Bought with a Price: Reclaiming Your Life for God’s Glory

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
We left the study of 1 Corinthians some time ago for our special emphasis in October, the Bible in 31 Days and the accompanying series on 2 Chronicles 7.14, which are on the placards in front of you.
[00:00:14] And then, of course, last week we had Pastor Bob White from Michigan who blessed us with a series of messages.
[00:00:20] And so we left off in 1 Corinthians some time ago.
[00:00:27] And chapter 6 is the next chapter.
[00:00:29] And so that's where we're going to return.
[00:00:31] We are so glad to have all of you here today.
[00:00:33] We welcome, special welcome to visitors.
[00:00:36] And just like to let you know that
[00:00:39] We're doing a redemptive history survey.
[00:00:41] We started in Genesis several years ago, and we've made it to 1 Corinthians.
[00:00:47] And so if the Lord doesn't return first, we may make it to Revelation one day, we'll see.
[00:00:52] So as we study the Scriptures, we are not necessarily expositing and exegeting every single verse,
[00:01:01] But we're focusing in on sections in the scripture that tie in redemptively to the greater story of redemption through Christ Jesus.
[00:01:10] And so keep that in mind.
[00:01:13] Now we're getting ready to come to 1 Corinthians chapter 6.
[00:01:16] Our message is entitled, Robbing God.
[00:01:20] And people say, oh no, a sermon about tithing.
[00:01:23] Well, no, it's not about tithing.
[00:01:25] So you can rest easy.
[00:01:29] And one prayer request we need to pray before we preach is for our sister Sandy who's struggling over there.
[00:01:35] Let's pray for Sandy and anyone else here who might be feeling under the weather.
[00:01:38] Dear Heavenly Father, we do come before you and thank you, Lord, that even as you died on the cross for our sins, you took stripes on your back for our healing.
[00:01:47] So we pray for our sister Sandy, who's been suffering with this chronic cough.
[00:01:51] Lord, we pray that she will be healed, that she'll be relieved of this burden, and that she will be well, Lord God, and set free from this
[00:01:59] and others in our midst that may be suffering with infirmity.
[00:02:02] Lord, please administer grace and help us now to focus on You, not on Pastor Joseph, but on Your Word and Your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray and thank You, Lord.
[00:02:15] Amen.
[00:02:16] 1 Corinthians 6, though we'll read the entire chapter, we're focusing primarily on the second half.
[00:02:21] 1 Corinthians 6, verse 1.
[00:02:27] Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust and not before the saints?
[00:02:34] Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world?
[00:02:37] And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
[00:02:42] Know ye not that we shall judge angels?
[00:02:45] How much more things that pertain to this life!
[00:02:48] If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, send them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
[00:02:55] I speak to your shame.
[00:02:56] Is it so that there is not a wise man among you?
[00:02:59] No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
[00:03:03] But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
[00:03:08] Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another.
[00:03:14] Why do you not rather take wrong?
[00:03:17] Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
[00:03:20] Nay, ye do wrong and defraud, and that your brethren.
[00:03:24] Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
[00:03:29] Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God.
[00:03:44] And such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
[00:03:53] All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.
[00:03:57] All things are lawful for me but I will not be brought under the power of any.
[00:04:03] Meats for the belly, and belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them.
[00:04:07] Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
[00:04:14] And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
[00:04:21] Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?
[00:04:24] Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of an harlot?
[00:04:29] God forbid.
[00:04:30] What?
[00:04:31] Know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body?
[00:04:35] For two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
[00:04:40] But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
[00:04:43] Flee fornication.
[00:04:45] Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
[00:04:52] What, know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own?
[00:05:02] For ye are bought with a price.
[00:05:05] Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
[00:05:12] May God add his blessing and understanding to the reading of this, his holy word.
[00:05:17] If you have a Bible other than the King James, or a Bible older than the King James, which very few people do, you'll find that that last part of verse 20 is not there.
[00:05:27] Notice verse 20 reads, For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body.
[00:05:33] And then the newer Bibles stop there.
[00:05:35] The King James, And in your spirit, which are God's.
[00:05:41] I believe that's a very important part of God's Word that we should not lose.
[00:05:48] Robbing God, what are we talking about?
[00:05:50] Well, this chapter has a lot to say about different aspects within the church at Corinth.
[00:05:57] Some particular problems at Corinth.
[00:05:59] Corinth was not known for its moral chastity or purity.
[00:06:03] As a matter of fact, there was a pagan temple there where there were temple prostitutes and the Greek view at that time of fornication and sexual relations was very loose.
[00:06:17] And so church at Corinth, these Gentile Christians are being challenged how to become Christians and bring themselves away from that culture that has many things within it that are contrary to Jesus Christ and His Word.
[00:06:36] Is that not similar to our culture today?
[00:06:39] Is our culture completely aligned with the Word of God?
[00:06:42] Would to God that was so.
[00:06:44] And so, initially here, it's talking about members in the church suing one another.
[00:06:51] We have a problem?
[00:06:53] Well, I'll just take him to court.
[00:06:55] Well, the main thing I want to bring out from this first section, the first eight verses or so, is God has called you to something so much higher.
[00:07:06] In other words, you too are believers in a church.
[00:07:09] You're supposed to be born again.
[00:07:10] Therefore, you are children of God.
[00:07:12] Do you not know if you're born again that there is a situation or a reality in which you are infinitely higher than those who are not born again?
[00:07:23] In that the God who created the heavens and the earth is now inside of you if you're born again.
[00:07:28] So why would you two believers who've been adopted through the grace of God, by the blood of Jesus Christ, by the renewing of the Holy Spirit, why would you go to someone who's not born again and look for them to give you judgment?
[00:07:43] you are lowing yourself no god has said come up higher you know there's a door opened and i went up into the heaven and saw these wonderful things revelation well as believers we should it's a shame for believers to be at one other's throat to begin with let alone to go to court with one another and especially among the unbelieving judges we want the unbelieving judges now some of them believe i guess i suppose there are judges and lawyers that are christians
[00:08:15] If there's anyone here who's a judge or lawyer, God bless you.
[00:08:18] Especially if you're a Christian.
[00:08:19] How much more important are you in that position?
[00:08:22] But the fact of the matter is, from what we see, most of the time it's not so.
[00:08:27] It's simply not so.
[00:08:29] And so we should not go to the world for judgment.
[00:08:32] We should be able to deal with matters right here in a spirit of love.
[00:08:36] and even one-on-one and so this is what God has called us to this idea of robbing God what are we talking about God has called you to a higher life and to live your life like the rest of the world is robbing God because the Bible says you're not your own you've been bought with a price
[00:08:55] Have you ever seen that bumper sticker?
[00:08:58] I don't see it much anymore.
[00:08:59] People's cars are too fancy.
[00:09:00] They don't use bumper stickers, I guess.
[00:09:02] But keep your laws off of my body.
[00:09:05] Have you seen that?
[00:09:07] Some of you older folks like me?
[00:09:09] No?
[00:09:10] That's the people who are for abortion, you know.
[00:09:13] Okay, keep your laws off of my body.
[00:09:15] If I want to kill the baby inside of me, I can do it.
[00:09:18] Leave me alone.
[00:09:20] Who said it was your body?
[00:09:23] First of all, according to the Bible, God created it, knit you together in the womb.
[00:09:27] And second of all, if you're born again, you're doubly his.
[00:09:31] And that's what it says at the end of the chapter, and we'll get there shortly.
[00:09:34] But before we do, as we look through the beginning of this chapter, he goes on to say in verse 7, Now, therefore, there is utterly a fault among you, because you go to law one with another.
[00:09:46] Why do you not rather take wrong?
[00:09:49] Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
[00:09:54] Now, I understand, you know, this doesn't mean that you should never seek what is yours, never seek what is right, okay?
[00:10:03] But in general, especially if it's a smaller offense, take wrong.
[00:10:08] It's a glory to a man to overlook a fault.
[00:10:12] You know, there is this aspect.
[00:10:14] If someone steals your cloak, right?
[00:10:16] What does it take?
[00:10:17] Give him your coat, your shirt also, whatever it is.
[00:10:20] You know, this idea if someone slaps you on one side, don't hit him back.
[00:10:24] Say, okay, here, try this one.
[00:10:26] But the idea, of course, is, especially if he's a brother, you know, how do we love one another as ourselves?
[00:10:36] Sometime the act of not demanding our own is the best way to minister to them.
[00:10:42] The best way to show them Christ.
[00:10:45] And as the Bible says in Romans, I believe it's 12, Love your enemies and therefore your heaping coals of fire on their head.
[00:10:53] Not love hypocritically or facetiously, but sincerely.
[00:10:58] Even in our example, of course, Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.
[00:11:05] And he got what he didn't deserve.
[00:11:08] What do we deserve?
[00:11:13] Certainly not to what we're going to court over.
[00:11:17] Right.
[00:11:17] So, he's talking to Christians.
[00:11:20] He's saying, verse 8, Nay, ye do wrong and defraud, and that your brethren.
[00:11:25] And then there's this passage that is often taken out of context, but of course it means what it says about all of these sins that people who commit these things will not go to heaven.
[00:11:37] What does that mean?
[00:11:38] That means they will go to hell.
[00:11:40] Now, this is not a popular passage today, but notice what it says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
[00:11:49] Now, when we hear that kind of thing as a Christian, we look at the list of things and we hope to check our boxes off.
[00:11:55] Be not deceived, neither fornicators.
[00:11:59] I think I can check.
[00:12:00] No, it's not me.
[00:12:01] Idolaters?
[00:12:02] No.
[00:12:02] Adulterers?
[00:12:03] No.
[00:12:04] By the way, effeminate and abusers of themselves with mankind.
[00:12:08] Those are the two parties in a homosexual relationship.
[00:12:12] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God.
[00:12:21] Say, well, I think I'm okay.
[00:12:25] What is being said here, and how does Jesus take this?
[00:12:29] Fornication and adultery, what does the Bible say?
[00:12:32] What does Jesus say?
[00:12:34] Say, well, I've never physically committed adultery with someone besides my wife, or you might say that for your husband, your wife.
[00:12:41] But what does Jesus say?
[00:12:42] If you've ever looked one time at someone else besides your spouse with lust, you've committed adultery.
[00:12:50] So according to this,
[00:12:52] if you are for example habitually looking at internet pornography you're not going to heaven is that what it says that's what it says folks that's what it says that's just one example i give that because statistics tell us that there's probably people in here that are looking at that according to bible you're not going to heaven uh all of these things now the thing is remember say well i could be forgiven absolutely
[00:13:20] But we are forgiven when we repent.
[00:13:22] Repent means I'm going this way, and now God gets a hold of me, and by His grace I'm humbled, I recognize my sin, I confess it, and then I'm going back this way again, right?
[00:13:34] But if we, you know, are continuing to go this way, the wrong way, for example, in sin, and someone catches you, oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, you're forgiven, alright, let's keep going.
[00:13:46] Let me look at something else.
[00:13:48] Oh, you caught me, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and then let me look at something else.
[00:13:52] Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let me look at... That person's not going to heaven, according to the Bible.
[00:13:57] Whatever the sin is.
[00:13:59] You say, well, I'm not a big sinner, Pastor.
[00:14:01] I'm okay.
[00:14:02] Well, some of these things you say, I'd never do.
[00:14:05] But thief, covetous.
[00:14:07] Have you ever coveted after somebody else's house, car, wife, husband, life?
[00:14:14] Are you in that state?
[00:14:16] Bible says, look out.
[00:14:17] And so all of these things are spoken to who?
[00:14:21] Well, that's just for unbelievers.
[00:14:22] No, this is to the church.
[00:14:24] This is to the church.
[00:14:26] And what's the point?
[00:14:27] Pastor Joseph, you're making me nervous here.
[00:14:29] The thing is, this idea of thief, and remember we're talking about robbing God.
[00:14:34] Say, Pastor Joseph, this is not about tithing.
[00:14:36] What are you talking about?
[00:14:38] You're robbing God if you're not living for Jesus.
[00:14:43] Because you've been bought.
[00:14:45] You are not your own.
[00:14:47] Your money, your time, your affections, your life is His.
[00:14:53] And if you are not spending it ultimately for Him, I don't mean you have to all become preachers or missionaries, although that would be wonderful.
[00:15:02] But if you're not living in the context of living for Him, for example, someone says, ah, just come up here and make Jesus a part of your life.
[00:15:13] That's not going to work, folks.
[00:15:15] If Jesus is a part of your life, you will go to hell.
[00:15:19] Do you understand what I'm saying?
[00:15:21] Jesus cannot be a part of your life, you have to die!
[00:15:26] And then His life fills us!
[00:15:28] And now we live His life on the earth!
[00:15:32] Isn't this what Paul said?
[00:15:33] Paul said, my arm was cut off for Christ, but that's okay, I got a prosthetic, and now through the prosthetic I use my arm for Jesus.
[00:15:46] No, it says, I'm crucified with Christ.
[00:15:48] What does that mean?
[00:15:49] I'm dead!
[00:15:51] I didn't make Christ, well, you know, I like to fish, you know, I like to ride a motorcycle, I like to go and eat out, I like to collect seashells on the shore, I like to vacation.
[00:16:02] One day I get an RV and I'll go around the country and do my bucket list and everything else, and oh yeah, I go to church too.
[00:16:11] Then this says you're not going to heaven.
[00:16:13] Christ can't be a part of your life.
[00:16:16] You have to be filled with His life.
[00:16:20] And the only way that that can happen is first you gotta be unfilled with yourself.
[00:16:25] You ever heard somebody say he's full of himself?
[00:16:27] Some people say he's full of something else.
[00:16:29] But the point is, if you're full of yourself, where's the room for Jesus?
[00:16:36] And so Paul says, I'm crucified with Christ.
[00:16:38] He didn't say just my arm or my hand or just a little something or a part of my life.
[00:16:43] I'm crucified with Christ.
[00:16:44] How much of me?
[00:16:45] All of me.
[00:16:46] I'm crucified with Christ.
[00:16:47] Nevertheless, I live.
[00:16:49] Yet not I, but Christ lives in me.
[00:16:51] For the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
[00:16:59] My whole life, I am not.
[00:17:01] Christ is living in and through me.
[00:17:03] So therefore, if I take time,
[00:17:06] To just completely veg out and just say, you know, the next year or two I'm not going to church, I'm not going to read my Bible, I'm not going to pray, I'm just going to take, I'm going to take me time.
[00:17:17] What's that?
[00:17:18] You don't have any me time.
[00:17:21] Christ has already purchased it all.
[00:17:24] And so that doesn't mean you can't have any fun.
[00:17:26] As a matter of fact, once you're born again and you're living for Him, you will have fun, sanctified fun, that you could never have before.
[00:17:35] God will show you things that are greater than you can hope, ask, think, or imagine.
[00:17:39] He will give you highs greater than the dispensary.
[00:17:41] I tell you what he will give you a spirit that you can't get at the ABC store and you will be blessed you will be filled with that spirit the Holy Spirit of God and he will take you from grace to grace glory to glory joy to joy and as you get older like me though the outward man perish the inward man's renewed day by day more and more conformed to Jesus it just keeps getting better and better and better and better and better
[00:18:05] Bam!
[00:18:06] Until heaven itself comes down and takes you home or you go to meet him and when you see him you'll be just like him.
[00:18:12] Hallelujah!
[00:18:12] Praise God!
[00:18:13] Everything on earth, everything in the material world is winding down.
[00:18:17] There's not much time left.
[00:18:18] Hey, we only got so much time.
[00:18:20] Gray hairs are coming up here and there, you know.
[00:18:22] You never know what's going to happen next.
[00:18:23] Look at the culture.
[00:18:24] Look at the world.
[00:18:25] Look at sin.
[00:18:26] Look at all that's taking place in the morally depraved culture in which we live.
[00:18:30] And yet in Christ there is hope.
[00:18:32] In Christ it is getting greater and greater.
[00:18:34] Jesus is on the throne.
[00:18:35] He's not completely worried.
[00:18:36] He's not at all worried, by the way, about the shutdown or anything else.
[00:18:40] He knows the answer.
[00:18:41] He is on the throne.
[00:18:43] And He is not concerned or worried.
[00:18:45] He has the solution.
[00:18:47] He never has a bad day.
[00:18:49] He's never worried about things going downhill because with God it's always uphill.
[00:18:54] It's always getting better if you're in Christ.
[00:18:56] The church!
[00:18:57] The church never shrinks.
[00:18:59] You say, oh well, you should see this church.
[00:19:00] It used to be bigger.
[00:19:02] Or you should see the number of people that used to go to church.
[00:19:05] The church always grows.
[00:19:07] The true number of born-again people continue to be added day by day throughout the world, and then when they die, they go to heaven, and that's the church too.
[00:19:15] And so it's a wonderful and a beautiful thing.
[00:19:18] And so the idea though is that we are Christ's, and we are to live for Christ, and as much as we live for ourselves, we are robbing God.
[00:19:28] You got that?
[00:19:30] Now you say, hmm, I'm not so sure, Pastor Joseph.
[00:19:32] Well, let me give you an encouragement.
[00:19:35] In this regard, if you rob God, you know who you're robbing?
[00:19:39] Yourself.
[00:19:40] When you rob God, you're robbing yourself.
[00:19:43] You're robbing yourself of that for which you have been created.
[00:19:47] There is no higher calling.
[00:19:49] No king, no president, no vice president, no Bill Gates or Elon Musk or trillionaires or billionaires or royalty or anything else.
[00:19:58] How can you find a higher position than a son and daughter of the Most High God who created the heavens and the earth, whose your very next breath is in His hand?
[00:20:09] Your life is in his hand.
[00:20:12] He is the one who controls history because it is his story.
[00:20:17] History, his story, his story.
[00:20:22] This is an invitation.
[00:20:23] This isn't a sermon.
[00:20:25] I love Pastor Eddie for many reasons.
[00:20:27] But he looked at the sermon today, you know.
[00:20:30] He didn't know.
[00:20:32] Robin Gard.
[00:20:34] And this is for pastor appreciation, huh?
[00:20:41] I love it.
[00:20:43] How can you appreciate your pastor?
[00:20:46] Yeah, give him hundreds of dollars?
[00:20:48] Sure.
[00:20:49] Take us out to eat?
[00:20:51] Sure.
[00:20:51] Nice card?
[00:20:54] Sure.
[00:20:54] Tell us you love us?
[00:20:55] All that good stuff?
[00:20:56] We love that.
[00:20:56] That's wonderful.
[00:20:58] But that's not nearly as good as you being obedient to the Word of God.
[00:21:06] Allowing God to change your life and for me to see you growing and getting stronger in Christ and filled with that joy and filled with that peace that passes all understanding to where now you are able to give it to others and it's just joyful and you are beginning to receive the excitement that I receive when I minister to you
[00:21:28] and I see you growing and it's just a joy and it's it's a great thing and it's it's God gets the glory and now you are excited and you're filled with joy because you're beginning to share with others and they are are growing too and it's it's just a beautiful beautiful that's how you appreciate Pastor Andy and I and when we teach by the way please come you know if you come to the teaching on Wednesday or Thursday nights we don't get any bigger time
[00:21:57] We don't take up a collection.
[00:22:01] We don't have a greater attendance on Sunday morning whether or not you come Wednesday or Thursday.
[00:22:06] Why do we say, please come, please come, please come?
[00:22:09] Why?
[00:22:11] Completely for you.
[00:22:13] because we want you to learn we want you to grow we want you to be in the fellowship of the lord it's a beautiful thing i'm going to ask you to do something just briefly i don't normally do this but but i do want to prove a point as we're moving forward and also appreciate you and i know some are not here but those of you who were here every single night of the bible in 31 days 31 days in a row would you please stand every single night there's one
[00:22:43] 2, 3, Emilio 4, Sandys 5.
[00:22:49] Any others?
[00:22:51] Thank you.
[00:22:51] God bless you.
[00:22:52] Praise the Lord.
[00:22:54] You may sit down.
[00:22:56] 31 nights in a row.
[00:22:57] Thank God.
[00:22:58] I thank God for you.
[00:22:59] Those of you who came all but, let's say, missed no more than five, would you please stand?
[00:23:06] Praise the Lord.
[00:23:08] Praise the Lord.
[00:23:08] Look at that.
[00:23:09] Praise God.
[00:23:11] Thank you so much.
[00:23:12] Thank you.
[00:23:13] Thank you.
[00:23:15] That's pastor appreciation.
[00:23:18] How much more money did I get for preaching 31 nights in a row?
[00:23:22] Pastor Andy said, you didn't.
[00:23:23] I preached seven.
[00:23:24] I know you did.
[00:23:26] Pastor Andy preached six, and Dan Hazen preached four, and Brother Bob preached...
[00:23:30] But I mean, you know, we didn't get anything extra.
[00:23:32] Why did we do it?
[00:23:33] For ourselves?
[00:23:34] No, for you.
[00:23:35] Sure, we want visitors to come, of course, but for you.
[00:23:39] and so thank you for coming that's a wonderful thing we want you to grow because this is the whole idea we want you to be blessed we want you to be filled so when you rob god by by using your life for lesser things of the world now this doesn't mean that you you know
[00:23:56] You have to go be a monk or be a nun, which we don't have that in our Protestant church.
[00:24:02] Or you have to necessarily go right now and sell everything and be a missionary.
[00:24:06] Some of you may be called to that.
[00:24:08] But in everything you are doing, it needs to be in the context of serving Jesus.
[00:24:12] Is there any higher calling?
[00:24:14] If He is truly your God, this is the highest calling.
[00:24:17] And so this is the idea.
[00:24:18] Why do I bring this up in this section about these sins that you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven?
[00:24:24] Because one of them is thief.
[00:24:27] Thief.
[00:24:28] Say, I don't steal anything, Pastor Joseph.
[00:24:31] Are you stealing time from God?
[00:24:35] Are you stealing money from God?
[00:24:39] Is your heart affection stirred by things other than God and His glory?
[00:24:45] Do you serve Him with a divided heart, divided time, divided purpose?
[00:24:52] Could it be that you're a thief stealing from God that which is rightfully His?
[00:24:57] If you're a believer, isn't it His?
[00:25:01] Your time?
[00:25:02] Your money?
[00:25:03] Your affections?
[00:25:04] Your very body?
[00:25:06] God forbid, have we ever used our physical body in ways that we wouldn't be pleased for the Lord to know about?
[00:25:12] But He knows.
[00:25:14] He knows.
[00:25:15] Amen?
[00:25:16] Now notice as we continue on.
[00:25:19] And such were some of you.
[00:25:20] We just said that.
[00:25:22] But, if you're born again, praise God.
[00:25:25] Praise God.
[00:25:26] I don't like Pastor Joseph's convicting messages, or some say condemning messages.
[00:25:32] There is conviction, but look at the grace.
[00:25:34] Look at the grace.
[00:25:35] Receive the grace, if you're a believer.
[00:25:38] And such were some of you.
[00:25:40] People say, Pastor Joseph, can a homosexual come to your church?
[00:25:43] Absolutely.
[00:25:44] I hope they'll come and hear the gospel.
[00:25:47] but they can't become a member unless they repent of their sin but that's no different from a thief if there's a thief that comes in here and he's up here i praise god all this stuff but he's continually stealing he can't become a member until he repents the same thing but if he repents no matter what the sin as long as you know he's not an escaped convict we've got to send back to jail or something then and such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified
[00:26:17] But ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
[00:26:21] One of the problems that we have in receiving God's forgiveness and God's cleansing and God's power and God's blessing to go forth and be a light is that we refuse to admit how wicked we were before it came.
[00:26:36] You can't receive cleansing until you know you're dirty and admit you're dirty and cry out to be washed.
[00:26:43] You can't receive salvation until you know that you're condemned.
[00:26:47] and on your way to hell and to separation from God for all eternity and people say I don't want to hear that stuff but don't you understand that magnifies the grace of God if it's just well you know I'm like everybody else I'm cool I'm hip everything's fun everything's fine and oh yeah Jesus is a great life coach uh you know he's kind of like a guru I added him to my life and you know I just me and Jesus we just hang out it's a great thing
[00:27:13] That is completely contrary and foreign to the Bible.
[00:27:18] It has nothing to do with Christianity.
[00:27:20] That is another religion altogether without any grounds whatsoever.
[00:27:24] The Bible says we are undone.
[00:27:27] We are undone.
[00:27:28] We are wicked.
[00:27:29] We are abominable in His sight.
[00:27:31] Sin and iniquity have separated us from God.
[00:27:34] I don't want to hear that, Pastor.
[00:27:35] But don't you understand?
[00:27:37] That's what drives us to Christ.
[00:27:40] To receive the wonderful grace, the unmerited favor and gift of God and His love.
[00:27:47] And how much greater is His love for us in our esteem when we understand how He loved us even when we were in that enmity against Him.
[00:27:56] and and how much greater is his salvation when we understand how helpless we were and what he's done for us and how greater when we understand that he who gave his own son his spotless sinless perfect infinite holy son the god man who never did wrong
[00:28:18] He who gave His only Son for you, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?
[00:28:24] How could He show His love for you in any greater way?
[00:28:27] We cannot conceive of a greater way.
[00:28:30] And this is the love of God.
[00:28:31] This is how He washes us in His own blood, sanctifies us, cleanses us.
[00:28:37] and by the Spirit of God.
[00:28:39] He goes on, verse 12, All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.
[00:28:43] All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any bondages, sins, things, well, you know, I know this is a sin, but I just have to do it.
[00:28:56] No, you don't.
[00:28:57] There is no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man.
[00:29:01] But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above your able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
[00:29:09] You know, people say, you've heard people say, well, you know, I just have this one thing.
[00:29:13] God's just going to have to understand.
[00:29:15] I'm sure he'll figure it out and let me into heaven.
[00:29:17] You know, if he doesn't like it, he's going to have to put up with it.
[00:29:23] No.
[00:29:24] We may continue to struggle the rest of our lives with particular sins, but we have to be humble, we have to be contrite, and we have to be crying out to God for forgiveness.
[00:29:34] And if we truly want to be delivered, God will deliver us.
[00:29:37] I believe that.
[00:29:38] But if we do not,
[00:29:40] Then we are not his.
[00:29:42] We are thieves.
[00:29:44] And it is evidencing that perhaps we have not been bought with the price, God forbid.
[00:29:49] Notice he goes on to say, not be brought under the power of any addictions.
[00:29:55] Addictions are a problem, right?
[00:29:58] Not just chemical and physical, but spiritual, emotional.
[00:30:02] We have to be careful.
[00:30:03] We should be only under the power of Christ.
[00:30:05] Christ came to destroy bondage, to destroy yokes.
[00:30:08] The power of the anointed in the Old Testament says it destroys yokes and bondages.
[00:30:13] This is what the Bible talks about in spiritual warfare.
[00:30:16] Though we walk in the flesh, we war not after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds.
[00:30:26] Right?
[00:30:26] The pulling down of strongholds and the casting down of imaginations.
[00:30:31] Hey, we don't need the devil to sin, do we?
[00:30:34] We don't even need pictures to sin.
[00:30:36] We can create.
[00:30:37] Here's the sin factory right here.
[00:30:40] John Calvin said the human heart is the greatest sin factory.
[00:30:44] And so, casting down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
[00:30:54] That's the way we should be walking, not things bringing us into bondage.
[00:30:58] Satan, of course, Jesus came to deliver us from bondage.
[00:31:00] Hebrews chapter 2, why did he become incarnate?
[00:31:03] In Hebrews chapter 2, even though the children are partakers of flesh and blood, for this cause also the Son of God partook of flesh and blood.
[00:31:09] that he might destroy him who had the power of death which is the devil and free them who all their lifetime were subject to bondage of the fear of death we should not be afraid of death it shouldn't be fearful at all because we who are believers know that death is merely a passageway into everlasting glory
[00:31:27] And Jesus says, I'm the resurrection and the life.
[00:31:29] He who believes in me shall never die.
[00:31:31] Believest thou this?
[00:31:32] Praise God.
[00:31:32] It's not a problem.
[00:31:34] We're not to be under the bondage of sin or Satan or shame or the fear of death because Christ has given us the victory over that by him being raised from the dead.
[00:31:44] And as the Bible tells us right here in verse 14, And God hath both raised up the Lord, Jesus, and will also raise us up by his own power.
[00:31:55] Let me explain something to you.
[00:31:57] This body that you see right here is going to be in heaven one day.
[00:32:03] A lot of people don't believe that.
[00:32:05] Especially the Muslims.
[00:32:06] But people who don't believe Christianity say, no, of course not.
[00:32:10] No, I'm talking about if you're a Christian and you say, okay, yeah, and I believe, and I'm a born-again believer by God's grace, but this physical body will be in heaven.
[00:32:19] I don't believe that, Pastor.
[00:32:20] We're going to be done with this body when we die.
[00:32:22] Not according to the Scriptures.
[00:32:23] No.
[00:32:23] God will take this body in whatever state it is.
[00:32:26] You can burn it up in cremation to save money if you want, but God knows where every molecule goes.
[00:32:32] You think God doesn't know where every molecule went, whether it's in gas or in water, and he will bring it back together.
[00:32:39] That's how wonderful our God is on Judgment Day.
[00:32:42] Raise it up, and it'll be changed, but it's still the same body, but it'll have new properties.
[00:32:48] Now think about that.
[00:32:50] Next time you're tempted to use this body to sin, this hand to slap someone's face,
[00:32:59] This tongue to speak malice or ill against someone else.
[00:33:06] Can these sinful members be in the very presence of God in heaven?
[00:33:11] Paul says, be careful, notice here, he says, verse 15, Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Jesus Christ?
[00:33:21] In other words, Christ, his head, his hands, his feet, his body, the picture is, our bodies are parts of his body.
[00:33:31] Wow.
[00:33:32] Wow.
[00:33:33] And he goes on to say, Know ye not that your bodies, verse 15, are members of Christ?
[00:33:37] Shall I take them, the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?
[00:33:42] God forbid.
[00:33:43] God forbid.
[00:33:44] Now, this business of fornication and harlot, certainly the physical is primarily in view, but it's certainly also spiritual.
[00:33:56] The Bible tells us about we are to be pure before the Lord because we are to be married to Him, right?
[00:34:03] Isn't that what the Bible tells us?
[00:34:05] Take a look in Ephesians chapter 5, also from the Apostle Paul, still inspired by the same Holy Spirit of God.
[00:34:12] Ephesians chapter 5, beginning in verse 25.
[00:34:15] We see this admonition to us in our relationship to Christ as ones who were to be married to Him at that last day, the marriage supper of the Lamb.
[00:34:24] Verse 25, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also 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, this is us, and this is you, that He might present you, Christian, the church, that He might present you to Himself,
[00:34:45] To himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
[00:34:51] That's God's plan for each and every one of you if you're a believer.
[00:34:55] So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.
[00:34:57] He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
[00:35:00] For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth even as the Lord the church.
[00:35:05] For we are members of his body.
[00:35:07] Whose body?
[00:35:09] Jesus.
[00:35:10] And of his flesh and of his bones.
[00:35:13] By the way, that's what Adam says about Eve when she's first created.
[00:35:17] The prototypical marriage couple, which is ultimately pointing to the perfect marriage, Christ and His Church.
[00:35:25] That's us.
[00:35:26] For this call shall a man leave his father and mother, Genesis 2.24, and shall be joined unto his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.
[00:35:36] This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.
[00:35:41] Now keep that in mind, turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 1.
[00:35:44] 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 1, Paul says, Would to God you could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed bear with me.
[00:35:55] Now remember, he's writing this to the very same church that he's writing 1 Corinthians 6, our text at hand.
[00:36:01] For I am jealous over you.
[00:36:03] Over who?
[00:36:04] The church.
[00:36:05] With a godly jealousy.
[00:36:07] For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
[00:36:16] He has espoused us.
[00:36:17] He's engaged us to a husband.
[00:36:20] Us, the church, have been engaged to who?
[00:36:24] Jesus Christ but we're not yet married the marriage supper of the lamb is coming at the last day so in the meantime what are we supposed to do remain pure chaste virgins for that marriage supper of the lamb
[00:36:39] And of course, this is speaking primarily spiritually.
[00:36:43] But in the Bible, the body and the spirit go together.
[00:36:47] This is not some kind of Greek mysticism or some kind of esoteric teaching.
[00:36:51] You see, the Greeks at this time of the Corinth were like, well, you know, it doesn't so much matter what you do with the body, fornication, it's just more what's in the mind and the heart.
[00:37:01] That sounds like a pretty sneaky way to get out of sin, huh?
[00:37:06] The Bible says, no, you cannot separate the body and the heart that way.
[00:37:10] Now, there will be a temporary separation when we die, but then even that, the body will be brought back to the Spirit on Judgment Day.
[00:37:18] And so we have this idea, notice he says in verse 3, But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from that simplicity that is in Christ.
[00:37:35] Have you ever been called simple?
[00:37:39] My father-in-law from New Jersey called me simple a long time ago.
[00:37:42] And I didn't know he was insulting me.
[00:37:47] I thought, yeah, simple, okay, that's pretty good, right?
[00:37:49] No, he's wonderful.
[00:37:52] I love my father, but...
[00:37:53] But something we disagreed on, he would say, oh that's simple, that's simple, what are you talking about, that's simple, come on.
[00:38:00] Well, the simplicity, that the devil will beguile us as he did Eve, that our minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
[00:38:13] And so what's being said here is that we're in danger of succumbing to the same temptation that Eve did, and all of mankind has fallen because of, which was what?
[00:38:25] God really didn't say that.
[00:38:28] God really didn't mean that.
[00:38:30] As a matter of fact, He's trying to keep you down.
[00:38:33] I got an idea.
[00:38:35] You eat from this fruit, you'll be like God.
[00:38:40] You can live your own life the way you want.
[00:38:43] You can be the ultimate decider of your time and money and affections and everything you do because you'll be like God.
[00:38:52] Isn't that essentially what the devil told Eve?
[00:38:55] And isn't that exactly what we're talking about today in 1 Corinthians chapter 6?
[00:39:00] You are not your own.
[00:39:02] You've been bought with a price.
[00:39:07] Now if you don't like that, if you don't agree with that, then maybe you haven't.
[00:39:13] And so he continues on in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 to make things even more clear as you're turning back to the text.
[00:39:23] Remember Romans 12, 1 and 2?
[00:39:25] Remember that?
[00:39:26] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, what?
[00:39:32] A living sacrifice.
[00:39:35] Sacrifice means you've got to do something that's going to cost you, right?
[00:39:40] What's the sacrifice?
[00:39:41] Your body.
[00:39:42] To who?
[00:39:44] God.
[00:39:44] For what?
[00:39:46] Not to die.
[00:39:47] He died on the cross for you.
[00:39:48] He suffered death what we deserve.
[00:39:50] The wages of sin is death, right?
[00:39:51] But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus.
[00:39:54] He's asking you now to live for Him.
[00:39:57] Ah, I got too many things to do, Pastor.
[00:39:59] Don't you know we got vacations, the kids playing soccer here and there, and we got to do this and that and the other thing.
[00:40:04] I want to ride my motorcycle up in the mountains.
[00:40:06] Me too, but it's still not fixed.
[00:40:08] But the point is, there's so many things we can do.
[00:40:13] Besides come to church, besides read the Bible, besides pray.
[00:40:16] Sure there is.
[00:40:18] But the point is, we are called to be living sacrifices.
[00:40:23] He died for us.
[00:40:26] Is it too much then for him to ask us to live for him?
[00:40:30] That sounds like a pretty good trade to me.
[00:40:33] We're not Muslims.
[00:40:34] The only way, and I know about Islam, don't think I'm being mean to them, my father's family are all Muslim, except one in heaven, praise God, but we're not, the only way you can have an assurance of salvation is by fighting jihad against the non-Muslim, and by dying in that process, and then you can immediately go to heaven.
[00:40:51] No, we don't have to die to be saved, that's a satanic perversion.
[00:40:55] Christ already died for us.
[00:40:57] He died so that we might have everlasting life.
[00:41:00] The devil, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
[00:41:04] But Christ says, I've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.
[00:41:09] And that's what the invitation is.
[00:41:11] Not to give up your life, but to find it.
[00:41:14] The whole world is reeling.
[00:41:16] The whole world is filled with all kinds of drugs, even over-the-counter drugs, and alcoholism, and all sorts of isms, and addictions, and everything else, and really, the whole thing.
[00:41:30] I know this person has this problem, I understand.
[00:41:32] This person has a physical problem, I understand.
[00:41:34] This person has a mental problem, I understand.
[00:41:37] This person has a chemical imbalance, I understand.
[00:41:39] But the root of the whole thing is a rejection of God for who He is.
[00:41:45] Now, if anyone here has problems, I'm not talking directly to you.
[00:41:48] I'm simply telling you that the whole world is insane, in a sense, because we have rejected the only answer to our common problem, which is God who loved us so much that He gave His Son to die for us, that we might have a life of fulfillment and peace and joy.
[00:42:10] that he has paid for with the blood of his most precious possession, his spotless, infinitely holy, perfect and lovely Son, Jesus Christ.
[00:42:25] And so, continuing on in the chapter towards the end, as we're called to be living sacrifices,
[00:42:34] We're also called, right, not to be...
[00:42:37] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.
[00:42:42] How?
[00:42:42] Holy and acceptable unto God, which is a reasonable...
[00:42:46] If you present your body a living sacrifice, this language goes back to the Old Testament temple.
[00:42:51] You're now the sacrifice.
[00:42:53] As believers, we don't offer animal sacrifices, the blood of lambs or goats or bulls.
[00:42:57] We are the sacrifice.
[00:42:59] But if you are presenting the sacrifice, you're also what?
[00:43:04] A priest, right?
[00:43:07] And not only that, take a look as we read on in 1 Corinthians 6, we're near the end of the chapter here, verse 17.
[00:43:15] He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.
[00:43:19] Flee fornication.
[00:43:20] Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his body.
[00:43:25] What?
[00:43:26] Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?
[00:43:31] Which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price.
[00:43:37] Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
[00:43:40] Amazing!
[00:43:41] I am the temple of the Holy Ghost.
[00:43:43] If you're born again, you are the temple of the Holy Ghost.
[00:43:46] That should give us great pause.
[00:43:51] How do we treat the temple?
[00:43:54] Are there certain things that you would do outside of the church that you would never dream of doing inside the church?
[00:44:00] Once I was out in Lincolnton pastoring, I'll make this brief, and there was an old fellow there, and God bless him, he would smoke his cigarettes, you know, smoke, smoke, smoke, right outside the door, and when it's time for service, he'd come in, he'd put his cigarette out and come in.
[00:44:16] And we had a small congregation, of course he smelled terrible, we could all smell his cigarettes, even though he wasn't smoking.
[00:44:22] And one day I asked him, I said, Brother, you like to smoke?
[00:44:26] Yeah, yeah.
[00:44:29] I said, well, you know, why don't you smoke in the church?
[00:44:32] Of course, I would have told him not to.
[00:44:34] Oh, you know, that old flesh, that old flesh, you know.
[00:44:38] I would never smoke in the temple of God.
[00:44:44] Are you born again?
[00:44:45] Yeah.
[00:44:46] Are you a believer?
[00:44:47] Yeah.
[00:44:48] Bible says you're the temple of God.
[00:44:55] You're smoking in the temple of God.
[00:44:58] Now you can't be like my Arab pastor friend that said, No, that's the incense.
[00:45:02] I'm worshiping God.
[00:45:03] No, no, no, no.
[00:45:05] No, we don't believe that.
[00:45:07] But whatever you're doing, this is the temple of God.
[00:45:12] Can you imagine?
[00:45:13] Right?
[00:45:13] I mean, can you get any more holy?
[00:45:16] So then we must be very careful.
[00:45:18] The words that we speak, the thoughts that we have, the things that we look at,
[00:45:23] How we treat our body physically.
[00:45:26] How we treat it mentally.
[00:45:27] Of course, spiritually, the spirit is in the body.
[00:45:29] We have to be very careful.
[00:45:30] We have to be holy.
[00:45:32] Living sacrifices.
[00:45:33] We've already established, if you're a living sacrifice, you're also a priest.
[00:45:38] Romans 12, verse 1 says, Again, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.
[00:45:45] So the New Testament, born-again believer, is the sacrifice.
[00:45:49] The Old Testament pointed forward to...
[00:45:51] There's still a continuation.
[00:45:52] There is still a temple.
[00:45:54] It's not something we look to be built in Jerusalem.
[00:45:56] The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3 that the church is the temple of God.
[00:46:01] It says ye are the temple of God.
[00:46:04] In 1 Corinthians 6 it says the individual believer is the temple of God.
[00:46:08] But in Romans 12.1 it says we are the sacrifice.
[00:46:12] And by the way, if you turn for a moment with me to 1 Peter, you'll find that we're not only the temple, we're not only the sacrifice, but as we alluded to earlier, we are also what?
[00:46:24] The priest.
[00:46:25] 1 Peter 2.1-5 Wherefore, laying aside all malice, all guile and hypocrisies, envies and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
[00:46:39] What would best bless us as pastors?
[00:46:41] That you grow.
[00:46:43] yeah and and if so be that you've tasted that the lord is gracious to whom coming is unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of god and precious now listen christian if you're a christian this is you ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god by jesus christ so if you're a born again believer you're the temple of god wow you need to be holy
[00:47:13] And you also are the sacrifice.
[00:47:15] The sacrifice couldn't have blemish, couldn't have spot, couldn't be maimed, couldn't be, you know, something wrong with it.
[00:47:20] It had to be a spotless lamb, right?
[00:47:23] And you are the priest.
[00:47:24] The priest had to go through cleansing procedures.
[00:47:26] The priest had to go through initiation.
[00:47:28] And so we're the priest, we're the sacrifice, we're the temple, wherever we go.
[00:47:32] And so wherever we go, it shouldn't just be, well, you know, I can't curse in church.
[00:47:36] Pastor Joseph would say something.
[00:47:37] You shouldn't even think that.
[00:47:39] The never cursed word should ever come out of your mouth.
[00:47:41] Amen?
[00:47:42] Amen.
[00:47:44] or whatever else because you carry the temple wherever you go now yes this is a nice place it's a sanctuary we come here to pray but you can pray at home you should be constantly offering up spiritual sacrifices unto god why because you are not your own you have been bought with a price and that's what it says in first peter while you're here in first peter chapter two go back to chapter one you may not even need to turn the page verse 13
[00:48:11] Notice.
[00:48:12] Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
[00:48:21] As obedient children, not fashioning yourself after the former lusts and your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, your life.
[00:48:36] You have been called, if you're a believer.
[00:48:39] Think of the power.
[00:48:41] Think of the honor.
[00:48:43] Now, you know, if you don't like Donald Trump, then put Joe Biden in.
[00:48:47] It doesn't matter.
[00:48:48] But think of the president.
[00:48:50] A president that you like.
[00:48:53] Don't get confused here.
[00:48:55] Think of a president that you like.
[00:48:58] He's in office.
[00:48:59] And he calls you.
[00:49:01] Ring, ring.
[00:49:03] That's how my phone sounds.
[00:49:04] Linda Pastore.
[00:49:06] Oh, I'm so glad.
[00:49:07] I hope you'll come to the White House.
[00:49:09] We have a special meal.
[00:49:10] I want to get to know you.
[00:49:11] We're going to honor you for your service here in the United States of America.
[00:49:15] Please come.
[00:49:16] It would be a great honor.
[00:49:17] You'd be very excited.
[00:49:19] But what if the phone rang?
[00:49:22] This is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
[00:49:24] Of course, you would say this is a crank call.
[00:49:26] But you knew it was Jesus.
[00:49:28] You knew it was Jesus.
[00:49:30] What?
[00:49:31] Is there any higher honor?
[00:49:33] He's called you, and the Bible says, from all eternity past, before you were even known, before you were even created, before you were even born, before there was ever a heavens or an earth, He set His love upon you.
[00:49:46] There is no woman, no man, no nothing in the creation that can love you like that.
[00:49:53] but God has and he's called you so that calling is very high he is infinitely holy and he's calling you to be holy so pastor i can't be infinitely holy no uh not on ourself but in christ remember such were some of you but you've been washed you've been sanctified you've been cleansed and justified by the blood of jesus christ
[00:50:14] so that you might be the temple holy that you might be the sacrifice acceptable under God that you might be a priest that is constantly offering spiritual sacrifices up unto him it's a beautiful and wonderful thing and so here in first peter 1 13 14 and we stopped in 16 because it is written be ye holy for i am holy and if you call on the father who without respect of person judgeth according to every man's work
[00:50:40] Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear, in a godly, reverential, thankful fear that I have the opportunity to redeem the time as an ambassador of the Most High God on this earth.
[00:50:53] Every moment is precious.
[00:50:54] I can't waste any.
[00:50:56] The highest calling I can possibly do is to work for my King, to work for my God, to work for my Lord who loved me and gave himself for me, and work for my Father who loved me so much that he would give his perfectly, infinitely, wonderful, lovely, holy child, Jesus, with whom he had perfect, unbroken love and fellowship for all eternity past, for a sorry, sinful lump of dust like myself.
[00:51:23] That he would give him so that I might now have eternal life, live for him.
[00:51:30] Why?
[00:51:30] Verse 18, For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with silver and gold.
[00:51:35] What is silver and gold?
[00:51:37] I know it's $4,000 an ounce right now.
[00:51:39] If you've got some, you can make out.
[00:51:40] But what's going to happen when the Lord returns the silver and gold?
[00:51:47] You know?
[00:51:51] You are not redeemed.
[00:51:53] With corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, from your vain received by tradition from your fathers, but you are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
[00:52:20] who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God.
[00:52:30] Seeing ye have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently.
[00:52:41] That's another way you can appreciate your pastors.
[00:52:43] Love one another with a pure heart fervently.
[00:52:48] Say, well, Steve needs a ride.
[00:52:49] Well, it costs a lot of gas for me to go out of my way and pick up Steve.
[00:52:54] Can you not make a sacrifice?
[00:52:57] Thank God for the one who picked him up today.
[00:52:59] That's not just Steve.
[00:53:01] You can, all sorts of things.
[00:53:03] So and so has a need.
[00:53:05] Well, hopefully somebody will take care.
[00:53:06] I'll try to remember to pray for him.
[00:53:08] No, pray for them now, and if you can help them, help them.
[00:53:12] Love one another fervently.
[00:53:14] Why?
[00:53:15] Because remember, the type of fervent love that God loved us with.
[00:53:22] And then finally, who is it that died for us?
[00:53:27] Who is Jesus?
[00:53:30] You know, you ask people on the street, who's Jesus?
[00:53:33] You'll get a lot of answers.
[00:53:35] You ask the Muslims over there, well, who's Jesus?
[00:53:39] Oh, he's a great prophet.
[00:53:41] Is he God?
[00:53:43] No, no, that's blasphemy.
[00:53:47] The Bible says different.
[00:53:49] Acts chapter 20, verse 28.
[00:53:52] You ask the Jehovah's Witnesses, you'll get another answer.
[00:53:54] You ask the Mormons, you'll get another answer.
[00:53:56] You ask, you go on down the line, the Hindus or whoever else.
[00:54:00] You ask just the regular person, well, you know, he was a nice teacher, you know.
[00:54:04] I agree with some of the stuff he said.
[00:54:06] Acts chapter 20 verse 28.
[00:54:15] Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.
[00:54:24] Paul is speaking to the leaders of the church.
[00:54:27] To feed the church of God.
[00:54:30] Pastor Andy, this is to us, right?
[00:54:33] Which he purchased with his own blood.
[00:54:36] According to that verse, whose blood purchased you?
[00:54:40] That's not what it says.
[00:54:41] It says God.
[00:54:44] Jesus is God.
[00:54:45] But do you see that?
[00:54:46] Of course, that's a wonderful proof that Jesus is God.
[00:54:50] God's blood.
[00:54:53] On the one hand, we were so sinful and so wicked and so helpless that nothing less than the most precious thing imaginable, the blood of God, could save us.
[00:55:02] On the other way to look at it is, He loved you so much.
[00:55:07] The only way you could be saved was for Him to die in your place.
[00:55:13] God loved you that much, folks.
[00:55:24] Have you given yourself to Jesus?
[00:55:27] I'm not asking you if you raised your hand somewhere.
[00:55:31] I'm not asking you if you got wet.
[00:55:35] Either drops here or all the way under.
[00:55:39] Have you given yourself to Jesus?
[00:55:43] The Bible is not here legalistically punishing you and saying, ah, you know, you're probably not saved, you know, you need to get, every week is an altar call and every week you need to come down and get saved again and again and again.
[00:55:55] You only get saved once.
[00:55:58] But remember, folks, it's not a matter of people who were saved and have lost their salvation.
[00:56:04] There are people sometimes who believe they're saved and are not.
[00:56:07] Remember what Jesus says?
[00:56:09] In that day, many will come unto me and say, Lord, Lord, haven't we done many mighty works in your name, cast out devils in your name?
[00:56:19] And Jesus will say to them, what?
[00:56:22] Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.
[00:56:26] Why?
[00:56:27] Because I think many have been guilty of the sin of spiritual fornication.
[00:56:35] Instead in loving the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, Jesus has just been a little part of their life.
[00:56:44] But according to this, He is our life.
[00:56:48] And His life is now what animates us.
[00:56:53] Have you given your life to Jesus?
[00:56:59] Jesus said, I didn't come to be ministered unto, but I came to minister or to serve and to give my life a ransom for many.
[00:57:10] Ransom means you've been kidnapped by the devil.
[00:57:14] Hoodwinked.
[00:57:16] You're unable to save yourself.
[00:57:18] But God in his infinite mercy came and bought you back with the price of his own life.
[00:57:26] Now it is our duty
[00:57:29] Honor and privilege to use every opportunity to redeem the time for the days of evil to live our life under his glory.
[00:57:40] Have you given yourself to Jesus?
[00:57:43] I'll close with this passage, 1 Timothy chapter 2.
[00:57:53] Paul again, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
[00:57:57] Instructs the church to pray for everyone in authority, rulers.
[00:58:02] 1 Timothy chapter 2 and then verse 3 says, For this is good and acceptable on the side of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved.
[00:58:14] The Bible tells us that now God commands all men everywhere to repent and to believe.
[00:58:22] He will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
[00:58:28] For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.
[00:58:42] God's moved in your heart, that all is you.
[00:58:47] My question to you today is not, have you said a sinner's prayer?
[00:58:51] Have you mentally assented to a certain orthodox formula of theology?
[00:58:57] But very simply, have you given yourself to Jesus?
[00:59:02] If not, as we sing our final hymn, a cappella, and I know you'll sing well because it's a familiar song.
[00:59:08] Come down and pray.
[00:59:09] Give yourself to Jesus.
[00:59:11] Say, Lord God, I love you.
[00:59:12] I thank you for what you've done for me.
[00:59:15] I know I fall short.
[00:59:16] Please forgive me and help me to live whatever life I have left for your glory, honor, and praise.
[00:59:22] You can do it at your seat.
[00:59:23] You can come down here.
[00:59:24] You can pray with Pastor Andrew and myself afterward.
[00:59:30] What a wonderful opportunity.
[00:59:32] What a wonderful invitation.
[00:59:35] What a wonderful life lays in store for you.
[00:59:39] Romans 12, 1 and 2.
[00:59:41] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
[00:59:48] And verse 2, be not conformed to this world.
[00:59:52] Which is, I'll take a little bit of Jesus.
[00:59:54] Now let me get out to the Golden Corral because actually you don't need to.
[00:59:58] It's free over here today.
[01:00:01] I'm almost done, give me 30 seconds.
[01:00:04] Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may be able to prove, that word is to test, to taste, to see for yourself what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God for your life that you'll never know otherwise.
[01:00:26] until you give your life to Jesus Christ who loved us and gave himself for us.
[01:00:31] It's time to march to Zion.