I just want to look at the idea of God being present, not just with us as Christians, but in us as Christians. Some years ago, I preached a series of messages on the dwelling places of God and used this scripture at some point towards the end to really talk about the fact that in this day that we are the dwelling place of God. And that's what I want to look at tonight and talk to you about for a few minutes. And so I want you to look with me in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19 and 20. There the Bible says, Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Here in this text of Scripture, these couple of verses really follow a section of talking about the body and ways that we can drift into impurity with our bodies, whether it be sexual sin or other things. And Paul is talking to the Corinthians about that. And we gotta understand, as he writes to the Corinthians, the Corinthians just as a people, as a city, there was a huge problem with that. right uh... in their in their pagan worship before many of these corinthians became christians a as a matter of our talking about some of this is some of the stuff that i go on the world today and now tends to be that it always ends up uh... even uh... seems like all of these cults that you hear about i watch a lot of documentaries about calls it always ends up in uh... in sexual sin we we tend to be people tend that direction apart from the influence of god And so Paul has been talking to the Corinthians about that and really kind of finishes up in this section before he launches off into some discussion of marriage. And he brings this to the attention of the Corinthian believers that their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Over in Romans 8, verses 9 through 11, and I didn't give them anything before, so if it's not up there, that's my fault, not theirs. Romans 8, 9 through 11, the Bible says this, but you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So the reality of what the Bible teaches us in the New Testament setting for the believer is that the Spirit of God dwells in us. Okay, that's kind of where I want to start. The Spirit of God dwells in us. That's the testimony of the Bible, of the New Testament, for the New Testament believer. The Spirit of God did influence people in the Old Testament, but we don't have the same concept of the indwelling presence of the Spirit in the Old Testament as we do in the New, but Jesus tells us of the comforter that's going to come to us, speaking of the Holy Spirit, all throughout the letters in the New Testament, we see and understand that the Spirit of God dwells in us, seals us, works within us. And so what is What does that mean, that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, a dwelling place of God? What does that mean for us in our lives? How does that impact the way we seek to live? He's asking the question, do you not know that? He's telling them that they should know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. That word no is a word that throughout the Bible is used kind of as a euphemism for like intimate knowledge between a husband and a wife, but it really says that this is something that you should really, it should be a deep, truth for you and I. It should be something that makes a difference in the way that we choose to live our lives. And so Paul's saying, he's kind of playing on words. One commentator describes it this way. He says, this entire section of scripture is set in the context of Paul speaking against sexual immorality. So Paul seems to be playing on words. Instead of coming to an intimate physical knowledge of someone's body in immorality, you should become intimate with the knowledge of the presence of God in you. And I love this. He says you should know intimately that He knows you intimately, that God has the depth of knowledge of you in that relationship with you. We have an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and we should be intimately acquainted with that truth. I mean, it should be something that we think about, the wonder of the fact that we have that kind of relationship with God. One of the things that in these short couple of verses that is just striking to me is that when the Apostle Paul writes here and he says that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, there's a truth buried within the original language there Because in the Bible, in the New Testament, there's a couple of different words used that we translate in English as temple, okay? The first one that's not being used here is a term that is really talking about kind of the entire temple complex, any part of the temple, the courts, you know, the surrounding area there that where people congregated outside. There's a word that kind of is used in many ways. So it would almost be the difference between us saying something about, yeah, I was over at the church or I was in the sanctuary. Okay, that's kind of the difference in these words. There was a word that would describe the whole area, and then there was a word that really was used to only describe the area where the priests entered. It described the inner courts of the temple, the holy place, the holy of holies, the most holy place. And so, one of the things that, as Paul is employing that word here, he's not just telling us that, you know, our body is holy. He's telling us that, but that's not all he's saying. He is equating the body of the believer, the heart of the believer, with being on the same ground as the holy of holies in the temple. Why? Because it's where God dwells. Friends, I think if we really could even begin to comprehend that little truth, it's a big truth, but it's a simple truth at some level. If we can even get our head around it, the fact that if you're here tonight and you know the Lord Jesus Christ, that you are the dwelling place of God. God's not present with you, God's present in you. What a deep impact that has on the way that we live. I don't think about that. Honestly, I can't remember until I was looking at this the last time I really just thought about that. The last time I thanked God for that, that I have such a relationship with Him, that He dwells within me, that He is there convicting me, leading me, guiding me, strengthening me. One preacher said one time that if we If we could somehow know that Jesus was in the next room praying for us, then we would live our lives differently. because we would know Jesus in the next room praying for us. Well, the reality is that Jesus is forever interceding for the believer and the Spirit of God is within us taking even our messed up prayers that are crooked and perverted by our own selfishness and all of that and he's taking them and he's cleaning them up and he's presenting them to God through the blood of Christ. That's the level of relationship that we have with him. We're not just Somebody that He knows. He's intimately acquainted with us. He loves us deeply. He has made His presence with us, within us. Paul doesn't just say that this is true. He tells us how it's true. He says, your body's the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you. Well, how's that possible? He says, whom you have from God. As I mentioned before, I don't think I've expressed my gratitude to God concerning the truth that he has given us the comfort of the spirit. the Spirit of God proceeding forth, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father. Jesus told us that he was going to send us the comforter. He has come at the behest of the triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, that he has been sent forth to us. Not only is it true that we have the Spirit of God that dwells within us, but it's true because God has loved us and sent His Son to die for us, and because we have relationship with Christ, the Spirit of God has been given to us as a gift and as the sign and seal that we belong to Him. Man, what an amazing gift. We don't just get salvation, we get the intimate presence of God within us that can carry us through, that can walk with us through the good days and the bad. And we don't have to think about God as being far off. I know practically speaking, sometimes God feels far away. I know that's true. Sometimes we feel distant, sometimes we feel like we've drifted away somehow. But the truth is, if you're in Christ, if you know Jesus, the Spirit is there with you. He never leaves you. Never. If somehow He left you, that would mean that you didn't belong to Him because He's that seal upon us. He has not left us. He has not forsaken us. So we have the truth that the Spirit of God is in us. We have the truth that that's true because God has sent the Spirit to us. The Father has sent the Spirit to us. But what's the outcome? What's the truth that flows forward from that that we should understand? He says, you're not your own. You're not your own. Perhaps the most unpopular piece of the Christian faith right there. You are not your own. You don't have any rights to your life, to your body, to your time, to your work, to your talents, to your money, to your family, nothing. It all belongs to Him. Everything belongs to God. Say, well, I don't like the way you phrased that. Well, I know, I phrased it a little harshly on purpose because we need to get ahold of that truth. I don't belong to myself. My children don't belong to me. They belong to God. This church doesn't belong to me. It belongs to God. In our culture, in our world that's very self-focused, This is, again, I think one of the more unpopular pieces of Christianity. This is why you have people out in the world that claim the name of Christ, that are living in a way that's clearly against how God has taught. And you say, well, how is that possible? It's possible because they said, I kinda like some of what's going on. I kinda like some of the nice things, quote, nice things about Christianity, but I'm just gonna kinda do it my own way. The people that say, I love Jesus, but I don't really care for the Bible. I don't really care for the church. I don't really care for, well, that's nonsense, isn't it? To say that I love Jesus, but I hate the church, it's a pet peeve of mine. I don't know, I've said it a dozen times here, I'm sure. It's a pet peeve of mine. People tell me that all the time. I love Jesus, but I just don't like the church. I don't like churches. I say, well, I'll tell you this, you come up to me and you say, Russell, I really like you, but I hate Miss Sarah. I despise her. Guess what? Me and you aren't friends. We're not. Matter of fact, you say too much more, we're gonna be a whole lot less than friends. Okay? That's just how that goes. Why? Because she's my wife. And I tell my sons all the time, I've known her longer and she's prettier. Right? Don't mess with her. Jesus has a bride. His bride is the church. And for somebody to say, hey, I know people have had bad stuff happen in churches, don't get me wrong, I've lived through a lot of them, you have too. Things happen. We're people. But to say, I love Jesus, I hate the church, is foolishness. To say that I love Jesus, but I don't really care about what the Bible has to say would be like saying, yeah, I love this person, but I despise the sound of their voice, because this is the very word of God. Yeah, I love them, but I don't really care to hear what they have to say at all. Well, guess what? You don't love that person if you don't want to hear what they have to say. We're not our own. We belong to Him, which means we're to do as He says, how He says, to the very best of our ability. We have an obligation to live a life bursting at the seams with the glory of God. We have an obligation to live a life full of holiness that can only come from a real and intimate relationship with Jesus. He says, you're not your own. Your body's the temple of the Holy Spirit. I love how Spurgeon speaks about this. He says, in talking about holiness and related to this passage and sexual immorality and the truth of God within us, he says, that faith which does not bring forth the fruit of holiness is the faith of devils. The devils believe and tremble. But let us never be content with a faith which can live in hell, but instead rise to that which will save us. The faith of God's elect which purifies the soul, casting down the power of evil and setting up the throne of Jesus Christ, the throne of holiness within the Spirit. There is a throne that exists in each of us, and if you are here and you're a Christian, that throne belongs to Jesus. The Spirit of God dwells there, guaranteeing that we are His, shows us how to live. Paul goes on to not just tell us that we are not our own, but he tells us that the reason we're not our own is because we're bought with a price. It's one of my favorite phrases in the Bible. You were bought with a price. Man, what a thing for God to say to us. So wonderful. You're not your own. Okay, wait a second, you just wanna tell me what to do? No, let me just make this very clear with you. I bought you. I paid a price for you. The price paid is beyond our comprehension. My friend used to say, he was talking about this passage of scripture, he used to say, he said, how much did he pay? The answer to that question is too much for your sorry behind and mine too. He paid too much. How much was it? He paid the highest price possible, the precious blood of the Lamb of God. Peter speaks about this in 1 Peter chapter 1. He says, "...knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot." One drop of Christ's blood was more valuable than the entirety of the contents of the universe. That's how good and marvelous and glorious and amazing that He is. Whatever adjective you want to throw out there that is high and lifted up and magnificent, I mean, I wish I could turn a phrase like some preachers I know to try to bring home to you just the magnitude of the sacrifice of Christ. God did too much, paid too much, for us to think so little on the sacrifice of Jesus. He goes on to really say, act like it, I think is maybe the best way to put it. He says, you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. The truth of the matter is, you have the Spirit of God within you. He was given to you by God, and so you're not your own. You were bought with a price. Now, act like it. Now that we understand that all of that's true, we ought to put the rubber on the road and act like it and glorify God in our body and in our spirit. Later on in the same letter, Paul says, you were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of men. Spurgeon again describing that verse says, everything is a trifle to a man who is a Christian except the glorifying of Christ. Man, we need to hear that. Everything is a trifle. Everything is vanity except the glorifying of Christ. You say, well, I've got things I've got to get done. Sure you do. Glorify Christ within those things. Work your job to the glory of God. Raise your family to the glory of God. Love your spouse to the glory of God. Be a father, be a brother, be a sister, be a mother, be an aunt, be an uncle. Whatever it is you have to do, do it to the glory of Christ. Because you are not your own. You were bought with a price. Paul, again, in 1 Corinthians, he was on this run in this letter, 1 Corinthians 10, 31. Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I heard a preacher say, I wish I'd have wrote down who it was, I couldn't remember, I guess is why I didn't write it down. He said this, he said simply, you owe God glory, you owe men the gospel. That's what we owe in this world. We owe God glory and we owe men the gospel. We're a debtor to the Greek and to the barbarian, Paul says elsewhere. We owe all glory to God in every way imaginable and we are tasked by Christ to give the gospel to all creatures, all men. 1689 Baptist Catechism asked the question, it's the one I always quote because it's my favorite one. What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. You're the temple of the Holy Spirit because the presence of God dwells in you. If you are not a temple of the Holy Spirit, then that means you do not belong to Him. You have not been bought. As we think about God's presence within us, I would just ask that you allow it to move you to Thanksgiving. Sometime, maybe this evening, sometime this week, just meditate on that thought. Just the few little truths that flow out of that scripture. That the spirit of God's dwelling in you because God sent him to you. Father sent him to you to dwell within you. God is within you if you're a believer in Christ. Meditate on the truth that you aren't your own, but you were bought with a price, the highest price imaginable. And as you meditate on those things, thanking God for them, then ask the question, now what? Because those things are true, now what? What does it mean for me to glorify God in my body and in my spirit? What does it look like for me to do that today? What does it look like for me to do that tomorrow? What does it look like for me to do that in this next conversation? Does it mean that I got somebody that I need to prayerfully find an opportunity to share the gospel with? Does it mean that that loved one who's drifting in sin, that maybe I need to lovingly confront them, that brother or sister in Christ? Does it mean that there's some things I need to repent of so that I might live more to the glory of God? I don't know. There's another quotation. Here was an anonymous quotation. He said this as I close tonight. He said, O ye who know nothing about being bought with a price, you will be lost unless you do know it. If Christ has not bought you, hell will receive you and despair will be your portion. But may God grant you that you may know the power of redemption through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. If you don't know that you've been bought with a price, I pray that you would look to Jesus and repent of your sins and believe on Him and Him alone. But Christian, Meditate on the truth. You have been purchased by the highest price imaginable. You are not your own. Live in all ways to the glory of God. not for your own sake, not for your own reputation, but that God's glory might be high and lifted up and we might see more people come into the kingdom of God as we proclaim his truth through the words of our mouth and through the way that we live our lives so that Jesus Christ might rule and reign more and more and more until he comes. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the day. I ask you to bless those who are here, to be with those who aren't. God, and bless them as well. Be with those who are hurting, be with those who are struggling, be with those who are sick, be with those who, Lord, that we know in this room, just in this room, we could think of hundreds, if not thousands of people that we know who are lost and in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So Lord, I pray that you would draw their hearts. I pray for the Christians here that we would be constantly reminded of the glorious gift of salvation purchased with the blood of Jesus, and that we would never lose sight of it, and it would never just lose its power to amaze. God, that you love this so tremendously, that you've called us from darkness to light. Lord, be with us now as we go forward. Be with us this week. Help us to live. to your glory in all things. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank y'all.