Chapter 3, he's where we'll be. We're continuing on with this thought on Sunday nights. We've been covering some contemporary issues that we face as Christians and as people in our day, and how it is we approach these things. And we've covered a lot of things, but we started out by establishing what truth was, remember? And we came to an agreement that our rule, our guide, for all our opinions on all these different things was not gonna be what I think or what you think, but we were gonna allow the word of God to be our opinion. This is our truth, this is our guide, this is our rule. And so we covered that and then we looked at humanism and humanistic philosophy and all these different things that, if we're not careful, can begin to taint our thinking and our view on some of these contemporary issues that we face as Christians in our day. There's things that we face today that my parents did not face. There's things that my children and my nieces and my nephews face that I never faced when I was their age. Wouldn't have even thought about it, wouldn't have heard of it. And so there's things that we're facing today that Christians down through the ages have never really faced before. And so how are we going to approach these things? How are we going to behave ourselves towards these things? And that's what we've been looking to deal with on the last, I don't know, couple of months now we've been dealing with different subjects on a Sunday night. Last Sunday night we started looking at the subject of living pure in an impure world. Living pure in an impure world. And we started off with the topic of alcohol and strong drink and what the Scriptures has to say about that. And then tonight, we're going to move on from alcohol. We're going to cover smoking, gluttony, body piercing, and tattooing. And let's just see what the Scriptures has to say about these things. What's the biblical principles we need to observe? And so for our reading tonight, we'll take it from 1 Corinthians 3, and verse 16 is where we'll start. It says, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Now go with me to chapter 6 of the same book. Chapter 6 and verse 19. It says here in verse 19, what? There's a question mark there. 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. It's an interesting statement. 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. And so we'll come back to these verses a little bit, and there's another passage of Scripture over in 2 Corinthians we'll look at in reference to our body being the temple of God. But these verses draw out very plainly for us that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. When God converts you, when the Holy Ghost of God regenerates you and births you anew, He doesn't just save you and regenerate you, He then indwells you and inhabits you, right? When God saves us, He indwells us. When God saved me, He didn't save me out there at Injun, He didn't just save me and then leave me alone. He saved me and then indwelt me. And that very moment I became the temple of the Holy Ghost. Now, can I explain that to you? Do I understand all the ins and outs of that? No, I certainly don't understand all the ins and outs. I'm not going to try and pretend I do. And if you understand it all, I'd be glad for you to teach me all about that. Because I just, you know, there's lots of things in the scriptures that we can believe, but we may not understand, right? But isn't that the good thing about the Bible? We're not called on to understand all these things. We're called on to simply believe. So praise God for that. But we need to remember that when we're saved, that the moment the Lord saves us, the Holy Spirit indwells us, and we are no longer our own. For 22 years, I was my own. I did what I wanted to do, went where I wanted to go. But when the Lord saved me, He indwelt me, He changed me, He regenerated me. And it says there in that last passage of Scripture that we read in chapter 6, And at the end of verse 19, you're not your own. And then it goes on in verse 20, for you are bought with a price. For you are bought with a price. There was a high price paid for your soul, and that price we discussed this morning, right? And we understand what the price was for your salvation and for my salvation. There was a high price paid for you. Therefore, you're not your own. You're not your own. You're bought with a price. And then it carries on with a therefore. Therefore, because you are not your own, because you've been purchased, because there's been a price paid for your soul, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Now there is this train of thought in our day, and I was discussing this with an individual just a few weeks ago, there's this train of thought that it doesn't really matter if you see him, as a Christian, because it's just your old man that's sinning, and your old man can't help but sin, and it's the new man that doesn't sin, and it's the new man that's sanctified, and so it really doesn't matter what you do in regards to the flesh and the old man. But if you know your Bible, you know that's not biblical, that's not true. But there is that train of thought in our day. And the reason is, is because they want to be able to embrace sin and the Saviour. But the Bible is very clear, you cannot embrace the Saviour and sin at the same time. So our bodies become the temple of God, and that means that the Spirit of God indwells us. And so we need to remember this, we need to be clear on this as the children of God, and when we're coming to these subjects of smoking, gluttony, tattooing and body piercing, we need to understand that God is interested in our body. He saved my soul. Thank God my soul has been saved. My body hasn't been saved. My body's going to turn back into the dust. I'm going to die one day. They're going to put me in that wooden box. They're going to cry over my body, hopefully. And then they're going to put me in the ground. They're going to say a prayer. And that's going to be the end. That's going to be the end of my body. I'm done. But as a child of God, as a Christian, God is very interested in what you do with your body and what I do with my body. It's not your own, it's God's and we need to remember that principle. This idea of being indwelt with the Spirit of God is a prophecy that was fulfilled in Ezekiel 36 verse 27. It says, And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them. When the Lord Jesus, in John chapter 14, He said, If I go, I will send the Comforter. And thank God, when Jesus ascended back to glory, He kept His word as He always does, and He sent the Holy Ghost back. And the Holy Ghost indwells every believer of God. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 21 says, In whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. in whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit." Now, the individual is the temple of God, right? Wouldn't you agree? As an individual, as a Christian, we are the temple of God. But here in Ephesians 2, verse 21, it says, "...whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord." That's talking about the local body of believers. been fitly joined together, when there's a body of believers in a local church, God fitly joins that body together, and it's because that's his place of habitation. That's his holy temple. And I say this all the time, and I mean it, and I rejoice in it, I just love coming to church, because when I come to church, I can worship the Lord like I cannot at home by myself. You know, that's one of the great purposes of coming to church, is not only to listen to His Word preached and to pray, but to be able to sing and to be able to worship the Lord, and to be able to do that in spirit and in truth. It's just a building. And this is not the church. The people is the church, right? But this building is not set aside as an RSL. This building is set aside for the worship of God, right? And this is where the temple of God meets, this is where the church of God meets, gathers together to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, right? So not only individually am I the temple of God, but collectively. According to Ephesians 2 verse 21, it says, Oh, what a wonderful thing that God wants to indwell and inhabit us, not only individually, but collectively as a body of believers. God wants to be in the midst of us. He wants to be here. That's good to know, isn't it? Okay, go with me to 2 Corinthians chapter six. We're just establishing some groundwork, laying a bit of groundwork here before we look at these few topics. Because some of these topics we face, you don't find a thus saith the Lord on some of these things. So then we have to go back to Bible principle. And we have to go back to what is the biblical principle in regard to this thing? Now 2 Corinthians 6, and I'd like to draw your attention to verse 14. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? Don't be unequally yoked, don't be joined together with unbelievers. Verse 15, and what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? Remember, we're the temple of God, as the children of God, we're the temple of God. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." I'd like to draw your attention to verse 16. There's four things we're told in verse 16 about the living God. Number one, we need to remember He's the living God, right? Thank God he's alive and well and on his throne. I don't worship a rock. I don't worship a stick figure. I don't worship some mystic thing that I can't get a grasp of. My God is a real living God. Now, there's four things about this living God. Number one, verse 16 tells us that he dwells in us. God dwells in us. Number two, God walks in us. Number three, he is our God. Number four, we are his people. God dwells in us, God walks in us, He is our God, and we are His people. You bought with a price, you're not your own. God indwells you, He indwells your body, and everywhere you take your body, and everything you do with your body, you take the Holy Ghost with you. Now notice verse 17 tells us four things. Four instructions in verse 17. Come out, be separate, touch not, I will receive you. Come out. Come out from among them. Don't be like the world. We're in the world, but we're not of the world. We're in the world, but we're supposed to be different from the world. Come out. Be separate. It doesn't say be isolated. We're not supposed to isolate ourselves in some commune, but we are supposed to be separate. We're supposed to be different. The child of God ought to be different. or to be separate. It says touch not. There's some things we just don't need to be involved with. As a Christian, you call yourself a Christian, you lay hold of the name of Christ, there's things you just need to avoid. There's things you just need to be separated from. You just need to separate yourself. You need to come out from those things. You don't need to be involved in those things. There's some things that a Christian has no business being involved with. Now, when it comes to these different subjects that we're gonna look at tonight. As I said, we're gonna look, first of all, at smoking. We're gonna look at smoking first. Let's get into that, smoking. We'll start there. And when we come to the topic of smoking, we're not gonna be able to find a verse that says, thou shalt not smoke. Have you ever come across that in your King James Bible? Thou shalt not smoke. I've never read that myself. And the reason is, it's not in there. The Bible doesn't speak about tobacco in any way. And I could give you a whole heap of history about tobacco and all the rest of it, but that's not really here for a history lesson. But it's pretty interesting if you read about it, where it first was witnessed and then introduced into Western culture and all that sort of thing. But tobacco is not mentioned in the Bible. You'll search in vain, looking for the subject of smoking. So when you can't find the verse, when there's no verse that says thou shalt not smoke, then I have to go back and I have to find Bible principle. I have to find what does the Bible say in principle about this. There is no thou shalt not. So in principle, what's the Bible principle in regards to this? And when we take in mind and we keep in mind the fact that as the children of God, where the temple of God and the Holy Ghost dwells within us, that's very important to keep in mind. Now I'll read you some facts about cigarettes. There are some 600 different ingredients in a modern cigarette. It's not just tobacco leaf rolled up, there's over 600 ingredients. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing carcinogenic compounds, and 400 other toxins. These include nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT. Sounds like a good thing. Now as a lost man, as a lost person, I used to smoke. I used to smoke quite a bit. But I thank God when He saved me, He delivered me from that. Just like that. Thank God. Not to mean I've never been tempted since. I have been. There's been a number of times I could have taken a cigarette if I wanted to. But thank the Lord that He's delivered me from that wanting to. Now, smoking was banned in England in 1624 by King James I. He called it a precious stink, loathsome to the eyes, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and resembling the bottomless pit. Oh, for a leader of a nation like that again, right? Too bad Malcolm Turnbull's not like that, or anyone else in our day. No backbone. Now, let's just take what we know. We know how bad smoking is to our body, right? We don't have to go into a big science lesson about that. We know how toxic it is. Now your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Now surely we'd have to agree that to smoke a cigarette would be to defile our body, wouldn't it? as to defile the temple of God. And so on principle, I don't have to go any further digging in scripture, in principle I don't need to be doing that, that defiles the body, the temple of God. It defiles my body, therefore it defiles the temple that the Holy Ghost indwells. In 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 17 clearly says, "...Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. And certainly cigarettes are unclean. And I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord." Am I saying that if you smoke a cigarette that you're lost? No, I'm not saying that. If you look, if you go back, if you go back, and you don't have to go back too far. I was talking to a couple of old preachers in America one day, and I was speaking with them, and they, with the subject of smoking, come up. And now these preachers don't smoke anymore, but they were having a laugh because they said, back in the 30s and in the 40s, those were preachers, they were pastors and preachers. He said, what we do, we teach Sunday school, then we go outside and have a cigarette before we come back in for the morning service. Because that was just a part of it, culturally that was acceptable. That was a part of the culture back then. And you look back at some of the old preachers of old, like Spurgeon and these different fellas, he smoked cigars and different things like that. Do I think he was wrong in doing that? Absolutely, I don't think he should have been doing that. But they're not our example, right? They're just humans like you and me. They made mistakes just like you and I have. Now, if you have a look in Romans chapter six and verse 16, go there with me, please. Romans six and verse 16. Now, we all know that cigarette is addictive. And as a smoker, as a lost man, I was always very confident. And I'd tell people, oh, I can give up smoking whenever I want. And I could, I could stop for about two weeks, but then I'd take it up again. I could stop, if I wanted to stop, I could stop straight away. But it'd get me, it'd get me again. It wouldn't be too long down the track, it'd get me again. It's addictive, it's enslaving. You see it, you see it, that it's enslaving. You see people, they have a brand new car. And they're driving up the highway. And they don't want their car to smell like cigarette smoke, so they have to pull up, they have to stop their journey, they have to get out, they have to stand either in the radiant heat or somewhere like, they have to stop their journey and have to have a cigarette because they've been dictated to by their body and by their addiction. They're enslaved by it. You don't see it here. We don't have cold enough weather, but in America or down south in Australia where they have cold winters, you see people standing outside in the freezing cold so they can have a cigarette, so they can fulfill that desire. They're enslaved by it. They'd rather stand out in minus 15 degrees so they can have a cigarette than be inside and be comfy because they're enslaved by the nicotine, by the addiction. Romans 6 and verse 16. Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness." Oh, it's enslaving. It's addictive. And we oughtn't be enslaved by anything. As the children of God, we ought not be enslaved to anything. And then have a look with me in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And remember, we're dealing with principle. I can't take you to a thou shalt not, but I can take you to Bible principle. And then you can take these passages scriptures and you can take these Bible principles and you can pray about it. I don't know if there's anyone here that smoke, no one here that I know of smokes, but maybe you have a quiet one at home and I don't know. I wouldn't know, not with you 24 hours a day. But here's what I suggest you do. If you smoke, I suggest you take these verses, you take these Bible principles that have been mentioned, and you sincerely pray about it. And then if you can do it with a clear conscience, well, that's between you and the Lord. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 31, chapter six, sorry, no, hang on. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 31. Here's another Bible principle. Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. So if you can take your ruby rub, or you can take your capstan, or your drum, or you can take your Winfield, or you can take whatever else, and you can light it up to the glory of God, well, you're a different kind of Christian than me. That's all I know. I don't know if you can smoke to the glory of God. How can you defile your temple to the glory of God? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Three things. Three things why Christians shouldn't smoke. Number one, your temple will be defiled, your testimony will be damaged, and your treasure will be wasted. your temple will be defiled, your testimony will be damaged, and your treasure will be wasted. Now, I have no idea. I haven't bought a pack of cigarettes in over 16 years, so I don't know how much they are, but I'd hate to guess. I'm sure they're very expensive. And that money, which would be wasted on cigarettes, would be far better used on the mission field. Right? Amen. Amen. All right, let's have a look at gluttony. Let's lay aside smoking and let's have a look at gluttony. This will be a good one. Proverbs chapter 23. And if the Western society has ever been guilty of gluttony, it'd be in our day. The fork and the spoon has been the death of many a people. Proverbs 23. and verse 19. Hear thou my son and be wise and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh. For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Fairly descriptive passage of scripture. Hear thou my son, be wise, guide thine heart in the way. Be wise and guide your heart. Here's a bit of instruction for you. My son, be not among winebibbers. And then down in verse 21, for the drunkard. Do you see that? You see the connection between the winebibber and the drunkard. And then we see the connection between the riotous eaters of flesh and the glutton. You see the connection between the two? Being among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh. We ought not company with them. We ought to be separate from them. We ought to come out from among them. For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. The Lord, here in this passage of scripture, likens gluttony to drunkenness. Drunken and gluttonous, mentioned together. Ooh, we need to be careful. We need to be careful that we're not riotous eaters of flesh, To be gluttonous is just simply to overdo it. Go further than we need to. Have that extra helping that we didn't need. Marcus. You're all right right now, you're a grown boy. But we're all, we all gotta be careful in this area, don't we? We all have, our pantries are full, aren't they? Anyone got an empty pantry? We got some we can give you if you've got an empty pantry. Most of our fridges are full. We have more than we need. We're not scrounging for every meal every day. Oh, we've been abundantly blessed in that area, but it really, it's been to our demise really as a society. In Deuteronomy chapter 21 and verse 20, It says, And they shall say unto the elders of his city, Remember the rebellious son that was brought out? Remember the rebellious son? And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard. There it is, that glutton and drunkard associated together again by the Lord. That rebellious son. He was stubborn, he was rebellious, he was disobedient, and it also mentioned that he was a glutton and he was a drunkard. And we see the effect, in the proverb here that we're looking at, we see the effect of this drunkenness and this gluttony, overdoing it, eating too much. The effect of it is drowsiness, is poverty, Drowsiness and rags. Poverty, drowsiness and rags. We live in a sleepy day. Sleepy day. Most people are so sleepy, they've eaten themselves into a slumber. You know, your body doesn't need much to live. In fact, your body can survive for beyond 40 days without food, as long as it's got water. But we think we need 15 square meals a day just to make it through the day. We don't need that much. You know, you can survive for a very long time on an apple a day. Now, I like my food like everybody else's does, but we need to be careful, don't we? We ought to be careful that it doesn't become idolatry. We can get to the point where our food nearly becomes an idol, and we nearly worship our food, because that's what we're thinking about. We get up and we're thinking about, oh, breakfast, bacon and eggs, or Weet-Bix, or whatever it is. Whatever it is you like for breakfast. I don't know what you like for breakfast. And then we get through breakfast and we're thinking about smoke, oh, I need a meat pie. And then we're thinking about lunch, and then we're thinking about afternoon tea, and then we're thinking about tea. And then we're thinking about nibblies before bed. And it becomes consuming to our mind. And literally, it becomes idolatry, because that's all we're thinking about. That's what's on our mind. And we need to be careful about this. In Ezekiel chapter 16 and verse 49, it says, Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, an abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. Part of the iniquity of Sodom and Gomorrah was the fact not only of their pride and their just absolute immorality, but a part of it was their fullness of bread, and the abundance of idleness. Remember our Proverbs said one of the results of gluttony was drowsiness. An abundance of idleness. Oh, we need to be busy. We need to be good stewards of our time, redeeming the time, not being gluttonous and idle and lazy and drowsy. Philippians chapter three and verse 19, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things, whose God is their belly. Now, if you turn the television on and you flip through anything on the television, I don't know how many different food channels there are. There's like, I don't know, I couldn't tell you. And you get on, if you go somewhere where there's paid television, whatever it's called, and sometimes there's like 100 channels. Well, you can have 25 of them as food channels. There's no doubt that our society, Western society, American, Australian, Europe, we're given the food. It's become an idol. It's become an idol. And as Christians, again, we shouldn't be enslaved to nicotine and a cigarette, but we shouldn't be enslaved to our bellies either. You ought to be able to rule your belly. Who's the boss? You or the belly? Who's the boss? Oh, we ought to be able to say no. You know one good way to say no to the belly? And it's a biblical thing. And it's something we all ought to be involved in, it's called fasting. Ooh. That takes self-discipline right there, doesn't it? Have you ever found the moment you start to fast, you just, it's like you can't stop thinking about food. I'm gonna fast today. And that's all that's on your mind, is the fridge, the food, it's just a battle. But it takes self-discipline to say no to yourself. You know, it's really easy to say, Jack, no. Isn't that easy? You find that easy? Just dishing out no everywhere. No. No. Parents love the word no. I love the word no. I use it all the time. Dad, no. But dad quit, no. No. But turn around and say no to yourself. Oh, it takes a bit of self-discipline to say no to yourself. But we ought to be, who's the boss, your belly or you? 1 Corinthians chapter six and verse 12 says, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. There's many that are under the power of the fork and the spoon. They're absolutely enslaved by it. Have a look back in our Proverbs 23, have a look at verse one. Interesting passage of scripture, the first couple of verses here, Proverbs 23, and then we'll move on to the next one. Proverbs 23, when thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee. So you're sitting down with the king, sitting down with the wealthy, sitting down with the ruler, Consider diligently, be careful, consider what's before you, and put a knife to thy throat. That's a little graphic, isn't it? A bit extreme. And put a knife to thy throat, if there'll be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meats. Labour not to be rich, cease from thine own wisdom. Put a knife to thy throat. Instead of putting a knife to your plate, put it to your throat if you be given to appetite. Self-discipline. Moderation is where it needs to be, isn't it? And that's the Christian life. It's all about balance, isn't it? That's one of the biggest struggles as a Christian, is maintaining that balanced life. You know, don't you find that? You get this area sort of in balance, and then this one's in. You gotta come over here and you gotta adjust that, and you balance that out, and then you're back over here, and you're balancing this out again. It's just a constant juggle, trying to keep things in balance in your Christian life. Moderation is the way to go. Now let's go to body piercing and tattooing. Leviticus chapter 19. Leviticus chapter 19. And verse 28, you should not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you. I am the Lord. That's a pretty clear instruction. He says, you shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead. Now you see that, we don't see that in our culture, in our society, do we? Someone dies, you don't see the carry on. But we were up in, when I was in Papua New Guinea a few weeks ago, when I was up there, someone had died, and there was a vehicle coming along. and we had to stop, we were in the vehicle, we were in a truck, we had to get off the road and there was this great procession coming along and they had red ribbons and red sheets and all sorts of red stuff tied all over the vehicles and they pulled, we where we were pulled off was right at the marketplace and they pulled into the market there and they all stopped and there was a big procession of vehicles and they're all just wailing and crying and screaming and carrying on and it was just absolute mayhem. Now they weren't cutting themselves but they do up there, they do that and in other cultures they'll cut themselves to express their grief for the dead. And it goes on here and it says, "...nor print any marks upon you. I am the Lord." Now, we need to remember that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. So, I don't need to be smoking and defiling my body. I don't need to be overeating and defiling my body. I need to take care of my body. You know, back to that gluttony side of things, just let me say this. If you read about D.L. Moody, or you read after C.H. Spurgeon, those two men particularly, great preachers of old, down at the end of their ministry, they both said, we wish we had taken better care of our body. It wasn't their mind that went, it was their bodies that went. They were both big men. Evidently, they liked their food. They were big men. And then when they got down to the end, They said they wished they had taken better care of the body that God had given them, so that they could keep on serving the Lord. Your body is the temple. Don't abuse it with your mouth. Don't abuse it with your fork. Don't defile it with the spoon. Look after your body. I was reading after R.C. Chapman. He was a pastor in England in Barnstable or Barnstable or however you pronounce it. He was a good friend of Hudson Taylor and Spurgeon and these different fellows of that day. He was a pastor there and he was a man of great discipline. And they said he was so disciplined in body, mind and spirit. And he took care of his body. And at 98, he was still preaching, because he was able to, because he was so disciplined in self-discipline in his body, his mind, and his soul. So let's not defile our body with our forks and our spoons, but also with body piercing and tattooing. We need to be careful we don't defile the temple of the Lord. In Deuteronomy chapter 14 and verse one, Go with me there, go with me to Deuteronomy chapter 14. That's close by, it's not far for you to go to. Deuteronomy 14 and verse 1. And it starts out with this emphatic statement, ye are the children of the Lord your God. You are the children of the Lord your God. He's not talking to the lost. He's not talking to the world. He's talking to his children. You are the children of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art an holy people under the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the earth. Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing, and it carries on through thee. But again, there's clear instruction, for thou art an holy people. Under the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself. Remember, you're not your own. I'm not mine, I've been bought with a price, I'm not mine. I'll just give you these texts, you can take note of them and you can look at them later. But in Genesis 35, verse one through four, and Isaiah chapter three, verse 16 through 23, we see in those passages of scripture that tattooing and body piercing has its roots in witchcraft and the practice of false religion. Isaiah chapter three, verse 16 through 23, and also Genesis 35, one through four. And whenever the Lord was dealing with them about false religion, He deals with them about some of their body piercing and their tattooing in those places. And if you go, you look at the Maoris, you look up in Papua New Guinea, And you look at these other heathen nations that are completely given over to false religion and idolatry, tattooing is a huge part within their culture, within their religion. It's not just a fad, it has other things connected to it, deep things, meaningful things. Now, go with me to Exodus chapter 21. And verse six, this is interesting. And I always remember this verse, this always comes to my mind, particularly now over the last couple of years. Well, I suppose it's the last five years we've got this fad of not only piercing our ears, but putting these enormous, great, big, ridiculous looking things in our ears. I don't know, what are they called? Stretchers? A gauge. A gauge. Yeah, I just don't understand. But anyway. You know, you do that when you're 16, 17, 18, but when you're 97, and you're getting your arm hooked up in your earlobe, when you're trying to put your shirt on, it's gonna cause you problems. I mean, really. It's just ridiculous, isn't it? Thank God I got saved out of all that mess. Hallelujah. I don't have to be given over to that rubbish. Exodus 21 and verse 6. Then his master shall bring him under the judges. I will go to verse 5. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him under the judges. He shall also bring him to the door or under the doorposts, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. A hole bored through the ear. The servant, he chose not to leave his master. He said, Master, I love you. You treat me so well. I don't want to leave. I want to serve you forever. Then that servant would be taken to the doorpost, and an awl would be taken, and they'd drill that hole through that earlobe. It was a sign of enslavement forever. And I always think about that. You've got these people, these big things. and it's just a sign of slavery. I don't even, it doesn't even look attractive. It looks ridiculous. But as Christians, as the children of God, should I really be interested in putting these stretches or these gauges or whatever they're called in our ears? Do I really wanna be doing that to my body, to the temple of the Lord? Is that making some improvement? It's not making any improvement. Now I'll say this, I say most, I don't say all, I say most body piercing and tattooing is done out of a spirit of rebellion. It's done with a spirit of rebellion against the creator and against the Lord, the one that created them and designed them. Now, again, we're told over and over again, and we've looked at this, as the temple of God, we're not to defile the temple of God. We're not to defile it. We're not to abuse it. We're supposed to take care of it. And what we need to understand is this. We need to understand, I'll cover this I think last week as well. Oh no, it might have been a couple of weeks ago. I can't remember what I was preaching on. But we need to get a hold of the fact that God created, we're not here by accident, and you don't look the way you look out of accident. God designed you to look that way because he wanted you to look that way. And for you then to take those big spreaders and put them in your ear, that's just you saying, I don't like what God's done, he messed up there, I wanted bigger ear lobes. I don't like my earlobes. I want to spread my earlobes. We just need to be satisfied. We need to be content with what God's given us, the way He's created us. Be content with the way the Lord... You don't have to change what God's created. You're just right just the way you are. You're perfect just the way you are. Now, you may look in the mirror and you may say, well, I wish my nose looked like her nose, or I wish my nose looked like his nose, or I wish I had her colored eyes, or I wish my ears looked like her ears. Well, what you need to be content, well, you don't need to be covetous of somebody else's, you just need to be content with what God's given you. You've got the nose that God wanted you to have. He said, you know, that's the perfect nose for that face, and he put it on me. That's the perfect ears for that phrase, and he put it on there. He chose to, he designed it just how he wanted it to be designed. Now go with me to 1 Peter 3, and we're talking about adorning our bodies. And this passage of Scripture is particularly talking about the women, but we can take it in regards to all of us when it comes to adorning our body. 1 Peter 3. And verse 3, "...whose adorning," and adorning has to do with the dressing, the putting on, it has to do with the garnishing, "...whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel." Listen. As a child of God, whether you're a man or a woman, you don't need to worry so much about how you look outwardly. It's not a big deal. The only requirement is modesty for men and women. That's the requirement. Don't be too caught up with your plaiting, your hair, and your gold, and your jewelry, and your makeup. What's the point of doing that and having a rotten heart on the inside? That's of no benefit at all. Oh, you can dress it up and you can look pretty special. But then on the inside, you're dead. Dressing up the outside does nothing for your soul. It does nothing for your relationship with the Lord. And so our emphasis, the emphasis here in this passage of Scripture, is that there's a dawning. Let it not be the outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold and putting on of apparel. And the Lord's not against that. The Lord's not against you plaiting your hair. The Lord's not against you putting on jewelry. The Lord's not against you putting on makeup. But don't let that be what it's all about, because that's not what it's all about. Notice verse four, but let it be. the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." You don't need to be so concerned about dressing up the outside. What you need to be really concerned about is looking in the mirror of the word of God, rather than looking in the mirror in the bathroom and dressing up the outside, you'd be better off getting in the mirror of the word of God and adorning your inner man. That'd be far more beneficial for you. Forget about the tattoos, forget about the piercings, forget about the jewelry, forget about the hair, forget about the makeup, forget about all that trendy stuff. Because in the sight of God, it's nothing. And why don't you just concentrate on that ornament of a meek and quiet spirit? Why don't you concentrate on adorning that inward man? That's what's important. That's what's of great price. Now in conclusion, whether it be smoking, whether it be gluttony, or piercing, and tattoos, or any other thing, along this line, doesn't matter what it is, anything along this line, it all comes back to 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19. What? Know ye not that your body Your body, not your soul, your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, and forget the Holy Ghost is in you, which you have of God, it's been given to you of God, and you're not your own, for you're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. We're exhorted. In 2 Corinthians 6, we're exhorted to what? We're exhorted to come out, we're exhorted to be separate, we're exhorted not to touch the unclean thing, and that He would receive us. Come out, be separate, touch not. In principle, there's some things that Christians just don't need to be involved with. You don't need to be involved in smoking. I don't need to be involved in gluttony. We don't need to be involved in body piercing and tattooing. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. Now go with me, let's just, we'll close with this verse in Romans chapter 12. This is our last passage of scripture. Romans chapter 12 and verse one. So let me encourage you teenagers, particularly, because you're the ones that are going to struggle with this more than anything. Brother Bill, are you having struggles? Want to get a tattoo or anything? You're over it? Alright. Well, you teenagers, particularly, you're the ones that this is going to, that's where the most pressure is, is on the teenagers. There's a lot of pressure out there. A lot of pressure. It's going to be hard for you if you're not saved to resist that pressure. Number one, the first thing you need to take care of is your salvation. And you need to repent and believe the gospel. You need to obey the gospel. You need the Holy Ghost to come in and convert you, regenerate you and change your desires. If you've got this desire to be just like the world, If your desire is to be like everybody out there in the world, and that's what you're panting after, and that's what you're hungering and thirsting after, you need God in your life. That's what you need. But let me say this. As teenagers, you young people, are you listening to me? Some of you, you're not there yet, but as you get a little bit older, and some of you are old enough and you're facing that pressure already, You need to be real careful. You need to be real careful about what this verse says. Notice it in Romans chapter 12 and verse 1 and verse 2. You teenagers particularly, I want you, I exhort you, I encourage you to memorize these verses if you haven't already. I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, by the goodness of God, by the kindness of God, I beg you, I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable under God, which is your reasonable service. It's only reasonable. God's not asking too much of you here. It's only reasonable that you would present your bodies a living sacrifice. What's that mean? Well, in some places, in some churches, they'll have an offering plate. They'll have an offering plate or an offering bag. We have the boxes at the back, either way, however you wanna do it. But let's say we had an offering plate. Let's see, here we go. We'll use this as our offering plate. That's a beautiful offering plate. Australian stock horse, a couple of kelpies, and a couple of bales of hay. There's our offering plate. Now when we put an offering in, we take, well I don't have anything but a pocket knife to offer, so I'll use my pocket knife. When we give an offering, we put it in the offering plate, and we take our hands off it and we give it to God, don't we? Isn't that what an offering is? We offer something to the Lord. This is not an offering. Here you go, Lord, but I'm gonna hold onto it just in case I need it. That's not an offering. An offering is you putting it in there and letting go of it. Now our verse in Romans 12 and verse 1, the exhortation is for you to present your bodies a living sacrifice. Now I'm not going to step in there because I'll break it, but I'll step over it and I'll step here and you can all pretend I'm stepping in it, right? So now I'm stepping in the offering plate. To present your bodies a living sacrifice is to put yourself in the offering plate, is to give yourself to God, give your body to the Lord. Offer your bodies, offer your life, a living sacrifice. It's only reasonable. God's not asking too much of you out of that. That's a reasonable thing. A reasonable thing. Now notice what it says in verse 2. So offer yourself, offer your body, offer your life, a living sacrifice. Give it to God. Let go of yourself. Just give yourself wholly, acceptably under God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world. Teenagers, don't let the pressure of this world shape you. Don't let the pressure of this world dictate how you dress, how you talk, how you walk, the music you listen to, the piercings that you get, tattooing, all these things. Don't let the world dictate that to you. Don't be conformed to the image of this world. Don't let the pressure of this world shape you and mold you to look just like the world. Don't be conformed to the image of the world. But be what? Transformed. By what? The renewing of your mind. And it goes on and says, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You know, some people, they struggle with finding the will of God. Well, I just don't know what the will of God is for my life. Well, just let go of your life, give it to the Lord, give your body, give your life, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Him, which is your reasonable service. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed in the renewing of your mind, and you'll find the will of God. The Lord will open it up for you, He'll show you. Christian, we need to remember. that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, you're not your own, you're bought with a price. When it comes to Bible principles, I think it's pretty clear how we as Christians ought to behave ourselves towards smoking, gluttony, body piercing, and tattooing. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me, and we can talk it over, all right?