Submitted by Tim Scarbrough
December 27, 1998

INTRODUCTION: An evening television news program once presented a segment about prostitution in San Francisco. These women were selling their bodies for money. The men who paid them were treating their bodies as nothing but instruments for their own perverted pleasure.

The bodies of these prostitutes were not created for that purpose. No, they were created to bring glory to God. But in our society, people have neglected that original intent and purpose.

It's not just sexual immorality in the world, however. There are many Christians who mistreat their bodies in a variety of ways, forgetting about its original intent and purpose. "But I read my Bible and pray." That's good. You're taking care of the soul and the spirit, but you must also take care of the body.

How to treat your body:

1) As a living sacrifice.
2) As the temple of God.
3) As one which is in subjection to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV) Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I. AS A LIVING SACRIFICE

Romans 12:1 (NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethern, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

A. We must treat our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God.

1. It tells us that we must present our bodies unto God.

a. This isn't something which we change our minds about from day to day.

b. It's a once and for all presentation of our bodies to God.

c. It would be the same as a husband not changing his mind from day to day about whether or not he's married.

2. Some people present their children to God, their finances, their cars, etc.

3. But God wants us to also present our bodies.

a. Our hands, feet, eyes and ears...

b. God wants these... and so does the devil.

B. "Living" sacrifice represents something which is alive and active.

1. God needs living, breathing people who are yielded unto Him.

a. Bodies carry the gospel to other nations.

b. Bodies walk up and down the streets of our cities praying.

c. It is a body yielded to the direction of the Holy Spirit which carries out the ministry of Jesus Christ.

2. We need bodies in the church worshipping God.

a. Sometimes people will say, "I'll be there in spirit".

b. Imagine if everyone showed up in spirit one Sunday.

c. When Jesus said "where two or three are gathered in my name", He was talking about a bodily gathering.

3. God desires this living sacrifice to be a holy one.

a. A holy body is one which is not ruled by sin nor enslaved to any elements of this world.

b. The Word of God emphasizes the importance of not allowing sin to have dominion in our bodies.

Romans 6:12-14 (NKJV) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but but under grace.

c. What exactly is sin? Sin is missing the mark.

4. The exciting news is that if we'll just present our bodies to Him, He'll clean it up and put everything in order and He'll make it acceptable and pleasing to Him.

a. He doesn't want our will power getting in the way of His work.

b. Everything God does is Holy. Whereas, the things we do have a tendancy to pollute what is good.

C. How do we keep from taking our body back?

1. Walk by faith and not by sight.

a. We often get caught up by how we look and feel.

b. It's at these times we may think that God is not handling things well enough for us.

c. So we try to take control.

d. Lay all that anxiety aside and trust God.

2. Yield complete authority of your body over to the Spirit of God.

a. Little kids depend on mom and dad as to when they should eat, sleep, bathe, and go potty.

b. God should have that same kind of authority over our body.

3. Praise God daily that He's doing a good job with your body.

a. Avoid complaining about aches and pains.

b. Remember that God does some things slower than we want.

II. AS THE TEMPLE OF GOD

1 Cor. 6:19-20 (NKJV) Or do you do 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? Therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit which are God's.

A. Our bodies are meant to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.

1. We must come strongly into the knowledge of that truth.

a. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

b. When our minds get ahold of it, our bodies will follow suit.

c. Most athletes will tell you that the ability to achieve success in their sports depends largely on their mental state.

2. The Holy Spirit is in you, but do you treat your body like He is?

a. When we have out of town guests come to our home, we usually clean the house and keep it clean while they are there.

b. What kind of host is your body for the Holy Spirit?

c. There was a man in Mark 5;1-4 who treated his body badly. Why? Because he was demon possessed.

3. Your body is not your own... it's God's. He's simply put your body into your care.

a. God places finances, children, ministries and other things into our care. We must be good managers of those things.

b. In the same way we must be a good steward or manager of our body.

c. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Discipline the flesh and take good care of the flesh and it will cooperate more readily with the spirit.

B. God did a great job in making your body.

1. He will not defile your body.

a. He's not the one who puts sickness in it.

b. He's not the one who causes it to be run down and weary.

c. He's not the one who causes it to be addicted to the things of this world.

2. The devil, however, does everything he can to defile your body.

a. He attempts to entice you, luring you according to your own desires.

b. He wants to enslave people to food, nicotine, caffeine, drugs, prescription medication, sex and so on.

c. We need to make the confession: "My body is God's body". It isn't to be the devil's playground.

3. The reason why your body is His is because Jesus paid for it.

C. How to keep your body as a Holy temple.

1. Let good things enter your body through your senses.

Matt. 6:22-23 (NKJV) The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.

a. People have a tendency to want to look at bad things.

b. News groups are concerned about ratings. Bad news brings good ratings.

c. We must be very careful about what we see and what we hear.

2. Don't allow your body to become enslaved to the things of this world.

a. Various addictions, including that of over-eating.

Prov. 25:16 (NKJV) Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, Lest you be filled with it and vomit.

b. There needs to be self-control exhibited in our bodies.

c. This also includes various sexual addictions.

1 Cor. 6:18 (NKJV) Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

3. Speak blessings over your body.

James 3:6 (NKJV) And a tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire by hell.

a. God made your body, so don't be cursing it.

b. Bless your body with good words. You may be doing it in faith, but that's a start.

c. There was once a preacher who change his confession of "Lean, mean, preaching machine" when he recognized that the thinner he got the meaner he got.

4. Let your body be a place of praise.

2 Chron. 5:13-14 (NKJV) indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeter and singers were as one, to make a sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord saying: "He is good, For His mercy endures forever," that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of God filled the house of God.

a. The Old Testament temple was a building. The New Testament temple is our body.

b. The priests had their messages all ready, but God was praised and He took control and they didn't get to preach.

c. When your body is a place of praise, God will take control of it.

III. AS ONE WHICH IS SUBJECTION TO YOU

1 Cor. 9:27 (NKJV) But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I preach to others, I myself should become disqualified.

A. The Apostle Paul states that he disciplines his body.

1. Notice that he says, "I" discipline my body.

a. He's not doing it alone. In Philippians 4:13 he states that he can do all things through Jesus Christ who gives him strength.

b. So as Jesus supplies the strength, he disciplines his body.

2. As believers in Christ, we must be disciplining our bodies as Jesus supplies the strength.

a. This means that we don't give our bodies everything it may want.

b. Sometimes children will cry for something they want, but we won't give it to them because we know it's bad for them.

c. In the same way our bodies cry out for certain things. But we can't give it everything it says it wants.

3. At the same time there are some things we must do for our bodies that it says it doesn't want.

a. We've got to put good food and water in it even though the body may be saying, "Hey, I just want cake and ice cream."

b. In 1 Timothy 4:8 it says that bodily exercise profits a little, but that little is important.

c. Most people don't want to exercise, even though it's good for their body.

B. One of the key points to remember is that we are the boss of our bodies.

1. Too many people are controlled by their bodies or their flesh.

a. There are some people who've gotten into the place of being continually anxious about what they'll eat.

b. The result is of this anxiety is that people will actually eat more. Sometimes, just the thought of going on a diet brings about this anxiety.

c. Jesus talked about being anxious over such things.

Matt. 6:25 (NKJV) Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

2. We've got to start informing our bodies that they are enslaved to us.

a. We are not to be led by the desires of the flesh.

Ro. 8:13 (NKJV) For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

b. Our bodies should be in the place of needing permission from our spirit for anything.

c. Your spirit won't ever lead you astray once Jesus comes in. It's your body or flesh which will blow it everytime.

3. It's important that you don't mistreat your body nor hate your body, but you should love your body. At the same time, maintain a balance by not worshipping your body.

a. If you spend more time fretting over your body or admiring your body than you do spending time with God, then your body has become your god.

b. Billboards, magazines, and other forms of media display the bodies of people in various forms of "perfection". Our society has a tendency to worship the human form.

c. The reality is that until Jesus comes back, the body is destined for dirt.

C. How to discipline and bring your body into subjection.

1. Walk according to the spirit.

Gal. 5:16-17 (NKJV) I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

a. The only way that you can walk according to the Spirit is by getting in tune with the Spirit.

b. The only way you can get in tune with the Spirit is by spending time with the Spirit.

c. Everyday you should yield control of your life over to God.

d. The more you do that, the easier it will be to bring your body into subjection.

2. Have a vision for your body.

a. Two years from now, how do you see your body?

b. Take time to write it down.

Hab. 2:2 (NKJV) Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it."

c. God has a good vision for your body. Ask Him what that is, write it down and stay focused on it.

3. Take it slow and be patient.

Psalm 37:5 (NKJV) Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

a. Please do not think that every single thing has to happen over night.

b. Disciplining the body takes time.

4. Begin to regularly fast.

Matt. 6:17-18 (NKJV) But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

a. Notice that Jesus says "when you fast" not "if you fast". He expected us to fast.

b. Fasting is an act of worship.

c. Fasting also teaches our body discipline.

CONCLUSION:

Your body is God's body. So how should you treat it?

1) As a living sacrifice.
2) As the temple of God.
3) As one which is in subjection to you.

Email: Tim Scarbrough