This Romans 12, as you notice
reading it with me, contains verses much like the
Proverbs or Psalms. Each verse is just a vital exhortation
of command from the Lord. It's very needful. a blessing to me in studying
this, and I bring this to you not because you need it, but
because we need it. I need it. We need it. Brethren, he said, I beseech
you. This is to the brethren. This is to those who claim to
be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I beseech you,
I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, Since God has
been so merciful to us through His kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus our Lord, present your bodies a living sacrifice
unto God. A living sacrifice. Your body.
Your body. We need to be like Isaiah who
said, Here am I, Lord. Here am I, send me. Lord Samuel,
here am I, Lord. Present your bodies. We can do
more service with our bodies to the body. And this is what
he's going to tell us that our real service is all about, as
members of the body, to serve the body. And we're to use these
bodies, our hands, our feet, and so forth. Present your bodies
living sacrifice. Sacrifice means giving up something. Sacrifice means self-denial. And throughout the Scriptures,
he uses the Lord Jesus Christ as the motive, doesn't he? Who
gave himself for thirty-three years. He gave himself to serve
his body, didn't he? A living sacrifice. He says,
holy. acceptable unto God, holy, acceptable
unto God. Holy means, sanctification means holy. That's
what sanctification is. And we love Ephesians 1, don't
we? Well, it says in Ephesians 1
that He's chosen us that we should be holy. That's 1. And that means when the Lord
said He put a difference between Egypt and Israel, remember that? That's not just election. He made them different. He made
them different. It took a while, but He made
them different. At least some of them weren't
genuinely different. Holy means set apart. Sanctification means set apart
for holy use. That's why God chose a people,
to make them like Jesus Christ. And that's our desire in it.
David said that. He said, I'll be satisfied when
I wake with His likeness. And I won't be satisfied until
then. So he said, present your bodies. Lord, here I am. Make me. And isn't that our prayer?
Lord, make me like Jesus Christ. I want to be just like Him. I
asked Spurgeon one time if he could have any wish. Right now,
God would grant you any wish. What would it be? He said, to
be totally without sin. To be just like Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about. A
people acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Your reasonable service. Why?
Because you're not your own. You're bought with a price. We don't belong to us anymore.
We used to. We used to think we did. We served ourselves. Scripture talks so much about
these things, doesn't it? Served our lust and so forth. And now, he says, you're servants
of righteousness. Servants of God. Present yourself. That's what he's talking about.
Present yourself. So, he said, brethren, present
yourselves. It's your reasonable service.
because of how God has been so merciful. Be not conformed to
this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove, that it may be proved to yourself in your
own mind, in your own heart, what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God. And he said this over in, let's
see, where was it? 1 Thessalonians 4. He said, this
is the will of God, even your sanctification. This is the will
of God. To set apart a people. To set
a people apart from this world. He's saving us out of this world. This is the will of God. And
it's going to be proved to us. What is the good? It's good.
The commandment is good, it's holy, it's just, it's true. God's
way is the right way. Right paths. Pleasant paths. Good for us. And everybody can
serve. Everybody can serve. We're not
talking about saving ourselves. It's the last time I'm going
to say that, alright? It doesn't have anything to do
with saving your soul. Jesus Christ did that. And without
Him, we can do none of these things. We end there, don't we? He's the author and the finisher. And he works in us, both the
will and do, but he delights to answer the requests of those
who request these things. This is good. Be not conformed
to the world, he said. I meant to bring Dad's commentary. I read every verse, every comment
by him. It's so good. There's not a better
commentary on the epistles out there. But he said in that commentary,
the world thinks on things below. Believers have their affections
set on things above. The world serves sin and the
flesh. Believers don't want to serve
God. The world thinks on temporal things. The believer thinks on
eternal things. The world is, you know, avenges
itself. No, believers don't. They turn
the other cheek. And so on and so forth. You're
not conformed to this world. The world's in darkness. And,
you know, people like to brag about being non-conformists,
don't they? That's what I thought I was back
in the 60's. It's ironic how foolish we can
be and non-conformist when you're just like everybody. You wouldn't
dream of not being like them. Idiots, as Donnie Bell would
say, idiots. Be not conformed. Blind leaders
of the blind, they're all going to follow with it. The broad
road is where everybody is traveling. Don't be conformed. Be transformed. You can't transform yourself.
I'll tell you who does. And I'll tell you how he does
it, right here. By the renewing of your minds.
He speaks this quite often in Ephesians and so forth. All these
principles are carried out through every epistle or debit. By the
renewing of your mind. Put on the new man. Put off the old. By the renewing
of your mind, he said in Ephesians 4. Let this mind be in you. Well,
how? Well, I'll tell you how we're
conformed to the world is when we fill our minds full of this
Word. If that's all we're listening
to and that's who we're listening to and it's all we're looking
at and thinking about, we'll start thinking like them. And
before you know it, we're conformed to them. This transforms you. It will take a person who is
in total conformity to the world and open their blind eyes and
their dark hearts and their ignorant heads to see, hey, the right
way is 180 degrees. Transformed. By the renewing
of your mind, this is the will of God. Verse 3, he says, I say
through the grace of God given unto me. Now here's the first
transformation, the first thing to keep in mind. That every man
should not think of himself more highly than he ought to think.
What is it that characterizes this world more than anything
else? Pride. Isn't that what 2 Timothy 3 says? In the last day perilous time,
men will be lovers of self, heady, high-minded, proud. It's hard
to find anybody that's not just full of pride. Well, the believer
knows that he is nothing. She is nothing. Paul said we
can't even think anything of ourselves, let alone do anything.
Good. Right. So this is the first thing. This is transforming. We're nothing. We're not special. We're not
unique. We're just like a whole bunch of sinful creatures in
need of the mercy and grace of God. Let no one think more highly
than they ought to think. Think soberly, he said, verse
3, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
The more you read God's Word, hear God's Word, the more He
deals with you, the measure of faith, the more soberly you'll
think about yourself. The more you'll see. of yourself. And it's a humbling thing. And
the older you get, you don't get better. You feel worse, don't
you? Well, verse 4. Now, let me qualify
what I just said. God's people do grow in grace
and grow like crying. But the old man doesn't get any
better. He doesn't get any better. And
so we have many members. Now here's what he's going to
deal with. We have many members. Don't think of yourself too highly,
but we have many members in one body, and all members have not
the same office. That is, and he deals with this
quite a bit, doesn't he? 1 Corinthians 12 and other places. Many members in this body. Fingers,
toes, legs, arms, liver. members that are hidden that
you rarely think about. But you couldn't live with that.
You couldn't do with that. They serve the body. They don't serve themselves.
No member of my body serves itself. Okay? And actually, it all takes
orders from where? The head. It all serves the head. This is the thing about clothing
too. I didn't want to get off on you. Cover up nearly everything
but the head. That's as it should be. Christ
is the one who gets the glory. We honor. We honor the head.
We lift up the head, not the body. But we serve one another. Like our bodies have many members,
so we, verse 5, being many, are one body in Christ. Everyone
members one of another. Members of the body of Christ
and vitally joined to one another. Vitally joined. My little finger
is connected to my little toe. Absolutely. And both served the
Bible. And now this little finger should
never think, hey, I'm something, aren't I? Man, oh man. Stomp your toe
and see, and see just how bad you need it. or have any kind
of pain inward. So we're not special in the body
either, are we? We're just members of the body. And nobody's any, I'm the mouth
here. Okay? The mouth is just the mouth. No more important than the liver. That's right. Read on. So he
says, having been gifts differing according to the grace given
to us, verse 6, whether prophecy, that's preaching or unfolding
Scripture, according to the proportion of faith, let us do it. Preach.
Now I can't tell you how often I felt like quitting, feel like
a total failure. But here it's telling me, you've
got a job to do, do it. Sure you're a failure. Sure you
are. But His Word doesn't fail. And
that's my hope. Read on. Ministry. Verse 7. That's serving. The word ministry.
People make big words out of ministry, don't they? They like
to make that a title. I'm a minister of whatever. Servant. That's not a title. It's just
a position. Minister, ministry, service. Let us wait on our ministry. Remember Stephen? He was a table waiter. That's
what a deacon is. Boy, they make a big deal out
of deacons, don't they? He waited tables. That's what
deacons were for in the church. That's what they were for. Philip
was a table waiter, and he did it faithfully, and the Lord used
him. And so he that ministers or waits,
let him do it. He that teacheth on teaching. Teaching. What a vital thing
it is. Teaching. We have several teachers
in here. Vicki has been faithfully teaching
our children ever since I've been here. And it's really a thankless task. However, did you teach Jennifer? Was Jennifer in your class? Somebody
did when you were real young. But, you know, you have just
as much a part in this as I do. Right? Get it? Anybody that teaches
in any capacity fills in. Several of you have done so,
haven't you? Mary's taught. Sherry, I think, has done it
before. Sam and Stan, have you taught the class? Didn't you
teach down there one time? And others. Given that task to do, he says,
do it. Do it. I thought about Gabe. Gabe's class. He's got it much
harder than I do. Teenagers. Their attention span,
well, our other ladies teach the little bitty ones. Now their
attention span is about 30 seconds, isn't it? But they prepare long. They prepare long to teach those
little three and four-year-olds. Is it important? It's commanding. We're to raise
our children and to nurture and admonish the Lord. Teach them
Scripture from a child that's able to make them wise. You know,
the Lord has saved some young people in early age. It doesn't
happen very often, but He has. And it can happen in our midst.
And that would be wonderful. It would be wonderful. My wife
said she was greatly affected when she was nine years old and
never left her. So it can happen. I thought about
Gabe. Everybody he teaches is lost. This is easier. That's something
in it. My, my. I don't know if I've
taught younger classes. I don't know if I've ever been
out preaching in a place where everybody there was lost. What a responsibility. My, my. Do it, he said. Do it. Verse
8, He that exhorteth on exhortation. Exhorteth means encouragement.
Two old folks sitting right back there, two old gray-headed folks
have been here 104 years. Charles and Barbara. The oldest
man in this congregation. They are one of the greatest
encouragements to me of anybody in this congregation. You've
been an encouragement to me ever since the day I met you. You exhort me, I cannot tell
you how much it exhorts me to keep on, to continue. You don't think so. Charles has
never stood up here and preached a message. But his life and just
his comments to me have preached volumes to me. And Barbara has
preached a lot of messages to those that didn't want to
hear her in restaurants. But I love that. I love that. That boldness. Don't you? I love
it. Embarrassing sometimes. No, I'm
serious, Barb, I love it. What an encouragement you are
to us. Keep doing it. Exhort it. He
that giveth, verse 8, he that giveth. The Lord gives some people
greater capacity earning power than others. Why does he do that? so that they will give more.
There have been some men of means over the years who have done
some very liberal things to the church. I'll go ahead and tell
you this. You know it anyway that he's
gone on to be with the Lord. Paul Thacker, Sue Thacker's husband. Sue comes here every now and
then. Paul Thacker was a hard-working Construction man of very little
education. The Lord greatly blessed him,
didn't he? In all his endeavor, everything he did just turned
into gold. What did he do? He just poured
it out, boy. Just poured it out. I can't tell
you the hundreds of thousands of dollars that he's given. I'm
not exaggerating. And my mother. Hundreds of thousands. Just an old Kentucky mountain
boy. The Lord saved him and he was
so thankful that he just gave it to anybody that asked for
it. The Lord blessed him greatly
and blessed many through him. He proved what the Lord said
in Malachi. The Lord said in Malachi 3, He
said, He said, bring your offerings. He said, bring them that there
may be meat in my house and prove me now, bear with, saith the
Lord, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour
you out a blessing that there may not be room enough to receive
it. He said, prove me. And that man did and others have
done it. We say this all the time. You cannot outgive the
Lord. Cannot do it. He always returns it with great
interest. He said, give and it shall be
given to you, pressed down, shaken together, running over shall
men give unto you. It doesn't fall out of the sky,
it doesn't grow on trees, but it will be returned to you. Yes,
it will. The Lord has promised that. Some
of you have had some proof of that in your own life. And we don't do like modern religion. You know that. We're not bribing
people to give. You give, God will give you more. That's not the reason. By the
mercies of God. I beseech you, by the mercies
of God. Since God has given so much, it doesn't even belong
to us. It doesn't even belong to us.
It's His. We're supposed to be stewards. We are supposed to be stewards,
that is, caretakers of somebody else's goods. That's right. Christ gave it all, didn't He?
So our Lord said, Son, He gave it all back. Didn't He? He gave it all. He was rich for
our sake and became poor. So what did God do? He gave Him
the universe. He gave all things a mission.
Read on. He that ruleth, do it with diligence. That is care. Diligence. Be about it. I wish I had thought of 2 Samuel
23 more when I was younger, but that's all past. I can't do anything
about it. But it says, he that ruleth over men must be just
ruling in the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord will greatly
temper what you say and how you say it and what you do. It will. So he that ruleth, that's been
given this position of rule, he better do it carefully, prayerfully,
with love, just, just, and with fear. And read on. It says in
verse 8, he that showeth mercy. With cheerfulness. That's kindness,
mercy, showing mercy. It's doing anything, any act
of kindness. Do it with cheerfulness. Not
reluctantly, or, oh, I have to do this. Have you ever called
somebody and asked them to do something for you and you felt
like you were imposing on them? Well, that's what he's saying.
Don't do it that way. Do it with cheerfulness. Cheerfulness. Have you ever called somebody
and asked them to do something and they acted like, I can't
think of anything I'd rather do. That they just made you feel
so good? That's the way we ought to be. We shouldn't. And that's the
way the Lord was, wasn't He? He is. Verse 9, let love be without
dissimulation. That is, without hypocrisy. That's
what that means. Unfeigned love. Sincere. Fervent. Fervent love,
Peter said. See that you love one another
with a pure heart, fervently, actively. Provoke to love. Provoke to love. In other words,
you love so much that they have to love you. Prove your own love. Nothing you can do about theirs.
The more you like to see it, nothing you can do about that.
But love, sure, overcome. Love without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cleave
to that which is good. Abhor evil. Ah, boy. You know, Scripture
talks about You know, the world calls now
what is good, they call it evil, and they call evil good, don't
they? We're in such a warped and twisted
and untoward generation that things that are good and holy
and just and true and godly things, the world thinks is evil. And things that are to God an
abomination, that are filthy and vile, they call good. They
call it an alternative lifestyle. We can hate the garment spotted
by the flesh. We can hate evil without hating
people. That's what we're called to do. We can love people and still
reprove the works of darkness. You know, it's a shame to even
speak of those things that are done by them. It's a shame to
even speak of things done by this world that is commonplace. It's a shame to even talk about
it. And people glory in their shame. You know, hate it. Hate it. Because
that's what's plunged this race into such a quagmire, a cesspool. And I'm a cleave to that which
is good. What's good? The Lord is good. God is good. His Word is good. cleaved to it. The truth is good.
His principles are good, right, just. His people. His people. Verse 10, Be kindly affection
one to another with brotherly love, in honor, preferring one
another. And you are. You are kindly affection. You show it. Brotherly love.
Love as brethren. Love all as brethren. As you do your blood brother. In honor, preferring, esteeming
others better than yourself. If we have sober thoughts of
ourselves, If we think rightly of ourselves,
we will esteem everybody better than us. Right? If we really think, because we
know more about us than they do, and we still don't know everything
about ourselves, but we know more, we know our own evil thoughts. So we ought to definitely think
there's no way that she can be as bad as I am. And I hear you
say that all the time. That's the way we ought to esteem
others better and honor, preferring them, not jealous, but preferring.
Verse 11, not slothful in business. That's either the Father's business,
and that's what we're about, isn't it? About the Father's
business or whatever business you're in.
Not sluggard, not slothful, but diligent, because that's glory. Whatever your hand finds to do,
you do it with all your might, as unto the Lord. That's who
gave us the job, so that's really who we serve. Fervent in spirit. Fervent, lively in spirit. Responsive. Serving the Lord. He said, we've piped and you
haven't downed. We've mourned and you haven't lamented. Rejoicing. Remember that in Hebrews 3? It
says, let us lay hold of the confidence and the rejoicing
of the hope. Rejoicing. If the Gospel ceases
to rejoice us, Oh boy, let's ask the Lord to give us a renewed
mind and show us the mercies of God again and make us rejoice
in the Lord God our Savior. Rejoice in Him. Hope. Hope. Not worry, not fear. Hope. We have a good hope, and
the only reason it's called a hope is because everything's not completed. Well, we're not there yet, but
it's just as sure as God. A sure hope through grace. Patient,
verse 12. Patient in tribulation. Patient. That serves God's glory as much
as anything, going through tribulation and showing the world, not complaining
and murmuring. That's the opposite, isn't it?
That brings reproach upon our profession. But being patient,
saying, My sovereign Lord sent this, just like He sends the
other thing. And trials are blessed. But to
be patient, enduring, waiting on the Lord and not murmuring
and complaining, that brings great glory to our Lord. Great
glory. I had a woman ask me about you,
that witnessed you during Shannon's You don't even know this woman.
I do. I've known her for years. Horsewoman. You know her. She
asked me about you. She saw you. And I talked about
her faith and the grace of our Lord. And she was quite impressed. And you too. My, my. My, my how they witnessed the
good testimony during the death of their son. My, my. Most people get one great opportunity
like that. My, my. They were so patient in tribulation. It brings glory to our Lord.
Continuing verse 12. See, continuing and instant are
constantly in prayer. Without Him, we're the opposite
of all of this, aren't we? We're murmurs and complainers.
We're not patient. At all. We're slothful. We're sluggers. We serve ourselves. We're not kindly, affectionate.
This is why the Lord said, pray without ceasing. Because without
me, you can do nothing. Nothing. You can't wake up without
being a devil. So wake up. Call in on the Lord. It's in prayer for others. Verse 13, distributing to the
necessity of saints. And there are necessities, if
we look for them. If we look, we'll find them. We're distributors, not savings. Distributing to the necessity
of the saints. Given to hospitality. Addicted. Well, there were others addicted
to hospitality in the church. And it becomes addictive. And
what a great addiction it is. Seriously. Our Lord said it's
more blessed to give than to receive. And He knew that by
experience. It really is more happy. Tell
me, how old are you getting? It's become the time to buy gifts
for people. Don't you get greater pleasure
in giving gifts than receiving them? What in the world do we
need, Stan? What do we need now at our age?
How much is in the attic? And in the basement? And in the
garage? We don't need another blessed thing. Not another blessed
thing. But you look forward to these
times so you can give. There's a lot more days in the
year Give them to hospitality. Our homes, as in Brother Mahan's
commentary, he said our homes are hotels of hospitality. Hotels for hospitality. And I'm telling you from a little
bit of experience that you miss a blessing if you don't open
them. You don't open them. You miss a great, great blessing. And the Lord will just heap out.
You'll never run dry. The cupboard will never run dry.
Never. Given to hospitality. You'll get to the point where
you'll say, let's ask somebody, we had somebody last night. Well,
let's do it again. Seriously. You love God's people. You love to be around them. This
is a command. Present your bodies. Present
your possession. Present yourself. It's not yours
anyway. Unto God. As a sacrifice. A living sacrifice. Living. Living. Do it now to our brethren before
they're gone and we wish we had. Do it now. Read on. He says, verse 14, Bless them
which persecute you. Be instant in prayer. Be instant
in prayer. Bless them which persecute you.
Bless and curse not. Cuss not. Remember old Shimei cussing David?
And David knew himself. And he knew what others didn't
know. And his servant said, let me
go over and take that guy's head off that's cussing you. Don't do that. The Lord sent
him to cuss me. Leave him alone. Leave him alone.
And sure enough, the Lord dealt with him hard. Shimmy out. Cut his head off. Cut his head
off. Later on, Solomon did it. So, don't cuss back. He's going to tell us about that.
Rejoice with them, verse 15. Rejoice with them that do rejoice. Weep with them that weep. Rejoice. Can we rejoice in the successes
and happiness of our brethren as much as it or more than it
were our own? I know you can. I know you can. Sammy got a new six-year-old
car. And I was just so happy for him
about that. And that's the way we ought to
be. I haven't always been that way.
And it may not be that way the rest of the time, but I was then.
And I'm happy about that. Happy for him. I might have to
borrow it when mine breaks down. But verse 15, weep with them
that weep. You know, if we weep with those
that weep, there may be a time when we're weeping that we need
a shoulder to cry on, huh? That's right. That's right. Verse 16, be of the same mind
one toward another. That is, be no respecter of persons.
Treat everybody alike. Treat everybody alike. Same mind.
Mind not high things or high people. Cater not to the rich
and the famous. And we're all, you know, Our flesh tends to do that, doesn't
it? For favors, cater to. As the proverb says, the prince
has many friends. The rich have many friends. Our Lord was a friend of publicans
and sinners. He didn't cater to the rich at
all. He didn't need anything they
had, nor do we. Or do we? Do we? He says, condescend
to men of low estate. Make your friends in a low place. Condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
You know, I can't tell you how many times it's talked about
in the Proverbs. A person wise in their own eyes. You can't
tell him anything. Don't be that way. He said don't
be many masters over many things. That means don't know it all.
There's a proverb that says this. He that is wise in his own conceits,
seven men can't tell him what to do. They can't tell him a
thing. So be teachable. No matter how old we get, be
teachable. I'm talking to myself. Read on. He says, Recompense to no man
evil for evil. Recompense, don't return evil
for evil to any man. Any man. It's a vicious cycle
to try to get even. It never happens. It's a vicious
cycle. It will never end. And you live
in fear that way, don't you? He'll tell us here in a minute.
He says, Provide things honest in the sight of all men. That
is, be above board about everything. Not secretive. Verse 18, If it
be possible, dwell as much as lieth in you, live peaceably
with all men. Boy, this was coming from Paul
who everybody hated him. They all wanted him dead. David said this, he said, I'm
for peace and they're for war. Didn't he, Steve? Woe is me that
I dwell in Shechem. He said, they're for war, but
I'm for peace. Well, he said, as much as life
will end you, the grace of God given to you, Instant in prayer. Always in prayer. Lord, I need
more grace. Live peaceably. Be a peacemaker. Blessed are
the peacemakers. There be called the children
of God. Avenge not, verse 19, avenge
not yourself, rather give place unto wrath. This is the only
way to turn away wrath. This is the only way to end something. And we have this to deal with
just in our homes, don't we? Husbands and wives and children
and so forth. This thing about wrath that the
old man is so full of. He tells us to now put away wrath. Be angry, sin not. Don't sin. Let not the sun go down on your
wrath. In other words, don't go to bed until you've resolved
it. The wrath of man doesn't work
the righteousness of God. It works the opposite. Our wrath
never does work righteousness. It only works more wrath. So
that's what he said. Don't avenge yourself. And oh,
our Lord, it says when he was reviled, oh, he could have poured down
wrath, couldn't he? When he was reviled, it says
he reviled not again, but committed himself, his cause, To the just
one who judges righteously, who said, Vengeance is mine, I will
repay, said the Lord. My people, I will repay. Vengeance is mine. Therefore,
verse 20, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. That's what our Lord
did for us, didn't He? If he thirsts, give him drink. The story of the Samaritan. That's our Lord. For in so doing
thou shalt heat coals of fire on his head. Let me tell you
this story. And I'm glad she's not here,
my beloved daughter. There was a girl she went to
school with who treated her terribly. And I heard about it. And believe
me, it was harder on me than it was her, Steve. You know what
I mean. But this girl was treating her
pretty mean. Always mean to her. Always mean,
for no reason. You know Hannah. She's always
been that way. The grace of God has made her
that way. She's got my mother's disposition.
She doesn't have me, my disposition. And Mindy's general disposition.
But anyway, this girl treated her mean all the time. All the time. Well, they graduated. Okay? Several years later, Mindy
was working in the hospital. I think it was an emergency room
or somewhere. And this girl was a patient there. And this girl remembered her
vividly. And with big tears in her eyes,
this girl said, you were always so kind to me, and I was so mean
to you. That really happened in that
game. She was shamed of how she had
treated her. And it won her. It won her. That's the only thing that will.
The only thing that will. The goodness of the Lord sure
did lead us to repentance. So, if he hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him to drink.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Be not overcome. Scripture talks
about this, doesn't it? Who is he that overcometh? Who
is he that overcometh? This is that which overcometh
the world, our faith. This principle that God puts
within us, looking to Christ. Without Him, we can do nothing.
We can't overcome anything. We're no match for anything.
We look into Him, the whole thing. Overcome evil with good. With our good Lord and His good
Word. He's given us good counseling. Wisdom from above. It's not just
a good way. It's the only way. When the Lord
says, this is the way, turn the other cheek. This is it. It's not like, oh, you try that
and that doesn't work. No, no, no, no. The Lord says
this is the way to walk therein. This is the old path. It's the
good way. It's been experienced by millions
of saints who have proven the Lord's Word to be true, right
and just. So he said proven it. Brethren,
I beseech you, by the mercies of God, present your body, a
living sacrifice unto God, holy and acceptable unto God. It's
our reasonable service. Our Lord, how we thank You for
Your Word. Every time we look into it, we
learn from it. We should, if you, by your Holy
Spirit, teach us. Lord, it is so wonderful. It
is your Word. That's why it's wonderful. The
Word of God. It's a fire. It's a hammer. It's life. It's light. It's food. It's drink. It's wisdom. It's
everything. It's protection. It's refuge.
Thy Word. as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, cause us to always look to Him and at Him, Lord, as our
example. Cause us to look to Him for faith,
for grace, for strength, to help, and look at His wonderful example.
and how He treated us, that we may do the same to the praise
of the glory of Thy grace. Lord, cause us to be faithful
stewards, members of the body, serving one another in the fear
of the Lord with cheerfulness and with great appreciation to
Thee. It's our reasonable service.
Lord, we want to be Thy servants, servants of We ask these things
in Christ's name. Amen.