another slice of good old -fashioned Missouri
cornbread, or in other words, a heart -to -heart
talk. And I'll be very frank to tell you, if
in the next several minutes I can get you to
remember at all times, under all circumstances,
to whom you belong, It will be the most profitable
heart -to -heart talk that you and I have ever
had. And I mean exactly that. There are four
words that are found in the Song of Solomon.
I am his. And if you can get the full meaning,
the full significance, of those four words until
they become a living, vital part of you. It's
going to take all of the defeat out of your life.
It will change your thinking completely. You
will literally be a new person. I am his. Somebody
said to me, Very recently. You know, Miss Grumman,
you are always so sure of yourself. At all times.
No matter what the crisis, no matter what happens,
you always are so sure of yourself. Not really.
I'll tell you a secret. I'm not sure of myself
at all. But I'm dead sure of him. I am sure of
my God. I am so sure of my God that I'd stake
my very life on him. I am so sure that I can
trust him under all circumstances. I'm not so
sure that I could trust myself under all circumstances.
But I'm sure that I can trust him. His strength,
his power, his courage. I am so sure of his word
that I would stake my very life on any one of
his promises. So that when... You look at my
life and look at me as a person and you feel
that I am so sure of myself that I am a person
of complete self -assurance. Remember, it is
because I am so sure of the one that I love and
the one on whom I lean completely. I know that
under all circumstances, I can say with Paul,
who proved it to the very end, we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us. Not only
by the skin of our teeth or just a very thin
veneer. We are not only conquerors, we not only
will have strength for just that moment, but
we are more than conquerors through him who has
never lost a battle, who knows no such thing
as defeat. who knows no such thing as worry,
fear, anxiety, then if I am his, I belong to
him, then neither should I be worried, neither
should I have fear, neither should I be troubled,
because I belong. Now that's exactly what Paul
was trying to get through the heads of those
Corinthian Christians. He began his letter with
it, reminding them that they were saints of God,
reminding them that they were sanctified in Christ
Jesus, reminding them that they were literally
the very church of God, reminding them of their
position. And in all these things, he was trying
to say to them, remember to whom you belong.
We come to our second heart -to -heart talk regarding
this person the Word of God is found in the sixth
chapter of 1 Corinthians. And he begins it with
a word that is very challenging. Dare any of
you, knowing that you belong to him, knowing
that you are his, Knowing that he has never failed.
Knowing that he is the source of your supply,
your power, and that he is God Almighty. And
that all that is his is yours. Watch it. And
because you do belong to him, none else can possess
you. or has the right or power over you, except
according to his will, knowing that you are his
property, and that he will defend you, that he
loves you, and that the adversary can claim no
right over you. Oh, this is great. Stop right
in the middle of the kitchen floor and look up
in the darkest hour of your life and remember
to whom you belong. Maybe you will feel like
saying it right out loud. I am his. I belong
to him. In a moment of defeat. in a moment of
discouragement. You don't have to run over to
your next -door neighbor to get advice from her.
She's unregenerated. She's unconverted. She doesn't
know Him as her Heavenly Father. Serving your
business, you don't have to go to some godless
somebody who is unsympathetic, who knows nothing
about the power of God. And in your distress,
get his advice. God knows he has troubles enough
of his own. If he was so smart, he wouldn't be
having those troubles that he's confronted with,
you know? And it's like that. The one who is
a Christian has at his command the greatest power
there is in heaven and earth. God. God Almighty.
That's the reason. Oh, this is so consistent.
This is so practical. When Paul, almost, should
I say, impatient, he stood aghast to think that
they would have the audacity to go to the heathen,
the pagan. The outsider, that's somebody outside
the church, to get help, to get advice. Dare
any of you, having a matter against another,
go to law before the unjust and not before the
saints? Are you talking about those who were
in the church? Do ye not know that the saints
shall judge the world, and if the world shall
be judged by you? Are ye unworthy to judge the
smallest matters? If you can't get along among
yourselves, if you can't get along at home and
in the church and with your own brethren in the
church without having to go outside the church
to get help and to get advice, then how in the
world are you going to be able to help him rule
and reign as saints of God. Know ye not that
we shall judge angels? How much more things that
pertain to this life. If then ye have judgments
of things pertaining to this life, set them to
judge who are least esteemed in the church. I
speak. To your shame, he says. Then he goes a
little deeper and he says, remember to whom you
belong. Remember something, he says. You are
children of God. You are sons of the Most High.
One of these days and all this argument that
he uses is priceless. The unrighteous are not
living in contact. with the principles of eternal
justice. They haven't true knowledge. They haven't
true wisdom. The only one who has true wisdom,
the one who is perfect knowledge, is the one
who is your Heavenly Father. The one who has
perfect principle is God himself. The unrighteous
are not living in contact with these principles
of eternal justice. Then why go to them for help,
for advice? The day is coming when the Unrighteous
will not inherit the kingdom of God. It's your
inheritance. Remember to whom you belong. You
are literally joint heirs with Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. He reminds them to whom they
belong. Then here's something. You know, every
once in a while, Paul got just a little sarcastic.
It would be better to say it was Paul's satire.
Oh, I tell you, I appreciate this so much. And
sometimes I think it's overlooked. But I want
you to see. his satire in this because it is
priceless. If you think that Paul was easy and
very patient, oh, my friend, he knew human nature.
He knew to whom he was writing and speaking.
They were all puffed up with spiritual pride.
And there's nothing in the world that's so nauseating,
so disgusting. As men and women in the church
with spiritual pride, they were all puffed up.
Oh, sure. They had had this wonderful experience
with the Lord. They knew that they'd been born
again, and so they felt a little better than
those on the outside, you know. And they were
saying, by the very essence of their action,
we know it all. We have an experience that you
don't have. Now, you know, there are those who
get the idea believe in the speaking in an unknown
tongue. I do. Oh, my friend, I do. I have to
believe it because it's in the word of God. God's
word teaches it. I do, my friend. What I say
is that there's a time and a place for these
things. But I have seen folk just because they
have spoken in an unknown tongue, become very
puffed up over the experience. And you can hardly
touch them with a ten -foot pole. They feel that
because they have had this experience, that somehow
with the experience, God has given them the authority
to be a little judge. And I swear sometimes,
that they actually think they have greater wisdom
and can judge better than God himself. You know
why I believe they think it? Because they act
it. Oh, dear me. Paul threw it right back into
their laps, knowing that they were all puffed
up with spiritual pride. because of their spiritual
experience and their spiritual knowledge. And
really, in the final analysis, they had very
little spiritual knowledge. But it comes right
down to it. But they became very puffed up over
that which they did have. So, what's Paul's...
Let me read it to you. Oh, it's great. He says
to them, Is it so that there is not a wise man
among you? No, not one that shall be able to
judge between his brethren? think you're so smart.
You think you have so much when it comes to spiritual
things. And yet, is it so that there's not one
among you wise enough to deal with these things
in your everyday living, in your lives, that
you have to go out? the church to get spiritual
help and spiritual advice. Isn't that priceless?
Then he goes on. He says, all right, there was
that time when you practiced idolatry. You were
fornicators, thieves. There was a time you were
covetous. drunkards, he names all of these sins,
but that day is over with. Now you're washed.
Now you're sanctified. Now you're justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit
of our God. You are a new creature in Christ
Jesus. And with that glorious experience, After
having been born again, you are a living, vital
part of him, his body. You are literally a joint
heir with the very son of the living God. You
are his. Remember to whom you belong. You don't
have to go outside the confines of God, the church,
the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ, to get
help, to get advice. That's exactly when you
get in to the messes that you get into. That's
exactly why you get into all the... that you
get into is when you go outside of the person
of the Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Son,
the Holy Ghost, and His glorious Word. Remember,
under all circumstances, to whom you belong,
you are... He is.