I think it would be easier once
to die for Christ than to die daily with Christ and live daily
for Christ. It would be easier once to die
for Christ than to die daily with Christ. and live daily for
Christ. But nothing so honors our God
as daily surrender, the daily giving ourselves as a living
sacrifice, tied by cords of grace to God's altar, Christ Jesus
the Lord. Such devotion, such consecration,
Such sacrifice is the most reasonable thing in the world. No other
way of life makes any sense for any believer. If the Lord Jesus
Christ is all we profess that he is, all we profess to believe
he is, then he is worthy of all we are. If Christ is all we profess
to believe he is, he is worthy of all we are. Knowing that Thanksgiving
day is coming up Thursday, I've been seeking a message from God
that would inspire your heart and mine with true gratitude
and thanksgiving. When I was 26 years old, Brother
Henry Mahan and I were preaching together out in Appomattox, Virginia,
in a Bible conference. And there were a lot of people
there, good many preachers, most of them old enough to be my father
or my grandfather, and I was just a pup. Brother Mahan came
by while I was studying, getting ready to preach one evening.
He came by that afternoon and we visited for a while. Back
in those good days, we can actually smoke your pipe in a motel room.
We sat and smoked our pipes and chewed for a little bit. And
I'm talking about chewed the fat. We just talked for a little
bit. And then just before he left,
he stood up and he said, Brother Fortner, find something in that
book that you need. If you need it, the chances are
the rest of us will. If you don't need it, nobody
else will need it. And I've been looking for something
that I need, hoping that God would give me a message you need.
And I believe God's given me the message for you and for me
this hour. Turn with me, if you will, to
Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. I cannot imagine a better way
for us to give thanks to our God than by obeying the exhortation
of Romans 12, 1, 2, and 3, consecrating ourselves to our God. I'm calling you and myself. to consecrate ourselves to God,
just as Aaron and his sons were consecrated to God by Moses and
consecrated themselves to God as his priest. We are God's royal
priesthood, and priests are people who live under God. Priest of people who live continually
in the holy place, feasting upon holy things, doing the business
of the holy place. Priest of people who serve God
continually. We read Exodus 29 earlier, and
it gives us a description of that consecration I'm talking
about in the types of the ceremonial law. The consecration involved
many things. First, there was an election.
God chose Aaron and his sons to be his priest. And if ever
you are made a priest in the household of God, you must be
chosen to that priesthood before the world was. And the priests
were brought to God by a sacrifice, just as we come to God by the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. But the
priest, must be called of God to be priest. God told Moses
to separate Aaron and his sons for the priesthood. And then
those priests came and laid their hands upon the sacrifice and
thereby confessed their sin, recognizing they must have blood
atonement and be made righteous by God. And then the priests
were given special clothing, garments of the priesthood, garments
of salvation. The righteousness of Christ is
the clothing by which we come to God. And the priests were
caused to continually feast upon the things sacrificed to God. to continually feast upon the
wave offerings, to continually feast upon the sacrifice, to
continually feast upon the lambs and the rams offered at God's
altar. Those priests, after they took
the things that were of any value and feasted upon them, were required
to take all the rubbish The stuff that was worth nothing. The stuff
that was of no benefit. The stuff that was of no value.
Take it out and burn it. That's what you do with garbage.
That's what you do with stuff that's of no use to you. That's
what you do with stuff that's of no benefit. Take it out and
burn it. And the priests were all brought
to God by a special holy anointing. The anointing being the gift
of God, the Holy Ghost, typified in the holy oil. And the priest,
these men who were made priests under God, were priests to God,
required by God, and required by their own profession. to live
continually in a continued perpetuity in the holy place with the holy
things, feeding on the sacrifices, burning the rubbish. That's a
pretty good description of what Paul calls for in Romans chapter
12. Here in Romans 12, God the Holy
Ghost calls for us to consecrate ourselves to God. 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 reasonable service. And be not conformed to this
world, but be ye 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, not 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. Now as God the Holy Ghost will
enable me, I want to talk to you and to myself as plainly
as I can, as forcefully as I can, about living for God. You'll
find the title of my message in my text, A Living Sacrifice. A Living Sacrifice. This portion of Holy Scripture
calls us to consecration. Consecration to God. I want to
persuade you and persuade myself to a perpetual devotion, a perpetual
dedication of ourselves to God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest possible demonstration
of faith in Christ, of love and gratitude to God is living for
him. the utter consecration of ourselves
to him. I tell my wife numerous times
through the day and she does me, I love you, thankful for
you. But those words would be utterly
meaningless if I weren't devoted to her. They would be utterly
meaningless on her part if she didn't live for me. I'm calling
for you and I, who are gods, to utterly devote ourselves to
him constantly. As we look at these three verses,
let me direct your attention to five or six things. Number
one, here is a tender, tender exhortation. I beseech you, therefore,
brethren, what an astonishing word to come from God. This word comes from God against
whom we have sinned, whose judgment we fully deserve. It comes to
us believers who have been saved by his grace, redeemed by the
blood of Christ and called by his spirit. Well might the apostle
have said, I command you, but he doesn't. He doesn't use the
language of law and bondage, but rather the language of grace
and liberty. He speaks not as to slaves, but
as to children, not as to bondmen, but as to freemen, not as to
those who are moved by, motivated by, ruled by, and governed by
law, but to those who are moved by, motivated by, ruled by, and
governed by grace in Christ Jesus. There is no threat, no intimidation,
no coercion, except the coercion of grace. He says, I beseech
you. The next word is therefore. That's
the emphasis word in the text. Paul has been laying out clear,
unmistakable declarations of the great body of doctrinal truth,
which distinguishes God and his gospel from all false religion. He has told us about man's utter
total depravity, about free justification by the precious blood of Jesus
Christ and the grace of God through the sacrifice of his son, his
obedience under death. He's told us about regeneration,
conversion, and the gift of faith in Christ. He's told us about
God's sovereign purpose of grace, accomplished in election, predestination,
redemption, and providence. But Paul was not a mere doctrinalist. He was not a mere theological
theorist. He knew the necessity of sound
doctrine. You see, if your doctrine is
wrong, everything is wrong. I never apologize for being a
doctrinal preacher. In Romans 12, the divinely inspired
apostle, on the basis of this doctrine, urges us to put our
doctrine into practice. When he says, therefore, Paul
is telling us that what he is about to say is the result of
his gospel doctrine. Since we've experienced the grace
of God, since we have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, we
ought to consecrate ourselves to God. Some young men here, God saved
you by his grace. Now you've got jobs and you'll
soon take wives and you'll have your families. There's something
must be a first priority. A first priority. Consecrate
yourself to God. First priority. First priority. What do you mean, pastor? Everything
else bows to this. Doesn't matter how much money
you can make. Doesn't matter how big a house you can live
in. Doesn't matter how great a fame you may attain. First
priority. Live for Christ, first priority. If our doctrine is right, it
will be reflected in our lives. You see, one prominent crowning
feature of the gospel of God and the salvation he's given
and works in sinners by his omnipotent mercy and grace in Christ is
that it begins within and bears fruit without. All other religions,
like that of the Pharisees, revealed to us in the Gospels, begin with
outward forms, rules, and duties, hoping that these things will
commend us to God and motivate men to godliness. Carnal religion,
carnal religion, gives folks a day to keep, a tithe to pay,
rules to obey, and duties to perform. But our God in regeneration
gives the sinner a new heart, a new spirit, a new will. He sheds abroad the love of God
within, and this always results in a godly, obedient life. I chose my words deliberately.
I did not say it should result in a godly, obedient life. Faith in Christ, God's grace
working in you always results in a godly, obedient life. You can take a tiger and put
him in a cage and surround him with bars and whips and give
him plenty of red meat to eat and he probably won't do you
any harm. But he's still a wild beast inside. But if you could
give that tiger the nature of a lamb, You could open the cage,
take away the bars, and lay down your whip. Everything will be
all right. Godliness within works godliness without. Not godliness
to be seen in men, praised by men, applauded by men, but genuine
consecration to God. Now look at the next word. I
beseech you therefore, brethren. I'm talking to you, Lindsay Campbell,
as one with you. One just like you, your brother.
Your brother. I'm talking to you, Laura, as
one just like you. One with you, your brother. Your
brother. Would to God I had my sisters
in the flesh sitting in front of me. If I could give them any
counsel in the world, if I could give them just one word, they'd
hear, give yourself to Christ. If I could give my children one
word, just one word, they'd hear, give yourself to Christ. Give yourself to Christ. I beseech you therefore, brethren,
and then Secondly, here is a motive of grace by the mercies of God, by the
mercies of God. Here Paul was inspired to enforce
compliance with his exhortation with a motive of grace. He urges
us to devote ourselves to God by reminding us of the mercies
of God we have experienced. The mercies of God heaped upon
us in Jesus Christ the Lord. Who can resist this argument?
Paul is about to ask for a great sacrifice. So he gives us a great
motive. Not the law of God. Not the justice
of God, not even the fear of God, but the mercies of God. All the mercies of God that are
ours in Christ. Eternal mercies, eternal covenant
mercies. The Lord God from eternity chose
us, loving us with everlasting love. He predestinated us and
adopted us as his own. He redeemed us with the blood
of his own darling son, gave us the full forgiveness of sin,
completely reconciled us unto himself. He's given us everlasting
free justification. Oh, the saving mercies of God.
God has given us life. He's called us to faith in Christ
and work faith in us. He's given us repentance toward
God. He's converted us. He preserves
us. He's made us righteous. He sanctifies
us. And day by day, He continues
to heap His mercies upon us. Oh, the wonder of God's providence.
God opens the floodgates of heaven and pours out mercy on us. Mercy
multiplied all the time, protecting us, providing for us, surrounding
us with his goodness and his mercy. And he has promised mercies
yet to come. Soon we'll close these eyes and
breathe out our last breath in this body. And as that day approaches,
he will give us mercy. And when we are raised up in
the last day, we'll be raised by the mercy of God in the glory
of Christ. And when we're brought at last
into his heavenly kingdom, we'll possess all the kingdom prepared
for us from the foundation of the world by the mercy of God. Read on. Here's the third thing.
Here's a sacrifice to be made. 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 reasonable
service. What is Paul calling for? What
kind of sacrifice is he calling for? Let me speak to you who
are yet rebels to God. I'm calling for you. to come
to Christ and give yourself to Him. Give yourself to Him. Not your
heart, not a little bit of time, yourself. You see, faith in Christ
is nothing less than the surrender of self to Christ. the surrender
of myself to him, the giving of myself to him, making him
my Lord by confessing him such. Confessing him to be my Lord,
bowing to him as my Lord, walking with him as my Lord. That means
you give up the rule of your life to Christ. You give up decisions and choices
on your own to be made by Christ, his word, his spirit, his grace,
his glory, his will. You give up the determination
of your life to Christ to be determined for you. Oh, blessed Savior. order my
steps every day and force me to walk in your way. Faith in
Christ is not one time coming and saying, here, I believe in
Jesus. I give myself to Jesus. I bow
to Christ the Lord. But rather, it is giving yourself
and giving yourself and giving yourself and giving yourself
and coming and coming and coming and believing and believing and
believing and surrendering and surrendering and surrendering.
It is a continual way of life. But this text specifically calls
for you who are saved, redeemed, justified, calls for me, your
pastor, a sinner saved by grace. It calls for us to sacrifice
ourselves to God, to bind our lives to God's altar, to bind
our lives to Jesus Christ the Lord. It's a complete sacrifice,
your bodies. That refers to the entirety of
our being. Paul said, Christ shall be magnified
in my body. I have that as God's promise.
Would to God I could speak it. with confidence regarding my
attitude. I want Christ magnified in my
body today, throughout the day, in everything and tomorrow and
every day until my body has been laid in the grave. This consecration
is a sacrifice of our bodies if we are to present our bodies.
We're to do so willingly to God. And that presentation carries
with it all that we are. Nothing withheld. Nothing withheld. Like the bond slave. I love my
master. I love my wife. I love my children.
Here, here, bore my ear through with it all so that I had this
perpetual reminder, I belong to my master. I belong to God. King Jesus deserves and demands
total surrender. He says, take up your cross daily
and follow me. Die daily to the world with me. Take up your cross and follow
me. This is not only a complete sacrifice,
Paul calls it a living sacrifice. in contrast to those dead offerings
laid upon the sacrifice in the Old Testament. The sacrifice
of Christ has swept away all dead offerings forever from God's
altar. He is the sacrifice. He is the
altar and we're to bring ourselves to him a living sacrifice. Continually living on the altar. Continually living on the altar. For folks outside these four
walls, you know better, but other folks who listen to this all
over the world, I ain't talking about a papal altar, and I'm
not talking about some imaginary altar in a Baptist church, and
I'm not talking about a family altar. I'm talking about Christ
the altar. Mark, every day. throughout the day, when you
get up in the morning, when you go to work in the evening, when
you come home, when you lay down, lay your life continually upon
Christ. So that you can speak plainly
and say, to me, to live is Christ. Anything short of that, Merle,
is not fit to be called faith and obedience. For me to live is Christ. Paul calls this a holy sacrifice,
a holy sacrifice. What, he said, know you not that
your body is the temple of God, the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you? You, you, you who are gods, you
are the temples of the living God. God the Holy Ghost took
up residence in you. He made you holy. He sanctified
you. Made you partakers of the divine
nature. Christ came to live in you. Here he calls for us to give
to him that which is his own, which he has sanctified and made
holy. And then Paul says, this is an
acceptable sacrifice. Acceptable. Don Fortner, come with me now. Come to the altar. Christ Jesus,
the Lord. And you, of all things, you,
you come! Give yourself a sacrifice, a
living sacrifice on Christ God's altar, and that's holy and acceptable
to God. Well pleasing to Him. Well pleasing
to God. Imagine that. How can God be
well-pleased, David, with what we are? This is well-pleasing, acceptable,
that's what the word means. Well-pleasing, how? God accepts us as a matter of
grace, as He accepts His Son, as we are one with His Son in
His Son. and the acceptance is real. It
is a sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God. So we come to Him and
bring ourselves to Him and say, Lord, here I am. Take me. Possess
me, rule me now. And God smiles and says, I'll
take that. I'll take that. And it pleases
him, puts a smile on the face of the Almighty. Someone said
that any creature should be able to offer that what could please
the infinite creator is wonderful. But the such wretched fallen
ones as the sons of men should do so is a marvel of which the
gracious God himself alone knows the depths. I stand astonished. God Almighty accepts me. Does that not astonish you? God
Almighty well pleased with me through Christ His Son. Really
well pleased with everything I bring Him. With everything
I bring Him. I can't sing as you have learned
by long experience. But I sing with you. We sing
God's praises together. And he accepts my singing just
as well as he does yours. How about that? How about that?
How come? It's singing to him and for him. And he accepts my living. just as well as he accepts his
son's living, because I bring myself to him on the altar, Christ
the Lord, and he is well pleased. This sacrifice is called a reasonable
sacrifice, which is your reasonable service, which is your reasonable
service, It is the most sensible thing in this world, the most
brilliant thing in this world, the most reasonable thing in
this world, the most wise thing in this world, the most prudent
thing in this world, the most beneficial thing in this world,
to give your body a living sacrifice to God. I promise you, nothing given
to Him is regretted. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Oh, but it'll cost me. That's the reason it's called
a sacrifice. But I'd have to give up. That's the reason it's
called a sacrifice. The most reasonable thing in the world
It takes your time, and your money, and your family, and your
work, and your labor, and your effort, and your gifts, and your
talents, and your, here I am, Lord! Take me, oh God, take me. Take me. Just the most reasonable
thing in the world, because you've been bought with a price. You're
not your own. Jesus Christ redeemed you. He
saved you by his grace. And this is a spiritual sacrifice. The words reasonable service
might be better translated spiritual worship. You see, our worship
of God in the spirit is intelligent spiritual worship, contrasted
with the shadowy carnal ordinances of the Jews in the Old Testament.
But this worship is not just an act we perform, it's a way
of life. I don't try. And none of God's
servants do. I don't try to con folks into
making a profession of faith. I don't try to trick you into
deciding to be a Christian. I've got better sense than that
and I wouldn't deceive you. But rather I preach the gospel and
try to make everybody who hears my voice understand what this
is. This is called giving yourself
to Christ. And I don't try to con you into
doing things and say this is serving God. There's no serving God, but living
for Him. There's no worshipping God, but
living for Him. I beseech you therefore, brethren,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service. Here's the fourth thing. Paul tells us that there's a
world to be shunned. Be not conformed to this world. Stop allowing yourselves to be
fashioned after the pattern of this evil age. The Lord Jesus
gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and
purify into himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. The grace of God that brings
salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust
and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. We can't avoid association with
this world, nor should we. We're to live in this world for
God. Don't take for your companions
the people of this world. That's so foolish. That's so
foolish. Don't do that. Don't do that.
The ox and ass can't be put together in the same yoke. They pull in
opposite directions. Don't do that. Don't do that.
Don't mix linen and wool. Don't mix Christ and Belial.
Don't do it. Don't do it. Take for your companions
God's people. Spend your time with God's people.
Raise your family with God's people. You will never, never, never
influence any rebel for good by bowing to him. It won't happen. He will only influence you to
evil. Take for your companions God's people and stop allowing
the world to influence your thinking and your life. The chief aim
in life For you and me must be God's glory. And if you allow
yourself to follow the fashion of the world, your life will
be filled with bitter disappointment. For the fashion of this world
passeth away. What a picture we had in Exodus
29 of what Paul is telling us here. all the rubbish all the worthless garbage the
stuff you can't eat and you can't digest and you can't wear and
you can't use for your body's benefit and your soul's benefit
throw it away burn it burn it That's to be our attitude toward
the world. And then here's a transformation
to be desired. Be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God. The word transformed here. is
the very word that's used in Matthew 17 when our Lord was
transfigured. It's the word from which we get
our word metamorphosis. When Christ was transfigured,
the glory that was within him became visibly present to all
who saw him. You and I are here called to
be transformed, transfigured, metaforced. by continual renewing
of our minds by the Spirit of God. Now look at the language.
It's given in the present tense. Be ye transformed. And it's given
in the passive voice. Paul does not say transform yourselves,
but rather be transformed or let yourselves be transformed.
Turn back over a couple of pages to 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse
17. Now the Lord is that spirit and
where the spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty. But we all
with open face beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord,
looking to Christ, looking to him are changed. There's the
word again, transformed, transfigured, metamorphosed into the same image
from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. And
yet Paul's admonition back here in Romans 12 was in the imperative
mood. He says, you're not passive in this thing. Our responsibility
is not overlooked. It is our duty to yield to the
gracious operations of God the Spirit upon us and in us. The transforming comes by a continual
renewing of our minds. continual looking to the sacrifice,
a continual confession of sin, a continual giving of ourselves
to God, a continual application of the blood to your ear and
to your hand and to your foot, a continual clothing with Jesus
Christ, righteousness, a continual surrender to Christ. Now, look
at verse three, and I'll be done. Here the apostle tells us that
all this is accomplished in us by the gift and operation of
God the Holy Ghost according to the measure of faith dealt
to us by the hand of his grace. For I say through the grace given
unto me, to every man that is among you not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think. Well, just how highly should
you think of yourself? A sinner saved by grace, a sinner
in need of mercy, a sinner who needs continual washing, a sinner
who needs continual clothing, a sinner who needs continually
to be drawn to God, a sinner who needs the Redeemer all the
time. But to think soberly, think like
you've got good sense. are raising children. You haven't
experienced this yet, Charleston. You probably haven't yet learned
how much you needed to experience it when your dad was raising
you. But you got those children now. And when they get to be
about 16, 17, 18 years old, you say, why won't they listen? They
just act like they ain't got any sense. You remember that,
David? They just act like they ain't
got any sense. Why, my soul? Do I act so often like I don't
have any sense? Be transformed by the renewing
of your mind. Think soberly, as God hath dealt
to every man the measure of faith. Oh, Spirit of God, give me this
day, this hour, and moment by moment hour by hour, day by day,
the blessing gift of faith in Christ, pressed down and running
over, that I may present my body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God. Here I am, 67 years old. God saved me more than 50 years
ago. And I need this word from God
as much today as I needed it 50 years ago. Present God yourself, a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
surface. May God do that for me and for
you today and tomorrow, perpetually throughout the days of our lives,
perpetually through every day, and perpetually until our days
on this earth are done. Amen.