Touching Lives is the international broadcast ministry of Dr. James Merritt.
#Religion
#Health
#Health/Nutrition
#Lifestyle
#Temple
#Obedience
#Holiness
#Habits
#Physical health
#James Merritt
#1 Corinthians 6:13
#1 Corinthians 6:19-20
#1 Timothy 4:8
Closed captions
Show Timecode
Touching Lives with James Merritt | One Foot In Front Of The Other | August 8, 2021
- ...
- 00:00:00.633 --> 00:00:00.459
- male announcer: This program is paid for by the friends and
- 00:00:01.894 --> 00:00:03.562
- partners of "Touching Lives."
- 00:00:03.695 --> 00:00:05.464
- Welcome to the international broadcast ministry of
- 00:00:05.597 --> 00:00:07.566
- "Touching Lives" with Dr. James Merritt.
- 00:00:07.699 --> 00:00:09.802
- Here at "Touching Lives," our mission is to touch the lives of
- 00:00:09.902 --> 00:00:12.805
- the lost and enrich the faith of the found.
- 00:00:12.905 --> 00:00:15.808
- And now, here is pastor, author and speaker, Dr. James Merritt.
- 00:00:15.908 --> 00:00:17.476
- CC by Aberdeen Captioning www.aberdeen.io 1-800-688-6621
- 00:00:21.680 --> 00:00:27.419
- ♪♪♪
- 00:00:30.756 --> 00:01:34.386
- James Merritt: How you see your body will determine how you
- 00:01:36.722 --> 00:01:40.526
- treat your body.
- 00:01:40.526 --> 00:01:42.294
- How you see your body will determine how you treat
- 00:01:42.361 --> 00:01:46.298
- your body.
- 00:01:46.298 --> 00:01:47.633
- So whether you ignore your body or you adore your body or you
- 00:01:47.633 --> 00:01:50.836
- abhor your body, it is not a physical issue, it is a
- 00:01:50.836 --> 00:01:55.340
- spiritual issue.
- 00:01:55.340 --> 00:01:56.708
- You say, "Well how do you know that?"
- 00:01:56.708 --> 00:01:58.076
- I know that because of something a man by the name of Paul wrote
- 00:01:58.076 --> 00:02:00.946
- to a church 2.000 years ago, and I want to show it to you.
- 00:02:00.946 --> 00:02:04.449
- If you brought a copy of God's Word or an iPad, smartphone,
- 00:02:04.516 --> 00:02:07.252
- whatever it is you look Scripture up on, I want you to
- 00:02:07.252 --> 00:02:09.855
- turn to a book called 1 Corinthians.
- 00:02:09.855 --> 00:02:11.890
- It's in the New Testament, go to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark,
- 00:02:11.957 --> 00:02:14.526
- Luke and John, start turning toward the right, and you'll hit
- 00:02:14.526 --> 00:02:17.329
- a book called 1 Corinthians.
- 00:02:17.329 --> 00:02:19.498
- I want you to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and while
- 00:02:19.498 --> 00:02:22.301
- you're turning, let me just kinda set up what we're gonna
- 00:02:22.301 --> 00:02:24.536
- talk about today.
- 00:02:24.536 --> 00:02:25.904
- There was a church in Corinth, Corinth was a pagan city, and
- 00:02:25.904 --> 00:02:30.475
- the prevailing philosophy in that city was the body was just
- 00:02:30.475 --> 00:02:34.446
- not all that important.
- 00:02:34.446 --> 00:02:36.348
- There was a teaching there that said God is not interested in
- 00:02:36.415 --> 00:02:39.651
- the body, he's not interested in the physical, God is a spirit,
- 00:02:39.651 --> 00:02:43.322
- God's not a body.
- 00:02:43.322 --> 00:02:44.656
- God is a spirit, and all God cares about is the spiritual
- 00:02:44.656 --> 00:02:47.793
- side of life.
- 00:02:47.793 --> 00:02:49.194
- And so since the body was going to die anyway, their philosophy
- 00:02:49.194 --> 00:02:52.898
- was eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow, your body is going
- 00:02:52.898 --> 00:02:57.469
- to die.
- 00:02:57.469 --> 00:02:58.804
- So there was this philosophy that basically said you can do
- 00:02:58.804 --> 00:03:01.540
- anything with your body that you want to do, it was the old, "If
- 00:03:01.540 --> 00:03:04.743
- it feels good, do it," because after all, it's your body.
- 00:03:04.743 --> 00:03:09.348
- And then Paul comes along and he says, "Well, let me just say to
- 00:03:09.414 --> 00:03:12.417
- all you people out there that says, 'If it feels good, do it,'
- 00:03:12.417 --> 00:03:15.721
- let me just tell you that not everything that feels good is
- 00:03:15.721 --> 00:03:19.691
- good, not everything that tastes good is good."
- 00:03:19.691 --> 00:03:24.229
- And so Paul comes along and says, "Let me give you a
- 00:03:24.296 --> 00:03:27.733
- principle on how you ought to see your body, let me give you a
- 00:03:27.733 --> 00:03:32.738
- principle on how you can physically live otherwise," and
- 00:03:32.738 --> 00:03:36.975
- this is what he tells them.
- 00:03:36.975 --> 00:03:39.111
- Living healthy is a part of living holy, living healthy is a
- 00:03:39.177 --> 00:03:45.417
- part of living holy.
- 00:03:45.484 --> 00:03:47.753
- And here's what I'm going to help you with this morning
- 00:03:47.753 --> 00:03:49.488
- I hope.
- 00:03:49.488 --> 00:03:50.822
- If you will take what God's going to tell us today, if you
- 00:03:50.822 --> 00:03:53.425
- will take what Paul's going to tell us today about your body,
- 00:03:53.425 --> 00:03:57.629
- and if you'll apply these principles, you will live
- 00:03:57.696 --> 00:04:01.933
- otherwise, not just in your spiritual life, not just in your
- 00:04:01.933 --> 00:04:05.370
- financial life, not just in your emotional life, but also in your
- 00:04:05.370 --> 00:04:09.608
- physical life as well.
- 00:04:09.608 --> 00:04:11.610
- Now listen, we're in 1 Corinthians 6, let me just share
- 00:04:11.610 --> 00:04:14.212
- with you a couple of things I want you to write down.
- 00:04:14.212 --> 00:04:15.914
- Number one, Paul says I should do what is holy with my body,
- 00:04:15.914 --> 00:04:21.887
- I should do what is holy with my body.
- 00:04:21.887 --> 00:04:25.090
- Now we're in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, here's what Paul says
- 00:04:25.157 --> 00:04:27.993
- in verse 19, "Or do you not know."
- 00:04:27.993 --> 00:04:30.562
- The reason why he says that is he says, "Look, I know what the
- 00:04:30.562 --> 00:04:33.231
- philosophy is out there, I know what they're teaching in the
- 00:04:33.231 --> 00:04:35.767
- public schools, I know what they're saying in the
- 00:04:35.767 --> 00:04:37.736
- universities, I know what they're saying out there in
- 00:04:37.736 --> 00:04:40.072
- the culture."
- 00:04:40.072 --> 00:04:41.440
- But, "Do you not know that your body," he's talking to the
- 00:04:41.440 --> 00:04:44.576
- church, "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
- 00:04:44.576 --> 00:04:50.682
- whom you have from God?
- 00:04:50.682 --> 00:04:52.651
- You are not your own."
- 00:04:52.651 --> 00:04:55.520
- Now listen to what Paul said.
- 00:04:55.520 --> 00:04:57.522
- Paul said to the church at Corinth, he said, "You know,
- 00:04:57.589 --> 00:04:59.758
- when you look at your body, here's what you see.
- 00:04:59.758 --> 00:05:02.294
- You see eyes and ears, hair and teeth, feet and hands, flesh
- 00:05:03.562 --> 00:05:09.601
- and bones."
- 00:05:11.703 --> 00:05:14.005
- He said, "When God looks at your body he sees a temple, he
- 00:05:14.072 --> 00:05:19.311
- doesn't see what you see, he sees a temple."
- 00:05:19.311 --> 00:05:23.081
- Now you wouldn't know this reading the English translation
- 00:05:23.148 --> 00:05:26.351
- but in the Greek language the word, "Your," that word there,
- 00:05:26.351 --> 00:05:29.621
- "Your," is plural, but the word, "You," is singular.
- 00:05:29.621 --> 00:05:34.393
- And it's almost as if Paul is talking to the entire church
- 00:05:34.459 --> 00:05:37.629
- corporately but he's talking to every single body individually.
- 00:05:37.629 --> 00:05:42.467
- It's almost like Paul's talking to the entire congregation but
- 00:05:42.467 --> 00:05:47.038
- he's pointing to every single person individually.
- 00:05:47.038 --> 00:05:50.609
- He says, "Look, you are a temple, you are a temple, you
- 00:05:50.675 --> 00:05:56.047
- are a temple, we are the body of Christ and we're all made up of
- 00:05:56.047 --> 00:05:59.718
- individual temples."
- 00:05:59.718 --> 00:06:01.453
- Like for example, right now, we're meeting in a church, we're
- 00:06:01.453 --> 00:06:04.556
- not meeting in a temple, but this church right now, the
- 00:06:04.556 --> 00:06:08.126
- church at Mill Creek, we are filled with temples that we
- 00:06:08.126 --> 00:06:12.531
- call bodies.
- 00:06:12.531 --> 00:06:13.865
- Now, there's a reason why God calls my body and God calls your
- 00:06:13.865 --> 00:06:18.570
- body "A temple," because in the Bible, the temple was a place
- 00:06:18.570 --> 00:06:22.741
- of what?
- 00:06:22.741 --> 00:06:24.176
- Worship, right, the temple was a place of worship.
- 00:06:24.176 --> 00:06:27.746
- That means your body, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, is a
- 00:06:27.746 --> 00:06:31.450
- place of worship.
- 00:06:31.450 --> 00:06:32.951
- And since the Holy Spirit lives
- 00:06:33.018 --> 00:06:35.086
- in this temple 24 hours a day,
- 00:06:35.086 --> 00:06:37.923
- that means that every waking moment of my life and your life
- 00:06:37.923 --> 00:06:42.227
- our body is to be a place where God is worshiped and where God
- 00:06:42.227 --> 00:06:47.032
- is honored.
- 00:06:47.032 --> 00:06:48.366
- So even though the body, now here's an important, even though
- 00:06:48.366 --> 00:06:51.203
- the body is a place of worship, it is not an object of worship.
- 00:06:51.203 --> 00:06:55.740
- We worship in this building but we don't worship this building.
- 00:06:55.807 --> 00:06:59.978
- However, because it is God's building, when we walk into it
- 00:06:59.978 --> 00:07:04.049
- what do we expect you to do?
- 00:07:04.049 --> 00:07:05.550
- We expect you to respect it, we expect you to keep it clean, we
- 00:07:05.617 --> 00:07:09.588
- expect you to honor it, same thing is true.
- 00:07:09.588 --> 00:07:12.424
- God said, "Now that I put my Holy Spirit in your temple, I
- 00:07:12.491 --> 00:07:16.661
- expect you to honor it, I expect you to respect it, I expect you
- 00:07:16.661 --> 00:07:21.433
- to take care of it."
- 00:07:21.433 --> 00:07:22.767
- Because listen again to what Paul said, he said, "Look, your
- 00:07:22.767 --> 00:07:25.537
- body is not just a temple.
- 00:07:25.537 --> 00:07:27.606
- As a matter of fact, your body's not even your temple.
- 00:07:28.673 --> 00:07:34.079
- God says, 'Your body is my temple, it's all mine.'"
- 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:39.284
- Because listen to what he goes on to say again.
- 00:07:39.284 --> 00:07:41.520
- He says, "You are not your own, for you were bought with
- 00:07:41.586 --> 00:07:46.291
- a price."
- 00:07:46.291 --> 00:07:47.626
- Now what did Paul mean?
- 00:07:47.626 --> 00:07:48.994
- Paul's going all the way back to the cross, when Jesus died for
- 00:07:48.994 --> 00:07:51.663
- our sins, and what Paul is saying is, "Look, God has the
- 00:07:51.663 --> 00:07:55.367
- title deed to your body.
- 00:07:55.367 --> 00:07:57.536
- The bill of sale was signed at the
- 00:07:57.536 --> 00:07:59.304
- cross of Jesus Christ, and when Jesus died on the cross he not
- 00:07:59.304 --> 00:08:03.575
- only gave you forgiveness for all of your sins, he took title
- 00:08:03.575 --> 00:08:07.145
- deed to everything you are.
- 00:08:07.145 --> 00:08:08.713
- He owns your spirit, he owns your soul, he owns your body; he
- 00:08:08.713 --> 00:08:12.484
- owns you spiritually, he owns you emotionally, he owns
- 00:08:12.484 --> 00:08:15.453
- you physically."
- 00:08:15.453 --> 00:08:16.788
- Now, do you understand what that means?
- 00:08:16.788 --> 00:08:19.357
- Means you don't get to use your hands only for your benefit, you
- 00:08:23.295 --> 00:08:28.033
- don't get to say, "I don't have to serve anybody else."
- 00:08:28.033 --> 00:08:30.335
- Yes, you do, because they're not your hands.
- 00:08:30.335 --> 00:08:32.470
- That means you can't go anywhere you want to go with your feet
- 00:08:33.838 --> 00:08:38.209
- because they're not your feet.
- 00:08:38.209 --> 00:08:41.079
- That means you don't have the right to look at just anything
- 00:08:41.146 --> 00:08:43.882
- you want to look at because they're not your eyes.
- 00:08:43.882 --> 00:08:47.619
- That means you don't have the right to listen to whatever you
- 00:08:47.686 --> 00:08:50.388
- want to listen to because they are not your ears.
- 00:08:50.388 --> 00:08:53.825
- And since my body is a temple where the Holy Spirit
- 00:08:53.892 --> 00:08:57.862
- lives, then it stands to reason, whatever I do with my
- 00:08:57.862 --> 00:09:01.600
- body ought to be holy.
- 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.402
- If the Holy Spirit lives in me and if the Holy Spirit controls
- 00:09:04.469 --> 00:09:08.873
- me and if the Holy Spirit holds title deed to my body, that
- 00:09:08.873 --> 00:09:13.011
- means that whatever I do in my body, whatever I do with my
- 00:09:13.011 --> 00:09:17.515
- body ought to be holy.
- 00:09:17.515 --> 00:09:19.985
- That's why, by the way, in this chapter, Paul was talking about
- 00:09:19.985 --> 00:09:23.722
- sexual immorality.
- 00:09:23.722 --> 00:09:25.490
- Why is it wrong for two unmarried people to
- 00:09:25.557 --> 00:09:28.593
- sleep together?
- 00:09:28.593 --> 00:09:29.961
- If they are believers, especially.
- 00:09:29.961 --> 00:09:31.630
- Because it's not your body.
- 00:09:31.696 --> 00:09:33.498
- Why is it wrong for a married man to have sex with a woman
- 00:09:33.565 --> 00:09:37.135
- that's not his wife?
- 00:09:37.135 --> 00:09:38.503
- 'Cause it's not your body.
- 00:09:38.503 --> 00:09:40.071
- Why is it wrong to get drunk?
- 00:09:40.138 --> 00:09:41.740
- Why is it wrong to do drugs?
- 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:43.508
- Why is it wrong to put things that are harmful in your body?
- 00:09:43.508 --> 00:09:46.411
- 'Cause it is not your body, it's his body, it is a holy body, it
- 00:09:46.411 --> 00:09:51.850
- is to be set apart for his honor and his glory.
- 00:09:51.850 --> 00:09:54.653
- And when you live otherwise you just make up your mind, "I am
- 00:09:54.653 --> 00:09:59.691
- not going to subject my body to anything that might be unholy."
- 00:09:59.691 --> 00:10:06.564
- And see, that's why I don't get up here and I don't talk to
- 00:10:06.631 --> 00:10:09.668
- people about the things that, you know, preachers used to talk
- 00:10:09.668 --> 00:10:11.970
- about all the time, you know, smoking and alcohol and all
- 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:16.975
- that stuff.
- 00:10:16.975 --> 00:10:18.309
- I don't do that, I'll tell you why.
- 00:10:18.309 --> 00:10:19.644
- I just gave you the principle, here's the principle.
- 00:10:19.644 --> 00:10:21.346
- Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, doesn't belong to
- 00:10:21.413 --> 00:10:25.517
- you, it belongs to God.
- 00:10:25.517 --> 00:10:27.318
- Now you need to go and work out for yourself, "What does that
- 00:10:27.318 --> 00:10:31.256
- mean about what ought to go into my body, what can go into my
- 00:10:31.256 --> 00:10:35.160
- body, and what can't?
- 00:10:35.160 --> 00:10:36.594
- How does that work out with what I can do with my body and with
- 00:10:36.594 --> 00:10:40.098
- what I cannot do with my body?"
- 00:10:40.098 --> 00:10:42.033
- So Paul says, number one, I should do what is holy with
- 00:10:42.033 --> 00:10:46.871
- my body.
- 00:10:46.871 --> 00:10:48.206
- All right, number two, I should do what is healthy for my body.
- 00:10:48.206 --> 00:10:54.813
- Because listen to how Paul concludes what he says, listen
- 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:57.348
- to verse 20.
- 00:10:57.348 --> 00:10:58.683
- He says, "So glorify God in your body."
- 00:10:58.683 --> 00:11:04.122
- Now listen up, your body was created for one purpose, one
- 00:11:04.122 --> 00:11:08.526
- purpose, not two, not three, not four.
- 00:11:08.526 --> 00:11:10.195
- Your body was created for one purpose, to glorify God; only
- 00:11:10.261 --> 00:11:14.265
- reason God gave you a body, to glorify God.
- 00:11:14.265 --> 00:11:17.268
- So that means, wherever you take it, you make sure it
- 00:11:17.268 --> 00:11:20.271
- glorifies God.
- 00:11:20.271 --> 00:11:21.706
- That means, however you treat it, you make sure it
- 00:11:21.706 --> 00:11:24.242
- glorifies God.
- 00:11:24.242 --> 00:11:25.610
- That means, whatever you do with it, it should always be to
- 00:11:25.610 --> 00:11:29.047
- glorify God.
- 00:11:29.047 --> 00:11:30.415
- Now, if that's true, if you say, "Okay, I get it, I understand,"
- 00:11:30.415 --> 00:11:34.052
- then there must be implications and applications concerning the
- 00:11:34.119 --> 00:11:38.723
- health of our body, all right?
- 00:11:38.723 --> 00:11:41.693
- So now I'm gonna ask you a question and it's a
- 00:11:41.693 --> 00:11:44.863
- hard question.
- 00:11:44.863 --> 00:11:46.364
- How would my physical habits change if I began to see my body
- 00:11:46.364 --> 00:11:52.537
- as a temple that belongs to God?
- 00:11:52.604 --> 00:11:55.106
- Fair question.
- 00:11:56.174 --> 00:11:57.542
- My body's a temple of the Holy Spirit so, in light of that, are
- 00:11:57.542 --> 00:12:01.613
- there some physical habits that maybe I need to look at
- 00:12:01.613 --> 00:12:04.516
- and change?
- 00:12:04.516 --> 00:12:05.850
- And just simply then let the Spirit of God lead you.
- 00:12:05.850 --> 00:12:08.586
- All right, let's just take some areas.
- 00:12:08.586 --> 00:12:09.988
- For example, think about your diet, let's just think for a
- 00:12:09.988 --> 00:12:13.491
- moment about diet.
- 00:12:13.491 --> 00:12:14.826
- You say, "Well I don't think God really cares about diet."
- 00:12:14.826 --> 00:12:16.828
- Why do you think the Old Testament is filled with all
- 00:12:16.895 --> 00:12:19.030
- these things he told the Jewish people, "Eat this, don't eat
- 00:12:19.030 --> 00:12:21.166
- that, don't eat this"?
- 00:12:21.166 --> 00:12:22.500
- Yeah, now the major part of it was to be holy, I get that, but
- 00:12:22.500 --> 00:12:25.870
- there were other reasons.
- 00:12:25.870 --> 00:12:27.205
- In fact, as a matter of fact, he goes on to say, "If you'll kind
- 00:12:27.205 --> 00:12:29.874
- of do what I tell you to do, you won't have a lot of these other
- 00:12:29.874 --> 00:12:32.844
- diseases that the Egyptians have," right?
- 00:12:32.844 --> 00:12:35.980
- So even from the very beginning God said, "Look, there's certain
- 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:38.216
- foods that are not as good for you as other foods are."
- 00:12:38.216 --> 00:12:41.753
- Now, Jesus, for example.
- 00:12:41.753 --> 00:12:44.222
- You remember how Jesus talked about people who would, "Strain
- 00:12:44.289 --> 00:12:47.292
- at a gnat and swallow a camel"?
- 00:12:47.292 --> 00:12:49.561
- You remember that?
- 00:12:49.561 --> 00:12:50.929
- "Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel."
- 00:12:50.929 --> 00:12:52.764
- I got to thinking about that, I wonder if he was talking about
- 00:12:52.764 --> 00:12:56.134
- fat, overweight preachers who love to stand up and talk about
- 00:12:56.134 --> 00:13:00.905
- drinking and smoking but never talk about anybody stuffing
- 00:13:00.905 --> 00:13:05.009
- God's temple with too much food.
- 00:13:05.009 --> 00:13:07.178
- As a matter of fact, Paul said the same thing in the same
- 00:13:07.245 --> 00:13:11.049
- chapter in verse 13.
- 00:13:11.049 --> 00:13:12.417
- Listen to what Paul said.
- 00:13:12.417 --> 00:13:13.785
- He said, "God has given us an appetite for food and stomachs
- 00:13:13.785 --> 00:13:16.921
- to digest it, but that doesn't mean we should eat more than
- 00:13:16.921 --> 00:13:21.459
- we need."
- 00:13:21.459 --> 00:13:23.094
- See, here's the issue, he says-- I think.
- 00:13:23.161 --> 00:13:27.932
- Is anything else up there? Maybe it's not, okay.
- 00:13:27.932 --> 00:13:30.602
- "Don't think of eating as important, because someday God
- 00:13:30.602 --> 00:13:35.073
- will do away with both stomachs and food."
- 00:13:35.073 --> 00:13:41.779
- Now, there's an old saying that "Inside of every fat person
- 00:13:41.846 --> 00:13:47.051
- there's a thin person trying to get out."
- 00:13:47.051 --> 00:13:48.920
- Well, I think it's also true that outside of every thin
- 00:13:50.121 --> 00:13:53.491
- person there's a fat person trying to climb in.
- 00:13:53.491 --> 00:13:55.860
- Now, I'm just being honest.
- 00:13:55.927 --> 00:13:59.497
- Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and there are
- 00:13:59.564 --> 00:14:04.035
- sometimes some of us who spend too much time adding too many
- 00:14:04.035 --> 00:14:08.740
- rooms to the temple.
- 00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:11.009
- And I'm just simply saying there's a difference between
- 00:14:11.075 --> 00:14:15.013
- living to eat and eating to live.
- 00:14:15.013 --> 00:14:18.016
- I am not gonna stand up here and tell you what you should and
- 00:14:18.082 --> 00:14:20.919
- shouldn't eat, and I don't think it's wrong on occasion to
- 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:23.922
- indulge yourself and eat things that you normally wouldn't eat.
- 00:14:23.922 --> 00:14:26.925
- Look, I--like the rest of you, right?
- 00:14:26.925 --> 00:14:28.559
- I eat at the Varsity Atlanta several times a year and
- 00:14:28.626 --> 00:14:31.296
- then I ask for forgiveness.
- 00:14:31.296 --> 00:14:32.630
- Do the same thing you do, okay?
- 00:14:32.630 --> 00:14:33.998
- I get that, nothing wrong with that.
- 00:14:33.998 --> 00:14:35.667
- I eat cake, I eat pies, I got a sweet tooth, I
- 00:14:35.733 --> 00:14:38.236
- indulge sometimes.
- 00:14:38.236 --> 00:14:39.604
- What I'm simply saying to all of us is this, in light of the fact
- 00:14:39.604 --> 00:14:42.840
- that your body and my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
- 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:47.345
- should you reconsider what you are regularly eating and how
- 00:14:47.412 --> 00:14:52.183
- you're eating?
- 00:14:52.183 --> 00:14:53.551
- That's all I'm asking.
- 00:14:53.551 --> 00:14:54.886
- And for some of you, the cold hard truth is the answer to that
- 00:14:54.886 --> 00:14:57.188
- is yes, I don't need to eat as much of this, and I don't need
- 00:14:57.188 --> 00:15:01.826
- to eat as much of that.
- 00:15:01.826 --> 00:15:03.194
- As a matter of fact, I don't need to eat as much of anything,
- 00:15:03.194 --> 00:15:06.531
- and I could be healthier.
- 00:15:06.597 --> 00:15:08.199
- Okay, there's one area.
- 00:15:08.199 --> 00:15:10.101
- Here's another area, it's exercise.
- 00:15:10.101 --> 00:15:13.972
- Now you may think, "Well, the Bible doesn't say anything
- 00:15:13.972 --> 00:15:16.407
- about exercise."
- 00:15:16.407 --> 00:15:17.775
- Yes, it does, in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 8, Paul
- 00:15:17.775 --> 00:15:21.012
- said this.
- 00:15:21.012 --> 00:15:22.380
- "For while bodily training is of some value," that word means
- 00:15:22.380 --> 00:15:26.684
- exercise, "Godliness is a value in every way, as it holds
- 00:15:26.684 --> 00:15:30.822
- promise for the present life and also for the life to come."
- 00:15:30.822 --> 00:15:34.559
- Now a lot of people read that verse and totally misunderstand
- 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:37.095
- what Paul was saying.
- 00:15:37.095 --> 00:15:38.429
- Paul was not saying, "Exercise is completely unimportant."
- 00:15:38.429 --> 00:15:41.799
- As a matter of fact, he's right, he said, "It is of some value."
- 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:47.939
- And so it simply prioritizes exercise correctly by saying,
- 00:15:48.006 --> 00:15:53.011
- "Look, godliness ought to come first.
- 00:15:53.011 --> 00:15:55.880
- If you're gonna, there's no comparison between the spiritual
- 00:15:55.947 --> 00:15:58.216
- side of your life and the physical side of your life.
- 00:15:58.216 --> 00:16:01.085
- However, a part of being godly and a part of being spiritual is
- 00:16:01.085 --> 00:16:06.391
- doing all you can to keep your temple in good health, to keep
- 00:16:06.391 --> 00:16:10.661
- your body in shape."
- 00:16:10.661 --> 00:16:12.263
- Because, I mean, look, logic tells you this.
- 00:16:12.263 --> 00:16:14.232
- If my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God, don't I owe
- 00:16:14.298 --> 00:16:18.603
- it to the Holy Spirit to make it the healthiest temple that
- 00:16:18.603 --> 00:16:21.806
- I can?
- 00:16:21.806 --> 00:16:23.174
- To give it the best shape that I can?
- 00:16:23.174 --> 00:16:25.743
- As a matter of fact, here's another reason why it's so
- 00:16:25.743 --> 00:16:27.879
- important, this whole subject.
- 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:29.614
- When we take care of our bodies, and you know this, those of you
- 00:16:29.614 --> 00:16:33.985
- who have applied this to your lives, you know it, you'll be
- 00:16:33.985 --> 00:16:36.287
- more energized in your personal life, you'll be more energized
- 00:16:36.287 --> 00:16:39.524
- in your family life, you'll be more energized in your
- 00:16:39.524 --> 00:16:41.893
- spiritual life.
- 00:16:41.893 --> 00:16:43.227
- Look, we can learn from the secular world.
- 00:16:43.227 --> 00:16:44.595
- There was a study that was done with some top-level executives,
- 00:16:44.595 --> 00:16:48.800
- Fortune 500 executives, let me tell you what they discovered.
- 00:16:48.800 --> 00:16:52.737
- 93% of them have a high energy level, which you would expect if
- 00:16:52.804 --> 00:16:57.942
- a guy is running a Fortune 500 company he ought to have a high
- 00:16:57.942 --> 00:17:00.878
- energy level.
- 00:17:00.878 --> 00:17:02.246
- But here's what was surprising: less than 10% of them smoked,
- 00:17:02.246 --> 00:17:07.618
- over 90% of them exercised regularly, and the vast majority
- 00:17:10.388 --> 00:17:16.060
- of them maintained healthy cholesterol levels and had good
- 00:17:16.060 --> 00:17:20.164
- blood work.
- 00:17:20.164 --> 00:17:21.532
- So we talked about diet, we've talked about exercise, let me
- 00:17:21.532 --> 00:17:24.702
- tell you about another area the Bible does talk a lot about, and
- 00:17:24.702 --> 00:17:27.805
- that is rest.
- 00:17:27.805 --> 00:17:29.740
- That's another part that is so important to your body, rest is
- 00:17:29.807 --> 00:17:33.478
- important to God, there's a reason why the Bible says, "And
- 00:17:33.478 --> 00:17:36.047
- on the seventh day, God rested."
- 00:17:36.047 --> 00:17:38.316
- Well, God didn't rest because he was tired, God doesn't get
- 00:17:38.316 --> 00:17:40.451
- tired, but he rested because he said, "Look, I want to set a
- 00:17:40.451 --> 00:17:44.222
- principle, I want to set an example, I want to give you
- 00:17:44.222 --> 00:17:46.624
- a principle.
- 00:17:46.624 --> 00:17:47.959
- I have so made your body that it needs rest."
- 00:17:47.959 --> 00:17:52.563
- So, for example, we need to get rest every day, that's why God
- 00:17:52.630 --> 00:17:58.169
- made the body so it gets sleepy.
- 00:17:58.169 --> 00:18:02.039
- We need to rest our body every
- 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:04.041
- week, and that's why God sets aside this Sabbath Day, for us,
- 00:18:04.041 --> 00:18:08.646
- on Sunday, a day to rest.
- 00:18:08.646 --> 00:18:11.849
- We need to rest yearly, that's why, just like Jesus did, we
- 00:18:11.916 --> 00:18:16.587
- need to take vacations, we need to take time to get away.
- 00:18:16.587 --> 00:18:21.092
- Now, there are a lot of--some of you may know this, a lot of you
- 00:18:21.159 --> 00:18:24.328
- know it, some of you don't.
- 00:18:24.328 --> 00:18:25.730
- There's a reason why I do what I do.
- 00:18:25.730 --> 00:18:27.398
- I take the month of July off, and I realize that's a
- 00:18:27.398 --> 00:18:29.433
- privilege a lot of you don't get to do, and I'm grateful
- 00:18:29.433 --> 00:18:31.369
- that I get to do it, but I take the month of July off.
- 00:18:31.369 --> 00:18:34.205
- I can tell you right now, no doubt about it, I am so much
- 00:18:34.205 --> 00:18:36.974
- more effective the other 11 months of the year, 'cause when
- 00:18:36.974 --> 00:18:39.410
- I hit July, I'm done, my tank is empty.
- 00:18:39.410 --> 00:18:42.980
- Because Jason, one of our teaching pastors, Jason Caine,
- 00:18:43.047 --> 00:18:47.618
- we were talking about it the other day and Jason said, "Doc,
- 00:18:47.685 --> 00:18:50.555
- I am so glad I don't have to preach every week."
- 00:18:50.621 --> 00:18:53.424
- He said, "Man, it's so nice that you'll give me the chance to
- 00:18:53.491 --> 00:18:55.459
- preach and I get all this time to prepare, I'll kinda give it
- 00:18:55.459 --> 00:18:58.095
- my candy stick, you know, and give it my best shot, and I get
- 00:18:58.095 --> 00:19:00.631
- to go and do other things."
- 00:19:00.631 --> 00:19:01.966
- He said, "Man, you gotta do it every single week, I don't how
- 00:19:01.966 --> 00:19:06.771
- you do it."
- 00:19:06.771 --> 00:19:08.139
- I said, "Jason, people don't realize what," you know, 'cause,
- 00:19:08.139 --> 00:19:10.107
- you know this, it's just the way it is, right?
- 00:19:10.107 --> 00:19:12.677
- I don't care if I preached the greatest message since Pentecost
- 00:19:12.743 --> 00:19:16.214
- last week.
- 00:19:16.214 --> 00:19:18.049
- The minute you walk out the door, you know what
- 00:19:18.049 --> 00:19:19.717
- you're saying: "You better do it again next
- 00:19:19.717 --> 00:19:21.285
- Sunday or we're out of here,"
- 00:19:21.285 --> 00:19:23.354
- it's just, that's just the way it is, right?
- 00:19:23.354 --> 00:19:25.423
- What matters is always the next at bat.
- 00:19:25.489 --> 00:19:27.992
- It's a grind, it's hard, it's emotionally draining, and
- 00:19:29.727 --> 00:19:36.534
- nobody, maybe Teresa somewhat, nobody knows how tiring
- 00:19:36.601 --> 00:19:41.405
- this gets.
- 00:19:41.872 --> 00:19:43.241
- I enjoy it but it's just so--I mean, it's just so draining.
- 00:19:43.241 --> 00:19:47.245
- And when I get--and I'm just being honest with you, I've
- 00:19:47.245 --> 00:19:48.980
- never told anybody this--when I hit July, I don't want to
- 00:19:48.980 --> 00:19:52.083
- prepare a sermon, I don't even want to hear a sermon.
- 00:19:52.083 --> 00:19:56.821
- I just wanna just-- and Teresa will tell you this,
- 00:19:56.887 --> 00:20:00.458
- it takes me two weeks to decompress.
- 00:20:00.524 --> 00:20:02.593
- I get up, I'm a very early riser, and I mean, if I sleep
- 00:20:02.593 --> 00:20:06.364
- 'til 7 o'clock, that's late, okay, for me.
- 00:20:06.364 --> 00:20:08.399
- I know I'm up, like I woke up this morning 5:15, 5:30, day
- 00:20:08.399 --> 00:20:11.936
- before that I got up at 4:45, I'm just an early riser.
- 00:20:11.936 --> 00:20:15.606
- It takes me two weeks to get off that schedule because about the
- 00:20:15.673 --> 00:20:19.910
- first four days, I'm on vacation, I wake up and Teresa
- 00:20:19.910 --> 00:20:22.980
- will say to me, "Lay back down, you don't have to prepare a
- 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:25.650
- message, you're okay, just decompress, okay?"
- 00:20:25.650 --> 00:20:29.520
- So my point is God knows that about all of us, that's why he
- 00:20:29.520 --> 00:20:32.390
- says, "Okay, every night you gotta get some rest," and that's
- 00:20:32.390 --> 00:20:35.726
- why he says, "Every week you've got to get some rest," and he
- 00:20:35.726 --> 00:20:38.296
- says, "Every year you've gotta get some rest," because it
- 00:20:38.296 --> 00:20:40.898
- maximizes our efficiency in God's service.
- 00:20:40.898 --> 00:20:44.735
- Now, there's one last area that is a great contributor to your
- 00:20:44.735 --> 00:20:48.906
- health and I'm going to shock you when I tell you this, 'cause
- 00:20:48.906 --> 00:20:51.275
- you'd say, "Well, I think you've covered all the bases,
- 00:20:51.275 --> 00:20:53.210
- you know, you've talked about diet, you've talked about
- 00:20:53.277 --> 00:20:55.646
- exercise and you talked about rest."
- 00:20:55.646 --> 00:20:58.082
- Well, can I tell you one other area that will really help you
- 00:20:58.082 --> 00:21:00.518
- be in the best shape that you can be?
- 00:21:00.518 --> 00:21:02.520
- It's this one, it's church.
- 00:21:02.520 --> 00:21:04.655
- I'm not making this up.
- 00:21:06.724 --> 00:21:08.326
- One of the things that contributes both to your
- 00:21:09.593 --> 00:21:11.562
- spiritual health and your physical health is going
- 00:21:11.562 --> 00:21:14.732
- to church.
- 00:21:14.732 --> 00:21:16.067
- One of the healthiest things you can do every week
- 00:21:16.067 --> 00:21:17.968
- for your temple is to take that
- 00:21:17.968 --> 00:21:20.104
- temple to church.
- 00:21:20.104 --> 00:21:21.605
- Proof: regular church goers on average, regular church goers on
- 00:21:21.605 --> 00:21:25.876
- average have blood pressure 5% lower than those who don't go
- 00:21:25.876 --> 00:21:30.648
- to church.
- 00:21:30.648 --> 00:21:32.116
- As a matter of fact, scientific studies show the only person
- 00:21:32.116 --> 00:21:35.286
- that goes to church regularly that has a problem with blood
- 00:21:35.286 --> 00:21:37.054
- pressure is the pastor.
- 00:21:37.054 --> 00:21:38.522
- So I'm just telling you, it's really great to go to church.
- 00:21:38.522 --> 00:21:41.425
- As a matter of fact, listen to this.
- 00:21:41.425 --> 00:21:43.227
- People who attend church weekly, live on average seven years
- 00:21:43.294 --> 00:21:48.232
- longer than people who never attend church.
- 00:21:48.232 --> 00:21:51.502
- God knows what he's doing.
- 00:21:51.569 --> 00:21:53.003
- So health is important, taking care of our body is important
- 00:21:53.003 --> 00:21:56.907
- to God.
- 00:21:56.907 --> 00:21:58.242
- But listen, this is so huge, I am not telling you this so
- 00:21:58.242 --> 00:22:00.845
- you'll live longer, I'm telling you this so you'll live better,
- 00:22:00.845 --> 00:22:04.882
- so you can give God your very best thinking, you can give God
- 00:22:04.949 --> 00:22:08.519
- your highest energy, you can give God your longest service.
- 00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:12.623
- That's why I exercise, that's why I watch what I eat, that's
- 00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:15.226
- why I get rest.
- 00:22:15.226 --> 00:22:16.594
- You know, Adrian Rogers, my mentor, used to say, "I don't
- 00:22:16.594 --> 00:22:19.163
- want to burn out and I don't wanna rust out, I wanna
- 00:22:19.163 --> 00:22:21.599
- last out."
- 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:23.167
- That's what I wanna do, that's what I want you to do.
- 00:22:23.234 --> 00:22:25.703
- So we should do what's helpful for our body, we oughta do what
- 00:22:25.703 --> 00:22:30.241
- is holy for our body, and then here's the last thing, I should
- 00:22:30.241 --> 00:22:33.177
- do what is helpful for my body.
- 00:22:33.177 --> 00:22:36.080
- Now, lastly, this will kinda surprise you.
- 00:22:36.080 --> 00:22:40.785
- Do you know one of the most helpful and healthy
- 00:22:40.785 --> 00:22:43.687
- things you can do for your body?
- 00:22:43.687 --> 00:22:45.423
- This will surprise you.
- 00:22:46.490 --> 00:22:47.858
- Be thankful, have an attitude of gratitude, be thankful for the
- 00:22:50.494 --> 00:22:56.534
- body that you have and make sure you keep that body thankful.
- 00:22:58.702 --> 00:23:05.643
- Now, when I was doing my research on this message several
- 00:23:05.709 --> 00:23:08.579
- weeks ago, I read something that absolutely amazed me; didn't
- 00:23:08.579 --> 00:23:11.148
- surprise me, but it was really kind of incredible.
- 00:23:11.148 --> 00:23:14.251
- Medical researchers are discovering that gratitude is
- 00:23:14.318 --> 00:23:18.055
- the one emotional trait most likely to benefit physical
- 00:23:18.055 --> 00:23:22.259
- health, and if you're sick, it speed ups the recovery process.
- 00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:27.598
- Grateful people tend to be happier, most satisfied with
- 00:23:27.665 --> 00:23:31.135
- their lives, and actually live longer.
- 00:23:31.135 --> 00:23:34.905
- Now, as a follower of Jesus, think about this, if you say
- 00:23:34.972 --> 00:23:38.275
- you're a follower of Jesus Christ, as I am, we ought to be
- 00:23:38.275 --> 00:23:42.012
- grateful every day of our life that not only that God has given
- 00:23:42.012 --> 00:23:47.117
- us our body, we ought to be thankful every day of our life
- 00:23:47.117 --> 00:23:51.655
- that Jesus gave his body for our body and our soul and
- 00:23:52.890 --> 00:23:58.929
- our spirit.
- 00:24:00.798 --> 00:24:02.333
- We ought to be thankful that Jesus died on the cross and was
- 00:24:02.399 --> 00:24:06.303
- raised from the dead so he could send in his Holy Spirit to live
- 00:24:06.303 --> 00:24:10.307
- in our body so that it can be a holy temple and a healthy temple
- 00:24:10.307 --> 00:24:15.880
- and a happy temple.
- 00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:17.615
- Because see, Jesus cares about us in every way, he cares about
- 00:24:17.615 --> 00:24:21.418
- us spiritually, he cares about us emotionally, and he cares
- 00:24:21.418 --> 00:24:24.688
- about us physically.
- 00:24:24.688 --> 00:24:26.023
- So let me just wrap all this up, and we'll be finished, listen.
- 00:24:26.023 --> 00:24:31.495
- God cares with what you do with your body because it's
- 00:24:31.562 --> 00:24:36.567
- not your body, it's his body.
- 00:24:36.567 --> 00:24:38.435
- That's why God cares about what you do with your money, because
- 00:24:41.071 --> 00:24:45.376
- it's not your money, it's his money.
- 00:24:45.376 --> 00:24:47.811
- That's why God cares with what you do with your mind, because
- 00:24:49.580 --> 00:24:52.983
- it's not your mind, it's his mind.
- 00:24:52.983 --> 00:24:55.419
- Yes, someday this body is going to die, I get that, but someday
- 00:24:55.486 --> 00:25:01.625
- this body is going to be raised to live with the one who gave
- 00:25:01.692 --> 00:25:06.196
- his body for us forever.
- 00:25:06.196 --> 00:25:09.066
- That is God's universal health care plan for the entire world,
- 00:25:09.133 --> 00:25:15.172
- and that's why we ought to live otherwise.
- 00:25:16.073 --> 00:25:20.144
- Let's pray together.
- 00:25:20.144 --> 00:25:21.779
- male announcer: To watch an extended version of today's
- 00:25:21.845 --> 00:25:24.048
- message from Dr. James Merritt, go to TouchingLives.org.
- 00:25:24.048 --> 00:25:28.452
- ♪♪♪
- 00:25:28.452 --> 00:25:34.758
- male announcer: This October, join Dr. James Merritt and
- 00:25:34.758 --> 00:25:37.061
- friends in beautiful Branson, Missouri, for the 2021 Mountain
- 00:25:37.061 --> 00:25:40.431
- Top Conference.
- 00:25:40.431 --> 00:25:41.966
- This Ozark City offers something for everyone.
- 00:25:42.032 --> 00:25:44.768
- From world-class dining and live entertainment to unique shopping
- 00:25:44.835 --> 00:25:48.372
- and outdoor recreation, there is an adventure waiting for you.
- 00:25:48.372 --> 00:25:52.209
- This event will feature powerful preaching daily from
- 00:25:52.276 --> 00:25:54.812
- Dr. Merritt.
- 00:25:54.812 --> 00:25:56.146
- Joining him will be his friends, Bellevue Baptist's Dr. Steve
- 00:25:56.146 --> 00:25:58.816
- Gaines and First Baptist Concord's Dr. Jim Collier.
- 00:25:58.816 --> 00:26:03.287
- You will also get to hear from the legendary Oak Ridge Boys
- 00:26:03.354 --> 00:26:06.190
- when they stop by to share some of their story.
- 00:26:06.190 --> 00:26:08.459
- Enjoy incredible music from Grammy Award-winning Guy
- 00:26:08.525 --> 00:26:11.362
- Penrod, and one of Christian Music's biggest
- 00:26:11.362 --> 00:26:14.798
- artists, Crowder.
- 00:26:14.798 --> 00:26:16.867
- Visit MountainTopConference.com for all the details and reserve
- 00:26:16.934 --> 00:26:20.437
- your spot today.
- 00:26:20.437 --> 00:26:23.374
- ♪♪♪
- 00:26:26.443 --> 00:27:10.854
- male announcer: Touching the lives of the lost and enriching
- 00:27:10.921 --> 00:27:13.524
- the faith of the found, this is "Touching Lives"
- 00:27:13.524 --> 00:27:16.860
- with Dr. James Merritt.
- 00:27:16.860 --> 00:27:18.662
- This broadcast is made possible by the grace of God and your
- 00:27:18.729 --> 00:27:22.066
- faithful prayers and gifts.
- 00:27:22.066 --> 00:27:22.066