YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN

1 Cor. 6:19-20

Morning Meditation 1/4/2014

"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."

I will assure you that an unregenerate man would look at these two verses and would stare at them in wonderment as to the meaning. For a person to receive salvation and the New Birth that takes place synonymously with salvation he receives a new understanding of life as God meant it to be. Man is one moment a child of the devil, lost as lost can be, and blind to his spiritual need. When he hears the gospel preached with the power of the Holy Spirit all his self righteous, self esteem, and self love suddenly comes before him in the light of the gospel and he suddenly finds an unbearable burden upon him as he sees the smoke of the lake of fire boiling up and hears the screams of the damned as they plead for mercy. This man like the thief on the cross cries out for mercy and he finds God's love as near him as the breath he breathes.

When we are saved we are not our own. This is what our text says and the text is the eternal truth of God. Let's notice a few things about this subject.

WHY AM I NOT MY OWN?

There are four good reasons why we are not our own:

1. First, let's look at the word PRESENTATION. We have been given by God the Father to God the Son. In our Lord's prayer in John 17:6 he prayed, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word." Jesus Christ was and is God's love-gift to the world, and believers are the Father's love-gift to Jesus Christ.

2. Second, let's look at the word PURCHASED. We have been bought at such a great price that theologians and scribes have been unable to explain it in terms that are easily understood by the longing saint. Psalms 121:8 says, "The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. We have been bought with a price. We do not belong to ourselves. We cannot do what we want to as Christians and get away with it.

3. Third, let's look at the word POSSESSION. We have not only been purchased by the Lord, but we are already possessed by Him and the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "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."

4. Fourth, let's look at PRESERVATION. Psalms 40:11 says "Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me." 2 Timothy 4:18 says, "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

WHAT OBLIGATIONS DOES THIS FACT IMPOSE UPON US?

1. We must not remain the slaves of men. 1 Corinthians 7:22, "For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant." No matter where a Christian goes or in what circumstances he finds himself, He is free from a spiritual standpoint. One may put the Christian in prison but he cannot keep God out. There is a great story to be gained by reading Richard Wurmbrand's books as he tells of the fourteen years he spent in prison in Rumania for preaching the gospel.

2. It is possible for us to be truly the Lord's so far as salvation is concerned, but not be yielded to Him so far as service is concerned. We are His by purchased price, our names are written in the Lamb's book of life. However, it is a fact that many believers are not yielded to His Lordship and therefore are not usable by Him. It is a fact that many of the Lord's people are as empty as a gun barrel spiritually. They warm pews on Sunday morning and smile at the preacher as they leave, give him a warm handshake, and say, "That was a nice sermon preacher." Then they go out and make a mess of their lives during the week.

3. If we are going to be slaves of the Lord we must break with the slavery of sin. Sin is an awful taskmaster. It's followers are scattered along the wayside. Sin has no love for it's followers. It hates God and will do anything possible to ruin the Christian.

May the Lord bless these word to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White