Rev. David Holwick H Church Covenant #7
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 19, 2006
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
ARE YOU DESECRATING YOUR TEMPLE?
Church covenant: "To remember that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,
and we promise to use it to glorify God..."
I. The quest for the perfect body.
A. The artificial route.
1) Beijing, China, had the Miss Artificial Beauty contest in
December 2004.
That year the per capita income in China was only $1,100.
Yet one contestant spent $36,000 in her quest for the
perfect body.
She didn't even make the finals.
2) Extreme body building, tanning, personal physical trainers
-- we go a long way to sculpt our bodies.
B. Our culture worships the body, but only superficially.
1) Christians shouldn't worship the body.
2) But we should use the body to worship.
3) And many of us are committing sacrilege in that regard.
II. Your body is a temple.
A. Various uses of the image in Corinthians.
1) In 1 Cor 3:16, we as a church are God's temple.
a) "You" is plural.
b) Destroying the temple has to do with splintering a
church.
2) Here in 6:19, our individual bodies are temples of God.
a) Therefore our bodies belong to God more than to us.
b) If we harm this physical body, God will be ticked.
B. We are more than our appetites.
1) Rest of passage deals with a heresy in Corinth.
a) Essence: the physical doesn't matter, only the spirit.
b) Anything having to do with physical life, like food or
sex, cannot touch our soul. 6:13
2) Your body matters.
a) Our bodies were created by God to bring him glory.
b) Our bodies will be resurrected by God just like he
resurrected Jesus.
c) What we do with our bodies, we also do to Christ. 6:15
C. It is a spiritual duty to take care of our bodies.
1) The word used for "temple" is "naos" which means a shrine.
The word is the one used of the temple at Jerusalem that
contained the Holy of Holies.
It was considered the dwelling place of God.
2) In the Old Testament the word applies to the inner parts
of the temple where only the priests entered.
Outside the entrance there was a large basin.
The priest would wash and cleanse himself before he could
enter.
3) To violate the holiness of that place was a serious sin
punishable by instant death.
This is the symbol that God uses to explain the relationship
a believer has to the Lord.
By saying that our bodies are the temple of God, Paul is
teaching that our bodies should be places free of any
sin and separated to the Lord's service.
Our bodies are to be clean and free of any sinful habit
and wholly dedicated to Him. #15714
III. Don't desecrate your temple.
A. Some of you remember a change in the covenant.
1) This section used to be longer:
"...to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating liquors
as a beverage..."
a) I am told the reciting got much fainter at that point.
2) Mark of fundamentalism was to list forbidden activities.
a) Holiness and sin were not left to your imagination.
1> Expectations were spelled out.
2> In my Christian school, drinking, drugs, sex and
dancing were all banned.
b) When this church was built, Prohibition was about to
be enforced.
1> Christians had fought alcohol for years.
2> Many disagreed - rumor has it that the old
Rock Spring Hotel up at the Ledgewood Pond
burned down when its illegal still blew up.
3> In the end, the moonshiners won the battle.
3) The line was dropped because of concern of legalism.
a) Banning alcohol is not a command in the Bible.
1> Only drunkenness is forbidden.
b) Abstinence is not required for salvation or church
membership.
4) Unfortunately, for many people a taste leads to slavery.
a) Christian behavior is not limited to the minimum
requirement for salvation.
1> Self-control and sobriety remains a valid virtue.
2> Young people, do you want to stand out in a crowd?
Don't touch a drop of alcohol.
b) Our witness to world is endangered.
1> Are we so lax, abstinence needs to be reemphasized?
B. Substance abuse covers many areas.
1) Alcohol.
a) Christians have had good reason to be against it.
1> Early death, broken families, violence against
loved ones.
b) Newspaper commentary on Thursday looked at several
recent notorious crimes.
1> Natalie Holloway, the girl who disappeared in Aruba.
2> Imette St. Guillen, the bright, beautiful woman who
was brutally murdered in Manhattan.
3> And a third one which I forget because Celeste
threw out the paper....
4> So I will substitute the case of [a local murder of
a young man at a party where there was a lot of
drinking].
#3521
In each case, the victims had been drinking heavily
and were probably drunk.
The newspaper commentary admitted it is bad form
to blame a victim.
But he said the fact remains: if they had not been
drunk, they would all probably still be alive.
c) Bible's ancient advice: Don't get drunk on wine, but
be filled with God's spirit.
2) Drugs.
a) Not as prevalent in Bible times.
b) Some Christians believe drugs are condemned under
the "acts of the flesh" in Galatians 5:20.
The word "witchcraft" is from "pharmakeia" meaning
"the use or administering drugs."
In the ancient world, drugs were closely connected
with sorcery, witchcraft, and magical arts.
c) Roxbury is loaded with drugs.
d) Drugs are like drinking: if you don't use it, it cannot
control you.
3) Smoking.
a) Leading cause of cancer and heart attacks.
A study of 119,404 nurses by Harvard Medical School
showed women who smoked only 4 cigarettes a day
more than doubled their chances of heart attack.
Smoking 25 or more a day boosted the coronary risk up
to 5 times that of a nonsmoker.
Once smoking is stopped the risk promptly goes down.
#23
4) What about differences of opinion?
a) German Christians feel no guilt drinking beer.
b) The English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon enjoyed
a cigar each night, and defended it. #15692
c) Assess the lives of those who practice them.
1> You probably know an alcoholic.
2> Think of those who did drugs in college.
3> Know any smokers who got lung cancer?
Compare their lives with those who lived
differently.
C. Physical (non-)fitness.
1) Obesity.
a) My personal rollercoaster.
b) When Baptists get together, we always eat.
c) Make no mistake: overeating is an epidemic in America.
1> We'll probably settle the issue by having a
massive class lawsuit against MacDonald's.
2> Reality: we have brought it on ourselves.
2) Exercise.
a) God gave us muscles for a reason.
b) We have an obligation to keep in shape.
D. Sexual sin.
1) Main emphasis in 1 Corinthians 6.
2) God made our bodies for holy living.
a) Opponents argued sexual sin is like other appetites.
b) Paul says sex affects our souls as well as our bodies.
c) Most modern people agree with his opponents.
The Netherlands recently produced a video that is
required viewing for those who wish to become
citizens of their country.
It shows gay couples holding hands, and a nude woman
walking along a public beach.
The implicit message: if these things bother you,
don't come here.
Treating sex as a mere appetite is a mark of modernism.
3) The Bible is strict on sex.
a) No premarital sex.
b) No adultery.
c) No homosexuality or other variations.
d) One man, one woman, in holy marriage - period.
1> The Bible portrays all these sins, but shows how
destructive they are.
2> You don't need the Bible to know this - look
around you.
4) Honor God, honor your spouse, honor yourself in this area.
IV. Use your body to glorify God.
A. Our bodies are not an end in themselves.
1) We are not sculpting ourselves for our own pleasure.
2) Recap - we shouldn't worship the body, but use the body
to worship.
B. Practice healthy living.
1) Self-control.
2) Moderation.
3) Exercise.
4) Flee sin, especially those that affect your body and mind.
a) Your mind is also a part of your physical body, a
very powerful part.
b) Bring your thoughts under Christ's control.
C. Use your strength and smarts to do something for God.
1) Our church in the last week:
a) Volunteers fixing buildings at Camp Lebanon.
b) Driving people to medical treatments.
c) A roomful of people planning the next VBS.
2) What could you do for God if you put your body, mind
and soul into it?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 23 "The Effects Of Cigarettes," Newsweek (sidebar article), February 8,
1988, page 58. David Holwick Illustration Collection.
# 3521 "For Killing A Friend," by Peggy Wright, Daily Record Newspaper,
Parsippany, New Jersey, January 24, 1996.
#15714 "The Christian, Drugs, and Alcohol," by Dewayne Staggs, Waynesboro,
Tennessee "Words of Life," vol. 4, #43, October 25, 1998; edited
by Rev. David Lemmons, LemmonsAid; Fredericksburg Illustration
Collection.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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