In that church service and at the back door, when people were walking out and they're greeting the preacher and and they're saying, oh, preacher, that was great. Oh, what a blessing. Thank God. And there's one lady that comes up to the preacher and you could just tell, you know, that look of that one lady, she was not happy. You know, that look, you know, the look that you all that are preachers know that look that I'm talking about. I mean, she had the look. And she walks up to that preacher on the way out and she said, well, preacher, don't you think you're getting a little personal? And she walks out. Now, listen, if you want to have the blessing of God and you want to please God in your life and you want to know him and you want to know his power in your life and you want to be changed to be like Christ, you better know it has to get personal. And no wonder that lady was What she was, and bless her heart, because somewhere along the way it didn't get personal. That's what she needed. She needed the truth to get personal in her life. We're in a series entitled Obedience Driven Decision Making. We're asking God to help us to become discerning people when it comes to making decisions in our life. We began by discussing the holiness of God and your view of the holiness of God affects the decisions that you make. In fact, your view of the holiness of God determines the kind of decisions that you make in your life. And if you're going to have an obedience driven life with obedience driven decision making, you've got to understand that God is a holy God. And as a holy God, he calls his people to be holy, be holy for I am holy. That influences all the decisions that you make. And then we learned about the unequally yoked brother or the unequal yoke. And there are times we've learned that we have to forego unholy alliances in partnerships with unbelievers, even if there is a desire for the right reason. But if there is any way that the truth of the gospel and of the word of God is compromised, then God calls us to be holy as he is holy, to not be involved in that unequal yoke partnership. And then we talked about our brother, because there are times even that the Bible tells us about that with a brother, someone who truly is born again or is a professed born again believer, there are times when there has to be a change of a relationship with that brother because we are to be obedient to the Lord. And in fact, remember, we spent a couple of times together in the Word looking at six different cases in the Scripture, in the New Testament Scripture, where there has to be a change in a relationship with a brother or someone who professed to be a brother if we are to be pleasing to the Lord and we make those decisions in our lives. And then today we're going to Consider something else, but let me introduce you for a moment to a theological term. The theological term is ecclesiastical separation. Ecclesiastical separation. And you know, for the last number of times when we were together talking about the unequally yoked brother and those six cases where there has to be a change in relationship with the church or with the ministry, within that ministry, all of those fall into the category of ecclesiastical separation. That is the relationship of a church and we as a body of believers with those individuals or those groups where our love for the Lord draws us to make decisions that have to change that relationship, ecclesiastical separation, not something you probably talk about all the time in your life on a daily basis, I would guess. But today we're going to start a new dimension of obedience driven decision making, and we're going to get personal. We're going to get personal about the decisions that you make in your personal life. Now, whereas this other dimension is ecclesiastical separation, this is what we would call personal separation. All right. Now, in all of these decisions, though, remember there's a scripture that has really guided us and really portrayed the spirit of the Word and the spirit of our church when we make these kind of hard decisions and when we approach the issue of the decisions that we make. It's found in John 14, 15. Jesus said this. I will start it, and then let's say it loud together. If you know it, go ahead and say it with me. Here we go. Jesus said this. If ye love me, now let's say it loud together. Keep my commandments. All right, then. Now, would you turn in your Bible, if you would, to the book of First Corinthians, chapter six? I will give you a moment to find it. First Corinthians, chapter six. You'll want to find when you get there, verses 19 and 20, the last two verses of this chapter. Now, we're going to begin today a sermon series. I guess I'll call it, it's really a sub part of the series. Is that a good way to put it? A subsection. How's that? Of this series. And I'm calling it this. It's entitled, The Big Ten. Ten Guiding Principles for Personal Decision Making. And we've had a lot of things happening already in the service. I have good news for you. We're not going to do all ten today. We're not going to do five today. We're going to do one today. But of all the ten, it's the most important. All right, so you have found in your Bible, First Corinthians six, 19 and 20, let's all stand together. We'll read this passage of scripture aloud. I will pray and ask God to speak to us from his book and then we will be seated together. Okay, first Corinthians, chapter six, beginning in verse 19. In fact, let's lift our voices and read this, this passage together aloud versus first Corinthians six, 19 and 20. Here we go. Let's read it together. Shall we? The Bible says, what? No, you not that your body is the temple of the Holy ghost, which is in you, which you have of God and he are not your own. For you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Let's pray now, Lord, because understanding this passage of Scripture and what it means to us in a personal way, when it means and taught, when we have decisions that we have to make to please you, and to live a life that is loving, obedient. Lord, we pray that you would speak to individuals today and we ask you, God, that you would be faithful to your word and you would be faithful to your own character by dealing with men and women and with young people in this service. We ask the Holy Spirit's enabling power and his work in us. And Lord, then we pray that as you speak, we would be as faithful to respond to you as you are faithful in speaking to us. And so do your will today, we pray, for we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. Here's the first principle of 10. I'll give it to you and explain it to you this morning. The first principle is the principle of exclusivity. The principle of exclusivity. Let me state it for you this way, based on this passage. My life is Jesus Christ exclusively. I am His, not my own. My life is Jesus Christ exclusively. I am His and not my own. Now, this is the first decision that you have to make. Without this, the rest of the principles will not really matter, because this is where it all has to begin. To make these other decisions right, you've got to be right on this one, because this is the priority decision. You have to settle in your life who the owner of your life is. Am I the owner or is God the owner? Is this my life or is this God's life? And you have to come to the point in your life when you agree with God and you surrender to God and you say, God, I am not my own. I am Christ's exclusively. Now, here's the question that if you're thinking about this, this is a question that you really are asking. Because the more you think about this and you begin to realize that if I come to the point in my life, even today, when I say to God, God, my life isn't mine. My life is yours. You realize that this has significant implications for every dimension of your life because it's not yours anymore. You're giving up control. You're giving up authority. You're giving up who the boss is. And you begin to think this through and you say, now, wait a minute, if this is what I do in my life, This means that things are going to be different. This means that there are demands that are placed on my life that I didn't have to live by. This means that there are things in my life that are going to change. And so you're going to have to ask this question then, why should I let Jesus Christ have all of my life? Why? The rest of the world around me says, it's your life, live your life. Many of your peers are living their life for their life. Even people that you know that go to church and maybe even people that are sitting in this church and maybe even people that are sitting down the row from you or sitting beside you, that their life is still their life. Why should you surrender all of your life to Jesus Christ? Well, this passage of Scripture gives us three reasons to give my life to Jesus Christ exclusively. Here's the first reason. The first reason is the price of redemption. So that the Bible says, what know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which you have of God, which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own for ye are, verse 20, bought with a price. Do you realize the awful position you are in without Jesus Christ? You are a slave to sin. You are a slave to sin's penalty. In fact, the wrath of God is upon you, and the wrath of God in its fullness is awaiting you at the end of this life. Listen to what Jesus said, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life. but the wrath of God abideth on him." So this isn't something that one day I will experience. Even now, you're in a place, a dangerous position, that the wrath of God is upon you. You have not yet experienced in its fullness. But there will come a time, if you do not make a faith commitment to Jesus Christ alone, trusting Him only to save you, there will come a time when you experience the fullness of the wrath of God eternally in the place the Bible calls hell, in a place the Bible calls the lake of fire. That is your end. Ultimately. Oh, beside this. Penalty of wrath, God's judgment for sin. Do you realize that also you are living under the curse of death? You experience the consequences of sin. James writes in 115, I think it is, Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. And when you read death in the Bible, think about the punishment of the consequences of my sin. Today, without Jesus Christ in your life, do you realize that you have no hope? From the penalty of sin and the wrath of God and the consequences of sin, there is no hope for you. You are a slave to sin's penalty. How are slaves freed? How are slaves freed? You know, in the ancient world, slavery was a common thing. And in the ancient world, slaves would be freed through redemption. That is, a redemptive price would have to be paid so that a new owner can take that one who is a slave and then could set that slave free. Now, let me ask you, what is the only price that can make slaves free from sin? Listen to what Peter writes, 1 Peter 1, verse 18. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation or lifestyle received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. The only way that people are made free from their sin and the penalty of it and the power of it and the price of it is by the blood of Jesus Christ. The price was paid. This is the blood of Christ that is shed for you. What a cost! Why did God the Son die? God the Son died to pay the cost for you and me so that we were slaves, but yet we could be made free. Why should I give my life to Jesus Christ? Nobody else died for you like Jesus did. Nobody else rose again for you like Jesus did. Do you realize the only hope you have is in Christ? I wonder though, have you been redeemed? Do you know that you can be liberated from the slavery of sin and the wrath of God and the consequences of sin if you will come to Jesus Christ turning from your sin and trusting only in Jesus? That is again why Jesus said, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Oh, it's the only way to have your sins forgiven and to be freed. and redeemed and made free. And I wonder, today there are people in the congregation this size that you don't know what it is to be redeemed. Hey, listen, the price has been paid. Everything that has been done and could be done for you to be freed from the power and the penalty of sin and the wrath of God to come has already been done. But that price must be received personally. Have you been redeemed by, in faith, trusting and receiving Jesus Christ, God's Son, who died in your place, rose again, and has the power to guarantee you and give you eternal life? Oh, listen, today, when we have our time of invitation, we preach the Bible and we give people a chance to respond as God the Spirit is dealing with men and women, and He's dealing with young people, He's dealing with children. We give you a chance to make a choice and respond right now when God is speaking. And today is the day for you to come to Jesus Christ if you've not been redeemed. Why should I give my life to Jesus Christ exclusively? First, because the price of redemption. Because God paid the price with the blood of his own son, it gives God ownership. There's a second reason that the Bible tells us about. In the passage where you've turned, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, beside the price of redemption, God tells us another reason why you should give your life completely to Jesus Christ, why you should exclusively say, God, you are the owner of everything in my life. I am willing to forego all of my desires and all of my wants in the life that I want to live because I want to give it to you and you're worthy of it. And I'm going to give it to you. Here's the second reason. Because of the privilege of redemption. So you'll notice in the Bible again, first Corinthians chapter one, verse 19, what? No, you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God. You are not your own. The privilege of redemption. Do you realize? Do you realize that you are the temple of God? When a person comes to Jesus Christ, you become the temple of God. Now, do you remember when we started this series? Do you remember how we talked about the tabernacle, that temporary, movable worship center? Remember, God's people were slaves in Egypt, right? And they came, God in His amazing power brought them from all those decades, or really, centuries of slavery in Egypt. He redeemed them and brought them out from Egypt. Now He is meeting with His people. He gives them a law to guide their walk. He gives them In this law, he gives them sacrifices and feasts to guide their worship so that they could know God in a personal way. As part of this, he provided for them this temporary or this portable tent called the tabernacle. And remember how it was that whenever Israel camped, There would be four tribes, north, south, east and west, and always in the center was God's tabernacle, the place where God met with men. And you remember this, if you can, when we were there, if you remember back on this, remember that there is a white linen fence or curtain all the way around it. So the people looked at this and they realized that God was with them, but God was still distinct from them. It pictured his holiness. But even though God is a holy God, he still gave people access. And so on the eastern side of that tabernacle was a door. I guess you wouldn't think of it as a door. It's a it's a tent door. And there people could come and they would make sacrifices and you enter into this from this door and you walk in and you were there, you could see what is called the brazen altar, a large altar. It is the place where sin, sacrifice is made for sins. This is the place where men and women, boys and girls had their sins forgiven. It pictures Christ on the cross taking the sin of the world. It pictures Christ giving his sacrifice to bring reconciliation. After that, you'd find another article. This article is called the labor. Do you remember it would be shiny brass in it? There's water in a top basin There is at its foot another basin. There's also water in that and This would be used for those as these sacrifices are made Then this water would be used for cleansing cleansing of the priest who made the sacrifice even used ceremonially for the cleansing of the sacrifice itself and this is a picture of after a person comes to Christ how that now as Christ Christ does this work of Cleansing and purifying his people. It's called sanctification Now there's more to this tabernacle though, isn't there? Because this is the outer court area. Then after the outer court, in the back part of this of this fence, there's another area that is called the tabernacle proper. Right now, the tabernacle apartment proper has how many compartments, Church? How many? Talk to me. It's your time to talk in church. How many compartments does it have? Two. Very good. Now, the first compartment. What's the first compartment called? The Holy Place. Now, in that Holy Place, not everybody can go in the Holy Place, right? Only the priests go to the Holy Place. This tabernacle proper symbolized fellowship with God, and the priests would come, and in this, there's just this beautiful tabernacle with gold-covered walls, and all these colors of tents, of layers of animal skins over top. And when a priest would come into this, there is, in this place, there's a golden candlestick. It symbolized the light of the Word and the light of the world, and fellowship with God from the light of the Word and the light of the world. There's another table on the other side, and on this table there's a special bread that would be part of the worship of the Lord there, and the priests would eat it. It would be special bread, and that also symbolized fellowship with God, with the bread of life. Jesus called himself the bread of life. Then there's another little altar there. It's called the altar of incense. The altar of incense symbolized the prayers of the saints. So you have here This priest is coming to this place, and this compartment, the holy place, symbolizes fellowship with God. But there's one other compartment. What's the last compartment called? The Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place. Again, there's a curtain dividing these. And in the Holy of Holies, there is one piece of furniture. It's a golden box. It has rods covered with gold with which it would be carried when it was moved. On top of it, there's a lid. This is called the Ark of the Covenant. The lid had its own name. It's called the Mercy Seat. And there are angels with wings there, seraphim, cherubim. I can't remember which one now. And they're looking toward the center of that box with their wings outstretched. And in this place, there's something that God did. God in a visible way manifested his presence with his people. So during the day there would be it's called the glory cloud, the Shekinah glory. There would be a white cloud and it would hover above this place. And it would go through these layers of the tent, and it would find its resting place between the wings on the mercy seat of the cherubim. And here, this would be the place that was God's visible way of manifesting, that He was there with His people. In the daytime, it was a beautiful, white, cloudy pillar. What happened at night? He would turn to fire, and I often try to imagine this, as the sun sets in the evening, and you watch it set, and you watch this cloud begin to turn, and it turns from a beautiful white cloud to a fiery cloud. And anytime you woke up in the nighttime, and you look outside your tent door, you see a fiery pillar there to remind you that God is with His people. And every time you get up in the morning, and you see this cloud there, it reminds you God is with His people. Now, watch this. Here's why all that is important. It's important because there came a time when the Old Testament scriptures, remember, they're written in the language, the Hebrew language. There came a time when there were Jewish people who no longer read Hebrew. They were scattered throughout the world and many of them would read Greek, but no longer Hebrew. And so their scriptures were translated from Hebrew into Greek so that Greek speaking people who did not read Hebrew, Jewish people, could still read the scriptures, right? What was that version of their Bible called? You know what it's called? You know, it's called the Septuagint. Now, watch this. Whenever the Septuagint was translated, the very word that was translated in, that would be used to translate the holy of holies, the most holy place, the place where God meets and dwells in fellowships with men. That place. is the very word that's translated in the passage in the Bible that you're holding in your lap. It's translated, you are the temple of God, the holy of holies, the dwelling place of God. So that you understand that when you came to Jesus Christ, you were more than just saved in a moment. Though if that's all there was, that would be enough. But now you are the place that the privileges is that God desires to fellowship with you. And God desires to meet with you. And God desires to change you. And know this, that whatever God wants in your life, wherever you go, when you know Jesus Christ, do you understand that when you need wisdom, the Spirit of God will always dwell in you and He'll give you the wisdom you need. When you need guidance, He will give it to you. When you need power to obey, when tempted comes. He's right there when you need Him to teach you. He is the Spirit that teaches. He is the Spirit that guarantees your eternal life. He seals, as the Bible termed for it, so that right now you can have absolute confidence that whenever you go from this life, you will be guaranteed to the next life. All of this because of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. And He lives in you. And what a privilege that you have the privilege everywhere you go in your life of knowing His. Fellowship. Isn't that great? Now, wait a minute, though. That means that if you know Christ, when you thought that thought this week, you didn't think it alone. When you did that deed, you didn't do it alone. He knows every motive. He knows everything. See, every great privilege has great responsibility. Why do I give my life to Christ? Why would you give your life to Christ? The rest of the world doesn't. For that matter, many of those who are in the professed Christian world don't give their lives to Christ. He just sort of fits in on their plan whenever he's convenient. Why is that? Oh, listen. He's there with you. It's a privilege. Is it an obligation? It is. But, oh, my friend, it's far more than an obligation. It's a privilege. To give my life to the Lord. I hope that's your spirit. Lord, it's a privilege to give my life to you. So there is why should I give my life to the Lord? Here's the price of redemption's first reason. Here's the second reason, the privilege of redemption. You have fellowship with Christ, and every time you surrender to the Lord and lovingly obey him, oh, you enjoy the fellowship. But understand, when you do not lovingly obey, you break the fellowship. And then there's a third reason why I should give the ownership of my life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what it is. Number three, in your notes, if you're making notes. Number three is the purpose of redemption. The purpose of redemption. So you look at the Bible again. You're bought with a price. Therefore, read the last part of this with me. Therefore, here we go, glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God's. What does it mean to glorify God? Well, it means this. It means to make Him Revealed for who he is. And so when you make decisions in your life, the exclusivity principle means that I make decisions, but it is not about me and how it affects me and what I really want and what I really think. The exclusivity principle means this, it means that it's all about him. And when you have decisions to make in your life, How would God want me to make this decision? What should I do? Lord, where do I draw these lines in my life? When you understand the issue of ownership. All of a sudden, everything changes. Because as long as you're fighting with God who's owning you and whose life it is. You're going to you're going to always have a fight. But when you settle it, God, it is not my life. It's not my time. It's not my desires. It's not my hopes. It's not my dreams. It's not about me. It's all about what glorifies you. And in my life, the decisions that I'm making, Lord, it's not just about me. It's about what does this do so that when people see things in my life and they look at my life, they see you for all that you are. And when they see you, they get an opinion of how great you are. Because of some of the decisions that I'm making in my life in obedience to you. So how does that decision reflect him? And then the Bible tells us the extent of glorifying God, because the Bible says this to glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. So these words describe the totality of your being and your body, the physical dimension of you and your spirit, the non-material dimension of you, the spiritual part of you. So let me ask you this question and think this through a little bit. Let me ask the question about your body. Is it his or is it yours? How many of you think you'd just like to give it to him? Here, you can have it. You think about your body, is your body his or hers? You think about your hands. Think about your eyes. And the kind of things you view in your life, is it his or yours? You think about the kind of things you listen to in your life, you're hearing. You think about your tongue and you think about your feet and you think about your body. Is it his? Is it mine? Am I making decisions with how I handle my body in a way that brings honor to him or that is about me? And then the Apostle Paul gives us a totality of the person you are, because it's not only about these externals and about these things. It is about your spirit. Hey, I wonder what your attitude is like. I wonder if in your life there's a spirit of submission to Christ's will and to the authority of Christ and the authority God places over your life. I wonder if in your heart there's a spirit of forgiveness or maybe there's a spirit of bitterness. I wonder if there's a spirit of contentment or discontentment. I wonder if in your life God the Spirit is dealing with you in your heart about your spirit. See, the purpose of redemption is God's glory. And did you ever take times in your life when you stopped and you said, well, I really need to think about some things in my life. Today is one of those days. Today is one of those days, it's one of those moments and maybe today, not maybe you should today. And as I am, I should as well and I need to and want to. To say, Lord, do you honestly, Lord, I'm going to be very honest with you and ask you to show me and speak to my heart. Do you have exclusive ownership in my body and in my spirit? Can you say, Lord, to the best of my knowledge, I'm living out this principle of exclusivity. My life is Jesus Christ exclusively. I'm not my own. A number of years ago, I was really privileged to take our young people to the Wilds Christian Camp in North Carolina. And we had planned, I think we'd planned this the week really it fit best with our church calendar. I think we planned it in the fall of the previous summer. And then the summer came along, and we took the young people to camp. And wouldn't you know it, that same week, while we had the teenagers at teen camp, at the Wilds, they also have junior, I think it's junior boot camp, goes on with the little tykes, right? And wouldn't you know, guess who's preaching junior boot camp the week our teenagers were at the Wilds? Guess who? One of our own guys, Brother Dunlop, Ed Dunlop, was preaching junior boot camp. And so I was able to slip away a few services to hear Brother Dunlop preach. And I was just so grateful for his ministry of the word and how the Lord challenged me in my life in a couple of different ways. One of the sermons he preached on Nebuchadnezzar and pride. And, you know, of all the sermons I've preached and all the sermons I heard, you know, really after a while, specific sermons, you forget, right? I mean, good night. I can't even remember the sermons I preach, even if I listen to myself preach them. But oh, God spoke to my heart about pride and humility because he preached on that subject through Nebuchadnezzar's life. But there's something else that stuck out to me in those days from his preaching ministry that God really used in my life. And he's challenging the little kids, you know, all these little kids. Kids, I want you to, if you haven't memorized yet 2 Corinthians 5.15, you didn't memorize it. And he puts it up on the screen. You know how he does it. And here's the scripture. And you know what? He's challenging little kids. But I've never memorized it. I've read it many times. I heard it many times. But I'd never memorized it. And so the Lord challenged me to memorize it. And I'm going to try to quote it to you. See, now, listen, I had a rough time in the early service. My memory was not remembering. So if I mess it up, I'm doing the best I can. Second Corinthians 5 15. Speaking of the Lord Jesus and that he died for all. that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. And see, that's the issue today. That's the issue today. Are you living for yourself? Or are you living for the one who died for you and rose again? Now, wait a minute. Before you answer that question, you need to be very honest with God and very honest with your own heart. And I want us to say together, John 14, 15, and based on God's Word and the Spirit of God working in your life, then you need to decide the answer. Am I living the principle of exclusivity? Here we go. John 14, 15. Let's say it together. Jesus said, If ye love me, keep my commandments. Let's all stand together, shall we?