[0:00] Good morning. Welcome to the service this morning. It's good to gather and fellowship. It's good to! It's good to gather and fellowship. It's good to gather and to fellowship. It's good to! It's good to gather and to fellowship. It's good to be encouraged and to be empowered to go out. And so I trust God will further bless us as we continue in the service this morning. Thank you, Willie, for reading the Scriptures for us. As we continue in chapter 6 in 1 Corinthians this morning, I've titled the message, A Purchased Possession. A Purchased Possession. As we work through this passage, we will see two teachings or two principles here that would appear to be opposites in the world's standards.
[1:17] And the two are that we are free in Christ. We are slaves in Christ.
[1:32] How do we reconcile those two ideas, those two principles? To be free?
[1:45] Is the word slave repulsive? It shouldn't be. The New Testament often uses the word bond-servant.
[2:02] And that's the idea. But we're going to look at both of them briefly as Paul presents this to us.
[2:13] And so in the teaching here in Corinth, as last week, we talked about not taking brothers to law.
[2:27] The corruption of the love of money, that we pursue a brother in Christ or sister in Christ and take them to a court of law in the land.
[2:48] And the folly of that, he says that is utter folly and does not belong with the Lord. Now, after all of this, Paul hits the root, the solution to our issues.
[3:11] And that is to understand that I have been bought at a price. How many purchased possessions do we have here this morning?
[3:32] Only about five? Do we understand that our Lord has bought us? That we belong to Him?
[3:49] The Low German Bible says, The purchase price was God Himself.
[4:00] The blood of His Son. And then, to not take that lightly, but as He has redeemed us, bought us back, we belong to Him.
[4:14] So that then sets the tone as we start in verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 6. He says, All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful or beneficial.
[4:40] All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Have you ever heard the thought expressed that the grace of God covers my sin?
[4:59] I have been forgiven, and therefore it does not matter what I do in my body. The body is going to die, therefore if I sin in the body, it's okay.
[5:12] I have been exposed to that thought numerous times, and that is against Scripture.
[5:26] It flies in the face of why our Lord died for us. So that's a false notion or teaching, and it does matter what we do in our bodies.
[5:38] And so Paul here is very open. He says, All things are lawful for me. He does not mean I'm okay to sin.
[5:50] It's a license to sin. Absolutely not. But he says, All things are lawful. Maybe an example further down, I can eat all meat.
[6:05] Or regarding the feast days and so on. I'm set free of that. All things are lawful, but not necessarily helpful.
[6:20] Beneficial. And so we need to consider what the license that the Lord has given us, that we use that that allows to build us up and not take us away from God.
[6:38] And Paul is very much aware of that. So all things are lawful, but not helpful or beneficial. Beneficial. And he says, I will not be brought under the power of any.
[6:56] And so it can be almost anything in your life. If it starts to control you, is it beneficial?
[7:07] And if, maybe the most fourth thing in our life today is the cell phone.
[7:25] Just to use that as an example. When it comes to this little gadget, who controls who? Are you mastering the use of your phone?
[7:48] Or are you in bondage to it? And it's a little thing. It's not sinful to have a smartphone. It's not wrong.
[7:58] It's lawful. But if it's taking me beyond what it should, then it's not beneficial.
[8:11] And so there are many, many things in life, but this is probably the one that has gripped society more than any other item, is the use of that.
[8:23] And so Paul, in his day, hadn't heard of cell phones, but they will have had their issues as well. And he says, not all things are beneficial.
[8:34] I need to be in control of that thing. So how much freedom do we have in Christ?
[8:51] All things are lawful. How far does it go? What does it mean to be free in Christ?
[9:13] Okay, from slavery to freedom? Okay. Okay. So, can I go back to the cell phone? So if the cell phone controls me, am I free in Christ?
[9:31] Can we connect the dots there? That Jesus has come to set me free from all bondage. From all bondage.
[9:47] And there are areas in every one of us that the Lord is still seeking to set free. He wants us to become free.
[10:04] And you yourself know best where you struggle. So true freedom in Christ is to be rid of those things that control us.
[10:20] That seek to keep us from Jesus Christ. And true freedom is then to be free to serve my risen Lord and Savior.
[10:35] that is true freedom in Christ. And so we have that aspect of it. We're free in Christ to serve Him with all our heart, our body, our soul, our mind.
[10:55] And in this chapter, the body is elevated here. And so looking at that in verse 15, He says, Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
[11:09] Shall I then take the members of Christ and make the members of a harlot? Certainly not. does it matter what we do in our bodies?
[11:26] Does it matter? Absolutely. What role does the body serve during our earthly journey?
[11:40] What role does our body serve? It's the temple of God.
[11:56] It's the expression of the heart. And the heart is where the Holy Spirit resides. And so our body merely mirrors what's going on inside.
[12:16] It does what it's told. And so then it does matter. Because we are to glorify God in our bodies as this passage brings out.
[12:30] And more specifically, it will focus on sexual immorality. That our bodies glorify God in that realm as well.
[12:42] So we're going to look at that a little further yet. So our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, a dwelling place for Him. And if you are born again a child of God this morning, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in your body.
[13:03] God is here. And therefore, where two or three are gathered, God is here.
[13:16] Actually, where one is, God is there. But when there's a church full of people, the Lord is here with us. He lives inside of us.
[13:27] And so we are in His very presence this morning. that is a key understanding that needs to happen in our hearts is that God does care what we do in our lives or in our bodies as well.
[14:06] And so when when we when we do things that displease the Lord, whether it's with my words, with my actions, we're taking the Holy Spirit with us.
[14:29] And I can look back in my life and realize regretfully that I have taken God places where He did not want to go.
[14:43] And it hurt Him. It grieved Him. And we need to understand that.
[14:55] And so as children of God that we seek to glorify Him in all that we do. It's very important that we understand who we are in Christ.
[15:11] And our bodies, yes, they will die. Bearing the rapture, all of us have an appointment with death.
[15:25] death. And even in the rapture, in a sense, it is a transformation, it is death and resurrection in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye.
[15:37] But all of us have an appointment with death, and our bodies will decay and return to dust.
[15:50] death. Because we have sinned in the body. And God says there is no hope to transform our human physical body without giving it a new one.
[16:09] And the old one has to die. And it's a fact that all of us need to realize even when we're young. and when death may seem far away yet.
[16:29] But we've had some deaths with younger people in the last two weeks. And it's very real. We don't know when the Lord will call.
[16:42] And so that process is of the Lord as well. let's move on.
[17:02] And we're going to come back to a few of these verses yet. Verses 19 and 20. I'm going to jump right to the end. And then we'll resurface a few verses yet.
[17:13] Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
[17:31] Very clear scripture here. And I think we all realize that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. and yet how real is it to us in everyday life?
[17:48] How often do we focus on this as we make decisions? As we walk through times of wavering?
[18:02] How real is this that I am a possession of God? That I'm actually not my own. I belong to my master.
[18:21] The world teaches don't bow the knee for anyone. You are entitled.
[18:36] You are to stick up for yourself. You have rights. You don't need to let this happen to you.
[18:49] And we could go on and on. And yet let's look at the example of our Lord Jesus.
[19:03] And when they mistreated him, what was his reaction? how did he respond? So there are many, many times when I need to do what is right between me and God.
[19:22] And it means often to suffer at the hands of fellow man. To be mistreated, to be unfairly treated. and earlier in the chapter, even to lose money.
[19:38] The hands of fellow man. Because it is the price of following our God, our Lord. It goes against the flesh, but the spirit rises above the flesh.
[20:01] We have numerous illustrations in Scripture of the potter and the clay. And shall the clay rebel against the potter?
[20:14] Now, has anyone here worked with pottery and clay? Anyone?
[20:28] Not much? There's a guy. And you have a potter's wheel and you're spinning the chunk of clay and you're forming it as it's spinning and you're fashioning it.
[20:40] That's the picture, right? But this lump of clay has no power to rebel against your hands, against its creator.
[20:52] And the picture is we as lumps of clay are not recognizing the hands that are fashioning us and we're rebelling.
[21:04] Now, many of you are very good at creating from metal, from wood, from whatever and your master's at it and can create beautiful things.
[21:21] And yet, all that we create does not have life. It can't rebel. It can't.
[21:35] we as human beings have been created in his image and yet are rebellious.
[21:47] In our human nature, we are rebellious. And scripture brings that out very, very clearly. Many animals can be tamed and have a very close relationship to their master.
[22:09] A dog and a man or a horse and its master. A very close, obedient relationship. We have those examples and yet we struggle with that.
[22:26] and so it does us good to acknowledge that we struggle. It does us good to acknowledge that as we learn to walk in the spirit and to be obedient to our master.
[22:51] There's an example in scripture I want us to turn to. Deuteronomy 15. I think the picture of slavery here in Deuteronomy 15 verses 12 through 17.
[23:19] And so God didn't forbid slavery but he put down civil laws even moral laws to maintain integrity within.
[23:34] So Deuteronomy 15 verse 12. If your brother a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you and serves you six years then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you and when you send him away free from you you shall not let him go away empty handed.
[24:00] You shall supply him liberally from your flock from your threshing floor from your winepress from what the Lord your God has blessed you with you shall give him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you therefore I command you this thing today.
[24:21] And if it happens that he says to you I will not go away from you because he loves you and your house since he prospers with you then you shall take an owl and thrust it through his ear to the door and he shall be your servant forever also to your female servant you shall do likewise.
[24:48] Now this this is a beautiful picture of redemption of a slave that has been redeemed and set free and then turns around and says I want to stay with you.
[25:08] And this is ultimately a picture of us being slaves to sin and when when we recognize our redeemer that we return say Lord I do not want to depart mark me as yours I want to serve you forever I have it good with you and that's where the concept comes of a bond servant a free willing servant who desires to stay and it then becomes a purpose of the heart that I want to be with my master so even in that image of slavery it pictures Christ buying us out of sin freeing us from that you were slaves in Egypt pictures sold in sin needing to be bought out so I thought that was very very fitting so maybe it is okay to have your earlobe punctured as a sign that you belong to Christ no I didn't
[26:28] I didn't say that but it's the Lord we are marked by the Lord and the mark upon us is his spirit that is the mark of being free in Christ so then if we go back to all things are lawful but not necessarily profitable we have we have some maybe non-moral issues like like I mentioned before the eating the eating of meats some of you may may have the view that pork is unhealthy and therefore you refrain from eating a lot of it that's fine it's all things are lawful but some things I recognize maybe it's not helpful for me when it comes to things like tobacco or alcohol where are my freedoms how helpful is it how beneficial to my body am I glorifying
[27:57] God in my body there are no verses that tell you not to smoke there are none and thus you will generally not hear me bring that up but we are rather taught to glorify God that's the principle with my body and so even though our governments legalize weed and so on is it beneficial is it beneficial does it glorify my Lord and that is the principle behind it all things are lawful but they're temporary in value and in verse 13 he says foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods but God will destroy both it and them and often we make a big deal of what's temporary what will be destroyed in the end and it's not worth it and then the moral issues here and namely that of sexual immorality and the second half of verse 13 now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the
[29:28] Lord for the body and God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ that you are in a union with Jesus Christ you know the image on earth we have is marriage and the two shall become one flesh when we are married to Christ the two shall become one and it's a mystical union of the spirit and we belong to our Lord and he says it here very clearly so then as children belonging to Christ in verse 16 he says or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her for the two he says shall become one flesh for he who is joined to the
[30:43] Lord is one spirit with him flee sexual immorality every sin that a man does is outside the body but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body let's just take a few minutes here our our societies promote loose sexual expression and activity they do actually in the Bible times they did as well and the Gentiles were known for it here Paul is saying that for a man and a woman outside of marriage to sleep together is wrong and it is wrong because you are in union with
[31:54] Jesus Christ and you're making Jesus enter into a relationship with a harlot or the other way around and so we have a lot of youth and young people but for all of us it's so important that we recognize that we keep ourselves pure for the Lord's sake and the benefit will be ours for if we are believers we're dragging Jesus Christ into a relationship that is sinful that's what he says here we're one spirit with our Lord so it bears it bears thinking through and and we are we do well to purpose to not go that road whether we are in our teenage years or whether we are married we do well to purpose
[33:22] I will never go that road for I want to honor the Lord with my body I'm a member of Jesus Christ you know we hear a lot about people divorcing and remarrying and so on but this passage would teach us that if you have an affair with a woman or a man you've joined yourself unto them in a union that is wrong and so it does it does us good to pay attention to that parents teach your children it's it's hard to talk about these things but we do well to instruct and to show them the way as we are lights in the world in a dark world so then when we understand and realize who
[34:48] I am that I am a possession of Jesus Christ I belong to him I've been bought by him as the depths of that sinks in my desire is is to serve him to be pure for him and that needs to be our motive you know he says in verse 18 flee sexual immorality every sin that a man does is outside his body but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body and how true that is as fornication and adultery bring about consequences like no other sin and the lifestyle that comes with it we have so many diseases that follow the body ages prematurely it often involves alcohol and drugs and other other abuses and it leads to that and we see it all around us it's because it's not the Lord's way so Paul is very adamant here but let us take heart let us let us grasp who I am in Jesus
[36:18] Christ a purchased possession set free to serve him in purity and so then we are not our own I am in relationship with my Lord I am in a relationship with my Savior and that relationship needs to be cultivated and to grow so may the Lord bless the word this morning as we take this home and apply it to our lives in whatever way is needed in your situation we're going to close this part of the sermon in prayer and then we're going to go over to a short communion service let's pray Father thank you for the living word of God and thank you for the instructions to the church in regards to our freedoms to our masters and
[37:31] Lord the appropriate behavior as one that has been set free may you provide wisdom insight and guidance to each one that belongs to you through the spirit whom you've given us and Father may you be glorified through that in Jesus name amen