrong with
the abuse of it. There's nothing wrong with eating. There's something
wrong with the abuse of it. And Paul says, I will not be
brought under the power of any of these things. And when I hear
that, my cries, Lord, don't let me be brought under the power
of anything. I love David's prayer. Let no
iniquity have dominion over me. order my steps in your word. That's our prayer, isn't it?
Now, in the context, we're going to see why he says this. He has
a very important reason for saying this, but he says, Meats for
the belly, verse 13, and the belly for meats, but God shall
destroy both it and them. That belly that you're putting
your food into, it's going to be gone. that food you're eating,
it's going to be destroyed. It's nothing more than that.
Now look what he says next. Now the body is not for fornication
but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. Now the flawed
logic was The body needs food, so we give it food. Sexual desire
is natural. Everybody has it, so we feed
our body. You see, in that church, they
grew up in Corinth. Corinth was a city of great immorality. part of the worship service there
were a thousand prostitutes in that city used to aid them in
their worship and involved in that was sexual sin and this
is who he's talking to and many people in the Church of Corinth
were saying this is what we've grown up with. sexual sin. Is there anything wrong with
it? I mean, you feed your body, you want something to eat, there's
nothing wrong with eating it. If this is a natural desire,
what's wrong with it? And that's what Paul is saying
here. He says, meat's for the belly and the belly for meats,
but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not
for fornication, but for the Lord. And the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up us,
up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. Now, Christ was raised in the
resurrection, and we know why he was raised. I love, here's
one of my favorite scriptures. He was delivered for our offenses.
Why did Christ die? He was delivered for our offenses.
And he was raised again for our justification. When He was raised,
every believer was raised in Him and justified in Him. Isn't that glorious? Right now
I stand before God having never sinned. That's what justification
means. It doesn't mean God knows I have sinned, but He treats
me as if I've not. No, in Christ I've never sinned. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification and God hath both raised up the
Lord and will also raise up us by his own power. Talking about
that final resurrection. Don't you look forward to being
raised incorruptible? Being raised perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ, no longer having to deal with this thing
of sin. I love that song, the first song
that he sang this morning, waiting for my body that will never sin. And that's what we're waiting
on. We earnestly long for that. And then he says in verse 15,
know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ. Now
here we have one of the great mysteries of the gospel. The
church is the body of Christ. Metaphorically, literally. The church is the body of Christ. Ephesians 1, 22 and 23 says the
church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all. That's what the church is. First
Corinthians 12, 27, now ye are the body of Christ and members
in particular. Every believer is a member of
the body of Christ. A hand, a ear, a foot, little
finger, little toe, whatever it is, every believer really
is. Here's your significance. Somebody
says, oh, my life is so mundane and insignificant. No, it's not.
No, if you're a believer, you're a part of the body of Christ.
What significance there is in that? How important you are to
the Lord. You're a part of his body. I tell you what, every
part of me is important to me. Well, it's just a little finger.
I don't care if I lost it. No, no, that's my little finger. It's precious to me. And that's
the way every believer is to Christ, a member of his body. Know ye not that your bodies
are the members of Christ? Now, look what he's saying. Shall
I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of
an harlot? Shall I take a member of Christ's
body and join it to a harlot? That's what was going on. And
he's showing the monstrosity of that. You know, somebody says,
well, all sin's the same. Well, yeah, I see that in a sense. But it also says here, flee fornication. All other sins are done without
the body. Fornication is done with your body. And that's taking
the body of Christ a member of Christ and using it in that fashion. Now notice what he says, verse
15. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall
I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of
a harlot? God forbid! What? Know ye not that he which
is joined to an harlot is one body? For the two saith he shall
be one flesh. Now, Paul is quoting Genesis chapter two, verse 24,
where it's talked about the man and the woman, the two becoming
one flesh. And Paul tells us in Ephesians
chapter five that that intimate act in marriage is a picture
of the union and the mystery of Christ and His church. That's
why this is so important. This is why it's, oh, may the
Lord give us grace to glorify Him in our bodies. Your bodies
are the members of Christ. That which is joined, what? Know
ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body, for
two saith he, shall be one flesh? But he that's joined unto the
Lord, united to him, is what that's talking about. United
to him. You know, we're joined to him
like the man and the woman, the two shall be one flesh. The vine
and the branches, the same stem going through the vine goes through
the branches. But he that's joined unto the
Lord is one spirit, one spirit, one spirit with him. Verse 18,
now he says, flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is
without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth
against his own body. What? Know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost? Now here's another great mystery.
He had already said your body is the body of Christ. And now
he says your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. God the Holy
Spirit dwells in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now because that's the case,
What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,
which is in you, which you have of God? You're not your own.
Don't you know that, son? You're not your own. That's a
blessed place to be, isn't it? You're not your own. For you
are bought with a price. Now this is the greatest of all
arguments, to glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
that spirit that he gave you in the new birth. Now somebody
says or thinks, and I bet somebody's thinking this, because I thought
of it. If my body is nothing but sin,
if my flesh is nothing but sin, how in the world am I going to
go about glorifying God in my body? That's a tall order. Why do you give that command
to glorify God in your body if your body is nothing but sin
in and of itself? Because it is. It is. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. I wouldn't dare say that it's
not, but here is the difference. He gave us a spirit in the new
birth, and greater is he that's in you than he that's in the
world. That's the only reason. He's given you his spirit. But if our old nature is still
depraved, how's that possible? With God, all things are possible. If he said glorify God in your
body, glorify God in your body. I pray that the Lord will enable
me to glorify God in my body and in my spirit, which are gods
which belong to him. And the reason I'm called upon
to do that, and you're called upon to do that, is because He
bought you. He bought you with a price. Paul said, I can do all things
through Christ, which strengtheneth me. You're not your own. You're
bought with a price. And that price was the precious
blood of Christ. Now, I want to spend the rest
of our time thinking about this. You're bought with a price. When the Lord was in the Garden
of Gethsemane. I don't know whether this was
a vision that only he saw, but he saw a cup brought before him. You remember when he said, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from me? Now, what was in
that cup? I know what was in that cup.
the sins of his people. And when he saw that cup, because
he understands sin, me and you don't really understand it. I
know I don't. When I'm talking about things, I know I'm, the
stuff I'm talking about right now, I know it's so far above
me, high, and oh, it's, and you feel the same way, I'm sure.
You think this is way over my head. Yeah, it is, it is. But we don't much understand
sin, but he's the only one who does. And when he saw that cup,
the scripture says, he being in agony. sweat, as it were,
great drops of blood. Blood started coming out of his
pores as he thought about drinking the contents of that cup. That
is the price he had to pay. When he drank that cup, that's
because that's when he was made sin. What all that means, I don't
know, but the scripture says he bare our sins in his own body
on the tree. My sins he bore in his own body
on the tree. And he said, Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me. And that's because he, in
his flesh, was overwhelmed at the thought of being made sin,
because he knew what that meant. I don't. You don't. None of us
feel near bad about our sins. We ought to. You know that. We
don't see. We're so weighed down with the
flesh. He did. But if he didn't drink that cup,
salvation for me and you would not be possible. Nevertheless, he said, not my
will, but thine be done. He drank the cup of our sins. He bare our sins in his own body
on the tree. and he put them away. He put them away. They're all
taken away. That's what he did on Calvary
Street. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very
own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. He made the way Through that
glorious work, he made the way for God to be just and justify
somebody like me or you. Now, let me remind you once again,
I've already said something once, justification is not God looking
at me and knowing I'm bad but saying I'm not gonna, I'm gonna
count him good anyway because of what my son did. No justification
is I stand before God having never sinned. That's what Christ's
justifying work is. That's our boldness on Judgment
Day. I've never sinned. In Christ, I've kept God's law
perfectly. I'm perfectly righteous. I'm
perfectly holy. That is what Christ accomplished
by His death. Now, I need to bring this out. How offensive is that message? that says Jesus Christ can die
for your sins and you wind up in hell anyway if you don't do
your part to make what he did work. That is utterly offensive. Somebody that preaches something
like that is a false prophet that does not know God and does
not know the gospel. You see, the death of Christ
is successful. He perfected forever them that
are sanctified. You were bought with a price. Now you think of what your salvation
cost the father. I thought about what it cost
the son, he gave himself. Listen to this scripture, Romans chapter
8 verse 32 says, he that spared not his own son. That's what it cost the father.
Yes, salvation's free to us, but it wasn't free to God. He
that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall they know it? Freely. Don't miss that word freely.
Freely give us all things. What could possibly prevent him
from freely giving us everything that pertains to salvation? Because
everything he does is for Christ's sake. You know why he justifies me?
Because Christ died. You know why he sanctifies me?
Because Christ died. You know why he elected me? Because Christ
died. You know why he regenerates me? Because Christ died. You
know why I'm redeemed? Because Christ died. The death
of Christ is everything in salvation. You were bought with this price. Why will I be in heaven? Because
Christ died. Why am I persevering right now?
Because Christ died. Why do I have faith? Because
Christ died. Why do I have repentance? Because
Christ died. Why do I love God? Because Christ
died. He that spared not his own son,
But delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? You were bought with a price
for Christ to save me and you, to make us his bride, his spouse,
his friend, his lover, his companion, his brother. Ephesians 5.26 says,
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. The believer is the father's
gift to the son. But he had to pay for this gift. I don't understand that, but
what a gift. The father giving Christ his
bride. And Christ had to pay to have
this gift. Let me quote these scriptures.
Acts 20, 28, feed the church of God, which he purchased with
his own blood. First Peter 1, 18 and 19, you
were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold
from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ. Galatians 3.13, Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse
for us. Romans 3.24, being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption, the redeeming blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1.7 says, in whom we
have redemption through his blood. even the forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 9.22 says, without the shedding of blood, there is no
remission. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You belong to somebody else.
You're not your own. You've been bought with a price. Isn't it wonderful to not be
your own? You belong to him. You're his property. I like being
his property. I like him buying me, being my
Lord, my master. Never was there ever such a good
master and a poor servant as me. You're bought with a price. When this passing world is done,
when has sunk yon glaring sun, when I stand with Christ in glory,
looking o'er life's finished story, then, Lord, shall I fully
know, not till then, how much I owe When I hear the wicked
call on the rocks and hills to fall, when I see them start and
shrink on the fiery deluge brink, then, Lord, shall I fully know,
not till then, how much I owe. When I stand before thy throne,
dressed in beauty not my own. When I see thee as thou art,
love thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully know,
not till then, how much I owe. Chosen not for good in me, wakened
up from wrath to flee, hidden in the Savior's side, by his
Spirit sanctified. Teach me, Lord, on earth to show
by my love how much I owe. When the praise of heaven I hear,
loud as thunder to the ear, loud as many waters' noise, sweet
as harp's melodious voice, then, Lord, Then Lord shall I fully
know not to then how much I owe. You are bought with a price. Let's pray. Lord, we. Stand amazed. And all we can do is. Bow down
and worship that you. Would give your son. To redeem us. We stand amazed
at our Redeemer, who so willingly. drank that cup, knowing what
he was doing, knowing he would glorify you and save all your
people, yet to think that even at the thought of drinking that
cup, he was in agony and sweat great drops of blood. Lord, how
we thank you for your spirit. who has made known to us the
preciousness of the blood of thy Son, the price at which we
bought. Now, Lord, enable us, because
we've been bought with a price, to glorify you in our body and
in our spirit. Forgive us of our sins, oh Lord,
forgive us our sins. We're so very sinful, we're so
filled with iniquity and sin. Forgive us and may we be found
in Christ. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.