God Wants A Living Sacrifice: Romans 12:1

please open your Bibles to Romans chapter 12 we finally made it to chapter 12 we worked hard to get there and we are there I hope tonight you're ready to be challenged and knowing you guys I bet you are I'll bet that that's exciting to you but let me offer something crude before we get started but what I mean is a crude analogy or sort of a rough analogy sometimes in the scripture it's like God is telling us what's on his mind it's as God's revealing sort of his his thoughts to us through the scripture so we're getting things like hey this is the truth about this issue this is how things really are in the Word of God we're getting a revelation of God's nature the who he is his plan his agenda we're getting a Christian worldview through the Scriptures we also get things like theology doctrine apologetics even in the Bible so sometimes it's like God's revealing what's on his mind in a sense and other times it's like God's revealing what's in his heart and this is where God's like trying to say to us I think internalize this let my heart impact your heart in this area take what I am passionate about and be passionate about it take what I care about and let it be your goal in your highest lofty call in your life so he wants us to internalize these things this is what we do with the stuff that might be on his mind it's like the stuff that's in his heart to get it like into the mission of my life so I think that that's kind of where we're at today we're getting into a new section in Romans 12 a new section of Romans and while it's a crude analogy because we've had a lot of God's mind and God's heart throughout the book of Romans for sure but really now we're sort of taking what we've learned and we're saying and now do this with it like now get it into your heart and life and carry with it so let's now that we made it to Romans 12 painstakingly brought our way there let's back up one verse into Romans 11 verse 36 and I want to recap this is where we ended last time it says for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory for ever amen so of God and from and from God and Jimmy I've gotten through him right and then to him are all things to whom be glory so the purpose of life the purpose of existence creation salvation all of the above is for God so we're kind of launching from that concept into Romans 12 verse 1 don't read 12:1 as though 11:36 didn't exist it's a connected idea remember these chapter divisions in your Bible were added you know many generations after the text was written for the convenience of being able to refer to passages Oh chapter 12 Oh chapter 4 we all know what we're talking about but for those of you that can never remember chapters and verses just know they weren't written by the authors so that make yourself feel a little better if you're like me so here we are here we are new section of Romans chapter 12 entering into some really practical application of everything we've learned so far and I love this I think that Romans 12 will stand out to you and you'll remember it better maybe than you did Romans 9 10 and 11 because it was so technical in Romans 9 10 and 11 but Romans 12 just gets really down to earth and very practical I remember as me as a musician or at least something like a musician that I am with guitar I remember being in music theory classes and they're teaching me about all these things like this is what a tonic is and this is and here's a triad and you know here's the the you know various inversions of chords and things like that and I remember it not really landing with me very well it was kind of like this is a lot of memorization but I don't see how it applies and then I had a music theory class taught by a guy who played professional acoustic and electric guitar and what he said was I'm in a teaching music theory as it applies to guitar now that's that's a rare thing because music theory is really written for piano probably more than anything else but he said well teach it too as applies to guitar and so what I do was man I just was like a sponge in that class it was like soaking up here's what I do with the first the third and the fifth and the sixth and oh I get it I get it a relative minor I understand and it all clicked and I was able to apply these things well and now I teach other people the same thing when I'm going to teach guitar I think that here Romans 12 are hitting a spot where it says and now here's what you do with all this stuff as a New Testament believing like it's like right into our lives the application is very easy very direct so here we are Romans 12 verse 1 which is as far as we'll get today but I'll read first 1 and 2 and then we're gonna unpack it I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God now everything I think in verses 1 and 2 centers around one main theme living sacrifice and this is a really unique theme this isn't like a super common thing back then to call people a living sacrifice or something they did a living sacrifice generally speaking sacrifices were dead so this is this is a unique thing and everything else about it the present and the beseech and the therefore and the mercies of God and the holy and the acceptable and the reasonable service they all sort of connect to this idea of being a living sacrifice if you think of it like this you do those thought bubble exercises you know where you where you brainstorm you draw a circle in the middle of the page and you write down an idea and then you you branch out little bubbles around that idea and they all relate to that central theme and that's how I see verse 1 here verse 1 the central theme is living sacrifice or sacrifice even and then all the other stuff branches out from that so that's what we're gonna do is we're gonna start the the best way you could start up eating a fresh cookie we're gonna start from the middle the living sacrifice part and we'll work our way out into the rest of the verse from there so here we go what exactly is then a living sacrifice because you're supposed to do this this is something we're supposed to do as as believers well a sacrifice in general let's take away the living concept for a second a sacrifice is animals or food typically animals or food animals or produce that were given to God as a sacrifice now the thing about giving them to God especially back then whether they were Jewish or Gentile they understood the idea of sacrifice they even had pagan sacrifices so they knew that when you sacrifice something it's gone like I don't have it anymore I sacrifice this goat the goats dead the goats gone no longer do I have access to this thing the idea is I don't own this anymore I've given it up it's gone it's not mine I can't use it anymore it has it in a godly sacrifice since it has a holy purpose now and that purpose is something better than whatever I was gonna do with it because I've given it to the Lord that's the idea so it's given over to God and offering something I do not own anymore but what is it that's being sacrificed in Romans 12 verse 1 it's not it's not just you it's your bodies that's interesting because I could I could say well I'm a sacrifice to the Lord then I'm thinking about the hardships I go through the heart beating me all my first world problems you know or I can be thinking about how like my heart is sacrificed to God my heart's devoted to God but he really says it's your body that's being sacrificed to the Lord it's your physical body that's being offered so I'm just say basically that my this body is yours God here's the sacrifice it's my body but before you kill yourself let me let me explain the living part because that would be a misunderstanding a terrible one we're a living sacrifice because you're not intended to be reaching your demise in the process of making the sacrifice there is such a thing as martyrdom or making that ultimate in a sense sacrifice for the Lord but there's something that we're all called to do which is living sacrifices meaning that not me on an altar suffering but rather my daily life and my daily habits the things I do with my body are for the Lord I'm alive because it's a daily moment-to-moment life unto God in a physical sense so then I think we start to sort of go am i doing that like am i having a living daily life for God with my body let me read to you a passage I think is like kind of a parallel idea it's 1st Corinthians chapter 6 verses 19 and 20 and this is the same idea about being a sacrifice for the Lord it says or do you not 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 you don't own you you are not your own for you were bought with a price and that was the blood of Jesus Christ therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are gods that's g.od apostrophe s right your body in your spirit which belonged to God our property of God so he purchased me with a price and therefore I should glorify God it says in first Corinthians with my body and my spirit now sometimes we we emphasize the spirit side of things right as we have a time of worship I'm glorifying God in my spirit but what about your body that's the that's the focus here in Romans 12:1 this needs to be set this needs to be said because so many people think that Christianity is like joining a political party like joining a club like I'm part of the Christian group now oh I like this group that's nice it's got perks I've got people I know and that's sort of thing but really they're they're sort of thinking of Christianity as though being a Christian resides primarily in your opinions about things not necessarily in the devotion of your life to a thing or to a person who is God that that's what it means to be a Christian I mean how different are you after you're saved after you're a believer in Jesus is it pretty much I'm the same except I hold certain opinions now i-i've changed affiliations or is it a life thing that's transformed I live for him he bought me and he and I belonged to him now to do this to be a living sacrifice I'm gonna challenge us tonight to to not look around at other Christians as though the other believers around you in your circle are your example of what it means to follow Jesus I'm encouraging you not to do this to stop for at least a little bit in your life right now and say I'm not gonna look at them and say whatever they happen to be doing that's normal Christianity for me I'm gonna go beyond that because our example is not other Christians I mean I'm supposed to be an example for other believers but I'm not a biblical example of a believer no not really Philippians 3:14 Paul said this he says I pressed toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus here's Paul who you would think is an awesome example and he's talking about how he's pressing forward toward that goal what's his goal in his prize it's the upward call of God in Christ Jesus God's calling me to live higher than the way people live in this world and in this life the example for Christians is Jesus let me say it again the example for Christians is Jesus not other Christians it's Jesus that's why Paul could also say follow me as I follow Christ he's like hey only follow my example as much as I am you late than that you know don't follow me don't do what I do because he's still reaching forward the clear instructions for our lives are in the epistles and I think that this living sacrifice idea I really believe that God's calling us to live a much higher life a much higher call than many of us realize so we're gonna look at a few passages so if you would turn to second Corinthians 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 we're gonna look at a couple passages and here's what I'm asking us to do kind of taking your head the image of what you think a godly Christian is and erase that image just for a moment and let's let scripture fill that image for us let's let the Bible give us give us our calling afresh tonight 2nd Corinthians 5 verses 14 and 15 it says for the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all then all died that's Jesus dying for us therefore we're all dead to that sin to that non God life and he died for all that that or to the end that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again my goal might my agenda my thing is to live for him who died for me and rose again that that on that blank slate that you just created that you should be like I'm living for him it's not for me I'm not just living a good life I'm living a four life or God life turn if you would to Ephesians chapter 4 Ephesians chapter 4 I'm gonna read a big chunk of this because I want to let the word of God I just wanna soak it in right like this is here's the calling here's the heart of God towards us as Christians and how we should live our lives and perhaps perhaps you need a reminder of the kind of life he's called you to live Ephesians 4 verse 20 and we're gonna read all the way through 5 chapter 5 verse 11 but you have not so learned Christ if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness therefore putting away lying let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor for we are members of one another be angry and do not sin do not let the Sun go down on your wrath nor give place to the devil let him who stole steal no longer but rather let him labor working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give him who has need but know let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption let all bitterness all bitterness wrath anger clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you therefore be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma there's that sacrifice concept again but fornication and uncleanness or covetousness let it not even be named among you as is fitting for Saints neither filthiness nor foolish talking or coarse jesting which are not fitting but rather giving of thanks for this you know the no fornicator unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience therefore do not be partakers with them for you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord walk as children of light for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness righteousness and truth finding out what is acceptable to the Lord do you see the connection between that verse and verse 2 of Romans 12 to know the proof approve that good and acceptable and perfect will of God verse 11 then and have no fellowship no fellowship none with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them expose them to me just just reading through that passage I'm just like I mean whoa the calling that's on my life to be in Christ it's it's intense I remember years ago when I was a teenager someone asked me they said are you going to be a pastor and I didn't know why they asked me that but I said I just went know like my gut reaction just like without even thinking I would know and then I in my head here's what I was thinking the requirements are too strict I don't want to be a pastor because the requirements are too strict of following Jesus like really you know strictly that just showed my worldly heart my ungodly heart instead of delighting in all this I was like seeing it as a burden I wasn't living for Christ I didn't see the connection there I was desperately in need of being discipled you know you can see how this requires sacrifice this kind of lifestyle because it's not about you you're not you're not living for you you're you're a living sacrifice you're living a daily life of dying to self to please God and to bless others I like the old joy the old acronym for joy Jesus first others next you last Jo why I like that I mean that's a good reminder for us but it really is quite true because selfish living is not gonna work for me as a Christian like I can't live selfishly and live Christianly like the two just don't mix that doesn't work that way lazy living is not gonna work as a Christian either I'm called to be a living sacrifice I think if we're honest the call to follow Jesus without I'm not trying to judge anybody around me or anything like that but I just want to be honest about the call right the call to follow Jesus has me reaching up to a higher standard than most of the Christians that I spend time with right perhaps really this type of selflessness where it's not just about like I dotted the eyes across the T I'm not I'm not doing this I'm not doing that I'm not doing that but rather there's like selfless life of purity and holiness and love and attempting to be walking and righteousness really it's a pretty high call so that's the self-sacrifice that's the living sacrifice now turning back to Romans 12 let's unpack this concept a little bit so if that's what a living sacrifice is we're literally everything I do in life I do unto God I live with God as my as my chief thing love God with all my heart soul mind strength love my neighbors myself and I'm way down there at the bottom because I'm the sacrifice then now let's unpack the rest of this because there's a wealth of goodness when you analyze a passage I like to analyze each phrase and sometimes each word of a verse I don't like belaboring it and like making it longer than it needs to be but I really like to kind of get all that I can out of that text because I really think God wrote the Bible to be studied and read both depending on like I we just read through Ephesians but it also can just be pull sort of like this patient like turtle The Tortoise and there in the hair right there the tortoise like slow methodical oh reading of it here it says um it says I beseech you therefore brethren I beseech you I beseech you that word beseech literally you could translate it beg I beg you I'm begging you I plead with you I think Paul is really passionate about us being living sacrifices and here's an interesting thought why does Paul feel like he has to make such a big deal about the living sacrifice thing why can't he just go and now you're a living sacrifice of course you know this of course you're doing this it's automatic it's not a magical it just happens as a Christian but instead he's like oh how I beg you please please do this please do this and you get this sense that that believers in general maybe need to be reminded or shaken up or sort of like see that it's God's heart just like it's Paul's heart like I beg you gods like I'm pleading with you live for me live for me let me be the chief purpose of your existence of your day of all that you do with your body I think when you get saved a certain amount of obedience is assumed in the scripture it's just assumed that you're gonna live out this Christian life to some extent right I mean like James 2 says like you know show me show me your faith by your works like proof to me that that faith is real well you'll live it out but we shouldn't assume that a successful godly life is automatically going to happen when we get saved we'll see a change we'll see evidence of the real faith we have but I mean I take as a personal warning when I see people fall when I see pastors fall and think of how many people in the scripture started well and ended bad and ended sad like Solomon's like it bothers me to read about Solomon and his later life and and about how his heart was taken away from the Lord because of all this hid the sexual sin that he got involved in and I'm going maybe it's supposed to bother me maybe it's supposed to get my attention and say hey that could be me that could be you that's why we're getting this beseeching Christian maturity and getting that well done good and faithful servant that is not automatic that's something we we actually contribute to now I'm not saying we contribute to our salvation salvation is utterly free I'm saying we contribute to our sanctification we do we do we contribute to our growing in the Lord as you walk in these things so that's where that's why the beseech is there is I'm pleading with you I'm pleading with your will to make choice to be that living sacrifice also we notice the word therefore and when you see the word therefore what do you ask move to third fourth yeah that's obvious everybody's heard that phrase before so what is it therefore well I think the therefore is there to remind us about our inspiration for being a living sacrifice and so it tells us about all of the book of Romans right we just been hearing about the glorious gospel of God salvation through the free gift of God he took our sins upon himself wretched man all this stuff but also Romans 11:36 which I read in the beginning that everything was made for him right by him he's made through him and it was made for him so both my salvation and my creation they both say that I should be a living sacrifice unto the Lord that's what I think that therefore is therefore so I wasn't just saved by Jesus I was also saved for Jesus is the idea that's that that's the point and then also another word we see in Romans here 12:1 it says brethren brethren some modern translations say brothers and sisters which is fine I think that either ways accurate because it's talking here inclusively about men and women it's just talking to Christian brethren back in the day that was a term they would use refer to guys and girls nowadays people are a little confused about that earlier today I poked my head into the children's ministry downstairs and I heard them singing he has shown the oh man what is good and what the Lord requires of thee we all know that song and and then they sang the verse again and they said he has shown the Oh woman what what is good and what the Lord requires of the and I thought you know back in the day a generation ago everybody knew he has shown the oh man meant everybody like mankind but now we're moving to this new generation that's so weird and confused and honestly angry about gender stuff it's kind of weird that they feel like everything has to be men and women men and women men and women anyway you can't just have an inclusive term and even inclusive terms are considered offensive by some but but anyhow brethren here's all those who are in Christ so the call to be a living sacrifice is not to pastors it's not to missionaries it's to Christians let's get rid of that idea like I had in my head when I was young that there was a different call upon those who were in leadership and you might be thinking but doesn't James say that those who are leaders will be judged more strictly and I would say absolutely judged more strictly but based on the same standard there's a difference there if you as a leader fall short of this standard it's worse than if someone else who's not a leader fall short of that standard because they're not affecting as many people so there's more strict judgment but the standard is the same holiness in Christ is the standard that's the call that I'm asked asked to step forward into everybody in Christ is called to this and part of us we wonder like what's my personalized call in Jesus and when I say what's my call I usually obsess about like what ministry I'll serve in what job I'll have who will I get married to you know like like maybe there'll be this great moment in my life where suddenly everything's a payoff you know and I get and I share with the person who shares that the guy who does the thing and the thing happens you know and and we tend to think about that as our calling but we shouldn't focus on that I'm not saying it doesn't matter it matters but our constant focus should be our calling in Christ to live a godly Godward life living sacrifice unto Him the other stuff is secondary to that and we tend to find our calling naturally as we focus on the more important one so let me give you a bit of advice here if this calling is that high then that means that we have to avoid a couple mistakes we can't change the call to match what we see in the mirror if you find that when you have an honest look at yourself you always come out thinking you're totally fine you're probably not having an honest look at yourself I also can't change the call of Christ in my life to fit my comfort zone or to keep with the traditions of those around me the more I study church history and doing online ministry more like being aware of other other churches other fellowships other traditions and groups and things like that it's kind of like outside my bubble and then you study things like like the history of like say Martin Luther something like that who was in one since a great man and another since he made some serious mistakes you know her Calvin who was and once it's a great man and other since made some really serious mistakes and you look at these guys and you go how could they not know how could you make such a huge mistake and we don't realize they were in this little bubble where when they looked all around them everybody was making the same mistakes so they thought it was just no big deal they changed the call to match their bubble and I fear I might do the same that I might be called to a godly er life but I'm just matching the bubble of those around me so I honest I'm just saying this you shouldn't be going what does Mike think I'm called to do you should be looking at the text of Scripture you should be looking at the person of Jesus and just saying lord help me see the calling that you've placed in my life help me help me do this even if it means looking different than my bubble because when I look back from from the history of heaven when I look back from that perspective I'll be able to say I conformed to God's kingdom I conformed to Jesus Christ and not just to the bubble of those around me because we tend to all share each other's issues you know angry people hanging out with angry people they don't think anger is a big deal you know carnal people hanging out with carnal people they don't think carnality is a big deal in fact they like to use the word Liberty for it you know self-righteous people they they tend to think that that's just righteous but they don't see the bitterness and the anger that's attached to this and pride they don't see what's in their bubble wherever we're at there's probably some flaws that were just absorbing from those around us so let's continue here in Romans 12 verse 1 he says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present that word present it's the same word as yield in Romans 613 and I think there's a connection with 613 says this and do not present or yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members that your body as instruments of righteousness to God so another moment where he specifically mentions our bodies being offered to God so it's in what you do the present the presentation is in what I do why do I linger on this point because I've kind of been repeating it a little bit tonight is because I think we forget we forget when we when we do our robot prayers right God present me to you Lord present me to you a living sacrifice and the scripture saying no you present you to God a living sacrifice but God I don't do that very well can you just take over can you just do it for me and the answer is no that's not how this works I'm already empowering you to do this now walk in the strength I'm giving you that's that's what I get from Romans Romans 6 in particular I encourage you you're struggling with with sin that seems overwhelming that you can't overcome I encourage reading Romans 6 Romans 6 and letting the theology there correct you first corinthians 10:13 a verse I quote a lot because I think it's really important for us it says no temptation has overtaken you such as is common except such as is common to man so it's whatever temptation you're feeling that's normal kind of temptation but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you were able but with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it does that translate as God doesn't you know allow me to have more than I can handle no that's not what that says actually what it says is God is not allowing you to be tempted to sin to the point where you have no choice so I still have a choice I could say no yeah I could say no I have the ability to say no to that sin in Christ now think about this let's take what I'm talking about personally and let's translate this to a whole body a whole fellowship of believers where they are literally law at least in large part offering themselves as living sacrifices to God what a beautiful church that would be right don't you guys want to go to a church like that sometime or B this V the Church of that I want to be this way I just I think it's beautiful I think it glorifies Christ to think of a whole church like that to have this mind in us that is just propagating this our bubble becomes godly right R our sphere of influence and those we impact we just start pulling each other up closer to the Lord and more righteousness and more holiness and more love and more compassionate more self-control and all of those things whether it's grace or goodness just being propagated in our lives now if that's what Christianity is supposed to be and that's what the church is supposed to be then I have a comment because recently in fact I those of you who some of you follow this I've had like another one of those debates online or discussions more of a discussion than a debate with with Doug the atheist on his on his YouTube channel well one of the conversations one of the things that we had talked about in our conversation was the idea that when he left Christianity he says that he became a better person it became a better kinder person I'm better two people I'm nicer to people and I just thought if this is the call and you leave this call and get better then you weren't doing it right and there's actually this is not about Doug really in all honesty because he's not saying anything unique or anything I haven't heard through lots of atheists as well I've heard plenty of people who say that when they left Christianity they basically became either better or stay the same kind of person they were when they were in Christianity and then you got to go well then what call were you reaching up to when you were in Christianity because we're talking about a selfless call where others are before yourself self-sacrifice to God every day all day love unto others holiness like no corrupt word out of my mouth what's good for a necessary edification forgiving and gracious and thoughtful this is the call I think that if you if you stopped being a Christian and your life didn't totally change then you probably weren't doing it right so the question is am i doing it right lord am i walking in the call you've given me or am i just live in my comfort zone every day that's the question also and this is important because I just I just heaped a bunch of stuff on you so give me a second to make it slightly easier it says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present so the way that I present myself to God is by His mercy it's by His mercy though the call is high how do I get qualified to step into that call through pure mercy that's it this means it's never a question of am I good enough to reach out for the call of God in Christ Jesus the answer is no you're not you're not now do it anyways by His mercy you step out now this this can be balanced out like if you look at scripture you'll actually see qualifications for elders qualifications for deacons like in the scripture and the husband of one wife and you know like not given to much wine that sort of thing but but this is that's a qualification for specific ministry and it is entirely possible I think for the life I live to disqualify me for ministry in a particular way like ministry as an elder as a deacon something like that but I don't know if a Christian can disqualify themselves from being a living sacrifice which means that whatever they're doing they're doing it unto the Lord I don't think you can just qualify yourself for this because you do it by His mercy now maybe maybe some mistakes you made mean you're not going to be in this particular role or that particular role but you can still live every day unto the Lord and be a living sacrifice for him fully in and all that you are and I think that that's maybe a balanced way to look at this passage as well as the qualification passages we read about in the pastoral epistles so by the mercies of God by His mercies because otherwise I'm disqualified I get up every morning and be like I don't deserve I don't deserve to serve you Lord that's not the question though is it the question is does he deserve for you to serve him that's the question and the answer is always yes on that so we're also called there's some more words here more words in this in this verse that we must we must slowly analyze and then pack and squeeze for every bit of juice like you would all the juice out of the orange that's what we're doing here so God is calling us to live by the by His mercies to offer ourselves and it says to be holy acceptable to and acceptable to God these are two different things first holy do you know what holy means well holy means sanctified or set apart or pure without blemish that's the idea without blemish I think you know in reaching for holiness I'm trying to get my condition on earth-2 my position in Christ I'm trying to put on that new man that we read about in Ephesians and be more and more christ-like to walk in sanctification set apart consecrated like I belong to God just like that sacrifice it's not mine anymore it's for God now the holiness of the believer seems to be in two different two different sides of the coin one is singly for God my purposes forgot I'm set apart for God not of this world I'm of the kingdom of heaven and then to this the kind of purity that he's calling me to in that I like what he says in Romans 1:7 how he writes to to the believers in Rome and he tells them they're called to be Saints like I'm called to be a saint that's what I'm called to be and that word is holy same word in the Greek oz so it has to do with like a degree of purity not my comfort level not my tradition not my bubble but what I see in the scripture is my call but don't forget by mercy or you'll just go cry yourself to sleep so I'm also acceptable to God that word acceptable to God that concept it's about being pleasing to God he likes it is this acceptable is this meal acceptable to you oh yes tastes very good you know it's pleasing to me I am to offer myself a living sacrifice acceptable to God in the sacrifices in the temple in fact I heard a pastor one time talk about them about how the Jews would be taking these sacrifices in and the altar was there and so there was constantly the slaughtering of animals and then the burning of the sacrifice and they said it must have I mean this is what the pastor said sometimes pastors just get on a weird kick and he said it must have smelled horrible and all the death and everything and I was like you know I read the Old Testament and I'm pretty sure it smelled like barbecue because he's worth there was the altar of burnt-offering you know and you've got it would have smelled great actually and then there was incense there were pleasant aroma is constantly coming from the temple the idea is that the sacrifice was a pleasant aroma going to the Lord as it went up that's the symbol and so my life when I live for God doing whatever I do that day plumbing reading a book talking to my kids call him my mom which I should probably come whatever I do that day when I do it unto the Lord as a living sacrifice to him seeking to put on the christ-like character and do it for him myself last God first others next that's a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord that is acceptable to God or pleasing to him it makes him pleased this means that it's personal that this this idea of being a living sacrifice is not this bird and I'm heaping upon other believers rather this is this is about fulfilling my relationship with God this is a beautiful personal relational thing I'm living for him if you're living for the work of the Lord but not the lord of the work then you're missing this part of the verse you love doing the work of God I want to do the work of God the work of God the work of God but but you're not doing it for the god of the work you know then then you're missing this part the pleasing unto God part unto the Lord and this is like me living above everything that's going on in the world around me because I'm living on to God this is I think why Scripture when it talks to children and it says for them to obey their parents and it's it's because it's pleasing to the Lord that they obey their parents that's the reason so they're living it they're obeying parents unto God not because their parents are perfectly right about everything when when wives are told to submit to their husbands it says as unto the Lord meaning maybe he's not you know right or maybe he's not that easy to submit to or maybe he's not really earning my respect right now but I'm gonna do this unto you God because this is really about my relationship with you not just him isn't it interesting when husbands are told to love their wives they're told to love their wives as Christ loved the church so that my love for her becomes a reflection of my appreciation from Christ's love for me everything I'm doing I'm doing unto the Lord the workers are told what to work as unto the Lord do you get the idea this is what's well pleasing to God is that my goal my agenda is not just to labor for God but to labor unto God like it's for him this is my deepest motive it's not for church my highest motive for ministry can't be for you guys no offense it's got to be for the Lord and if it's for you here's how you know it's for you if you're doing ministry and you're doing it for people but not for the Lord you know because you get better at those people because I've got speakers appreciated you know whatever it is like you get upset especially if it's youth ministry right I'll explain some other time but that's that's how it is but if you do it for people you get bitter you can upset I on my way home I pick up a dozen flowers and I I bring my wife's french fries from McDonald's and I'm like I love you and she's like oh I never hungry oh yeah I get all upset I'm upset because I I didn't have that that third dimension of doing it for the Lord so I was doing it to really gratify myself I was doing it to get you to respond to me instead of just doing it unto the Lord so my deepest motive it's got to be forgot and this changes how I approach everything it brings in humility it brings an easy submission because gods in the picture now and a godly life even if people around me aren't doing it that's okay I'm not doing it for them I'm not doing it unto them I don't need everyone else to change for me to have change in my life because I live unto the Lord and then it also says that it is second to last our reasonable service our reasonable service that's what it says now some translations have spiritual act of worship or spiritual act of worship and you might be like reasonable service spiritual act of worship how is the same Greek words being translated these two very different ways well let me explain first if it's reasonable that's a Greek word there that that can be translated reasonable or rational the thing is it's of the mind it makes sense it's logical that's this that's the idea and really living for God what can make more sense than that what makes more sense than living for God he made me he bought me he loves me he saved me he made me for himself of course living for him is the most rational thing I could possibly do some people they think Christians are irrational for living for God but the reality is it's completely the other way around to live for less than God that's irrational the things that people make their idols instead of God are it's weird I mean there's somebody out there right now and the idol of their life is Pokemon that's what they live for there's somebody out there right now and they love art but they've made it an idol art is their Idol and I'll go arts nice but you guys art is just like flavoring in life it's not life somebody else they've made relationships their idol and that's why they're so frustrated all the time because none of these things are gonna bring you the full circle joy that the Lord brings as you live unto Him those things are far too small this is why I think God mocks idols actually mocks them ridicules them literally mockingly makes fun of them he says about a man in Jeremiah there's a guy who goes out into the forest he chops down a tree he takes some of the tree he fashions it into an idol he gives it eyes but they don't see he gives it him out but it can't talk he decorates it painted with gold or whatever and then he bows down and worships it and with the rest of the tree he throws it in the fire let's think about this for a second like it's just the silliness of any kind of and the Bible says covetousness is idolatry that this these things they it takes hold of our heart instead of God the Christian life what we're saying is the Christian life is the most rational life you can possibly live and anything less than living for God is an idolatrous life a life where you're living for something really pathetic something that ultimately is less than you the guy that bowels before the piece of wood man you're much better than the wood the person that lives for art like you're more important than art there's something that's more important than you that does deserve your worship that's God not these things so there is a sense of rationality behind living for God but then there's another way to translate that same word logic costs the same way the same word there you can translate it as spiritual under the under the sense it means like the true nature of something I know that sounds weird it's just a Greek word that has different meanings depending on the context so let me give an example a first Peter chapter 2 verse 2 you know this verse the same word is also translated in a unique way in that verse normally we would translate it like rational but sometimes context forces something else so 2nd 1st Peter 2:2 says that we as newborn babes should desire the pure milk of the word that we may grow thereby you probably don't even know which one of those words was the word translated rational or reasonable it's the word pure desire the pure milk of the word the log logic costs that that's the word right there well you can't call it the rational milk of the word can you it seems to have a different connotation there so they they say okay the word logic costs what it means is its it has to do with the true nature of something the real milk of the word the pure milk of the word the the real milk you know milk sustains us a basic systems of life babies drink milk that's right that's what that's what we start with and so as a new baby in Christ the real milk is God's Word so in the same sense you can translate it in Romans 12 as spiritual or true your true act of worship and then that word service that one's easy because the word service is is referring to not just any kind of service but it seems to refer to temple service like when the priest would serve in the temple so that's why they go okay well service worship these are two connected ideas and sometimes as Christians we we tend to think worship is sort of one-dimensional we focus on music right like you could go to a worship event like here we have and you know it's gonna be music but what if we did a worship event where all we did was come to the church and clean and that was our worship and there was no music but that's what this is talking about this is talking about a kind of like physical body worship I'm serving God with my life with my body so that's worship unto Him so I think Colossians 3:17 summarizes it this way whatever you do in word or deed we're or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him through him so we are besieged we are called to live daily moment by moment in everything you do whether you're walking on the beach whether you're going to your job whether you're doing your family responsibilities we're just taking care of your own health your own physical health whatever you do to do it unto the Lord let God be the reason for the things I'm doing let him be my ultimate motive and then I'm offering myself a living sacrifice unto Him this it seems so simple but I really think that we need to be besieged again so I'm gonna give you homework here's your homework and this may take you a few years if you have not done this yet start compiling biblical teachings that tell you what your calling is to be tender-hearted forgiving others even as God in Christ forgave you that this is in your mind and in your heart to be slow to anger slow to wrath quick to listen that that's a class part of your calling to be working in your inner employee status as unto the Lord as an employer to be treating fairly or employees and not withholding their wages not not basically giving them an unfair cut that there's there's this there's all these specific passages in the scripture that tell us how we are to live in Christ and I think we just need to get these more in our hearts and minds I mean maybe maybe as I read through agents it was like yeah wow wow that's really I kind of forgot about that stuff you know maybe that was your attitude well start compiling these things because this is I think what's on God's heart for us as Christians to live for him to actually live for him not not just works-based living but relationally being a living sacrifice for the Lord so I hope you feel challenged I really really hope you feel challenged and and the last thing I'll say is this may be someone in the back of your mind you're thinking Mike we're not under the law mic all this stuff you're talking about we're not under the law I just want to say yes you're right we are not under the law and nothing I've said tonight suggests we're under the law we are called to the heart of God and we are called even after Paul Labor's and Romans to talk about free grace let's talk about how we're saved by faith not under the law but through Christ and then after all that he says now I beseech you now that we've got this ironed out the gospel now go live for him and everything you do every day all day long live it unto God let's pray father our prayer right now is that you'd help us to internalize these things we ask for for the ability to look beyond our bubble to not match the any of the compromises of those around us or we don't want to look at people like to judge them or that's not the point we want to look to Christ and live unto Christ and live a godly and a holy and to live a living sacrifice life unto you which is our reasonable service it's our spiritual act of worship nothing could make more sense so we just pray that you'd give us biblical minds and and prepare us Lord even as we venture into verse 2 next week to talk about what it means to have our minds renewed Laura we're asking for that as we offer our bodies to you begin renewing our minds in Jesus name Amen [Music] see [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Mike Winger

Views: 32,452

Rating: 4.8666668 out of 5

Keywords: What is a living sacrifice, living sacrifice, romans 12:1, Romans 12, Mike Winger, BibleThinker, Bible Thinker, holy living, what is my calling, offer your bodies, reasonable service, spiritual act of worship, how to do everything for God, what is a Christian’s calling, temple of the holy spirit, purpose of life, purpose, God’s heart, your calling

Id: n1V0ZXFzFDI

Length: 50min 28sec (3028 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 13 2017