Open your Bibles to 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."

I want to preach on this subject: How to Get Right and Stay Right With God...all in just 49 words.

Context of 1 Corinthians:

1. "Saints" Any "saints" here today? You are either a "saint" or an 'aint."
2. "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth..." Are there any church people here today? 1 Cor. Is a Church letter (epistle) to a congregation located in the city of Corinth. Churches in the NT were "local assemblies made up of believers in Jesus Christ who had publicly professed their faith by baptism." And the act of baptism set them apart to Christ and place them into the membership of the church for worship, accountability, growth, fellowship and ministry.

"What, know ye not..." This was a negative question that expected a positive answer. They knew better. Paul was there when their change in destiny had occurred (Acts 18). Look at vv. 9-11 "Such were some of you..." - they had gotten right with God. But over time they weren't right with God. They had become followers of good men like Paul, Apollos and Peter, ch.1 . Ch. 3 "babes in Christ...carnal...walk as men" The church had let up on moral standards, ch. 5. They were taking other fellow church member to civil courts, ch. 6:1-8. Sexual temptation was rampant, 6:15-18.

Let's go to the very heart of these two verses. They remind us of how a person is saved-how a person gets right with God.

"...ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: "

Who is this about? It's about a lost, hell-bound sinner who needs a Savior. It's about Jesus paid the price for our redemption, out salvation. How did He do it? 1 Peter 1:18-19 Not redeemed with silver or gold "but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Paul came to Corinth with one message: Christ and Him crucified.

Sin is a debt...we can't pay. If you only committed 1 sin an hour...sleeping 8 hours = 16 sins a day...live to 75 (my age +1) - 10 years for your childhood... 65 years x 16 sins a day = 379,600 sins!
We need to revisit what Jesus did for us in His death on the cross. "Ye are bought with a price."
Listen and learn from Charles H. Spurgeon.
"Go at once to the cross. There, and there only, can you get your spirit quickened.....The more we live beholding our Lord's unutterable griefs, and understanding how he has fully put away our sin, the more holiness shall we produce. The more we dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard, where we Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior."

Q: Why did Jesus pay the extreme price for our salvation?
A: Because He loves us!

• · John 3:16 "God so loved the world..."
• · Eph. 5:25 "Christ loved the church..."
• · Gal. 2:20 "Christ...loved me and gave himself for me."

You no longer belong to yourself. Have you been living like you are your own...that you can do as you please?

We have a New Owner: we have been bought with a price!

The old English preacher Alan Redpath said, "If you refuse the implication of His claim upon you, then what business have you to hide in the shelter of John 3:16? You cannot have the grace of God without the government of God. Real deliverance demands holiness. The price of His precious blood demands a practical surrender of all your body." (The Royal Route to Heaven, p. 78)

Jesus is now Lord and Savior. "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." Romans 14:7-8 "...we are the Lord's."

How long has it been since you were in AWE of your Savior? Are you still struck that the Savior saved YOU? We leave our "first love" and end up just going through the motions.

"Jesus paid it all....all to Him I owe."

"... your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God..."

Q: What is this about?
A: The presence of God the Spirit-the Holy Ghost of God.

Q: Where is God?
A: Well, He is everywhere at the same time; He is omnipresent. But for those who have trusted Christ He is "in us."

Jesus' death secured 2 gifts for us. Acts 2:38

1. (1) The gift of eternal life...."...the remission of sins." ...pardon. Eph. 2:8; Rom. 6:23.
2. (2) The gift of the Holy Ghost....God's presence. "and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

You see, one of the great things about being saved is not that not only will we go to heaven when we die. That is great. The great part about being saved right now while I live between the cross and heaven God lives in us!

• " Salvation isn't just getting man out of earth into heaven.
• " Salvation is getting God out of heaven into man!

The truth that the Spirit of God lives in us doesn't always mean God's Spirit is exalted in us and is freely effecting change in us.

We now have a New Occupant: we are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit.

Think about it this way. What if someone came to move in with you, to live with you, to eat meals with you, to watch TV with you, to listen to your every conversation, go to your job with you...come on, man, that would be life-changing...in ways you never before imaged! Every time you got up, he was beside your bed...he was already at your table waiting for a cup of coffee...he was there to see you off...he was in the front seat with you on the way to work...he was there to greet you when you returned. He was always there! There would be some BIG TIME change.

When God saved you, He didn't pat you on the back and say, "I'll see you on the other side." He moves in and takes over our lives.

We need to awaken to this marvelous reality.

• " Eph. 3:17 "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith..."
• " Gal. 2:20 "Christ liveth in me..."
• " Col. 1:27 "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

If I am a temple of the Holy Spirit - every day is a holy day, every place is a sacred place. In all nature things I should be spiritual.

In all spiritual things I should be natural. A Christian is naturally supernatural, and supernaturally natural!

• · The Spirit resident ... Spirit reigning!
• · The Spirit present.....presiding
• · The Spirit dwelling...dominate.

While visiting a World's Fair in Boston is 1883, A. J. Gordon, pastor the Clarendon Street Baptist Church, saw in the distance the figure of a man pumping water. The closer he got the clearer he saw and the man was not a man, but a manikin. The dummy's hand was strapped to the pump handle. The well was artisan. He wasn't pumping the water, the water was pumping him. He was simply holding on. We look at people that way! Listen, if something is being done - they're not doing it!

Philippians 2:12-13 "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

How about your life?

• · Is it Seriously compelling?
• · Does it Leave people wondering?
• · Is it Beyond explanation?

Are you AWAKENED to the One who occupies your life?

"...therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

When you see a "therefore" in the Bible see what it is "there for."

So, God the Son paid the price for your salvation
So, the person of God the Spirit now lives in us.
"...therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

The Westminster Confession says:
"The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."

Is that the number one priority of your life: the glory of God?

1 Cor. 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

A New Occupation: we are to glorify God with our all.

A life captured and changed by Jesus is amazing!

• " The maniac of Gadara-Mark 5....by Mark 7 a multitude came out to Jesus for healing.
• " Zacchaeus-saved somewhere between the limb and the ground. "Half of my good I give to the poor...if I have taken anything by false accusation, I will restore him 4-fold." "Salvation is come to this house." Knock of the door. "Oh, no, Zacchaeus." Early tax return.
• " Thief on the cross....confessed his sins and confessed His trust in Jesus.

"...in your body, and in your spirit..." ·

• "in your body..." what you put in your body; what you put on your body. If you want to know how not to dress go to Walmart.
• · "in your spirit..." This can refer to your attitudes and your words. Lose that sorry attitude and drop your bad language.

Are you AVAILABLE to the One who occupies your life to bring Him glory?

This is the road to personal revival.

• · You have a new Owner.
• · You have a new Occupant.
• · You have a new Occupation.

How to Get Right and Stay Right with God.

• " Thank your Owner for His work of salvation. "I am His and He is mine."
• " Yield to your Occupant in His work of sanctification.
• " Live out day-by-day, moment-by-moment your Occupation. The next time someone asks you, "What do you do for a living?" you could answer, "I am living to glorify the God whose Son died for me and whose Spirit lives in me and please...let me know how I am doing."