God’s Plan for Our Health - Part 1: Our Physical Health
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - June 22, 2008
*Five years ago I went to have my eyes checked, and Dr. Haynes’ assistant did something I had never seen done at the eye doctor: She checked my blood pressure. And I am glad she did, because it was a lot higher than it should have been. Dr. Haynes strongly recommended that I see my family doctor as soon as possible.
*I had no idea my blood pressure was so high. I should have been checking it, because high blood pressure runs in my family. But that’s not the only reason my blood pressure was high. A lot of it was my own fault, because I wasn’t taking care of my body like the Lord wants me to.
*My family doctor told me, “You are too important to your family, your church and your community not to take care of yourself.” That really got my attention, and the same thing is true for you today: “You are too important to your family, your church and your community not to take care of yourself.”
*Almost all of us need to take better care of ourselves. How can we do it? How can we follow God’s plan for our physical health?
1. First: Start treating your body like God’s temple. Christian: Start treating your body like God’s temple, because it is God’s temple.
*Most of the time we don’t internalize this truth. We don’t focus on it; we don’t apply it; we don’t live in the light of this truth. That’s why Paul started with a question in vs. 19-20: “Don’t you 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? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
*When we receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit of our risen Savior comes to live in our heart. When we talk about this truth, we are usually thinking about our spiritual heart, but vs. 19 puts the focus on our body. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit!
*And believers, we must remember how He got in here. It was through the cross of Jesus Christ. Vs. 20 reminds us that we have been bought with a price -- the highest price! God’s Only Son, Jesus Christ, paid that price when He died on the Cross for our sins. But Jesus rose again from the dead! -- And we receive His Spirit when we trust Jesus as Savior and Lord.
*That is how our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. And this gives our body great value. My old body is something special, because God is living inside! -- Realizing that can motivate us to take better care of our bodies.
2. The time to start is now. Start treating your body like God’s temple. -- And start practicing God-given principles.
*God’s Word has many practical principles to help us take care of our bodies. The Scripture here in 1 Corinthians 6 was part of a specific warning against sexual sin. But God also gives us principles about other issues like eating and drinking. Let’s look back at Proverbs 23:1-2...
1. When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you;
2. and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
*Now look at vs. 19-21:
19. Hear, my son, and be wise; and guide your heart in the way.
20. Do not mix with winebibbers, or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
21. for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
*Clearly the Word of God speaks to us about taking care of our bodies. We need to know that. -- And the sooner the better. We don’t want to be like the 90-year-old man who said, "If I’d a known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself." (1)
*God wants us to take better care of our bodies. For example, He is very strong about drunkenness -- not only in vs. 20&21, but also in vs. 29-32:
29. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30. Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine.
31. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly;
32. at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper.
*Thank God most of us do not have this problem. But some of us do. And some of the rest of us have been there. It’s hard for me to believe as I look back on it, but I was only 12 years old the first time I got drunk. And I had a pretty serious drinking problem by the time I was 17.
*But see, this message is not about condemnation. It’s about liberation! If you have a drinking problem or any other kind of substance abuse, God knows who you are, and He wants to help you. I believe with all my heart that He can set you free! Go and get the help you need. Find a Christian doctor or counselor. -- And trust God to help you overcome.
*Let’s look at another specific in Proverbs 23: Over-eating. -- Uh oh! God’s Word is also very strong about over-eating. Look at vs. 1&2 again: “When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you; and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.”
*Does God want us to cut our throats? -- Of course not. That’s just a figure of speech, an extreme figure of speech to help us learn the importance of good eating habits. Most of us are still working on that lesson. Almost all of us could stand to lose some weight -- And we are not alone.
*The National Institutes of Health estimate that 2/3 of American adults are overweight. That means over 135 million Americans are overweight, and almost half of those are heavy enough to be obese. (2)
*Eating too much is normal for most of us. It’s normal for me. I feel like the man Steve Shepherd told about. His doctor gave him a check-up, and then asked him, "Have you been living a normal life?"
*The man said, "Yes, doctor!" -- And his doctor replied, "Well, you’ll have to cut it out for awhile." (1)
*Eating right is hard. I know that personally. But I also know that because Americans spent $58 billion last year to lose weight. (3)
*It’s easy to be addicted to food. Charles Lowry points out that some of us are addicted to coffee. Then he gives some signs to help us know when we are drinking too much coffee.
*You Know You Are Drinking Too Much Coffee:
-When you answer the door before people knock.
-When Juan Valdez names his donkey after you.
-When you can play ping-pong without a partner.
-When you chew on other people’s fingernails.
-And when you can jump start your car without cables. (4)
*But it doesn’t have to be coffee. It could be sweets. Someone once said that a balanced diet for them was a chocolate chip cookie in each hand! I know it’s hard. As someone else said, “Brain cells come and brain cells go, -- But fat cells live forever.” (5)
*It is hard, but God wants to help us. God’s Word will help us. And each day God gives us is a fresh opportunity to start eating the right way.
*Now, let’s talk about smoking. I know the Bible doesn’t specifically mention smoking. But you know that if God cares about these other things, He also has to care about smoking. Smoking has certainly destroyed the health of millions of people. And it’s an issue for us today, because 1 out of 4 adults in our country are smokers. It’s also an issue, because some of us are addicted to cigarettes.
*Here’s what smoking has done in my family: My sister died of lung cancer earlier this year. -- Smoking. My brother was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year. By the grace of God he is doing miraculously well right now. -- But the cancer came from smoking. My dad died of lung cancer when he was 55. He never got to meet my children. I know he will someday -- but I wish they could have known him down here. My mom died of throat cancer at age 78. -- Smoking.
*Mary’s dad was 71 when he died of lung cancer, but he also struggled with emphysema for over 20 yrs. -- And that was the worst. He lived with us for most of his last year. To see someone you love struggle so hard for breath and die by the inch. -- it’s one of the hardest things we have ever gone through.
*We lived in the building that is now the church office. And I remember watching PapPap lean on that kitchen counter, gasping for breath. I felt so helpless! How I wished there was something I could do to help him. -- But there was nothing to be done. That was the result of smoking.
*Children don’t ever start! But if you have started, I am not telling you all of this to lay a guilt trip on you. I am telling you this to encourage you about what you can do with God’s help. And to encourage you about what you should do with God’s help. I know it’s hard to quit smoking -- extremely hard! But our God parted the Red Sea! -- And I know He can help you quit smoking!
3. The time to start is now. Start practicing God given principles. -- And trust God’s promise that godliness is profitable.
*God has made wonderful promises to bless a Godly lifestyle. He promises to bless you when you live in a Godly way. Paul talked about this truth in 1 Timothy 4:7-8. Here Paul tells Christians to:
7-reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself rather to godliness.
8-For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
*The NIV Bible puts it this way:
7-Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
8-For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
*Notice what Paul says here about physical exercise: It’s good for us! God says that it is profitable. But this has been always been a hard thing for me to add to my life. I’m like King Duncan’s friend George.
-One day George said, “There’s nothing like getting up at 6 in the morning, going for a run around the park and taking a brisk shower before breakfast."
-King was surprised and asked, "How long have you been doing this, George?"
-George answered, “I start tomorrow.”
*Wendy Liebman once said, “I go running when I have to -- when the ice cream truck is doing 60.” (5)
*It’s hard to start exercising -- But we need to do it. Louis Prats got a wake-up call when he was spending some time with his 2-year-old daughter. Louis was drawing pictures for his little girl, and he must be pretty good at it. She asked him to draw a spider so he drew a massive spider with huge, hairy legs. She wanted an airplane so he drew a large jet.
*Then Louis’ daughter asked him to draw "Daddy" and he drew a man in great shape with a six-pack stomach and big muscles. Louis’ little girl admired the picture for a few seconds, then said, "Now draw my daddy." (Ouch) (6)
*Almost all of us need to start some kind of exercise. It’s hard to start, but we need to do it. God says it will help us, and we can trust His Word. But exercising your body can only help a little in the long run. The most important kind of exercise we need is spiritual exercise. That’s why vs. 8 says, “Bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things.”
*Christian psychiatrist, David Larson spent 15 years researching how Christian commitment affects mental and physical health. What he found shocked him. Regular church-goers live longer. -- With less incidence of heart attack, arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure.
*The Alban Institute once reported that active church members have a 60% less chance of a heart attack.
-Active church members have a 55% less chance of a one-car accident.
-And active church members live an average of 5.7 years longer.
*Only 30% of people strongly opposed to church say they are very happy.
-But 70% of highly committed church people say they are very happy. (7)
*Godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. -- But what is godliness? One preacher gave this great summary: Godliness is the knowledge of God in the mind, the grace of God in the soul, the love of God in the heart, and obedience to God in the life. (8)
*We all need that kind of godliness! It will keep doing us good when our physical health has faded beyond repair. Our physical health is going to fade away. -- No matter how much we exercise, no matter how many vitamins we take, no matter how well we eat, no matter how clean we live. Sooner or later, our physical health is going to fade away.
*William Sangster was a well-known British preacher in the 1950’s. One day he noticed some uneasiness in his throat and a dragging in his leg. William went to the doctor and found that he had an incurable disease. It was going to gradually cause all of his muscles to waste away. -- So William threw himself into his work in British home missions. He figured that he could still write. -- And he would have even more time for prayer.
*He prayed, "Let me stay in the struggle, Lord! I don’t mind if I can no longer be a general, but give me just a regiment to lead.” He wrote articles and books, and helped organize prayer cells all over England. Gradually his legs became useless and his voice went completely. But William could still hold a pen. -- And on Easter morning, just a few weeks before he died, he wrote a letter to his daughter.
*In this letter, William said, “It is terrible to wake up on Easter morning and have no voice with which to shout, “He is risen!” -- But it would be still more terrible to have a voice and not want to shout." (9)
*William Sangster had found the rich truth of vs. 8 -- the truth we all need today:
-“Bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
*So how can we follow God’s plan for our physical health?
-Start treating your body like God’s temple.
-Start practicing God given principles.
-And keep trusting God’s promise that godliness is profitable now and forever.
*The time to start is now.
-And the best way to start is to open your heart to Jesus Christ.
*Jesus is the one and only, eternal Son of God who loves you so much that He took on a mortal body like yours.
-Then He died on the cross for your sins and three days later rose from the dead.
*Now the Risen Savior offers everlasting life to everyone who will turn to Him and trust in Him as their Savior and Lord.
*Open your heart to receive Jesus right now.
-Jesus will help you to live the best way you possibly can in this world.
-And then He will take you home to Heaven.
(1) SermonCentral sermon “Making Best Out Of Life III” by Steve Shepherd - John 10:10
(2) computed from http://win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States
(3) http://www.aestheticmedicinenews.com/us-weight-loss-market-to-reach-58-billion-in-2007.htm
(4) Adapted from Southern Baptist Convention LIFE - March 2003
(5) Sermonillustrations.com email Jan. 5, 2003
(6) Reader’s Digest, September 2005, p.129 (Found in “In Other Words” - June 2008 #2) (IN OTHER WORDS... began in 1991 and is produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry, Senior Pastor of the Westgate Memorial Baptist Church in Beaumont, Texas. 6130 Barrington ~ Beaumont, Texas 77706 (800) 553-4697 www.iows.net)
(7) (Adapted from Holwick illustrations) - Larson info: #4338 SOURCE: Christianity Today / TITLE: Health And The God Factor / AUTHOR: Philip Yancey / PAGE: 88 / DATE: 10/7/91 - ENTERED: 5/3/98 / TYPIST: David Holwick - (Alban Institute unknown source)
(8) Gray and Adams Bible Commentary (Romans - Revelation p. 386)
(9) SermonCentral sermon - New Life in Christ - David Holwick - John 5:21-29
