You know, it's a blessed promise.
My word shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish
the purpose for which I sent it. The responsibility that a man
has that stands before others is be truthful. Be truthful. Truthful concerning
God, truthful concerning men. Truthful concerning salvation.
Truthful. That which God's people desire
is truth. Tell me the truth. In Romans chapter 12, well, I'll tell you this, the
first eleven chapters that we've considered as we've gone through
this blessed book from the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of
the Spirit of God, to the church that was raised up in Rome. Think about that. God raised
up a church in Rome at one time. One time it was there, Carl. There was a faithful church in
Rome. As far as I know, there is not
one there, but there was at one time, and that church was taught and we too. Blessed truths of God's sovereignty,
electing, distinguishing grace. That's what Paul had been talking
about. Eleven chapters. The love of
Almighty God to a people. That song you just picked out.
I like that third verse. Lover of mankind. All men? No. The Lord never said He loved
all men, but He loved mankind. God so loved the world. That is what it means. The order
that He gave His only begotten Son and for those out of the
world. Jew and Gentile. Nation, kindred,
tribe, tongue. He set His affection upon a people
And to think, and I am convinced there are some of them sitting
here this morning, and I have the blessed privilege to be able
to be here with you and worship. Almighty God chose a people.
The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed them. All that the Father gave
me, the Spirit of God in time called them out. all of them. Well, we begin another section,
and it's in this twelfth chapter is where Paul begins. It's a chapter that begins, and I
want to look at one verse today. Verse 1. Paul said in verse 1, because
of everything that we just said, because Almighty God had chosen
you that believe, Christ redeemed you that believe, the Spirit
of God called you out of darkness, you that believe. Therefore,
Paul said, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, I exhort you. Now, this is an
amazing passage of Scripture. say it be good. I think it's a good idea. He said, I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, because
of, or by the mercy of God manifested in multiple ways. By the mercies
of God. What mercies? What mercies is
Paul speaking of? Isaiah 55. I asked Neil to read
this morning. He said, what do you want me
to read? I said, whatever you feel that you'd like to read. Here's a passage of Scripture
he just read from. Isaiah 55. Incline, verse 3,
your ear, come unto me. Here, and your
soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with
you, even the sure mercies of David." The Lord Jesus Christ, our spiritual
David. Ezekiel 34, 23, and 24 says,
I will set up one shepherd over them, and He shall feed them,
even My servant David. He shall feed them. He shall
be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their
God, and My servant David, a prince among them, I, the Lord, have
spoken it." A spiritual David. Incline your ear. What's it going to take for me
to incline my ear? Now listen, if you hear this
morning, and this is how you know. if God Almighty has given
you a hearer and ear. This is it. I want to hear. I want to hear. Incline your
ear and come unto Me. Has He given me an ear to hear? The Lord said, My sheep hear
My voice. Jeff and what? They come to Me.
They lean on me. We looked at that a few weeks
ago. What is it to come to Christ? To need Him. Why does a man come to Christ?
I need Him. I want Him. What do you want? I want Him. Why? Because I need Him. And I learn from Him. He teaches
me. Incline your ear, come to me,
hear." How can a man hear? He's got to be alive. I'm not
talking about just this ear. Oh, some hear. But to hear. I think to myself, and I know,
at least I know this in my mind. I think I know it in my heart.
One of these days is going to be the last time I ever preach.
One of these days. Maybe today. Maybe the last time
I ever preach. This may be the last time you
ever hear. This may be it. And as Almighty God is my witness,
if this is the last time I preach, if this is the last time you
hear, I hear. May God grant me the grace to
be truthful. Incline your ear and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you. What? Will the Lord bring it
into being right there? No. It's an everlasting covenant. But you'll know it, Brother Scott.
He'll make it known to you. Even the sure mercies of David.
Those mercies that spring from the mercy of Almighty God. Mercies. They're all bound up
in the eternal covenant. But they're mercies spoken of. Listen to this. Redemption. Oh, that's a blessed mercy. What
does that mean? It means to pay. Pay the cost. I've sinned against God Almighty. What do I owe Him? Death. That's what the pay is. What
can I pay? I'm going to die. Redemption. But that Almighty
God, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into this world made of a woman,
made under the law, and where I couldn't live before God, He
did as my representative. Now, this is comforting, Linda. This is comforting. What I owed in obedience before
Almighty God, He obeyed. Now, if I can just stop for just
a minute and bask in that, if I can hear that, he obeyed. And not only did he
obey in every point, every jot, every tittle of the law, but
he paid what I owed for my disobedience. He obeyed and he paid for my
disobedience. Redemption. Pardon of sin. Pardon means forgiveness. That's
what it means. We'll look at another word in just a minute.
Justification. But pardon of sin. In me, that
is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. Now, I know that. If we say we have no sin, we
make God to be a liar. If we say we have no sin. The
moment I stepped in this pulpit this morning, I was sinning in
my flesh. There dwelled no good thing.
And I was sinning against Almighty God because in my flesh I can
do nothing but sin. But Almighty God can justly forgive
me for what I have done in my flesh. Sin. Why? Because Christ paid the debt
of it. He forgives. Now, I'm telling you, men speak
of forgiveness of sin as if it is just something that God can
just say, I'll just forget about it. And He cannot do that. Why? He's just. He's just. I'm a just God. Sin is sold as
sin if dies. But I can know for a fact that
what I continuously do in my flesh, God forgives me. Why? Because Christ paid the debt
of it. He paid for it. Pardon. Regeneration. There's a mercy
of God. Walking dead men, physically
alive, spiritually dead. And the Lord in power comes and
imparts a new life, a new heart, a new will. That's what it means.
I give them a new heart, a new will, a new desire, a new love,
regeneration. And I see, and I hear, and I
perceive, and I understand, and I desire, and I thirst, and I
hunger. I'm so thankful. Lord, thank
You. Thank You that You give me heart
that thirsts after Him who is my salvation, all of salvation. Justification. The declaration that there has
never been a record of sin. No sin. That which is born of
God, sin if not. That new portion. I'm going to deal with this in
a minute. That new portion of my being, a new man, created
in Christ Jesus, justified. No record of sin. Why? It's born of God. And His
seed remaineth in you. That which is born of God. That
which is manifested of God. That which comes from God. does
not sin. Two natures, two natures in a
believer. One that does nothing but sin
and one that nothing, no sin, no sin. Nothing but sin, no sin. Justified, no record, no record,
no guilt before the Lord. Done. Sanctification. Set apart by the Spirit of God. Set apart by God's grace and
mercy just because it pleased Him. Out of the same lump, this
is about the easiest way that I can, in my mind, I can perceive
it. Out of the same lump, He made
one vessel under honor and another under dishonor. He considered
them. What's the difference in one
lump and the other lump? What's the difference in one
pot and the other pot? The grace of God. He sanctified
them. That's the only difference. Sanctification
set apart. What caused Almighty God to set
His affection on me? His will. His will. He pleased Him to do so. Well,
he looked down, some say. He looked down in time, and he
saw that some would choose him, and so he chose them. He sanctified them. No, he didn't.
God looked, and he saw that every imagination of a thought of man
was evil continuously. He looked, and he saw there was
none that does good, not one. He looked and saw that no man
sought after him. He set some apart because it
pleased Him to do so, because He loved the world. He loved
the order of man. He loved mankind. Eternal life? What is life eternal? The Lord
Jesus Christ says this is life eternal, that they may know Thee,
that they may know Him in His character, in His justice, in
His mercy, in His grace, that they may know Him. Man by nature
doesn't know Him, doesn't perceive Him, doesn't understand Him. I beseech you, Paul says, back
in Romans 12, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. Now, this is one of those passages
of Scripture. that I've read, and this is to
myself, so I'll go ahead and admit it, and then you can think
to yourself, and you say what you say about yourself. One of
those passages of Scripture that I just read, and because it sounds
biblical, scriptural, but I don't understand it, so I just keep reading. the presentation of our bodies. As I said a while ago, this is
not up for debate. It's not up for consideration
about whether or not you'd like to or not like to or you can
or you can't or you whatever. I beseech you, I exhort you by
the mercies of God. There's the foundation of it.
By the grace of God, the redemption, pardon, regeneration, Justifying
grace of Almighty God. Present your bodies. A living sacrifice. Holy. Acceptable. Now, you know, there's a few
things that I know about myself. I know, as Paul the Apostle says,
I know that in me, that is in myself. There is no good thing. I know
that there is nothing of my own ability or merit that I can present. Paul made that crystal clear.
He said in Romans 7.24, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? But here the Spirit of God through
the Apostle Paul entreats the people of God, the believer in
the Lord Jesus Christ. to do something that obviously,
apart from the grace of God Almighty, the power of the Lord God Himself,
they cannot do except by the mercies of God, by the manifestation
of God's pity toward them. I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, number one, present your bodies. Now, if you're like me, and I
do, I'm here this morning. I want to learn something. That's why I'm here. I want to
learn of Him. Learn of me. That's what He said. I want to
be taught by the Spirit of God. Present your bodies. The word present there means
to appear or to stand before. Before who? Well, the Scripture
says present your bodies unto God. We present our bodies, we stand
before, we appear before the thrice holy God. How? Well, Colossians
2.10 says complete. in Him. Ye are complete in Him. You are accomplished. You are
perfect. Present your bodies. Stand before. How? A living sacrifice. That is a sacrifice that is alive
before God. You know, you think of a sacrifice
and you think of something that has been It's dead. It's gone. This is a living sacrifice. I know that the only sacrifice
that has ever been accepted on its own merit has been sacrifices. But a sacrifice that has ever
been accepted on its own merit and is a sweet-smelling savor
unto God Almighty is the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that. At Calvary, whenever he at Calvary
on the tree was made sin, made the guiltiness, sin. I don't know any other way to
say it. He was made sin. When Almighty God forsook him and judged him, as
the accepted sacrifice. Accepted Him as the burnt offering. That burnt offering that we looked
at years ago. Those were five different offerings. One of them was a burnt offering.
It was a sweet-smelling savor unto the Lord. And there the
Scripture says in Isaiah, it pleased the Lord. It pleased
the Lord. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. Why? Because He loved me. He loved me. Why else did He
bruise Him? Why was Christ made sin? He loved
me. Why did He go to the cross? For
His people. I lay down my life for the sheep.
Why? I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, present yourselves a living sacrifice."
Well, I tell you what, if there is going to be a living sacrifice,
there is only one. Paul is saying, for me to do
it. But I know this, there is only one, a living, alive, accepted
sacrifice. Hebrews 10.10, "...by the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. Hebrews 10, 14, For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Ephesians
5, 2, And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath
given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweet-smelling savor. So how, if He is the sacrifice,
He is the only accepted sacrifice, how Is it that we present our
bodies a living sacrifice? One way. Being found in Him,
chosen in Him, represented in Him, 1 John 4, 17, as He is,
so are we in this world. The Lord Jesus Christ. our great
High Priest, whoever liveth to make intercession for us, whoever
answers for us, in Him my body is presented a living sacrifice."
Paul said, I was crucified with Him. Living. is our living sacrifice. In Him, we are accepted. In Him, we stand complete before
God Almighty. Present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy. You know, holiness sacred. These are the words that
it's described as. But even when I read the words,
it just, my mind is lost in the holiness of God. This is what it means. Saints. You know, we read that word to
the saints that are at Ephesus, to the saints. The word saint
or sanctified means holy. to the holy ones, to the holy
ones at Katie Baptist Church, to you that are holy in Christ
Jesus, to you that are sanctified, sacred. Holiness, what is it? Well, the only way that I can,
in my mind, it's a state in which God Almighty in grace calls men
He calls them holy. He declares them holy. Being
found and elected in Christ. Listen to this, Ephesians 1,
4. Very familiar passage of Scripture. As according as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy. I've said before, that word should
be right there does not mean sometime in the future. Now,
I can understand how you think that. I mean, I can understand
how I think that. But it does not mean in the future
that we should be holy. It means exists. This is what
it says, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we exist holy and without blame before Him
in love by that eternal union. of that, and I told you a while
ago I was going to say something about this new nature. And this
is what I'm talking about, the new nature. By that eternal union
of that pure portion of our nature, the new man, the new creature created in righteousness,
that which is born from above, That which is born again didn't
come into being when we were born. It came into being as far
as I was concerned. But that pure portion of our
new nature is what Almighty God has everlastingly loved. Loved you. Why? He said, I love righteousness
and I hate iniquity. For him to always love me, Brother
Scott, he's always had to see me as righteous. That's what
the Lord said, I love righteousness. I hate all workers of iniquity. Almighty God has communicated
infinite dignity to us and has therefore made and declared us
to be holy." 1 Peter 1.16 says, "...because
it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy." And that's not something
I can work up. Well, I tell you, the Lord told
me to be holy, so I'm going to start reading more. I'm going
to start praying more. I'm going to start witnessing
more. And then I think back. And the Scripture says, O wretched
man that I am, what are you going to do? If Almighty God has not
declared you, made you holy, sanctified you, then you are
not acceptable unto God. Well-pleasing. That is what it
means. Well-pleasing. Five times in the Scriptures
it is recorded, one of two ways, this is My beloved
Son or thou art My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Knowing that only the Lord Jesus
Christ is accepted based upon His holiness and His obedience,
we are acceptable. unto God in Him. Ephesians 1, 6, "...to the praise
of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved." It means agreeable. Agreeable. In that day, He'll
separate the sheep from the goats. It says He'll save. And immediately,
my mind, in my little fickle mind, I try not to create too many
things in my mind, but it just does. He says he'll separate
the sheep from the goats, and it's like I can see a separation
or something. And then to hear him say, well
done, enter in. Present your bodies. a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service, which is your rational, which
is your logical service. Worship is the word service,
which is your logical worship. Worship, your reasonable worship. The presentations of ourselves
before God and being found and represented in the Lord Jesus
Christ is reasonable, is logical to the regenerated saint. It
is logical in my mind because I can behold it by the mercy
of God, that I can figure out the ins and outs. The unregenerate thinks as that
harlot thought that we looked at. She glorified herself. But as I said last week, I think
it was, the gospel of free grace is the only message according
to the Scriptures that's logical, that's reasonable. Everything
else is full of holes, is shot down. The scripture does not
bear it out. Everything else except the message
of God's grace, God's compassion, God's mercy, everything else
is unreasonable. A man cannot approach God based
on his own merit, based on his own will. Why? Because his will
is evil. but knowing that Almighty God
views me in Christ and that where I stand, I stand totally in Him. And the way that Almighty God
sees Christ, views the obedient servant, the man, Christ Jesus,
the God-man, is a man in glory. And He represents all of His
people. And that man, that holy man,
the spotless Lamb of God, God, man, great as the mystery of
godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. And that man, the God-man, He
answers for me. and everything that he says concerning
me, God accepts me on his merit. Therefore, knowing that Almighty
God looks upon me in Christ, I can read this verse of Scripture
thinking totally of him and God's accepting of me on his merit. And I can say, I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your logical worship." May the Lord bless His Word to
our comfort and His glory in our good.