How to Worship God in All of Life (Romans 12:1-2)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:05.400 Please remain standing as you're able, and let's give our attention to Romans chapter 2 00:00:05.559 --> 00:00:14.269 twelve. Coming back to Romans, Romans Chapter Twelve, verses one and two, 3 00:00:14.310 --> 00:00:42.890 Romans twelve, verses one and two. I appeal to you, therefore, 4 00:00:43.090 --> 00:00:48.090 brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a 5 00:00:48.210 --> 00:00:54.079 living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 6 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:59.840 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of 7 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.670 your mind that, by testing, you may discern what is the will of 8 00:01:03.750 --> 00:01:11.349 God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. You may be seated, 9 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:34.170 as we be in Romans Chapter Twelve. We enter into the last, or 10 00:01:34.290 --> 00:01:38.810 next to last, of in the last large portion of the book of Romans. 11 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:42.370 Here, all the way up till about the end, Paul is going 12 00:01:42.489 --> 00:01:48.280 to be giving us lots of very practical instructions about how we are to live 13 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:53.680 our lives as Christians. I'm all kinds of things, from how we love 14 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:59.079 to showing hospitality. He's going to talk about how we identify Christians, how 15 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:04.349 we are to relate to the government, all kinds of things. You will 16 00:02:04.390 --> 00:02:09.430 touch on many, many aspects of our lives and and we will go through 17 00:02:09.469 --> 00:02:16.139 these these chapters slowly and carefully and and thoughtfully and and prayerfully. But you 18 00:02:16.219 --> 00:02:22.580 have to understand, and we will continue to emphasize this point throughout this connection 19 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:29.539 of these chapters and these instructions to everything that has come before. You cannot 20 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:35.650 separate one through eleven, from twelve to sixteen. They're not two books. 21 00:02:35.689 --> 00:02:39.330 There one book and they're tied together. And Paul ties that, not himself, 22 00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:45.400 there in verse one and he says, I appeal to you, therefore, 23 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:49.960 on the basis of all these things I've been saying, not just the 24 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:54.199 last few verses in Chapter Eleven, but the whole argument from one through eleven. 25 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:00.150 Because of that, by the mercies of God, now do these things. 26 00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:07.389 There's a response that follows. You remember at the very beginning of Romans, 27 00:03:07.590 --> 00:03:13.259 in Romans, Chapter One, Verse Sixteen, Paul said this, for 28 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:17.419 I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God 29 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:23.939 for salvation to everyone who believes. I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel, 30 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:30.129 Paul says. He's not a shame because it's the power of God for salvation 31 00:03:30.449 --> 00:03:36.129 to everyone who believes. When he uses that word salvation, he has a 32 00:03:36.530 --> 00:03:42.360 very comprehensive, a very full sense of that word. When we are saved 33 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.080 by God through the Mercy and grace of Jesus Christ, it's not just a 34 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:52.039 part of us that's saved, it's all of us and for all time. 35 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:57.629 God doesn't do things halfway. He doesn't start a job and not finish it. 36 00:03:58.310 --> 00:04:01.870 When he died for us on the cross, there's not a single drop 37 00:04:01.949 --> 00:04:09.030 of his blood that was shed in vain. God intended the complete and entire 38 00:04:09.189 --> 00:04:14.580 salvation of his people, and so because of that, Paul is not ashamed. 39 00:04:14.659 --> 00:04:17.220 He's proud to preach this good news. He's happy to preach this good 40 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:23.379 news. He wants to even suffer for it that others might be saved. 41 00:04:24.449 --> 00:04:28.129 And so when Paul speaks to us about the kind of lives that we live 42 00:04:28.209 --> 00:04:31.810 and response to that Gospel, when he talks about us being saved, he 43 00:04:31.970 --> 00:04:36.649 has not just the beginning of our lives in Christ, but the middle and 44 00:04:38.250 --> 00:04:44.279 on into eternity as well. He said that the power of God is for 45 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:47.560 salvation. So, in other words, it's not just in our justification, 46 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:55.110 not just that Declaration of righteousness that we have in having Christ's righteousness imputed to 47 00:04:55.230 --> 00:04:59.990 us and our sins imputed to him. And it's not just at the end, 48 00:05:00.069 --> 00:05:04.029 in our glorification, when all we will have resurrected bodies, be completely 49 00:05:04.069 --> 00:05:11.379 sinless and have everlasting life, but in the in between times, two the 50 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:15.980 Times in which we all find ourselves and these last days, in two thousand 51 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:25.209 and seventeen sanctification. God works in us, he saves us, and the 52 00:05:25.370 --> 00:05:29.529 Gospel is that power. It's the engine that drives, it's the fuel that 53 00:05:30.170 --> 00:05:35.639 feeds us and helps us, the Gospel being the promises of God that come 54 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:43.360 to us by his spirit, because of his son. They save us in 55 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:48.680 our justification and our sanctification, in our glorification. So that means that when 56 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:53.790 we put our faith in Jesus Christ, to everyone who believes as he says, 57 00:05:53.870 --> 00:05:59.470 there's power in that. Our Union with him therefore results in a new 58 00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:02.629 way of life. In other words, it's not just a thing on paper. 59 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:09.379 Being a Christian isn't just a membership letter or a name on a church 60 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:14.459 roll or even, in God's own mind, just a thing that he's declared. 61 00:06:14.540 --> 00:06:20.490 Union with him results in new ways of living. So he's going to 62 00:06:20.610 --> 00:06:25.410 talk to us about those things and it's a very comprehensive thing he has in 63 00:06:25.569 --> 00:06:30.649 mind. Let me give you one example or a metaphor that Jesus gives. 64 00:06:30.689 --> 00:06:34.240 He talks about us being united to him like a branch has to a vine. 65 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:42.720 When you graft one plant onto another. You have one plant now and 66 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:47.750 the branch is receiving its life, it's vitality, from the vine. The 67 00:06:47.910 --> 00:06:53.310 branch begins to bear forth fruit. But how does it do it? Is 68 00:06:53.350 --> 00:06:56.350 it doing it on its own power, by its own strength? No, 69 00:06:57.189 --> 00:06:59.750 if the branch was by itself, lying on the ground, it would be 70 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:04.220 dead, producing nothing. But because it's united to the vine, it produces 71 00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:11.100 good things, sweet things, enjoyable things. It's the same true. The 72 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:14.899 same is true for our Christian life. When the Gospel comes to us in 73 00:07:14.980 --> 00:07:17.610 the power of the spirit and we believe it and we are united to Jesus 74 00:07:17.649 --> 00:07:26.930 Christ, things happen. Life changes, sin still remains. It's a process. 75 00:07:26.970 --> 00:07:30.480 It doesn't up and all at once, but there is a change. 76 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.399 There's a pattern that we begin to follow. Getting a little bit ahead of 77 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:40.399 myself, Paul says in verse two, do not be conformed to this world 78 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:46.629 or this age. Not Don't follow that pattern. Don't be conformed to the 79 00:07:46.709 --> 00:07:49.509 thing that you aren't a dead thing, an evil thing, a sinful thing, 80 00:07:50.230 --> 00:07:54.230 be conformed to the thing you are, a righteous thing, a holy 81 00:07:54.389 --> 00:08:03.060 thing, one of God's children. So, as we approach all these commandments, 82 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:09.540 I want to start out by laying this foundational idea that if you're a 83 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:13.810 Christian, if your faith is in Jesus and you have believed the Gospel, 84 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:18.449 which is the power unto salvation, and a holistic salvation, beginning, middle 85 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:24.410 and end, then you don't have anything to fear when it comes to a 86 00:08:24.569 --> 00:08:31.519 long list of commands and exhortations and rules for living. You don't have anything 87 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:35.600 to fear because the law is no longer condemning you. It no longer says 88 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:41.320 you will die because of this, and if it does and convicts you of 89 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:46.230 sin, then you know it's convicting you not whender the curse of the law, 90 00:08:46.389 --> 00:08:52.870 but under the blessing of new life. God has already taken the curse 91 00:08:52.990 --> 00:08:58.419 on himself. He's setting before us the pattern of life. That doesn't make 92 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:01.940 it optional, it doesn't make it a thing that you can kind of take 93 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:05.179 or leave, but it changes the way that we think about it, it 94 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:11.690 changes the way we feel. It so when our hearts are pricked, when 95 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:15.289 our consciences are pricked, and we say, you know what, my love 96 00:09:15.490 --> 00:09:20.210 isn't genuine, or I don't show hospitality, or I'm not a good steward 97 00:09:20.289 --> 00:09:24.320 of my gifts, or whatever it is that we say, that's true of 98 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:28.840 me or that's not true of me, and whatever it is, we don't 99 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:35.919 react by becoming fearful of death, of curse and wrath. Instead, we 100 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:41.149 turn and repentance, knowing that the Gospel is the power of God into salvation 101 00:09:41.269 --> 00:09:46.629 for everyone who believes. It. Also means that when we hear these commands, 102 00:09:46.710 --> 00:09:50.590 both here or in any time in our Christian life, there's a kind 103 00:09:50.629 --> 00:09:54.019 of joy that should be sparked within us. The Commands of the Lord, 104 00:09:54.019 --> 00:10:01.220 David says, are sweet and wonderful, like drippings from the honeycomb. If 105 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:05.379 you are a Christian, if your faith is in the gospel of Jesus and 106 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:11.649 in Jesus himself, then the commands of the Lord are sweet because they no 107 00:10:11.889 --> 00:10:16.850 longer are threatening you with death, but instead they're showing you the path of 108 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:22.000 life, what it means to glorify God, what it means to please God. 109 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:26.759 Of course, if you're not a Christian, then hearing these commands will 110 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:33.279 bring much fear to you, and it should, because, apart from the 111 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:37.870 righteousness of Jesus, apart from that Gospel that we are given, we stand 112 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:43.350 just with the law. We stand are called to stand up next to it 113 00:10:43.470 --> 00:10:46.549 and ask, well, how do you measure up? How does he measure 114 00:10:46.590 --> 00:10:50.860 up? How does she measure up? How close do you come and bend 115 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:56.940 the basis of that? Will you be saved or will you not? Well, 116 00:10:58.019 --> 00:11:00.860 it's not good news for any of us when we approach the law in 117 00:11:00.940 --> 00:11:05.889 this way, apart from immediate or apart from Jesus standing between us, because 118 00:11:05.929 --> 00:11:07.210 when it's just us in the law, you know what, all we have 119 00:11:07.529 --> 00:11:15.450 is sin and wrath and the promise of conviction, because none of us can 120 00:11:15.529 --> 00:11:18.169 stand and look at the law, look in the mirror and say, yeah, 121 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:24.039 I'm perfect, I've got it all together. As we reflect on our 122 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:30.519 year just past, who of us, in just the past year can say 123 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:33.789 that was the most excellent year? I finally did it? A sinless year? 124 00:11:35.350 --> 00:11:41.389 Of course not. is riddled with troubles and trials and temptations that were 125 00:11:41.470 --> 00:11:46.620 fallen into, apologies made and forgiveness is asked. And perhaps there still some 126 00:11:46.779 --> 00:11:52.620 things that we need to tie up, and they're always will be things that 127 00:11:52.779 --> 00:11:56.700 need to be healed and restored and forgiven and till the Lord comes again. 128 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:03.009 Knowing that I'm I'm calling you from the very beginning, don't look at the 129 00:12:03.049 --> 00:12:07.970 law that way. Don't put yourself in a position where you stand face to 130 00:12:07.049 --> 00:12:13.409 face with the law without Jesus. You and I, all of us, 131 00:12:13.570 --> 00:12:18.840 need the forgiveness of sins, because we all have sins and we know that 132 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:24.159 because of the law, because of these commands that are given. So, 133 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:30.269 if you're not a Christian, become a Christian. If you don't know Jesus 134 00:12:30.350 --> 00:12:33.029 and are standing apart from him, if it's just you trying to measure up 135 00:12:33.350 --> 00:12:39.830 to the Commands of God's Law, to the righteousness that he commands, recognize 136 00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:43.779 the conviction that say on your heart and the doomed failure that you are and 137 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:50.580 will be. Recognized that the convinced that the wrath of God will come upon 138 00:12:50.779 --> 00:13:00.330 you and it will be terrible. But the Gospel, the good news, 139 00:13:00.450 --> 00:13:03.049 that Jesus has come to save people who are dead in their sins, to 140 00:13:03.450 --> 00:13:09.129 bring people out of Wrath, to be a physician that heals us. When 141 00:13:09.169 --> 00:13:13.919 you trust in that, know that it is not just a message or a 142 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:22.600 nice idea, but it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who 143 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:28.429 believes. So it's in that light that we begin thinking about all of these 144 00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:35.269 commands. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, a word that means 145 00:13:35.429 --> 00:13:41.340 brothers and sisters, by the mercy of God, on the basis of that, 146 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:46.860 on the promises he's made, on the forgiveness he's given and gives, 147 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:52.820 now do these things. And here's how he talks about it. First, 148 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:58.009 he says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to 149 00:13:58.169 --> 00:14:05.210 God, which is your spiritual worship. Then he says, don't be conformed 150 00:14:05.289 --> 00:14:09.279 to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that 151 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:13.480 by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is 152 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:20.200 good and acceptable and perfect. Next time I'm going to focus on verse two 153 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.879 in particular. How do we know what the will of God is? How 154 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.029 do we discern it? How do we test it? It's an important question 155 00:14:26.149 --> 00:14:30.230 that every single one of us should be able to answer. Will think about 156 00:14:30.230 --> 00:14:35.230 that next time. Today I want to simply focus your attention on this holistic 157 00:14:35.309 --> 00:14:43.419 obedience that God wants from his children, this kind of complete, complete obedience 158 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:50.700 that God wants from us as Christians. First, notice this first part in 159 00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:56.129 verse one. He says we are to present our body these as a living 160 00:14:56.730 --> 00:15:01.049 sacrifice. Notice a couple things about this. First of all, he uses 161 00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:07.600 the term body. This does several things. I think it should bring to 162 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:11.519 mind several things. First, it teaches us that our faith in Jesus is 163 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:18.960 is not just an idea or an ideology or even a theology. Our faith 164 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:24.029 is not just good intentions. Our faith isn't just a trying or wishing to 165 00:15:24.070 --> 00:15:30.549 do well, but it's actually faith comes in and is played out in in 166 00:15:31.029 --> 00:15:35.669 actions, in our very bodies. In other words, it's not just a 167 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:39.740 thing that we think about. It's not just an idea that we bat around 168 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:45.100 or a system that we put together like a puzzle. There's it's lived out 169 00:15:45.340 --> 00:15:50.929 in our bodies. The faith that we believed has a physical aspect to it, 170 00:15:52.090 --> 00:15:56.690 in the way that it bears fruit. Paul's already dealt with this. 171 00:15:56.889 --> 00:16:00.649 Actually, this is not the first time that sanctification and obedience to God is 172 00:16:02.049 --> 00:16:06.480 mentioned. Let me remind you of a few verses in chapter six for example, 173 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:11.519 I'll read three verses. First, chapter six, verse Thirteen, where 174 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:17.120 Paul says do not present your members, that is, members of your body, 175 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:22.509 hands, fingers, etc. Do not present your members to sin as 176 00:16:22.710 --> 00:16:29.710 instruments for a righteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been 177 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:34.460 brought forth from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for 178 00:16:34.539 --> 00:16:44.100 righteousness. To do the opposite is is like committing treason. You, as 179 00:16:44.179 --> 00:16:47.610 a Christian, are one that has been brought from death to life, you're 180 00:16:47.730 --> 00:16:52.929 shining with the light of the glory of God. To then take yourself, 181 00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:56.409 your body that God has given you, that is caught, that he is 182 00:16:56.529 --> 00:17:02.480 called holy and acceptable, that a body that he's promised resurrected life to and 183 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:08.000 then walk over to the dark side, the dominion of darkness, the Kingdom 184 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:11.880 of the evil one, and say here I am, I'm ready to serve, 185 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:18.230 when Satan himself would recognize you as a holy one, as an acceptable 186 00:17:18.309 --> 00:17:22.630 one, as one of the children of God. It's a thing that doesn't 187 00:17:22.630 --> 00:17:26.349 make sense. It's a thing that's terrible, it's a thing that, as 188 00:17:26.349 --> 00:17:30.740 I say, is is a treasonous thing to cross sides like that. Don't 189 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:36.700 present your members as instruments for righteousness. Here I am, my feet, 190 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:42.339 my mind, my body. I'm here ready to serve you. UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, 191 00:17:44.769 --> 00:17:48.490 no, but present yourselves to God. Use my hands, use my life, 192 00:17:48.609 --> 00:17:53.009 use my body to serve you, because I am one who has been 193 00:17:53.049 --> 00:18:00.440 brought from death to life. That's verse thirteen or Verse Sixteen, I do 194 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:07.039 not do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, 195 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:11.759 you are slaves of the one whom you obey? Sort of an obvious 196 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:14.589 point, right. Don't you know that if you go to someone who say 197 00:18:14.829 --> 00:18:18.990 I am your faithful servant, I am your slave, that that is your 198 00:18:18.029 --> 00:18:22.950 master? Right? It's a very simple basic point, but Paul puts it 199 00:18:22.990 --> 00:18:26.700 in these very moral terms and spiritual terms. He says, do you not 200 00:18:26.859 --> 00:18:32.019 know that if you present yourselves to anyone is obedient slaves, your slaves of 201 00:18:32.099 --> 00:18:36.539 the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, 202 00:18:36.579 --> 00:18:44.049 or of Obedience, which leads to righteousness? There's a choice we make, 203 00:18:44.250 --> 00:18:48.890 in other words. And then verse nineteen. He says, I'm speaking in 204 00:18:49.009 --> 00:18:55.650 human terms because of your natural limitations, for just as you once presented your 205 00:18:55.799 --> 00:19:02.640 members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to moral lawlessness and, 206 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:07.559 as he said earlier, to death. So now present your members as slaves 207 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:12.710 to righteousness, leading to sanctification. You see what Paul saying? He's saying 208 00:19:12.750 --> 00:19:17.670 when you put your faith in the mercies of God, in the grace of 209 00:19:17.789 --> 00:19:21.589 God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and you say to him you have 210 00:19:21.829 --> 00:19:26.700 saved me and I am yours, and now use me, you become no 211 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:33.740 longer a slave of impurity and lawlessness and terrible things, which leads to darkness 212 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:38.849 and death. You become a slave of the most holy God, which is 213 00:19:40.009 --> 00:19:45.490 not a terrible thing. To be bound forever to him who loves you forever, 214 00:19:45.329 --> 00:19:49.450 to be bound to him forever who promises to care for your every need, 215 00:19:49.609 --> 00:19:55.799 to direct your every path in every good way. That's a wonderful thing 216 00:19:55.960 --> 00:20:03.839 and it leads to sanctification, to holiness, to life. So, going 217 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:10.390 back to chapter twelve, he says present your bodies, and then he adds 218 00:20:10.509 --> 00:20:15.869 this this phrase as a living sacrifice. Our bodies and other words, are 219 00:20:15.910 --> 00:20:19.710 not just our minds. We don't just come up with an idea, we 220 00:20:19.789 --> 00:20:25.779 don't bat around a theology, but we present ourselves our whole selves, and 221 00:20:25.940 --> 00:20:30.099 we do so as a living sacrifice. This is another way that Paul emphasizes 222 00:20:30.220 --> 00:20:34.619 the comprehensive nature of who we are in him and how we are to live 223 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:40.769 our lives. A sacrifice is, of course, something that's given, that's 224 00:20:40.769 --> 00:20:47.049 sacrificed, particularly under God. A sacrifice is something in the Old Testament. 225 00:20:47.130 --> 00:20:49.519 If it was an animal had to die, I suppose, a plant to 226 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:56.319 you don't present a living sacrifice. Really, if you do, the animal 227 00:20:56.440 --> 00:21:02.279 has to die first and then it is given to God. Paul takes the 228 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:06.509 same idea here, but then changes it slightly. He says that we are 229 00:21:06.589 --> 00:21:10.150 to present our bodies as a lit as a sacrifice. Yes, we give 230 00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:15.430 ourselves over to him, but not as a dead thing. We don't say 231 00:21:15.230 --> 00:21:18.980 I need to pay for my sins, so slip my throat and take my 232 00:21:19.140 --> 00:21:23.779 life. We say Jesus Christ is paid for my sins. I now live 233 00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:29.220 and I live forever, and I give myself over to you. It's a 234 00:21:29.299 --> 00:21:34.089 wonderful thing. It describes again that sort of comprehensive sense in which we give 235 00:21:34.130 --> 00:21:41.089 ourselves to God. Well, there's one more way that this is emphasized, 236 00:21:41.130 --> 00:21:45.410 and that's in the verse two, where it says do not be conformed to 237 00:21:45.569 --> 00:21:52.960 this world or to this age. The time in which we live is a 238 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:57.039 time that is full of a lot of darkness. Paul says that in the 239 00:21:57.079 --> 00:22:00.630 last days there will be all kinds of things. People are doing, all 240 00:22:00.710 --> 00:22:07.789 kinds of ungodly things, a world that is filled with treachery and hopelessness and 241 00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:11.309 lawlessness. This is not a point that needs to be proven. I don't 242 00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:18.819 think it's taken for granted. We all know it's true. The world in 243 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:23.700 which we live clings to the things of the evil one, but Paul says 244 00:22:25.259 --> 00:22:29.220 we are not to be conformed to that. We are to be conformed to 245 00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:33.009 something else. We are to follow another pattern. What I mean to say 246 00:22:33.130 --> 00:22:37.690 is, as we think about our bodies and now he tells us to think 247 00:22:37.690 --> 00:22:41.210 about this age in which we live, in the entire context of our lives, 248 00:22:41.329 --> 00:22:47.480 it's to be lived out according to a different context, a different world, 249 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:52.039 a different age, and namely the Kingdom of Heaven. We are to 250 00:22:52.160 --> 00:23:00.230 follow after another pattern, to be conformed and transformed in another way, and 251 00:23:00.390 --> 00:23:06.630 it is the way of the will of God. All around us there are 252 00:23:06.750 --> 00:23:11.509 people saying choosing other paths, going other ways, doing other things, little 253 00:23:11.589 --> 00:23:18.420 towers of Babel being constructed all over the place, men declaring himself to be 254 00:23:18.579 --> 00:23:22.660 God and to be ruler and king over all, and in that choice and 255 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:27.809 in not calling himself God, he chooses his own ways. I want what 256 00:23:27.930 --> 00:23:32.730 I want and I want it now, man says, and there is a 257 00:23:32.809 --> 00:23:37.210 temptation and a pull on us to do the same and to follow after ways 258 00:23:37.250 --> 00:23:42.599 of unrighteousness and wickedness. And Paul Says No. If you are Christian, 259 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:47.559 if you are living your life by the mercy of God, if you are 260 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:52.079 living, then present your bodies as a living sacrifice and don't be formed to 261 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:59.230 this world. Instead, be transformed to the next one, to the will 262 00:23:59.470 --> 00:24:04.190 of God. That is good, acceptable and perfect. It happens by the 263 00:24:04.309 --> 00:24:08.990 renewal of all your mind, by this active process of giving yourself over and 264 00:24:10.140 --> 00:24:14.500 over and over again, to testing, to learning, to knowing what is 265 00:24:14.619 --> 00:24:18.500 God's will, and that then going, in your body and in your soul 266 00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:26.529 and with everything you have into God's path. When we do that, we 267 00:24:26.690 --> 00:24:33.410 find that even the must most mundane tasks of our lives take on something new. 268 00:24:34.650 --> 00:24:40.319 Outwardly, washing dishes from a Christian and a non Christian may not look 269 00:24:40.440 --> 00:24:45.519 any different, but inwardly, to know that in doing a simple chore, 270 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:52.710 whether it's Washing dishes or taking out the trash or going to work or caring 271 00:24:52.869 --> 00:24:59.390 for a loved one, whatever it is, that when we're doing so boys 272 00:24:59.549 --> 00:25:03.150 servants in the House of the Lord, when we're doing things that are good 273 00:25:03.230 --> 00:25:08.819 and acceptable, when pleasing to God, when we're doing things that are filled 274 00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:15.740 with life and light and godliness, it changes sometimes how we do the thing 275 00:25:15.660 --> 00:25:22.410 and at the very least it changes our attitude, it changes our hopes, 276 00:25:22.450 --> 00:25:26.690 it changes our perspective. This is how we are called to live our lives 277 00:25:27.490 --> 00:25:33.930 with one another in our government, in all kinds of aspects which Paul will 278 00:25:33.930 --> 00:25:38.720 get into. We live our lives in the will of God and by His 279 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:47.759 grace. Now it's a process. Much of it will start in your mind 280 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:52.309 and not really seem to work itself out, and even in our minds we 281 00:25:52.390 --> 00:25:59.309 have trouble sort of sorting through things and understanding things and really knowing what God's 282 00:25:59.309 --> 00:26:04.980 will is. But over time God promises US growth. He says that you 283 00:26:06.019 --> 00:26:11.299 will learn to discern good from bad, light from darkness. Remember what Paul 284 00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:15.940 says in Philippians. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever's right, 285 00:26:17.019 --> 00:26:21.490 whatever is pure, is good, whatever is lovely, whatever's admirable. Think 286 00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:26.809 on these things, and who wouldn't want to? We love the good, 287 00:26:27.890 --> 00:26:36.319 we love the things that come from God and are from him. Now, 288 00:26:36.359 --> 00:26:40.680 if you don't think in terms like this, if you're not used to thinking 289 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:44.640 of your body and your soul, if you're not thinking of if you're not 290 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.509 used to thinking of yourself in this comprehensive way as a servant of the Lord, 291 00:26:51.269 --> 00:26:55.789 then let God's words speak to you and begin to change the way you 292 00:26:55.829 --> 00:27:02.220 think about your life. Know that, when you believe in Jesus and you 293 00:27:02.339 --> 00:27:07.460 trust in him for forgiveness of sins, you belong no longer to impurity and 294 00:27:07.660 --> 00:27:12.420 lawlessness and to slavery, but you belong to him who's righteous and good and 295 00:27:12.700 --> 00:27:19.329 holy. Know that, when you belong to him, we are called to 296 00:27:19.410 --> 00:27:25.329 begin to think in these new ways. Indeed, it's kind of impossible not 297 00:27:25.410 --> 00:27:30.960 to think in these ways when you're a true Christian, because he doesn't just 298 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:40.720 change us in a book, he changes US internally, ourselves, our bodies, 299 00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:45.509 our emotions, our thoughts, are wills, are consciences, the spirit 300 00:27:45.630 --> 00:27:52.029 of God is at working in us, and let us believe that and trust 301 00:27:52.150 --> 00:27:57.349 in him and move forward in our lives, seeking more and more to know 302 00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:03.420 him and His grace, to know the faith by which we live and to 303 00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:07.660 continue walking in it. Let's ask God now that he would help us to 304 00:28:07.740 --> 00:28:14.650 do these things, to begin and to continue to think of our lives as 305 00:28:14.769 --> 00:28:18.450 servants of his in every way. Let's pray