203. Bought With A Price.

Know ye not that...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. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

WITH what ardor does the apostle pursue sin to destroy it!

He is not so prudish as to let sin alone, but cries out in plainest language, "Flee fornication." The shame is not in the rebuke, but in the sin, which calls for it.

He chases this foul wickedness with arguments (see verse 18).

He drags it into the light of the Spirit of God, "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?" (verse 19).

He slays it at the cross: "Ye are bought with a price." Let us consider this last argument that we may find therein death for our sins.

I. A BLESSED FACT. "Ye are bought with a price."

"Ye are bought." This is that idea of redemption which modern heretics dare to style "mercantile;" The mercantile redemption is the scriptural one, for the expression, "bought with a price" is a double declaration of that idea.

Redemption is a greater source of obligation than creation or preservation. Hence, it is a wellspring of holiness.

"With a price." This indicates the greatness of the cost. The Father gave the Son. The Son gave himself: his happiness, his glory, his repose, his body, his soul, his life.

Measure the price by the bloody sweat, the desertion, the betrayal, the scourging, the cross, the heartbreak.

Our body and spirit are both bought with the body and spirit of Jesus

1. This is either a fact or not. "Ye are bought," or ye are unredeemed. Terrible alternative.

2. If a fact, it is the fact of your life, a wonder of wonders.

3. It will remain to you eternally the grandest of all facts. If true at all, it will never cease to be true, and it will never be outdone in importance by any other event.

4. It should therefore operate powerfully upon us both now and ever.

II. A PLAIN CONSEQUENCE. "Ye are not your own."

NEGATIVE. It is clear that if bought, ye are not your own.

1. This involves privilege.

· You are not your own provider; sheep are fed by their shepherd.

· You are not your own guide; ships are steered by their pilot.

· You are not your own father; children loved by parents.

2. This also involves responsibility.

· We are not our own to injure, neither body nor soul.

· Not our own to waste in idleness, amusement, or speculation.

· Not our own to exercise caprice and follow our own prejudices, depraved affections, wayward wills, or irregular appetites.

· Not our own to lend our service to another master.

· Not our own to serve self. Self is a dethroned tyrant. Jesus is a blessed husband, and we are his.

POSITIVE. "Your body and your spirit, which are God's."

· We are altogether God's. Body and spirit include the whole man.

· We are always God's. The price once paid, we are forever his.

We rejoice that we know we are God's, for thus:

· We have a beloved owner.

· We pursue an honored service.

· We fill a blessed position. We are in Christ's keeping.

III. A PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. "Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

Glorify God in your body:

By cleanliness, chastity, temperance, industry, cheerfulness, self-denial, patience, etc. Glorify God:

· In a suffering body by patience unto death.

· In a working body by holy diligence.

· In a worshipping body by bowing in prayer.

· In a well-governed body by self-denial.

· In an obedient body by doing the Lord's will with delight.

Glorify God in your spirit:

By holiness, faith, zeal, love, heavenliness, cheerfulness, fervor, humility, expectancy. Remember, O redeemed one, that:

1. You will be closely watched by Christ's enemies.

2. You will be expected to be more gracious than others and rightly so, since you claim to be Christ's own.

3. If you are not holy, the sacred name of your Redeemer, your Proprietor, and your Indweller will be compromised.

4. But if you live a redeemed life, your God will be honored.

Let the world see what Redemption can do.

Let the world see what sort of men "God's own" are.