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Through the desert lead US 241.
Why?
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not 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. For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you.
To think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another.
Having them gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophecy according to the proportion of faith or ministry. Let us wait on our ministry.
Or he that teacheth on teaching. Or he did exhorteth on exhortation. He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. He that ruleeth with diligence. He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good, be kindly affectioned. 1 To another with brotherly love in honor, preferring one another, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope.
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Patient and tribulation continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of Saints given to hospitality.
Bless them which persecute you, Bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind, one toward another.
Mind not things, mind not high things, but condescending men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil.
Provide things honest in the sight of all men, if it be possible, as much as life, and you live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.
Therefore if thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirsts, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt think coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
This chapter begins the practical instructions.
In the book of Romans.
The first eight chapters had given us the main doctrinal portion of the Epistle.
Which is, how can man be just with God?
Justification by faith.
But it showed in the first five chapters.
How sins have been dealt with in the cross of Christ up to verse 11 of chapter 5.
Then chapter 5, the rest of the chapter 6-7 and eight.
Deal with sin, that which produces sins.
While sins are forgiven, the only way we can be delivered from sin is through death.
And it shows that the Lord Jesus didn't only die for us. He wasn't only the substitute for our sins, taking the beating for us. We ourselves found our end in the death of Christ.
And then the Spirit of God is shown to be the power for our Christian living. We have a new life, resurrection life, and eternal life.
And we are identified with the risen Christ, have a new head belong to that is the head of a new race. We belong to him.
The last Adam.
And we have.
Has risen with him.
A new life that we are admonished to live.
And in the power of the Spirit.
We can live.
The life that the new, the new nature desires to live, the new nature gives us desires to live pleasing to God and the Spirit of God, the power. And we find that in the 8th chapter and then chapter 9:10 and 11:00.
Takes up the question since gotten out deals with all men alike, Jew, gentiles or whatever.
How does that fit in with the promises given to Israel in the past?
Well, chapter 1011 and 12 answer that question and now.
9:10 and 11:00 answer that question and 12 gives us now practical.
Admission.
And first of all.
A practical admonition as to how we should live among our fellow believers.
You know we are members of the body of Christ, and then how about our relationship to work, the governments and so on? There are many, many practical instructions given here in the rest of the book, but it is all based upon the mercies of God.
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That have been shown us clearly in the previous portion of the book of Romans. Because of these mercies we are admonished to present ourselves.
Our bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.
And that outline that seems to me that Chapter 8.
Is very special.
In that.
It talks about a man in Christ.
And so the 8th chapter is not exhortation.
It's good looking at the believer. It says, this is what I see in you. It's the most comforting thing to think to say that God is saying that about me, about you as a believer, because you're in praise.
So there's no condemnation and no separation, all the rest that goes in that chapter.
Another thing you've mentioned about exhortation.
If we look in Hebrews chapter 13, the last chapter.
There's an exhortation about exhortation.
Hebrews 13.
The whole of the books been written after the last few verses.
And.
Then it's written in verse 22. IBC, you brethren, supper, the word of expectation.
Allow for it.
So that in the chapter we have read.
It doesn't need much of doctrinal explanation. What it needs is belief and practice.
And to think.
As it begins.
That we can.
Present our bodies.
A living sacrifice.
Not a dead one.
Our dead bodies would be no good as a sacrifice.
Christ was the only one that could give his life and benefit anybody.
In as far as life is concerned, but having life and the life of Christ.
And the doctrine to go as a basis, then we can pick this up.
And present our bodies a living sacrifice we might notice in.
2nd Corinthians chapter 4 what it says there?
As to what we have in these bodies at this time.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 4.
And the.
Seventh verse.
But we have.
This treasure.
In earthen vessels, that the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
The treasure that we have in the vessels is administration of grace, the administration of righteousness to put before the world.
And we have that in these bodies as long as we're here, we have that treasure in the earth and vessel, but it's going to take a little bit of laying down of the desires of the flesh in order to please God. As our first Ham trip, we have none to please. But once here we are, brethren, having all this.
Treasure and earth and vessels, Christ in you the hope of glory. Now he asked us to do a few things. Do we want to do what pleases Him?
You were saying that it's a life that is to be lived. Now in the 6th chapter we find that knowing not that the old man is crucified with Christ.
Just turn to it for a moment in the 6th chapter. And that's the basis of our deliverance, is it not?
6th verse Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin the the.
11 First likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead, indeed under sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so that's what we have here, alive unto God. We have a life to live now that is for the Lord.
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The body of sin has been put away, the old man has been crucified with Christ. And so we go on now in a new creation. 2nd Corinthians 5 seven I believe it is, for you are a new creation. Behold, all things are passed away. All things are become new.
Well, I say the younger ones here for the old man to be crucified.
One brother has beautifully put it.
Is the end of Adam outside the garden?
The first man having been tested under law and under promise and under conscience, in every way a man could be tested, and the end result was a total failure to produce one atom of response to the God who made him.
And so we get the end of the first man. The old man was crucified.
In the 7th chapter we get deliverance from the law man under law for 1500 years. But the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God and the sending his own Son and the likeness of flesh of sin and for a sin offering condemned sin in the flesh. So we have deliverance from sin in the death.
Of the first man in the crucifixion of the first man. And we have deliverance from the law and the death of Christ. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to them that believe. Romans 10:00 and 4:00 So we have complete deliverance. We have new life in Christ, as has been pointed up the life of Christ in resurrection. And if one does not have connection by faith with the Lord Jesus Christ in resurrection, he has no basis for this exhortation.
That we have been read. It has been read to us from chapter 12.
But having been totally.
Done away with as to the first man, and having been completely delivered from the principle of law as producing proof regard, we have been given a new life in Christ, in which, as has been mentioned, all things are passed away, all things become new, and all things are of God. This new creation into which we have been brought is connection with the Lord Jesus Christ in resurrection. And if you have not that, you have no affinity with God in this world now.
So based on that, he says, therefore, because God has set you free from the law, forgiven your sins, put an end to you as you're standing in Adam before him, now live this life.
In the power of the Spirit of God.
At the end of the.
Third verse of Romans 8 that I quoted, it says in verse four in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in US. Who won't? Not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, the Holy Spirit empowering.
And we now can render these bodies a living sacrifice, which is our only intelligent response to the enormity of grace that God has done in forgiving our sins, putting away our first man, and delivering us from the principle of law. We live now unto God in the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's what we have developed in this chapter, exhortation based on what God has done for us in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That word mercy in verse one, the mercies of God seems to reflect too on the end of verse Chapter 11 where he kind of concludes these chapters that go before if we can just read a few verses at the end of Chapter 11.
Verse 34 As ye in time past have not believed God, yet now have now obtained mercy through their unbelief, Even so the at these.
Now not believe that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy, for God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
All the depth and here's the doxology. He looks at the plan of salvation.
Our God is answered for our blessing in every aspect possible.
We've heard about sins question being met and the question of sin as well addressed.
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God has addressed all those things perfectly for His own.
Satisfaction and glory, and for our eternal blessing. And so Paul breaks out in doxology in verse 33.
Oh, the depth of the richest both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past, finding out who could have overheard, or invented, or thought of such a plan as that one in which we are included in? For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counselor, or who hath first given to him? And it shall be recompensed unto him again, for of him and through him.
And to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Tremendous brethren, I think it's important for us to get a grasp of the vastness of the work of God for us in the Lord Jesus, the place of blessing we've been brought into, because it is the enjoyment of that in our souls that will give power to the exhortations that we are taking up now in verse chapter 12.
In view of those mercies, the mercies of God, he says, I beseech you.
To present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Holy, acceptable unto God. Which is your reasonable service? I like to say it. It's the only reasonable response on our part. Given that He has done what He has done, our God has given all.
For us now we're going to say to God here, you can have 50%.
That isn't reasonable.
OK, I'll increase it to 90%. That isn't reasonable either. God gave everything. If I say 90%, it's almost an insult to our God brethren. It can't be. It has to be a total rendition of heart and soul to Him that give everything for us.
And that's Christianity, and you're not going to prove, we say this to everyone here, but especially our young people. You're not going to prove the joy and the thrill of what Christian life really is until there is that complete rendition of heart and will to him. That's what it means to present your body's in sacrifice.
Doesn't mean I have any, it means that I don't have any.
Claims on my own body anymore. This belongs to Him. He bought me body, soul and spirit. I belong to Him completely. I have no longer any rights of my own at all. It scares me when I hear of Christians talking about their rights.
Because, brethren, the Lord Jesus has all the rights now.
You want to talk about your rights? Well, I guess we can talk about our rights. We did, as sinners, have rights to go to the Lake of Fire forever. Yes, we did have rights to that place. But He came and he gave everything for us on that cross. And now am I going to talk about my rights and insist on my rights and insist that my brethren give me a place that doesn't have any place in Christianity at all?
We're going to understand what is reasonable, and it's interesting. I understand that that word reasonable is the same word that our word logical comes from. In other words, you could say it's the only logical thing that you and I can do, given that God has given what has done what He has for us. It's the only logical thing.
Didn't their divine order here in what has been read from the 11Th chapter?
As well as coming into the 12 in that God's part comes first.
Worship and praise and honor to him come first service leader. So the end of Chapter 11 is so beautiful. It's based upon mercy, the mercies of God.
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And it he's concluded the moment and believed that he might have mercy upon all that he might get us poor Gentiles.
And bring us into the nearest place.
And if we're going to praise and worship?
As is our privilege and our highest privilege.
We're going to get that from thinking of the mercies of God.
Collectively and personally.
It's collective in the end of the 11Th chapter, The Jews and the Gentiles.
Paul thinking about them.
And he learned that God could put the mall in mercy, in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all. He was thinking about that nationally.
And worldwide that gave him a heart to break out in this doxology. Now look at First Timothy chapter one.
And see what a personal.
Entering into the mercy of God did for him personally if we can't get a hold of these.
Example, we're going to have a doxology of praise and worship. We're not going to be mute. We're going to have something to say to God in praise and Thanksgiving and worship personally and as we have opportunity collectively well in First Timothy 1.
Let me start with the 51St to get his subject.
This is a faithful saying.
And worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus.
Came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. He was a chief of what chief of sinners?
But Christ Jesus came into the world to save him.
Then what does he say? I'll be it for this, 'cause I obtain mercy, personal mercy for Paul.
That in me first Jesus Christ.
Might so forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them, which should hereafter believe on Him to righteousness?
Paul becomes a pattern to us in salvation and in life after salvation.
Well, he's been thinking about himself personally in the mercy. Now what does he do in one verse 17?
Now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be honor and glory, forever and ever.
Personal praise and worship and honor rendered Paul well. We can have both, and God doesn't ask us to do anything, but He doesn't give the power to do so. These expectations come after there is a setting for them.
And if Christ has laid down his life for us to save us from our sins, what about the little time of service here for us? And it is a little time.
It's a great privilege, but let's don't forget worship and Thanksgiving and giving God His first place.
We were seen in two ways in our attendance before we were saved. We were seen as dead in our trespasses and sins without any capability of producing any fruit for God at all.
But we were also seen as alive in the motions of our sins, and we were using our members to please ourselves, our feet to take us where we wanted to go, our hands to do what we wanted to do. And so we were seen in two ways then, as alive in the motion of our sins. But as we've seen in the earlier chapters, it's been shown that the cross is the answer to that. So now that God has shown mercy to us, and especially as you were reading Brother Bob in the 11Th chapters, Gentiles, we were without hope and without God in the world.
And God, by the unbelief of the Jews, showed mercy to us. So what are we going to do with our members now? We're going to use these members as a reasonable or an intelligence service to show mercy to them. That's what you read there on the 11Th of Romans, that beforehand we use these members when we were lost in our sins, dead in our sins. But we use these members to actively pursue our own course, our own rights, as you were saying. But now what are they to be used for? We were without hoping, without God in the world.
So he's given us a reasonable and intelligence service to use these members as instruments of mercy to take the gospel to those and even back to the Jews, as it was shown there in the 11Th chapter in Blessing.
In Judaism, the law came looking for something, and it was not an intelligence service in that sense is that they were prescribed to do certain things. There were certain things that they had to do. There were certain things that they could eat and certain things that they couldn't eat.
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They could eat a fish with scales and fins, but they couldn't eat one that did not have those things. They didn't understand why. But in Christianity there's become a reasonable or an intelligence service because we know that these things speak of spiritual truths is that the believer has has direction and he can swim against the current, but that which just slithers along the bottom like the eel is an unclean thing.
And so that now in Christianity we understand what these things mean in the Old Testament, that they knew that they could need a pig because it had a cloven hoof. It walked in the divided pathway, but it swallowed everything that came before it. You can feed a pig anything and they'll eat it. And as a picture, it was an unclean animal. But as a believer now.
Then the other animal didn't have a clothing hook, but it chewed the cut. It considered things carefully, but it wouldn't walk in a divided pathway.
They knew that they couldn't eat either of those animals and that the clean animal had a clothing hoof that walked in the divided pathway, and they chewed the cud. It carefully considered what it was was eating before it swallowed it, if I may put it that way. Well, in Judaism they understood what they should and shouldn't eat, but there was no intelligence with it. But in Christianity now we have a reasonable or an intelligent service as to what we do with our hands and our feet and our mouths, which beforehand we use to pursue our own things in a in the motions of sin.
But now are to be, by the mercy of God, used as instruments of righteousness for the blessing of His people.
That cost portion is first.
And.
Service towards men comes in second place. We have that clearly taught in First Peter.
The holy priest took which is God were offering up spiritual sacrifices or the fruit of our lips giving praise to God.
By the Lord Jesus we present that to God, and then the royal priesthood to show forth the excellencies of Him that has called us out of darkness into His marvelous life. We have the same principle in John chapter 10 that the sheep go in and go out.
In for worship and how important that is that true worship.
A true service, I should say, flows from worship. You know, those who have been in the presence of God, occupied with him, with his grace and love and mercy, and with the person and work of the Lord Jesus, and in the enjoyment of these things, they can go out and be a source of blessing.
To others, and I was thinking two of the verses that Paul gives us in Corinthians when Bob was speaking, that we have been bought with a price, we're not at all, We belong to him and we should glorify God in our body. And these are admonitions that we tend to neglect and we belong to him.
We are not any longer our own.
And we ought to ask him as to any questions that comes up in our life. How will it affect?
Him if we enter into this occupation or if we pursue this course of studies.
Will it interfere or is there a danger that it interferes with my?
Responsibility towards God, recognizing that I belong to Him, I won't enter into anything.
Without considering his thoughts and to get to know his mind.
I'm not saying that we always successfully.
Recognize what His will for us is, but that should be nevertheless our desire and our exercise and.
We can ask him.
Even to stop us from doing something that we might think might be for Him, and if it isn't for Him, that He would interfere and stop us and direct us in a way that we can live for His glory.
His claims come first.
We've been bottled the brakes on her own. Her brother Bob was talking about how.
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It's a reasonable or intelligence service to give 100%.
To the Lord, and I've been noticing in these first two verses how we find 100%.
But this issue therefore, brethren, by the mercies or by the compassions of God, this reaches our heart, and that's what we need first. We need our hearts touched. Does He present your bodies a living sacrifice?
Our wills.
In submission to him.
Verse 2.
But be transformed. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Our heart, our will, and our mind, all for Him.
We can't have our hearts for him.
And have our will and mind for ourselves.
That's not acceptable. We can't have our mind.
For God.
And our heart elsewhere. He wants all our heart, our will, and our mind.
A beautiful tube are sitting in this verse was referred to the end of the 11Th chapter and God does not ask us to do anything.
That He hasn't already done in US and for us. We've had that before us. But just I was just called attention to verse 36 of that 11Th chapter.
In pointing out here for in for of him, that's the source. It's of him and then it says through him that's the channel. There's a source is Christ. The channel is Christ and then it says in verse.
And on in the verse and to him which is the object.
Then he, he brings out before us here that lovely expression. I beseech you. Isn't that beautiful to me? That is beautiful. He doesn't make a law. He doesn't put us under some *******. He says, I beseech you.
Therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice unto God, which is your intelligence service. But take it when someone looks at you or me.
They see their body. They don't. They can't see what's inside.
That's not discernible, but they know they can see as you present your body and present the Lord Jesus. If the Christ is shining out there that is seen, isn't that's visible? So I think it's so beautiful that he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, a living sacrifice. You know, someone has said, and I believe it's true, isn't it? It's easier to die for Christ than it is to live for Christ.
Well, someone says, well, how do you figure that? Well, I said, if I, if I walked up to a man and I speak about the Lord Jesus and he takes the gun out and shoot me that I'm, I'm foaming glory, that doesn't take long. But if I'm going in on for the Lord and say 30 years, 40 years, 50 years or whatever it is, how long the length of time the Lord has called me and I'm going on for him, enjoying the Lord in my soul and allowing it to be seen by others.
That's that's different because there's a lot of opposition to that.
The enemy opposes that. So it says we present our bodies in living sacrifice, showing that God lives.
Then he said, Ye see, brother?
Others around us can't see your hearts. God can't. The practical Christianity ought to come out to.
Speak to those around us as to where they are before God.
The body is presented here. It's kind of interesting.
That that seems to be the focus. And I think in many cultures the body is looked at as evil, whereas the soul and the spirit are the positive parts and the body has to be contended with. But in Christianity, isn't it interesting that our bodies also belong to God?
They are, we're redeemed spirit, soul and body entirely for him, the whole thing, not just part. And so we are to take our bodies now and to use them in view of that to present our bodies. And I think that's so important for us to realize this body I live in is not mine to use as I would like to use it. It's to be presented to him and I think.
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There needs to be thought about it, dear young people, especially those of us who are older too.
Read a verse in.
Romans 6. That was a help to me in connection with this.
Because we struggle with desires.
In our bodies and to know how to deal with them. But in Romans 6 it's already been shown to us that we are dead to sin. We're buried with him by baptism.
Unto death. And so we're to reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin in verse 11. But notice verse 13.
Neither yield ye your members. That's our body.
As instruments of unrighteousness and to sin.
But yield yourselves unto God.
That little expression yield yourselves unto God, and as we begin each day.
Get down on our knees.
In recognition of the fact, Lord Jesus, this body belongs to thee, it's all yours. Take it, use these hands, this mind, this body that you've given me for your glory. And then it says, yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members.
As instruments of righteousness unto God, so that when there is that yielding to God.
There are things that are unrighteous in this world that present themselves to us and we say, no, I'm not going in that direction. I've yielded myself to God. It's a practical thing and it has to be done day by day. We forget, brethren, so easily.
We need to renew our thinking daily in this way, but I think it's important to see that our bodies belong to the Lord Jesus. Going to 1St Corinthians chapter 6, Paul is talking about the matter of moral purity.
The question of fornication.
And we certainly live in a world where that is presented.
To the hearts and minds of young people as something that is to be practiced. But what does God say about it? Notice in verse 13.
The middle of verse 13. Now the body is not for fornication.
That sexual relations between those who are not married.
It's not for that. Sexual relations are not prohibited, but they're to be practiced within the bonds of marriage. The body is not for fornication.
But for the Lord, that's pretty clear, isn't it? And the Lord for the body. In other words, you say those temptations are pretty powerful. Remember, not only is your body for the Lord, but the Lord is for the body, and He can help you if you will simply live in the recognitions that your body belongs, not to do what you want to do with it.
One other verse that has been an encouragement, encouragement to me, and I want to give it to my younger brethren especially.
It's in Daniel chapter 3.
Where you have the story and we can't go into it in detail, but you remember the story.
Of Daniels, three friends.
Who stood before Nebuchadnezzar?
He had commanded that all peoples, nations.
Be before that idol he had set up the plains of Babylon.
Bow down to it. And these three friends of Daniel would not bow down. They were called into Nebuchadnezzar's presence. They knew.
What the consequence of not obeying that command was the fiery furnace?
They presented their bodies. They were not afraid to go into that furnace.
Because there was a command from someone higher than Nebuchadnezzar that they had to obey, which said not to bow down to any image of anything made, and so they would not bow down, and they were thrown into the furnace and.
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They came into the presence of the Lord Jesus there and were delivered from the force of the flames. And Nebuchadnezzar, in his astonishment, stands at the door of that furnace and calls them to come out. They were not rebellious. I think it's so important to see young people. Rebellion is never a right attitude for the believer in the Lord Jesus. And when he called them to come out of there, that was something they could do.
Consciously.
In obedience to that king, that did not contradict the command of God. And so they came out and noticed what Nebuchadnezzar says in verse 28 of Daniel 3. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his Angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the King's word.
And yielded their bodies.
That they might not serve nor worship any God except their own God. They yielded their bodies and that beautiful breath.
More remark about the body before we leave the subject. We have very clearly stated from Romans 6 that we are crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be unknown.
The only medium of expression of the desires of the flesh.
Are through the instruments of our members of our body.
Dying with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is a cessation of any medium of expression, because when we are raised with the Lord Jesus Christ.
To live in newness of life, not in the oldness of the latter.
So now as long as I though sin is still present with me to be reckoned, I can reckon it dead. And therefore the the body of sin, that body in which I could do nothing but sin, now has no medium of expression.
That is gone, and now in the energy of the Spirit of God, I yield the same members at once paid allegiance to the realms of darkness. I now yield those same members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Before those members brought death during the will of the mind and the flesh in get in Ephesians chapter 2, I was it was a body of sin. Now it's a body of life come forth and resurrection in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. And now I have the power in the Spirit of God to yield those members as instruments of righteousness unto God. And that's exactly what we're exhorting to do here in our chapter to give these bodies over.
To him and to as a living sacrifice. And notice it says holy.
We are made holy and without blame before Him in love and therefore we have the capacity now to respond to God in holiness and this is an acceptable sacrifice to God. Nothing that we ever could bring to God in the old order of things would bring US1 iota closer to Him.
But now, having been made holy, having a basis by which we can approach God and we can offer to God, we are to do so in the perfecting holiness, as it says in Second Corinthians.
Excuse me, 7 and verse two says having these great and precious promises.
Let us purify ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And so it is in this nature of holiness.
Character of holiness, that we offer these bodies as a living sacrifice to God, and this is acceptable to Him.
On the subject that has been before us is the body.
In verse two, it's the mind. And when we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we receive a new life. We're born from above and we receive a new nature.
But that new life and nature reside in the same body that we had before we were saved. Our bodies are redeemed, and when the Lord Jesus takes us home to heaven, the bodies will be changed.
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And the power of resurrection. But when we're saved, we still have the same mind in us that we had the moment before we were saved.
And so he tells us in verse one the responsibility with respect to the body. But he teaches us something very significant that we need to learn with respect to our minds, and that is that they need to be renewed.
It's necessary because.
We do things according to the habits that we have in our mind, and before we came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we spent a whole lifetime.
Up to that point, acting according to the thoughts that are in our minds, and many of those thoughts have been conformed to the pattern of the world's thinking. Every time you see an advertisement, it is intended to form some habit or decision in your mind to do something. Every child, every day he goes to school, is having his mind filled with certain.
Patterns of thought and those many of them are controlled by the God of this world.
Through the instrument of the teacher.
It is also true that every day you go to work you will be with people who have certain patterns of thought and you will tend, and I will tend to absorb them.
Our minds take them in, and many times it forms the very habits of thought and speech. And so, to make it practical, the day I'm safe, suppose before I spoke in a filthy way.
That is, suppose my speech patterns were full of profanity for that which is dishonouring to the Lord.
That's what's in my mind at that point and it's not going to be instantly different. It may be and I will have perhaps instantly an exercise about it.
I may have the desires formed there by God that even brought me to the point to want to be saved because of certain habits of thought and speech, but the mind is still there as it was. And so he says, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that is.
God works in us to change the patterns of thought that are in our minds, that they might be in conformity to His mind and will.
That we might live to please him. And so we need to have a change which will not take place instantly. It takes place gradually. It takes place as our minds are renewed.
By God through the word of God.
Brethren, I just want to say for you that are younger young people and all of us, we absolutely need the coming in every day into our minds of the Word of God.
That it might form in us our pattern of thought, and it's when that pattern of thought is formed in US and we are obedient to it, that we may do what is given to us in this chapter to prove the perfect and acceptable and holy will of God.
That's the whole answer to the situation, is it not the word of God?
The Word of God is so much in our hand today, and this is what we're doing today.
Renewing of our minds because we're having the Word of God brought upon us, and without the Word of God we have nothing. It's often been said that the Spirit of God will never leave contrary to the Word of God. We must have the Word of God in our thoughts and our minds and in our hearts.
That's what will renew our mind.
To what is customary in the world?
You know, we do watch the two, you know, And our desires are formed by what we see. Our desires are formed by what we read, what we talk about. It's not only the language that should change, our dress should change.
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And we should not follow.
The pattern that the world says, the passions, you know, we have broken down in these things because we have allowed our minds and ideas, ideas to be formed by what is customary in the world, Those who do not know God, who are not subject to the word of God. So I believe these are things very practical. People say the Lord doesn't look at outward appearance.
Why then does the scripture speak of modest dress? Why does it speak of?
The hair length for women and for men, if it wouldn't be important, and let me say we are not setting rules. The Word of God makes the standard or gives the standard. But I would suggest that if we have a renewed mind, we have no difficulties as to what is pleasing to God, even in outward things.
And it should flow outward. Things should flow from inward reality. Not that we try to.
Conform everybody to wear a certain dress, as some Christians do, but there would be modesty displayed, and there would also be an exercise as to specific statements given in the Word of God as to what is pleasing to Him. But we have allowed our minds to be influenced by what is customary in the world.
We have to confess that, and we have to be humble and try to ask the Lord for grace to give us a changed mind or a renewed mind to look at things the way He does and not be influenced by what is customary by those who do not know God.
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Old brother we used to listen to, he just said to us, we are what we think about.
What do you think about? That's what it's getting to here.
You reckon yourself dead.
Under CNN alive and to God by Christ Jesus is simply to think God's thoughts.
That's why it's so important to read constantly the precious Word of God.
It is evident in the life of believers who get into the Word.
It shows maybe the person himself.
Doesn't see too much change in himself and we're never to be thinking so much about ourselves, brethren, but it shows.
Some of those brethren to the South, brethren that get into the work and are in it, somebody has said read the word.
Saturate your mind with the word.
Until you don't think your own thoughts, but you think God's thoughts about it. I think that's so important for us. They're young people and all of it. We show that we are adapting the ways of a world where humanism is rampant. We live in a country where humanism has taken over bread and it has affected us. Let's not try to deny it, brethren.
Let's get into the presence of God.
And seek to recognize the problem. It's the me, myself and I idol.
Do what you like.
You owe it to yourself. It's so prevalent in advertising and it's the way of thinking of this present world in schools. I don't think we realize how much our children have to.
Constantly meet up with a barrage of that way of thinking and we need to be aware of it as parents that our children are getting this kind of programming for their minds. Need to be careful what kind of magazines you read. Need to be careful what apparatus, electronic apparatus you watch because it takes your mind through channels that are filthy and if you're going to allow your mind to be drugged through.
Those filthy channels.
You're going to be affected not only in your mind, but in your ways.
Oh the Lord, help us brethren to be exercised.
That we are to be holy to God because that's where we are before God in Christ.
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Mr. On Dean, a few years ago, an older sister asked and said, how? How do you know the Bible so well? And he said to her, well, sister, if you go through the woods every day, you won't get lost.
And that's what we need. The still, quiet voice. We need to listen to it.
That's really what it means in connection with our intelligence service. And I think we should do as Brother Heinz said, is pray that God would providentially preserve us from doing something that we shouldn't do. But often we don't know what to do in a situation because we're not acquainted with the Word of God. And there is a story in the Word of God that will answer to every situation that we'll need. But if we don't have it and we're not acquainted with it, then the Lord won't be able to use it to guide us. And so in the Old Testament they.
Gideon said before the Lord's fleece, and even in the choosing of the apostles, they drew lots.
Because they didn't have an intelligence, they acted on the intelligence that they had. But in Christianity it is really an intelligent service, is that we have the Word of God, all of the word of God, to guide us and to direct us in that.
This to the age of this world in which we're living, there are two things that are particularly characteristic of the last age, and that is that God's rights are not owned. And So what happened at the cross is that he redeemed us, but he bought the whole field.
And so it could be announced the Gentiles at the time of this ignorance got it winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent is that it needs to be brought before men. Not that I have rights. I don't need to be signing petitions or pleading with the government or voting to change the governments mind. But we do have to announce that God has got right. And that is the thing. It's not that we have rights as Christians, but God has rights. And the second thing that is characteristic of recent time is the doctrine of civil disobedience.
And so I grew up in that where they said you resist bad laws by disobeying. And so it's really lawlessness. That's what sin is. Sin is lawlessness. And so this idea of civil disobedience permeates everything that is brought before us is that you just resist by disobeying. But a believer is never called to disobey. Men ought to obey God rather than men. And so we see that in the book of Daniel. We see that with Peter in the book of the Acts.
But we're never called to disobey, and yet that is the principle.
Thought in which people operate today is that you just resist what is wrong by disobeying it.
The question of obedience is what we have in the last part of this second verse. I think in that little word prove that he may prove we are called into the obedience of Jesus Christ so that it is a matter of as we renew our minds and live in that way of thinking, our whole lives are transformed. Notice it doesn't say that ye may know what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. It's not a matter of knowing.
It's a matter of proving. How do you prove it? By doing it. That's the way you prove that the will of God is, first of all, good. Yes, the will of God is good.
And secondly, it's acceptable.
And thirdly, it is perfect. You prove it as you renew your minds by the reading of the Word of God.
Not to be conformed to the world, but be transformed that we might prove. And I think that's so important. Prove it.
Try it out. It is good. The will of God, it is acceptable. It is perfect. It couldn't be better.
That we have, as we've talked about, the presenting of our bodies and the renewing of our minds and the proving as our brother has been speaking.
We are sitting here thinking, and we certainly ought to be This is good, I need this, I want to do this, but what's the power that gives me?
To do it. And that's in the very next phrase the Apostle Paul says, For I say through the grace that is given unto me. And so beloved young people, as you hear these things and for all of us as we hear these things and we find something stirring in our hearts saying, I want to do that. I want to walk in that path.
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Be encouraged to know that in God there is grace, full and perfect to give us what we need to actually walk and and act in these things. It's the grace of God.
And if you wonder.
Can I do it? He giveth more grace. Everything we need to act on these things is given by the grace of God, even it was as it was given to the apostle who shared these things through the grace given unto him.