Under New Management - You belong to God

[0:00] Now I'm sure you're with me in body and spirit, but it's not your body. I want to tell you tonight it's not your body that sat in your seat. So that's my message tonight. It's not! You belong to God. It says in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 16 through 17, it says, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwell in you. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy for the temple of God is holy. Which temple ye are? And then we'll go to 1 Corinthians 6, just a few pages forward. 1 Corinthians 6 verses 19 through 20, it says, What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. It's not your body, you belong to God. I like how one preacher put it, you're under divine ownership with a divine occupant with a divine objective. Think of that. You belong to him, you're under his ownership, he dwells in you, the Holy Spirit. Your body is his temple and you've got a divine objective that you glorify

[1:48] God. Consider the fact that you are under new ownership. That's an amazing concept to grasp, isn't it? That your body no longer belongs to you. If you are a saved man, a saved woman here. Your body is not your own, it's no longer yours. You belong to God. Can we grasp that awesome sense of belonging? That we belong unto our God. That we are his cherished treasure. It's a beautiful concept, isn't it? And more than a concept, it's the reality for you that know him. He has made you, each one, each one special. Each one his own, his purchased possession.

[2:34] That he should indwell you. That he should take up residence in your life. Your body, it says, is the temple of the Holy Spirit. When I speak of the Holy Spirit, I like to emphasise the word holy. There's a lot of talk about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit.

[3:01] You should think about that sometimes, shouldn't we? Dwell on that. And you are a temple, a holy temple, a temple. What is a temple? You see, temples set apart as a special, set apart sacred places, don't we? As houses of worship, of honour unto our great God and King. A temple of God, that he should reside in you, indwell you, set apart for his glory. The dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. That's something very special, isn't it? And notice that, it says, as we read in 1 Corinthians 3, 16 through 17, notice that a temple can be defiled. Defiled. A temple can be neglected. Now, at times I come to the car park and I see the bits of rubbish flying around and I can't help but pick them up because I think, unless I pick them up, they will accumulate and the car park will look like a rubbish dump. And it's like that with a temple, with a space, even a house left in disrepair in a state where it's not kept. It can accumulate rubbish and it starts to fall to bits eventually. And likewise, a temple can be defiled. And it's telling that of our body, that it can become soiled and spoiled, abandoned, defiled, made dirty. The Lord wants his temple clean. And we are the temple. And so consider this truth that God lives in you, that everywhere you go and in everything that you do, God is with you. He is in you. He dwells in you. So keep the temple clean. Keep the temple clean. Do not pollute it. Do not defile it. Keep it yielded. I read a story of, it's from our Daily Bread, a Bible, kind of devotional, and it tells a story about some trucks that were moving, transporting food. They were refrigerated trucks. And they would go and deliver this refrigerated food to retailers. And the truck drivers thought, look, we can't really afford to return empty. We'll take some cargo on our return trip back to where they came from. And they were paid something to take some garbage. In the same refrigerated trucks that carried food, on their return trips they would carry garbage. And this came to light to the authorities and they were confronted that this was not appropriate, that this should be happening. And they were saying it's like serving potato salad from your cat litter box. That's the kind of the gross comparison of such a thing. And think of the temple of God, you're meant to be holy, you're meant to be undefiled, and yet there's times where we don't live up to that, that we ought to be undefiled. And the Lord Jesus, we know, he went into the temple and he had to throw some people out or throw them on their ear, as it were, these money changers that were scheming and polluting the temple, as it were, with their wrongdoing, with their money-making schemes. And likewise, the temple was defiled by these ones. And the devotional goes on to say, may God forgive us, cleanse us, help us to cast out everything that defiles, everything that defiles, that he alone has the right to dwell in the temple. And there's a verse that echoes this theme of 2 Corinthians 7 verse 1,

[7:05] Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves. We have need of daily cleansing. Believers, there's times to bring our hearts to him, to confess and to seek his cleansing. A temple, it speaks of worship, it speaks of consecration, it speaks of a holy place, a sacred space, it speaks of the inner sanctuary.

[7:39] This word of the temple, it speaks of the inner part of the temple, it speaks of the inner sanctuary, the holy of holies. This was the most holy place in all the land and all the world, the holy of holies.

[7:52] And God says, such temple, ye are. Such a temple. A temple entirely dedicated to God's use. It says, ye are not your own. And you belong to God. That's the picture here. That's the sense of it.

[8:06] You are not your own. So, what then? If that is true, how then should we live? If we are not our own. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 20, it says, For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

[8:24] You are bought with a price, you are a holy temple, therefore glorify God. Notice, we could spell it, because of who is in us, the Holy Spirit, because of whose we are, we are his, therefore glorify God. This is not a suggestion, notice. It is a command.

[8:42] He says, glorify God, therefore glorify God. It's not optional, it's a command that we rightfully honour our precious Lord. And glorify God, it says, in your body.

[8:56] We could align it with 1 Corinthians 10 verse 31, where it says, Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. So that even the mundane, the everyday, whatever we do in our day by day, we are in his hands. We exist to glorify God.

[9:14] That is what matters. That is our ultimate purpose, our reason for being. You are not your own, it says. Can we capture that thought? You are not your own.

[9:25] You are loved. Loved with a love, an everlasting love. You are loved and you are chosen. What does he call us? He calls you my people. My people. Think of that. That you could be having that title, that label is on you.

[9:40] My people, he says. So we are under new management and he is the new owner. You are not your own. And when it says you are not your own, the sense of it here is absolutely not.

[9:51] You know, the intensity of this phrase is absolutely not. You are absolutely not your own. It's very strong sense here.

[10:03] And Spurgeon put it like this. It's a great privilege not to be one's own. Does anyone think it would be a pleasure to be his own? Let me assure him that there is no realist so tyrannical as self.

[10:16] He that is his own master has a fool and a tyrant to be his lord. Think of that. I don't want to be my manager.

[10:28] I don't want to be my owner because I will fail. He goes on. God has a right to do whatever he wills with you. If we must suffer week after week, bedridden with pain, he has a right to lay us there and chasten us in every limb.

[10:42] If the Lord would say, go into your room and cough all the winter through and then melt away, we must bow before his decree, remembering these words. You are not your own. If he says, come down from your position of comfort into hard work and poverty, again, you must remember you are not your own.

[11:00] If he says, migrate overseas, go to a new country, cut every tie with the fondest and break the connections, you must cheerfully obey for you are not your own.

[11:11] It's a radical concept when you think of it, isn't it? That we are not our own. That we are actually under his absolute ownership and that is a loving mastery.

[11:24] He is not a taskmaster. He is a loving master that we would gladly serve. And yet when hard times come, it doesn't negate the fact that we are his and he calls the shots.

[11:39] There was a preacher a long time ago, or in the last 50 odd years, he kind of related a story to try to paint a picture of how he could apply this.

[11:51] He says, he was asked by a girl to go to a dance. And he said, I'd love to go to the dance with you, but I can't. And when asked why, he said, I have no feet.

[12:02] And the girl was quick to see, sure you've got feet. She could see that he had feet that he could have danced with. And she told him so. And he simply told her when he got saved, he lost control of his feet.

[12:15] So that he didn't have any feet for use for dancing anymore. His feet had become God's feet. Think of that. Truth, isn't it?

[12:26] And our bodies are not our own. It means we cannot do with them whatever we want or whatever enters our mind. And the same preacher told this story. Sometimes we'd like to criticise people, but I can't.

[12:39] I don't have a tongue. I don't have a tongue, right? I would like to make money, but I can't. I don't have any hands. Sometimes I would like to fight.

[12:51] I can't. I don't have a fist. It's truth there, isn't it? You are not your own. The human inclination might be to go dancing, to go, you know, serving yourself or fighting or putting your hands to evil.

[13:10] But you're not your own. You're his. And people would ask, the preacher goes on, do you ever think you'd like to hear some dirty music? Maybe so, but I don't have any ears.

[13:22] Do you ever think you'd like to read a dirty book or watch a rotten TV program? Maybe. But I don't have any eyes.

[13:37] It's truth there, isn't it? It's a good thought to have when you're tempted. Another instance here is a young lady came into this preacher's office and she was wanting to, she was contemplating doing something that was so-so, you know, a bit iffy.

[13:56] And she said to the preacher, she said, what if, what I want to do is this? And he said to her, you have no choice in the matter.

[14:07] You cannot do what you want to do. She said, I can do what I want to do. And he said, no, you have no right to do what you want to do.

[14:18] You are not your own. It's truth there, isn't it? When sin tempts us, when we're tempted to do something that's questionable, that's doubtful, no, I'm not my own.

[14:31] I belong to him. He's my Lord. He calls the shots. Someone described it like this. Your eyes are not your own, where you may feed the lusts of your eyes.

[14:43] It matters what you look at. Your ears are not your own, that you may listen to every foolish talk or gossip or drink in some carnal information or follow some natural desire to some news or even slander.

[15:01] Your ears are not your own. It matters what you listen to. Your tongues are not your own, where you can speak what you please and hurt other people and blurt out what arises from the chambers of your hearts.

[15:15] Your tongues are not your own. It matters what you say. Your hands are not your own, that you use them as implements of evil or employ them in some other way than to earn your necessary livelihood.

[15:30] Your hands were not given to you for sin, but for godly uses. How you use your hands does matter. Your feet are not your own, that you may walk in the ways of the world, that your feet should carry you to places a Christian should not be.

[15:47] Where you walk and how you walk matters. You are not your own. We're asked this awesome truth, that you are not your own. It's something that's kind of mind-blowing to actually capture that essential phrase, you are not your own.

[16:04] You have been bought with a price, it says. There's been a change of ownership. It's like there's a house down the road where Julie and I used to live. And we're intimately acquainted with that house.

[16:15] We know it inside and out. We lived there for numbers of years. And I no longer have that house. It's under new ownership. They've changed the locks.

[16:26] I've handed over the title deed or the bank deed. I have no more claim to it. It's not my own. And likewise for you, brother, sister, you are not your own. You've been bought with a price.

[16:40] You belong to God now. If you're a saved man, you belong to God. You belong to God. You belong to God. A saved woman, you belong to God. You belong to God. You belong to him.

[16:52] Are you a temple for the Holy Spirit? God says you are. Wow, never really. Can you contemplate that for a moment? What that means? If you're a saved man or woman, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit.

[17:06] You're set apart for God's glory, God's purposes, God's praise. God says you are. We show who we belong to by our way of living.

[17:16] It shows. Be like Christ. Be like God. You have no right to do what you want to do. You are not your own. How do you get your head around that?

[17:29] That you are not your own. You know, the men who wanted to catch out godly Daniel, they could not catch him out except in his prayers. They found a way to make prayer illegal, effectively.

[17:42] And he prayed on despite the danger. He opened the windows and he prayed as he always had prayed. Do you dare to be a Daniel? You're not your own. Following Christ can get you into trouble.

[17:54] Follow him anyway. And following Christ can mean opposition for you. It can be hard for you when friends and family say, oh, that's not the man I used to know.

[18:06] No, he's dead. In Luke 21, 17, it says, and you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. Get used to it.

[18:17] You might face that. When friends and family who want you to go the same worldly way you used to, you say, I don't go that way anymore. My feet don't take me that way anymore. My eyes don't look that way anymore.

[18:29] My heart doesn't want that anymore. I belong to God now. Things have changed. Our Lord says, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. He'll help you.

[18:39] He'll help you overcome. He'll help you overcome when it's hard for you to walk the Christian walk. Another preacher put it like this. Remember that you must belong to someone.

[18:55] If God be not your master, the devil will be. If grace does not rule, then sin will rule and reign. If Christ is not your all in all, the world will be. We must have a master of one kind or another.

[19:08] Which is better? A bountiful, benevolent benefactor. Benefactor, you know, God's generosity. That merciful, loving and tender father. That loving and forgiving friend and father.

[19:20] That tender heart of compassionate redeemer. Or a cruel devil. Miserable world. A wicked, vile, abominable heart. Which is better to live under the sweet constraints of the dying love of a dear redeemer under gospel influences, gospel principles, gospel promises and gospel encouragements or to live with sin in your heart.

[19:42] Binding you as iron chains until the judgment of the great day. Thank God we are not our own. Thank God he's bought us with a price. We don't want to be under the slave master anymore.

[19:54] We want to be set free at liberty, at his service, under his domain, under his dominion because it's a loving one. And when you think if you're not your own, it means put aside your conveniences and comforts.

[20:11] Because that's not the priority. Don't be ashamed of the gospel. Don't be ashamed of the Lord, of his words. You are not your own. You're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God.

[20:23] How deeply do you want to glorify God? How deep is your faith? How deep do you want to go with your Christianity? You know, some would say, I will just go just so much, but no further.

[20:37] They kind of draw a line in the sand with their Christian walk. They say, I'll go so far with my Christianity and maybe I just don't want to get too out there, too fanatical.

[20:49] People might think I've lost the plot or I've lost my marbles. You know, I don't want to be too crazy about my Christianity. I'm just going to have a kind of just a little measure of Christianity, just enough that's kind of I'm comfortable with.

[21:03] And they only go so far. There's a kind of superficiality to it that in some people they don't want to go all in. And I reflect on Ezekiel's vision of Ezekiel 47, where Ezekiel 47, it talks about Ezekiel where he saw this man and he had a measuring stick and there was a river there and he was measuring the waters.

[21:28] And it says in Ezekiel 47 verse 3, Again, he measured a thousand with this measuring stick and he brought me through the waters and the waters were to the knees.

[21:42] Again, he measured a thousand and he brought me through and the waters were to the loins. And afterward, he measured a thousand and it was a river I could not pass over for the waters were risen. Waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.

[21:55] And as I think about Ezekiel's vision, you might reflect on this as the Ezekiel's vision of the river of God, it makes me think how deep is my faith?

[22:06] How deep will I go in my walk with God? How serious am I? How honest before God am I to take my commitment before him? Why don't we just settle for ankle deep?

[22:19] You know, just getting our feet wet, splashing around on the edges. It's a bit like me sometimes, you know, sometimes you go down the beach and it might be a bit of a cold day and I run up to the surf thinking I'm going to jump in and I twinkle my toes in the water and, oh, it's cold.

[22:35] It's too cold. I don't even want to get to my ankles. And I run away from the waves. Some people like that with their quest for faith, aren't they? Just, oh, I'll just twinkle my toes.

[22:48] No, I'm not going to go any deeper than that. I'm not going to go any deeper than my ankles. How deep will you go with your faith? Will we go up to our knees where we will pray, where we'll start to step into the waters?

[23:00] We'll go to our knees. We'll go deeper. Our faith will go deeper, deeper still. Or will we go up to our loins? Speaks of strength. When we start to use our strength and we wade out into the deep, into those deeper waters.

[23:13] Or will we stride forward in that stronger kind of faith? Or will we go yet deeper, deeper still? All in, so deep. Waters to swim in.

[23:24] Where you've got to start to doggy paddle or tread water. Oh, to get in like that. To get in like that with your faith. It means like jumping out of the boat, as it were.

[23:35] Getting all of your body in. Being all in for Christ. You are not your own. Not. Not at all. Definitely not. Absolutely not.

[23:46] Not at all your own. You belong to him. All of you. From the top of your head to the tips of your toes. All of you. You belong. Holus bolus.

[23:57] Tip to toe. You belong to him. All of your life. Love him. With all of your heart. With all of your soul. With all of your mind. With all of your strength.

[24:09] Why? Ye are bought with a price. And you are a temple of the Holy Spirit. Capture that. Contemplate that.

[24:20] And Paul in writing to the Ephesians. Talks about the Holy Spirit. He says which is. It's Ephesians 1.14. Which is the earnest of our inheritance. You're sealed.

[24:30] It says. Paid. In full. I own you. He says. You're mine. You are my people.

[24:42] And it says. He is the earnest of our inheritance. Until. The redemption of the purchased possession. Unto the praise of his glory. You're purchased. He's taken you as the picture would.

[24:55] Represent. Of redemption. That we as in the slave market. As it were. As slaves. Enslaved. To sin. To the slave master.

[25:05] Satan. And he's taken us out of that ownership. And he's transferred the ownership. He's got no claim on you anymore. The deed has been passed over.

[25:15] The payment has been made. He has claimed you. Such that you never go back there again. Just like we can never go back to that house again. It's under new ownership. You are under new ownership.

[25:27] If you're saved today. And he has given you. The inheritance. He's given you the earnest. The down payment. The. You know. The assurance.

[25:37] The guarantee. That you are redeemed. In other words. Purchased. From the slave market. Made his property. And you're the purchased possession.

[25:48] He's paid everything that had to be paid. So you could be purchased. And be called the purchased possession. Such that he will possess you. Some will stay in the shallows.

[25:59] I'll twinkle the toes. Just get the feet wet. Others will jump in. All in. Take all of me. Jump in. Waters to swim in.

[26:10] Have all of me God. All of me. God says you are not your own. You're not 10% you. And 90% God. You're 100% God's.

[26:22] 100% his property. And there was a story about a young man in Indonesia. He was having trouble. He married his girlfriend. And then he was having all these kinds of troubles and problems in his marriage.

[26:34] He was a businessman. And he developed this severe addiction to gambling. And it cost him. It cost him dearly. It ruined his life. He was just gambling. All his money just going out.

[26:44] Out the window. And he finally lost so much money. That he decided to commit suicide. And he hanged himself. Just before Christmas.

[26:55] But his brother-in-law found him hanging and cut the rope. Just cut the rope. Just in time. When his body fell to the floor, he began to breathe again.

[27:08] His family was so frightened. They caught a policeman. And the young man was placed in custody. He was at risk now. They took him to the cells.

[27:19] And they took away his belt and the shoestrings. Anything else he could use to string himself up again. But he managed to hide a razor blade in the pocket of his trousers.

[27:30] And that night he took out the razor blade. And he put his left wrist on the table. And he was just about to cut the vein. When at the very moment his attention was drawn to a small book on the table.

[27:41] It was a Gideon New Testament. A New Testament was right there on the same table. He laid his hand to cut his wrist. And out of curiosity he opened it. And his eyes fell on 1 Corinthians 6.

[27:53] Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? And the young man began shaking uncontrollably. And he fell down on his knees. And he said, Oh God, forgive me.

[28:04] Forgive me. Have mercy on me. And he kept saying those words over and over until the police came. And they called a minister who led him through to faith in Christ.

[28:15] And his life was permanently changed. The next year he entered Bible college in East Java. And he went on to become an evangelical pastor in Indonesia. Now these words are real.

[28:29] They're transforming. This is truth. And we as believers, we ought to take it seriously. Know ye not that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit?

[28:43] What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God? And ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's.

[28:57] Does your body belong to God? This book says it does. Does your spirit belong to God? This book says it does. If so, live like it.

[29:10] Glorify God. Therefore glorify God. Magnify the Lord. Be a channel of blessing. We can be a refreshing, life-giving stream. And he caused each one of us not to twinkle our toes but to jump in, all in.

[29:25] Jump in to the deep waters. May your faith be deeper, stronger, firmer. Whosoever will may come.

[29:37] All of us have need of conversion. Be conscious of your need of Christ. Will you glorify God? Do you know the smile of God over your life?

[29:47] We can be so preoccupied with other things, can't we? What about the smile of God? Does God smile on what I'm doing? Does that matter to me?

[29:59] Shouldn't it? Do I glorify God? It's a big question, isn't it? When we evaluate anything we do or what we choose to do, does it glorify our God?

[30:12] Does it put a smile on his face, our God? How can we know this to glorify God? And how can we be, as John the Baptist, a burning and a shining light?

[30:24] That's what he wants us to be. God can make us such. Oswald Chambers, an old-time preacher, put it like this. He said, The grace of God is absolute and limitless. The work of salvation through Christ is complete and finished forever.

[30:37] I am not being saved. I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God's throne. But I must put to work or use what God has placed within me to work out my own salvation.

[30:50] Philippians 2 verse 12. It means I'm responsible for using what he has given to me. I must exhibit in my own body my life, the life of our Lord. I discipline my body.

[31:04] I bring it into subjection. Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

[31:20] So that means our thoughts, our desires, what we're aiming for, what we're intending, what we're contemplating. We're under his control.

[31:32] That's a good control. I'm not talking about mind control in a bad way or some cultic control, some man's control. But to be under God control. That's something, isn't it?

[31:43] I was talking with someone earlier today and saying, as they were searching, I said, this is how we know what's right. This book. This is how we know.

[31:56] And it's got to be by the book. We've got to go by the book. And we can check, check me, check anything. Check churches, check teachings. Does it line up or does it not? This is what we have to go by.

[32:08] And to be under the control of God is something precious and good and blessed. And to be sought after. And the quote goes on.

[32:18] We're responsible for these things, for thoughts and desires. Not to give way to improper ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than we are in judging ourselves.

[32:29] We make excuses for things in ourselves which we condemn in others. In the light of others simply because we are not naturally inclined to do them. Paul says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.

[32:43] We've got to answer for ourselves. What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and Master that my body will indeed be his temple. End quote.

[32:55] No, agree with God. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It goes on. Therefore, glorify God. How can we be more like Jesus, our Lord?

[33:06] How can we be gracious like him who is full of grace and truth? How can we be like him? Doesn't it go against the grain? How do we glorify our Lord?

[33:18] How do we enter into the school of Christ who says to you, learn of me, learn of me? Are we willing to go deeper, stronger? Or will we just play around the edges? Or will we just twinkle our toes?

[33:29] Or will we go deeper? Will we be filled with the Spirit? Filled with the Spirit. What a picture that is. Not just splashed or sprinkled, but filled.

[33:40] Filled. Filled such that we're overflowing with God. That God, it can't be contained. That it will be contagious. That it will be overflowing. So abundant will be our faith, our joy, our love, our fervour, our zeal for God.

[33:55] That deeper faith. Have you been bought with a price? Or do you still belong to the old slave master? Step one.

[34:06] You've been bought with a price. Make sure of that. That you're redeemed. That you're saved. That he's bought you. That you are his. That you belong to him. Step two. Therefore glorify God. Therefore glorify God.

[34:18] I've talked in recent sermons about glorifying God. I know a number of times. It's a bit of a repeated theme. And the truth bears repeating. We should glorify God. That's the ultimate, isn't it?

[34:30] Glorify God. How do we do that? It's absolutely important that we glorify God. Are we of God or of the world?

[34:41] How do we treat our Lord? Are we living like we're a holy temple of God? God consecrated, set apart for our precious Lord, who we adore and honour.

[34:53] I look at Isaiah 53 where it says, He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form of comeliness that we should, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

[35:07] He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him. Not. Just as I contemplate on these words, of them, the world, it says, they had no desire.

[35:25] They didn't even desire him. Then it says they despised him. Then it says they rejected him. And, of course, we know, ultimately they crucified him.

[35:35] Are we with them, the world? The world has no desire for spiritual things. The world has no desire. There's no desire. There's no searching after God. There's no wanting of the truth.

[35:46] There's no esteeming of him. There's no honouring of him. They still despise and reject him. Sometimes we get comfortable in their number, don't we? Let's be honest.

[35:58] Those who don't desire him. Instead, let's be in the number of those who will desire him, will desire God, and will desire to be amongst those who desire God, who truly desire God, who desire him, who will honour him, who will esteem him.

[36:14] Join those who are God glorifiers. Some of them are a bit out there, aren't they? There's some people, there's some people that I know, there's some people that I've met that are so Christian, they're kind of, wow, where did that come from?

[36:30] That's a good thing, in a way. And we should find the God glorifiers, shouldn't we? Find them and identify with them. Glorify him.

[36:40] Let's glorify him together. Have you been bought with a price? It says you have. And friends, Psalm 110.3, it says, May God make you willing in the day of his power. That's an interesting scripture, that one, that God will give you the willpower.

[36:56] He will make you willing. He'll give you the willpower in the day of his power. He will give you both the willpower, and he'll give you the power, his power, to take action. And sometimes we can think, look, I believe it in theory.

[37:09] You know, look, I can say, yes, amen. I believe what you're saying is theoretically true. I have been bought with a price. I'm not my own. I am the temple of the Holy Spirit.

[37:21] Therefore, I should glorify God. But honestly, you know, it's a bit too hard for me. You know, I'm just an average, common garden variety Christian. I'm just kind of coasting along in my Christian life, and I don't want to get too crazy.

[37:36] I just like dabbling in the shallows. May God make you willing in the day of his power. God give you the willpower, and sometimes it's the won't power, isn't it?

[37:47] As some people like to kind of put it in a lighthearted way. God gives you the willpower, I will do right, and he gives you the won't power, I won't do what's wrong.

[38:00] He'll make you willing in the day of his power. He will empower you. God will give you the power to take action. So there's no excuses. When he says glorify God, he says glorify God.

[38:12] It's a command. And perhaps you are a believer bought with a price, but you aren't living like it. Your Christian profession is shallow and wavering. Now, I want to give you a bit of a health tip here tonight.

[38:26] A bit of a health tip for you. I know some of you young men don't need this sort of thing, like people like Ben here, but if you want a stronger muscle, you have to use your arm. Amen? If you want a stronger muscle, use your arm.

[38:38] And it's the same with your faith, isn't it? Use your faith. Engage your faith. Activate your faith. Apply your faith. As you make your faith activated, and as you use your faith, as you make your faith live in your shoes, as you walk it out, you will get stronger in your faith.

[38:58] And you will glorify God. You have been bought with a price. You are God's property no matter what. He's got, it's signed, sealed and delivered. He's got the title deeds.

[39:08] You are God's property. And he is strong enough to keep you from falling. Some people think, oh, my, I'm not sure. No. God says you're his.

[39:19] You are his. He says you are not your own. You're bought with a price. You're bought. He's paid everything that he had to pay to buy you. You're his purchased possession, it says. And he is strong enough to keep you from falling.

[39:31] So step into the deep waters. You're not going to drown. Be willing to glorify God no matter the cost. You have been bought with a price. And what a price.

[39:43] You can know the unsearchable riches of Christ. Take your faith to another level. Go a bit deeper. Don't stay in the shallows.

[39:54] Go deeper with God. Could use another analogy. Go to the higher ground. You know, let's get higher. Let's look higher. Let's see further into the beyond of the eternity, of the better country, of that which should lighten our hearts and lift our burdens and set our affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

[40:19] We get so tied down with making a living, with the humdrum of daily life. We all have those things. But we should lift our vision higher. Therefore, glorify God.

[40:31] Render unto him the due reverence and honour that's due unto his holy name. You are God's holy temple. Believe it or not, God says you are. So believe it.

[40:43] It's real. And just to close, here's the song that we've all probably heard before. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. Take my moments and my days.

[40:55] Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.

[41:05] Take my voice and let me sing. Always, only for my king. Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee. Take my silver and my gold.

[41:16] Not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect and use every power as thou shalt choose. Take my will and make it thine. Take my heart, it is no longer mine.

[41:31] It shall be thy royal throne. Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store. Take myself and I will be ever only all for thee.

[41:44] Let me close with this. Tonight, folk, this exhortation has been that we might realise the truth of this scripture that we've started with here.

[41:58] Know ye not that ye are the temple of the holy of God? Ye are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.

[42:10] That's serious, isn't it? For the temple of God is holy. Which temple ye are? Don't defile the temple. Keep clean. Get clean. Get clean. Get cleansed again.

[42:21] And re-cleaned. Re-cleansed. That ongoing washing, cleansing, the washing of the word. And 1 Corinthians 6, what?

[42:32] Know ye not that your body is the temple? The Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost. God's Holy Spirit. Which is in you. He dwells in you. Which ye have of God.

[42:43] And ye are not your own. Therefore, it says, for ye are bought with a price. That's mind-blowing, isn't it? Precious blood of Christ. There's no greater measure of value than that.

[42:57] Precious blood of Christ. You are bought with a price. What a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that your word does tell us that this is a possibility.

[43:10] That this can be possible. It's not something beyond prospect. Lord, this is something you say can and does happen.

[43:22] And we pray that each one in the hearing of this would know that truth. How can I be saved? By grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves.

[43:35] It is the gift of God. And if you can, each one hearing this can, take that truth and make it yours that Christ can open your eyes such that you can see and realise this great gift and receive his pardon.

[43:53] It is yours now and it is forever. And Lord, we thank you that that truth is such that we can grasp even a childlike faith, we can grasp that in our limited way.

[44:06] We can simply receive your great gift, your great forgiveness because you died at the cross for our sin in our place. And Lord, we pray that each one might know that truth.

[44:18] And Lord, for each one here tonight that knows you, that we might be refreshed again in our faith, that we will seek to go deeper in our faith and not stay in the shallows, but not to stay in a superficial way, but to be challenged to a deeper walk.

[44:35] Lord, help us to be such that we will realise the truth that we are a holy people, such that you are indwelling us by your spirit and your holy spirit lives in us, such that we are not our own, such that when we have decisions to make and steps to take, they will accord with you and what you would want.

[44:57] That will be our first consideration, that we belong to you and we are not our own. And we thank you, Lord, for the precious price of your precious blood poured out graciously for us, that we can be a saved people, cleansed, forgiven and heaven bound.

[45:16] And we can know that for sure, Lord, that we are yours. We are a purchased possession, that we're in your hands. Lord, we pray, make that a reality for each one here.

[45:26] Lord, help us to be stirred to a deeper faith, that our faith will grow stronger yet. As we exercise it, it will get stronger. Lord, we thank you in Jesus' name.

[45:38] Amen.