In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that God owns us by right of creation. He refers to Genesis 1:1 and 2:7 to support this claim. The preacher shares a story about a boy who desperately wants a toy sailboat and saves up his money to buy it. The boy's determination and excitement in obtaining the boat serve as an illustration of how we should approach our relationship with God. The sermon concludes with the preacher describing a powerful response from the congregation, particularly the teenagers, during an invitation to surrender to God's ownership.

1 Corinthians chapter 6, look please if you would, one of the most familiar portions of Scripture in all of the Bible, verse number 19. 1 Corinthians chapter number 6, please, and verse number 19. The Bible says what? Will you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit with your God. And this morning as we begin our series of meetings, I preach the simple sermon, Who Does God Think He Is Anyhow? Thank you very much. You may be seated. Let's bow our heads and hearts and pray. And let's ask the Lord to bless our time together this morning. Who Does God Think He Is Anyhow? Now, my father, once again, I pray to your Lord that you would empty me of myself and that you would fill me with the Holy Spirit of God. Father, I pray for these my friends, this congregation, that you would help them as they listen to the Bible and truly that there be one who has come to this service but has never come to the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray today, Lord, that you would convict them and you would speak to their hearts. Then for God's people, Lord, I pray that you would also stir up, change us and convict us using the precious pages of the word of God. Lord, I just plead the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ upon this service. We know that the devil does not like singing, but we know that he cannot stand and he thoroughly hates the preaching of the word of God. And so, Lord, we claim the victory that we already have in the word of God. So help these as they listen to the word of God. Father, in private, I've done my best to pray myself full. And now in public, I pray you'd help me to preach myself empty. Fill me with the Spirit of God like never before, I pray in Jesus name. Amen. I'm sure from those pews in this pulpit, you're no stranger to 1st and 2nd Corinthians. It doesn't take a brain surgeon and rocket scientist to figure out that when you get to 1st and 2nd Corinthians, you have the most spiritually immature, carnally minded group of people and all of the New Testament. Now, the apostle Paul fixed a couple of problems at the church at Philippi. He fixed a few throughout Thessalonica and some over in Ephesians and the Galatian church had a few problems that needed to be fixed. But there was not another church under the sound of the apostle Paul's voice on the face of God's earth throughout the New Testament that had more struggles, that had more temptations, that had more problems and had more immaturity and carnality than the church that was at Corinth. As a matter of fact, the first book was 16 chapters long and the apostle Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was not able to even fix all the problems in 16 chapters. And so he had book number two. He had the second edition, if you will, that was 13 chapters. And after all of those chapters, those people still had problem after problem after problem. Paul told them about seven different times in the first few chapters of the first book that their problem was carnality, that their problem was spiritual immaturity. Now, I didn't make this up. It's in the Word of God. They had problems in the church with fornication, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, they had problems with adultery. I mean, they had problems with all kind of gross immorality and ungodliness. They had problems with one man would take this man to court and God's people were suing one another. And God's people were bickering and fighting. And I mean, bitterness had set in. And these people on this side of the church wouldn't speak to these people on this side. And I mean, there was bitterness and strife and contention. And Paul said, Are ye not carnal? But I believe in First Corinthians, chapter number six, to be followed up with Second Corinthians, chapter number five, I believe we find out what the real problem at Corinth was. You see, the Bible gives us the real signs for why these people were so immature, why they were full of immorality and fornication and adultery, and why they were lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, why they knew nothing about the great significant fundamental doctrines of a faith. That's why you have First Corinthians, chapter 15. These people did not even know the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the Apostle Paul spent 58 verses explaining to them the importance thereof. But then in chapter number 16, they didn't know anything about giving to the local church. They knew nothing about tithing. They knew nothing about offering. They knew nothing about grace giving. And so the Apostle Paul in chapter nine and in chapter 16 had to tell them the importance of giving to the local church. And I'm telling you problem after problem, after problem, after problem. But do you know why they have the problem? It's real simple. Because in First Corinthians, chapter number six, and in Second Corinthians, chapter number five, two portions of Scripture that parallel one another, the Apostle Paul basically told them, he just took everything and boiled it down in a great big pot and said, you know what your problem is, Corinth? He said, you have the idea that once you get saved, you think you can live any way you want to. He says, you think once you get saved, because you've got your fire insurance and your little back door out of hell, he said, you think you can do anything you want to with anybody that you want to. And you think because you've got grace, it gives you a license to sin. And the Apostle Paul pulled out the gospel gun. He begins to pull the trigger 90 miles to nothing and said, you people need to understand that you belong to God. And the Apostle Paul was doing his best to drive it deep within their heads and deep within their hearts that they had no right to live any way that they wanted to, for they did not belong to themselves, if you will, they belong to God. And many times, ladies and gentlemen, in Baptist churches, many teenagers, middle-aged people, older people, single people, married people, they have the idea, who does God think he is to tell me how to live my life? Who does God think he is to tell me how to be at Sunday school and Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night and to come to a revival meeting or a missions conference? Who does God think he is to tell me how to dress and what I ought to watch on television and what I ought to listen to in the privacy of my own vehicle? Who in the wild world does God think he is? That's a wonderful question. I'm glad you brought it up because the Apostle Paul answers it in verse number 19. Look in your Bibles please, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse number 19. Paul said, what? And you'll notice the question mark, but it's more of an emphatic question. He wasn't asking out of ignorance. He was asking because he could not believe that these people did not understand this simple principle of the Bible. He said, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, notice the emphasis, and ye are not your own. Why not? For you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. As we start our meeting this morning, I want to give you two simple reasons why God owns you and everything that you have. According to the Bible, Genesis chapter 2 and verse number 7, God owns your breath. And the Lord God formed a man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. According to the Bible, he owns your body. Right here, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 19 and 20. But like or not, ladies and gentlemen, contrary to popular belief, God owns your bank account. He owns your house. He owns your car. He owns every single thing that we say belongs to us. In all actuality, according to the Bible, it belongs to God. And so I'm going to give you two undeniable, irrefutable reasons that nobody on the face of God's earth can argue with. Two simple reasons why God can tell you what he wants you to do, when he wants you to do it, with no questions asked whatsoever, complete and utter obedience to the will of God. Two simple reasons why the apostle Paul tells us, why Jesus tells us, why all the writers of the Old and New Testament tell us, God owns us and he can do with his people as he pleases. Simple outline, get it down. Number one, first and foremost, God owns me by right of creation. By the very simple scriptural fact that God created me for his glory, not for mine, God owns my body and everything that I have. Genesis chapter one in verse number one, in the beginning, God created the heaven and earth and the earth was void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God said, let there be light. And guess what? There was light. The verse I quoted just a moment ago, Genesis chapter two and verse number seven. Why is it that God looked at God, if you will, the Trinity? Why is it that they said, let us make man in our image? They already had the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. There was already the grass and there was already the atmosphere and the stars and the planets and the rocks and the God had already raised the mountains and lowered the valleys and put everything in its proper order and its proper place. And if you study the first few chapters of the book of Genesis, you will find out that God was pleased with his perfect creation. He said, man, that is good. And that is good. And that is good. And that is good. But yet there was still something that was missing. It was the crowning work of God's creation and it was creating a man in the very image of God. And so the Bible says that God took some dirt and we are a glorified mud ball from the hand of God. He took some dirt. He breathed into the nostrils, the breath of life. And the Bible says that man became a living soul. And when both man and just a few verses later, his wife, Eve, the mother of all women living, when they were then there as the two first people in the Bible, God did not say that's good. God said, that is very good. That is the only work of creation whereby God was overwhelmingly pleased with what he had created. You think the sky and the trees and the rocks and the rails and the sea, all of that was created by God. And he enjoyed that and received pleasure from that. But there was something that he wanted that was more. He created a man. He created a woman. They had a perfect, perfect union together, perfect fellowship, relationship, and union with God. And God said, that is what I like. Now, if we were to have a show of hands for time's sake, we will not. We could ask the question. I wonder why is it according to the word of God, God even bothered creating man. Now, you know, if you read your Bible, you'll find out Jesus Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The fall of man did not take God by surprise. God knew what was going to happen in the Garden of Eden. God knew exactly what was going to happen in Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel chapter 28. When the devil was kicked out of heaven, he knew what would take place. So why then in our human minds, we would ask, why did he even bother? Why did he even waste his very valuable, precious, sovereign time on you and me? Little bitty insignificant, nothing, just little bitty, tiny peons. Why is it that God would waste his time? Why did God create man? Well, I've had a number of answers to that particular question, especially when you preach to young people at camp. You ask young people, you know, teenagers, you should know what the Bible answer is, but you get around some junior age kids. Hey, why is it that God created man? And I'll say, you'll come up with a whole boatload of reasons. You ask 60 kids, you'll get 49 and a half answers. And I mean, they'll come up with all kinds of nice little things. Some of them say most of them would get together and say, well, you know, the reason God created man is because God was lonely. You know, God was up in heaven and just got a little tired of little fluttering angels fluttering around his throne. And so he needed somebody to fellowship with on an intimate basis. He needed somebody to fellowship with and to talk with, and he was lonely. So he created man for fellowship. Yes and no, because God does want your fellowship. James four, four, draw nine to God. He'll draw nine to you. God desires the fellowship of his people, but he did not create you so he could fellowship with you. Fellowship with God is a byproduct of our relationship, but it's not the main reason we were created. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us in the book of revelation, why we were created in verse number 11, it was for the honor and for the pleasure of him that created us. You see, I wasn't created so God could fellowship with me. I was created to live a life that would bring honor, glory, and pleasure to almighty God. The Bible says in Philippians chapter two, verses five to 11, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon in the form of a servant was made in the likeness of men being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also had highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What is the pervading, permeating message of scripture? It is me and my life to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ so that I in my flesh, who is incapable, by the way, of pleasing God with my flesh and with my pride, but submitting myself to the lordship of Christ to bring honor and glory to the one that saved me. That is the reason you're sitting in this building this morning, not for you, but for. Somebody says, well, I'll raise my kids the way I want to because they're my kids. You'll raise your kids according to the nurse and admiration of the Lord, because God just let you borrow them just for a little while. They belong to him. And ladies and gentlemen, everything that we have is from God. And he owns up, number one, by right of creation. That is why the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10, 31, whether therefore he eat or drink. Now, those are daily necessities of life. Some people consider it a little more necessary than others, and that's obvious. But nonetheless, the Bible says, whether therefore he eat or drink or whatsoever, that's a big word, whatsoever you do, get it, do all to the glory of God. Now, let me ask you a question. If, in fact, God is going to ask us to do something, doesn't it logically stand to reason that God's going to explain to us how to do it? Just if I get up there and say, okay, church, let's talk about this, church, glorify God. If my eyes closed, let's go to the house. I didn't do you a real good job, did I? You see, if I just said you glorify God, glorify God, glorify God, you walk out of here and you think to yourself, okay, that's what I want. I want to glorify God. I want to honor God. But what does it mean to bring glory to God? Does it mean that everywhere that I go, that I'm always talking about the Lord? Does it mean that everywhere that I go, that I've got great big thick coke bottle glasses, and I've got great big old bell-bottom pants built up all the way to my waist, you know? And I walk around with a jacket that don't even match my socks, or a pair of socks that don't even match the tie. And I wear a big old Family King James Bible about that big under my arm. And I walk around and say, glory to God, peace on earth, goodwill toward men. No, he said be different and glorify Him, not be stupid and not glorify Him. And there's a fine line between the two. What does it mean to bring honor to God? What does it mean when Paul said, when you eat, glorify God? When you drink, glorify God? When you drive, glorify God? What does it mean to bring glory to God in everything that you do? Well, you know what the word glory means? The word glory is the same word that we derive our English word, opinion. So in essence, Paul says, in your eating, in your drinking, in every area and aspect of your life, you are a person that should bring a proper opinion of who your God is. And you know why America's going to hell in a handbasket? Because most Baptists that I know give a pretty sorry opinion of who their God is, and you know what to do to prove it. Ladies and gentlemen, our lives should be lives that are lived for the honor and glory of God, not to bring a reproach to the cause of Christ, but to move on the cause of Christ, and to bring honor and glory and adoration to the Lord Jesus Christ simply means that I live a life that shows other or gives other the opinion that my God is a big God, that He's a holy God, that He's a righteous God. And that is exactly from cover to cover of this book the reason that you and I were created. Now, I know what the liberals say, and I know what the modernists say, and I know what some of the new evangelicals say. They say, well, you know, we need to give a little bit on this issue of evolution. You know, perhaps millions of years ago, there was a little pollywog that turned into a monkey. Perhaps millions of years ago, you know, as Dr. P. R. Lakin used to eloquently say, as poetic as he was, once there was a tadpole small and thin, and then there was a froggy with my tail tucked in, and then there was a monkey in a coconut tree, and now I'm a doctor with a PhD. Now, if you believe that this morning, please don't shake my hand after the service because I'm not meant to eat it all morning and I don't want to mess up my batting average. Now, I'm going to tell you something, friend. If you believe that you're from a monkey, there's something bad wrong with the Wheaties you've been eating for breakfast. If you believe that you're from a zebra, or you're from an amoeba, or you're from a rock, you have not been reading the Bible. You have been reading the newspaper, that is for sure. Now, I've got a bunch of kinfolk. I mean a bunch of them that years ago probably swung by their neck, but I never met a one that swung by their tail, that's for sure. Because I'm from the hand of God. I'm from the sovereign, providential, creative hand of God. It was His idea to create me. It was His initiative that created me. Why did He do that? So that I can bring glory and honor to Him. Now, look back at verse 19, would you? 1 Corinthians 6, Paul says, What know ye not? It almost has the idea you should know this, but since you're acting like you don't, I'll tell you anyhow. He says, What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, talking to Christians. Not talking to reprobate, talking to Christians, which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own. You remember the Old Testament, I'm sure, there was a man by the name of the High Priest. Now, the High Priest was not your average go-blow, word-of-the-meal type of priest. He was higher than the others as far as his responsibilities in the temple were concerned. Now, there were many priests that wore the priestly garments. They had the priestly robe. They went through the priestly religiosity, if you will. They did all of that because in the Old Testament, they lived, if you will, in fear of God. They knew that that sin had to be atoned for once a year. And so they had the tabernacle. They'd set it up and they'd have the laver and the table of showbread to the right there. They'd have the, you know, the candlesticks with the seven candlesticks on it and this, that, and the other. They would have all of the religion and all the routine and all the things that they would have to go through. Now, most people could go in to the outer court, the temple, the temple of the tabernacle. They could go and they could do certain things, many people for the sins of their family or just maybe for the sins of themselves. They could go to the outside brazen altar and they could make a sacrifice. But only one man, one time a year, not four times or six times, but one time, could walk up those steps, walk to the back of that tabernacle and could pull back the little sash and walk into what the Bible refers to many times as the Holy of Holies. Now, the Holy of Holies, ladies and gentlemen, cannot be described by a mere man who is preaching in a pulpit in a revival meeting. The Holy of Holies was something that was magnificent. It is not where Moses and Aaron sat down for a nice little political preacher talk in a cup of coffee. It was not where there was any president or any great pontiff of the land. It was not where some great person was. But in the Holy of Holies was the ark of a covenant with the two golden cherubim facing themselves with the wings covering their face. A sign of humility. And between the two golden cherubims on the mercy seat was the very, did you hear me? The very glory of God. The very presence of the Christ, Holy God. That man with trembling hands would take that basin of blood after they had slit that animal's throat from ear to ear. Every drop of blood was put inside of that little basin. He would walk in and he would go up the steps and I'm sure in the back of his mind he's thinking to himself, I hope every sin is confessed. I hope the people are praying. I hope I've done a thorough job of getting my heart right. Well, God. He would walk and pull back that little silk sash and walk into the back into the very presence of Almighty God. And he would make an atonement for the people's sins for one year. What a way to live. I'm glad Jesus Christ made an atonement and sacrificed his life for all of eternity. But he would go back there. He would lay it. But did you know that the Bible in history records for us that this man on his garment would have a robe tied around his waist. He was probably, I guess, supposed maybe about 20 or 25, 30 feet long. Because on the bottom of that man's robe there was bells and pomegranates. Bible says a bell and a pomegranate, bell and a pomegranate all the way around. You see, as that man would walk, he would jingle and jangle and they would hear the bells ringing as he was in the very presence of God. But when the bells stopped ringing, they knew that this man had sin in his heart that was not dealt with and he would perish in the very holiness of God. And there wasn't a Jew on the face of God's earth that would be foolish enough to walk in there and drag his dead carcass out. Rather, they would take that rope and they would pull that dead high priest out from the very presence of God because they could not go in because they themselves would perish in the holiness of God. And that was a place called the Holy of Holies. It was sacred. It was a place that they looked to and they said, that is where God. So the apostle Paul, preaching obviously to these people, knew that they were going to know their Old Testament Bible very well. So he uses a word that they would all identify with. He says, your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Look at where temple is in 1 Corinthians 6, verse number 19. Study it sometime. It is literally translated the Holy of Holies. Do you know what that means? That means 1 Corinthians 4, Paul is exactly right when he says, God does not dwell with tents and tabernacles made with man's hands, but in our very earthly bodies. Now, I don't understand that. My little finite mind cannot compute something that is so big, that is so honorable, that is so great, that is so magnificent that God lives in my very body right this very moment. And no longer does God dwell in a building, if you will. No longer is the Holy of Holies in the back of a tabernacle between the mercy seats. But my body has now become the Holy of Holies because God resides. Mr. Webster, in 1828, just before he wrote his dictionary, it came to him and he said, Mr. Webster, you're the most brilliant man we believe the world has ever known. Not only did he write a dictionary, but you study Mr. Webster's dictionary just a little bit and you read some little deals he had in there about repentance and justification. And definitions about inspiration. I'm telling you, this man, do God. I've also read his autobiography. Here's a man who was saved out of a wicked, wicked life. But God used him. He was a brilliant man. Wrote that dictionary there in 1828 and he had a professor. The man come to him one day and began to talk to him and wanted to interview him about a particular job and some things. And he said, Mr. Webster, just a simple question I'd like to ask you. He said, what is it that is the greatest thought that has ever coursed its way through your brain? What is the deepest thought you have ever had? They said, we commend you and we look at you as one of the most brilliant men in all the world. What is the most magnificent, stunning thought that you've ever laid in bed at night and thought about just before you close your eyes and sleep? And without a moment's hesitation, he said, the greatest thought I've ever had in all of my life is simply God lives in my life. And he owns me, number one, and can tell me what to do, number one, by right of creation. He lives within me so that I may bring honor and glory to him. By the way, that's why you ought not mess up your body. That's why in everything that you do in your eating, in your drinking, in every area of your life, you bring honor and glory to God. Because sorry, friend, it's not your body. It's God's body. You say, well, I do with my body what I want to. That's fine, but you'll meet God for what you did with his holy of holy tabernacle that is your body. You smoke on your body. That's your problem. You'll meet God for that. You drink in your body. That's your problem. You'll meet God for that. You use your body to do things you ought not do. That's your problem. You will meet God for that because your body belongs to God, not to you. So how do you know that? Because God created you for him, not for me and not for you. So Paul says, okay, folks, your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost. God owns you, number one, by right of creation, but simply God owns you, number two, by right of salvation. By the very right that he redeems you out of the slave market, out of the cesspool of iniquity. Look at verse 20. What's that? First Corinthians chapter six in verse 20. He says, for ye are bought with a price. Therefore, here it is again. Glorify God in your body and in your spirit. Notice which are yours. Let him say that. It says, which are God's. And so Paul says, listen here, folks, God can tell you what to do, when he wants to, why he wants to, because he created you. He lives within your very body at the point of salvation. He said, but more than that, you are bought with a price. First Peter chapter number one, verses 18 and 19. For you are not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition of your father, but with the blood. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Hebrews chapter nine in verse number 22. And almost all things are purged by the law with blood and without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. Ephesians chapter one and verse number seven repeated in Colossians chapter one in verse number seven. The Bible says in whom we have redemption, it needs to be purchased out of a slave market of sin and whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. And ladies and gentlemen, I'm not redeemed with Bill Gates, millions and billions and gigalillions. I'm not redeemed with a Baptist offering. I'm not redeemed with money. I'm not redeemed with corruptible things that will fade away, such as silver and gold. But I've been redeemed with the precious red royal crimson full of Calvary, the blood of Jesus Christ, the only thing that can take a wicked sin infested sinner. And according to Isaiah chapter one in verse number 18, makes him as pure as the driven snow. God said, come now, let us reason together. Know your sins be as solid. They shall be as snow, so they be red like crimson. They shall be as wool. You know, we teach little kids sometimes about how black sin is. And it's a good picture because middle of darkness rather than light. But according to your Bible, sin's not black. According to your Bible, ladies and gentlemen, sin is crimson red. The brightest, most outlandish color of red that you can muster up in your mind. God says when he sees a sinner, he sees them as a crimson red sinner. Now, how does that work? If I am crimson red in the sight of God, I mean light bulb, shiny red in God's eyes. If I'm red in the eyes of God, but if I am to be washed in the precious red royal blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, am I or am I not seen by God through the blood? Yes, I am. That's what the Bible says. Therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Why? Much more being justified by his blood. We have peace with God. OK, so here I am as a sinner, light bulb, tacky red in the eyes of God. Then I am washed April the 17th of 1992, 830 at night, washed in the precious red royal blood of Calvary because by faith and faith alone, I turn from my way and turn to God's way. So let me ask you a question. How can a red sinner be covered in red blood and according to God be seen as white as snow? I'll tell you, I remember when I was a kid, I used to like Cracker Jacks. I'm careful about saying sometimes what I like in the pulpit. OK, that's not a point for Walton. Next week, we're going to be at Valley Drive Baptist Church in Fielddale, Virginia. Last year we were there. I said, I like red velvet cake. We got seven of them things. OK, so when I was a kid, I liked Cracker Jacks. I'm not a big fan of them now, but I'll eat them, I suppose, if I was in a desert and I started them and I had to. But the Cracker Jack pops always enjoyed the toy. And if you'll be honest with you, when you ate Cracker Jacks and when you ate cereals as a kid, you could have cared less if you were starving to death. You didn't want the Cracker Jacks and you didn't want the Cheerios. You wanted the toy on the inside. And I remember I'd reach inside there and I'd pull out all that little stuff you could stick all over you and stick all over the house. And Mama loved that. But they always had them little big coasters. Remember those? They had those little deals you'd put out. And here were these, these sinuses. I mean, mumbo jumbo. I mean, you couldn't understand a word it said. I mean, it was all messed up and all, you know, it had to be field filled out is what they called it. So what they had are these red words everywhere. Then they had these little blank spots all over the place. And they had all these little red decoders in there. Remember that little cellophane red deal? And so you'd get that little red cellophane magnifier, whatever it was, and you'd take that red cellophane and you'd put it over the top of that red word. And you remember what color it would be? You could see like this. But you could get a regular old cellophane and look through it and it'd still be red. You put your glasses off, put your glasses on, you'd look through a paper towel if you wanted to, it'd still be red. It was only when you put the red decoder on top of the red words that you could look at it and see it white. You know what, ladies and gentlemen, I'm light blue, tacky red in the eyes of God. But when the blood has been applied from my heart, when I was redeemed, God looks through the blood and he sees me as white as it is. And the Bible says I have been created for his glory and saved for his glory. Somebody says, well, I live my life the way I want to because I'm going to heaven when I die. And the only reason you got saved wasn't to go to heaven. If the only reason you got saved was to go to heaven, God had put you there the day you got saved. He left you there for a purpose. That's to honor and bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that resides in your very body. And Paul said, you are bought with a price. That price is the blood of Jesus Christ. You've heard it a million and one times, but let it be reiterated. Salvation is free, but it is not cheap. It costs heaven's best. The Lord Jesus Christ robed himself in human glory and came down here and took upon him the form of a man and was spit upon. The beard was plucked out by his very roots. And ladies and gentlemen, he shed every single drop of blood for you and for me so that we may be redeemed out of the slave market of iniquity. And don't you tell me you can live your life any way that you want to because you cannot, because he created you for his glory and saved you for his glory. Paul said, the very Chicana glory of the Holy God resides in your very... There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins. And sin is purged beneath that flood, loose all their guilty stains. Dying, he rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there may I, through how I see, wash all my sins away. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus, not your church membership, not your baptismal certificate, not being a Baptist, a Catholic, a dog walker, a tongue speaker, an Episcopalian, anything like that, ladies and gentlemen. There is one thing that'll wash your sins away in the sight of God, and that is the blood of Jesus Christ. And that is the only thing that'll wash your sins away in the sight of Almighty God. You see, ladies and gentlemen, here's the truth of the Bible. Everybody in this room, everybody, from the front to the back, from the left to the right, come up here. Your pastor could take a great big 50-gallon drum. He'd take more than that, by the way, if everybody in the front. He'd take a big 50-gallon drum, let it all come up here and just shed blood like wild animals in that 50-gallon drum. Just fill it up to the top. Let all the people there, put it up here on the community table. The preacher get his Bible and start reading some verses about the blood. He says, God, you see all these people in here? This is their blood. We got 50 gallons of it. We want you to know that this is our offering, our sacrifice to you so that we can enter the pearly gates and we can walk the streets of gold. And I want you to know everybody in this room would go straight to hell. Because God didn't accept your blood. He accepted Christ's blood and that's it. He said that we have been not with corruptible things, but the silver and gold from your vain lifestyle, vain conversation received by the tradition. And all these silly traditions and ideas, they cared more about the traditions of man than they did the doctrines of the word of God. Paul said there's only one thing that'll save your never dying soul and wash you clean, wash you white and give you merit in the eyes of God. It's not your works. It's not any of those things. He said it's the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the way, for saved people, not only is it the blood that saves us, but the blood secures us. It sanctifies us. It sets us free. And by the way, it gives us safety because the Bible says in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 11, and they overcame him. That's the devil by the blood of the lamb or the devil starts in about the blood and he'll run a long, long ways from that church building because there's no power through the devil. Whenever we start talking about and preaching about and singing about and playing about. That's why sometimes when I pray, I say, Lord, give us the victory we already have. And I plead the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ because they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, by the word of their testimony. And they love not their lives under the death. What am I saying this morning? I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, the blood is important for several reasons. But one of the biggest reasons it's important is because it redeems your soul. And that's why you have no right to live in the way that you want to. That's why this week you can't sit around at about 6.45 and 7 o'clock and 7.15 and say, well, you know what? I don't think it's a real big deal that I go to church this week. I suppose I'll just watch TV. Is that right? According to the word of God, ladies and gentlemen, you're not commanded to come to this church to hear me preach. You're not commanded to come to this church to hear these people sing. You're commanded to be faithful to the house of God because you've been redeemed so you can bring honor and glory to God. And if you think you can sit home or the house of God is being filled and the man of God is preaching and people are singing, and if you think you can bring more honor to God watching a ball game, I wonder about your spirit's condition. Ladies and gentlemen, we've been created and we've been redeemed for him. We all know we belong to him. I preached this message about a week, a week and a half ago whenever it was in Ghana, West Africa. And as I was preaching this sermon, I came to this illustration and I'm about to give you and the light bulb came on. I'm obviously preaching to an interpreter. And yes, I slow down when I preach to an interpreter. But this guy being on the mission field, this was the best interpreter. He's 21 years old. He's the best interpreter I've ever had. You hit the pulpit, he hit the pulpit. You lifted the Bible, he lifted the Bible. You put out your sweat rag, he put out his sweat rag. I mean, buddy, he could just stay right with you. And I didn't have to slow down a whole lot. I mean, this guy could give it all. I don't know if you understand what I'm saying, but God broke anyhow. But I mean, this guy, he's just moving. And I was preaching this sermon and I gave an invitation. And this was on Sunday night. We started a crusade in a little village called Abra on Monday night through Thursday night. And we had services every morning at 10, services every night at 7. Time means nothing over there. You start at 10, that means you start at 12. If you start at 7, that means you start at 1030 at night. But nonetheless, on Sunday night, we actually started on time. And he had about, I don't know, about 8,500 people in his church, something like that. And there was a lot of teenagers. And he has just a bunch of young people that he works with. And I'm telling you, I preach this message about God's ownership and about God owning you. And I'm telling you, when I gave the invitation, I mean, it was like a battlefield. I mean, them adults and them kids, I mean, little kids. I mean, they sprawled out on that old concrete, dirt-infested roach crawling forward. And I mean, they lay on the ground. And I'm telling you, we didn't have one of them 35-second, you come now, we're closing the service pipe of deals. I'm telling you, they fell on their face and they wept and they sprawled. And them teenagers had their hands up in the air saying, God, forgive me. And I mean, some of them could speak English, but I mean, in their own little native tongue, I mean, them people getting right to God. I mean, big old watermelons here screaming down their face. And I'm telling you, those people were overcome after I had preached with a sense that I belong to God. Buddy, when they get in Africa, they get it. They're not some of these ones, they get saved. You better baptize them right then because they won't be back for six more years. No, but if they get it, they're in. I mean, those people are in. And I'll tell you more about the meeting as the week progresses. But I'll be honest with you, folks. I don't believe I've ever seen people pray and get ahold of God when they found that man's got on. I'm telling you, those people prayed and slaughtered a bunch of babies. They stayed for probably 20 minutes. No music, no singing, nothing like that. You don't have pianos in a little school room over in Africa. You ain't got that. They don't have anything, any amenities like we got. I mean, I took a leather Bible over there and told them I was going to give away Bibles on Thursday night or Wednesday night and on Friday night to the people who brought the most visitors. I had some leather Bibles. I think I paid like $18, $25, something like that. It's about the same size as the one I preached. So the missionary got one of them and he took it up and he said, he said, it's a little leather Bible, genuine leather. You say, big deal. That's a real big deal to them. They don't have it over there. I'm telling you, they'll take a Bible. I mean, they'll beat the door down to have a Bible. So he said, I should have to get a crowd. He said, watch this. He said, come on. I he said, we're going to give away a black, genuine leather Bible. Then he said this. He said, it's all the way from America. Well, they think that's something. I had three check marks in my box when I got off the airplane. I was white. I was from the USA and I was a preacher. I'll be honest with you. Those people would treat you like a God. They wouldn't let me carry anything. I mean, it started to make me feel a little bit insecure. I mean, I'd be walking out. They'd take something out of my hand. They'd take something out. They wouldn't let me carry a thing. But man, when he got up and said, we got a black, genuine leather Bible from America. He said, it's just like the one, the evangelist preachers did. And the light bulb went on. And the next night, you can hire a taxi over there all day long. I mean, $12.59. You can hire a taxi and earn money for two bucks all day long. You've got to go to Nashville or somewhere like that. You've got to do that up in Lynchburg. You've got to do that for him. It costs you a lot of money. And for them, seven days or seven dollars a week is a big paying job. They pay their church secretary 12 bucks a week. But if you think he's a Bill Gates millionaire, that's for sure. Seven bucks a week. And this guy, when he found out he could get a leather Bible, you know what he did? He paid for the taxis of, which probably took about, I don't know, eight or 10 because they pack them in like circus clowns over there. I mean, they just pile them in. He paid for the taxis of and brought on Wednesday night 50 people to the revival. That means he probably invited he brought 50 people to the revival meeting so he could win a Bible. I'm telling you, when those people get their hearts right with God over there, they have a sense of, they know they owe God something big. And it's the right. That's why Paul said, it's not your unreasonable, but it's your reasonable church. I give you this to work through. Those young men I read about, my wife talks about him sometimes in her children's meetings. His name was Johnny Turnbull. Johnny Turnbull was like any little eight, nine, 10 year old kid. He had a creative mind. Mr. Johnny Turnbull, one day went downstairs on a Saturday afternoon and asked his father if he could mess around with some of his tools. He said, yes, you can. Just the hand tools, not really in the power tools, anything like that. Don't cut your fingers off. And so he went down there and he got the hammering. He got the painting. He got the sawing. He got the chipping. He got to doing everything he could. And finally, after several hours, he made himself a little makeshift toy boat, a little sailboat. He put a little stick on that thing and put a little white sail on it. He got his mama's purple fingernail polish and put J period, T period right there in big letters standing for Johnny Turnbull. Got himself a little Pepsi cola and pop the lid off, drunk it down real good. He put that little tab there on the side and nailed it down. And he took a kite string and tied it to that little thing. And he said, mama, he said, I'm going to go out down here to the little city park and I'm going to put that thing in the lake and I'm going to let it go out like a kite. I'm going to watch it kind of flip around. He got him a little bit of tape, you know, some sticky tack stuff like that. And he got his little G.I. Gobi and stuck them all around there like there was a bunch of sailors, you know. And so he went down there, but he was all happy. He had him a patriotic boat, red, white and blue, all different colors. Man, he was just so happy he couldn't stand it. He went down and put that little boat in the water and that little thing got to sailing out over the sea. I mean, it was going out there in the lake and he got that thing going out to the back of the auditorium, you know, all the way back a little bit farther about out where the parking lot was. And then he just having himself a time. He got out in that water just a little bit, but he got up to his ankles and then he just watching that little boat. He'd bring it in a little bit and the wind would catch it. And all of a sudden, the waves got up a little bit and the wind got up a little bit and hit that thing right out of his hand. And so that thing started going down the little side of the beach there. But he was running down through that water ankle deep and it started getting out more and more. He reached over and grabbed the whole that thing and picked it up. And when he did, he put a little bit too much tension on that string and click it broke. And there goes. Oh, man, I'm telling you, you talk about discouragement, despair and distress filled his heart. Anxiety overwhelmed him. And he thought he was going to tear down the spot. But he tried to be a good little boy and he went home, told his mom all about it. Sunday came, went to church. Monday came, went to school. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Finally, about the end of the week or so, Thursday or Friday there that week, he began to come back home from school. It was only several blocks from his home. He was walking, riding his bike as if it was. And he went by Mr. Smith's toy shop and he looked over the window and guess what he saw? It was a surprise and amazement. You guessed it. There it was. Day period, tea period, white sail, little piece of string coming off. And sitting under a cellophane wrapper was a red, white and blue toy sailboat. And it was obvious that it had been made by God. Oh man, he busted through that door and he went over there. Mr. Smith was dealing with a customer, but he didn't care. He walked over and pulled on his apron strings and Mr. Smith, that boat is mine. He said, that boat belongs to me. If there's ever been a boat that belongs to me. He said, I've spent all my time and wealth working on that thing for several hours. And he said, I lost it, gave him the whole story. And he said, Johnny, you know what? You've never had reason to lie to me before. And I believe you, son. He said, but a little girl came in here the other day and sold me that boat for five. He said, if you want that boat, you're going to have to learn a little bit about responsibility and you're going to have to buy that boat for five dollars or so. He said, now, Mr. Smith, let me ask you a question, pal. He said, I'm just a little kid. He said, I don't know why, where am I supposed to amass a fortune of five dollars? And he said, I don't know, but I'll tell you what, I'll make a deal with you. You promise me that you will buy this boat and I promise you, I'll keep it until you get the five dollars, no matter how long it takes. He said, you got yourself a deal, buddy. He ran out of there. He went down to the church and asked the preacher for everything he could do. He painted the fences. He scrubbed toilets. He scrubbed the ground out of the bathroom floor. I mean, he did everything. I mean, he washed cars. He did everything. Mowed the lawn. He clipped the weeds. I mean, he works and works and works. And about two weeks went by and finally, buddy, he cashed in on the product. He broke the head right off that piggy bank and all them pennies and nickels and dimes and quarters came out of there and all the little trash that comes out with it that he had in his pocket. I mean, maybe there's a dollar bill or two. And I mean, he started to pull it together. He put in a Ziploc sandwich bag and he had about 57 cents more than what he needed. And then he threw that stuff in there, jumped on his bicycle and he got down to that toy store so quickly he couldn't understand. He got there at eight forty five on a Saturday morning. The store didn't open till nine o'clock and for 15 minutes he beat on the door for Mr. Smith to open the storeroom door. And finally, at nine o'clock, right on the dot, Mr. Smith comes over there. The bells is jingling, jangling. He opens up the door and that boy makes a beeline right to the cash register. He runs over there. He opens up that Ziploc sandwich bag. He pours out that five dollars and fifty seven cents. I mean, pennies and nickels and dimes going all over the place. And Mr. Smith said, slow down. And so he goes over there and he picks it up. He counts it all out. He says, that's the pack. He says, you can have the extra. He said, all I want is my little boat. Mr. Smith said, well, you kept your end of the bargain so I suppose it'd be good for anything. Mr. Smith walked over and picked up that little red, white and blue boat, J period, T period, all the little incidentals that he put in it several weeks before. He pulled out a little cellophane wrapper off and blew the dust off that he accumulated there in the storefront window. And he gave it to little Johnny Turnbuckle. So Johnny Turnbuckle grabbed that thing and put it in his arms and held it like a puppy doll. He started stroking that little cell. He started making sure the letters were all in the right place. And he started looking at all them colors. And he looked at the bottom of that thing and the back of that thing and the front of that thing. I mean, he flipped it 360 degrees. He looked in every direction he could look. I mean, every nook and every cranny. The GI Joe man wasn't on there but he just happened to have the boat back. But you're twice as just born as you're saved by the grace of God because first he made you and then he bought you. And how dare you ask the question, who does God think he is anyhow? I think he is. He's your Lord. He's your savior. He's your master. And he can tell you to do anything he wants to without you asking one single because he owns it this morning.