UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
Text: I Cor.6: 19, 20
Intro: All of us from time to time have noticed the words “Under New Management” over the door or in the front window of some place of business. Those words convey a series of thoughts and impressions to our minds.
When we see those words, we know immediately that this business has experienced a change. The most obvious change is that of leadership. But with new management comes new motivation and new methods in the way business is conducted.
One likes to think that a change of management will bring with it an improvement in the overall function of the business. However, in the reality of the secular world that is not always the case. Sometimes new isn’t necessarily better.
In today’s text, Paul has declared the believer in Christ to be under new management. This change of ownership has produced vast differences, and all of them for the better. Little remains the same after Jesus takes the reins of our lives.
I want us to consider three thoughts that are implied by our text. By doing so, we will learn what it means to be under the management of Christ.
Theme: Since the Christian is under new management, there is:
I. A CLAIM TO BE CONSIDERED
I Cor.6: 19b “…ye are not your own?”
A. We Belong To God By Purchase Rights.
I Cor.6: 20a “For ye are bought with a price…”
I Pet.1: 18 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
Acts 20: 28b “…feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”
NOTE: Perhaps this story will illustrate my point:
Marred Hands Settled the Issue
The price Jesus paid for our redemption was terrible indeed. When we think of the extreme suffering He endured to purchase our freedom from sin’s penalty, our hearts should overflow with love for Him. Leslie B. Flynn told a story that illustrates this truth.
An orphaned boy was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy, perished in the flames. The boy’s cries for help were finally answered by a man who climbed an iron drainpipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck.
Several weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A farmer, a teacher, and the town’s wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. But as they talked, the lad’s eyes remained focused on the floor. Then a stranger walked to the front and slowly took his hands from his pockets, revealing severe scars on them. As the crowd gasped, the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had saved his life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe. With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man’s neck and held on for dear life. The other men silently walked away, leaving the boy and his rescuer alone. Those marred hands had settled the issue.
Many voices are calling for our attention. Among them is the One whose nail-pierced hands remind us that He has rescued us from sin and its deadly consequences. To Him belongs our love and devotion. –D.C.E.
Our Daily Bread, December 26
B. We Belong To God By Possession Rights.
Rom.8: 9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
II Cor.6: 16 “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
NOTE: [1] It is commonly stated that possession is 90% of the law. But just because we possess something doesn’t guarantee that we won’t eventually lose it. German reformer and theologian, Martin Luther, once said: “I have held many things in my hand, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands that I still possess.” --Martin Luther
[2] Man might lose possession of things, but Jesus will never lose possession of us.
John 10: 28 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
C. We Belong To God By His Personal Responsibility.
1. God protects His own.
II Chron.16: 9a “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him…”
Ps.34: 7 “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about the that fear him, and delivereth them.”
2. God provides for His own.
Ps.84: 11b “…no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
II Cor.9: 8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:”
3. God plans for His own.
a. He has plans for our Christian disposition.
Rom.8: 29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
b. He has plans for our celestial dwelling.
John 14: 2 “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
II. A CHANGE TO BE CULTIVATED
NOTE: When a person comes into a saving relationship with Christ, their life will change.
The Elevator
A man from the back mountains of Tennessee found himself one day in a large city, for the first time standing outside an elevator. He watched as an old, haggard woman hobbled on, and the doors closed. A few minutes later the doors opened and a young, attractive woman marched smartly off. The father hollered to his youngest son, “Billy, go get mother.”
Source unknown
A. Christ Is To Be Our Pattern For Life.
Rom.13: 14a “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ…”
Phil.1: 21a “For to me to live is Christ…”
Col.3: 9 “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”
B. Christians Are To Practice A New Lifestyle.
II Cor.5: 17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
1. Our desires should be toward the things of God.
Matt.6: 33a “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness…”
I Cor.10: 31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
2. The crowd we run with should be different.
II Cor.6: 17 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,”
Eph.5: 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
3. Our old way of living should be a thing of the past.
Eph.4: 22 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and holiness.”
III. A COURSE TO BE COMMENCED
I Cor.6: 20b “…therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
A. It Is A Course Of Submission.
James 4: 7a “Submit yourselves therefore to God…
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10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
Rom.6: 13b “…but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
NOTE: Unless we submit ourselves to Christ we’ll run the ship of our lives aground:
The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message: “Alter your course 10 degrees south.” Promptly a return message was received: “Alter your course 10 degrees north.”
The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: “Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the Captain!” Soon another message was received: “Alter your course 10 degrees north—I am Seaman Third Class Jones.” Immediately the Captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: “Alter your course 10 degrees south—I am a battleship.” Then the reply came, “Alter your course 10 degrees north—I am a lighthouse.”
In the midst of our dark and foggy times, all sorts of voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do, how to adjust our lives. Out of the darkness, one voice signals something quite opposite to the rest—something almost absurd. But the voice happens to be the Light of the World, and we ignore it at our peril.
Paul Aiello, Jr.
B. It Is A Course Of Suffering.
II Tim.3: 12 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
John 16: 33b “…In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
C. It Is A Course Of Self-Denial.
Matt.16: 25 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
Mark 8: 34b “…Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
D. It Is A Course Of Separation.
Rom.12: 2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
E. It Is A Course Of Sanctification.
II Pet.3: 18a “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…”
I Thess.4: 3a “For this is the will of God even your sanctification…”
Theme: Since the Christian is under new management, there is:
I. A CLAIM TO BE CONSIDERED
II. A CHANGE TO BE CULTIVATED
III. A COURSE TO BE COMMENCED
