I just want to read verses 1
and verse 2. For a few minutes, I want to
speak to you on these two verses. Romans chapter 12 and verse 1.
I beseech you, therefore, brethren, I beg of you, I exhort you, I
pray you, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies
a living sacrifice, acceptable to 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. I beseech you by
the mercies of God." What a powerful motive. The mercies of God are
for us giving ourselves over to Him in our souls, in our bodies. Mercies. Elected mercies. What Paul had been talking about
through all these chapters in the book of Romans. Vessels of
mercies that God hath before prepared. I beseech you by elected
mercies. Calling mercy. Those He called,
He justified. Redeeming mercy. Christ who was
rich became poor that ye through His poverty might be rich. Mercies. Sure mercies. Tender mercies. The mercies of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Covenant mercies. I beseech you
by covenant mercies. David said, goodness and mercy
shall follow me. Mercies behind us. bringing up
what we've done that's wrong, bringing up our shortcomings,
allowing for them, forgiving us of them. That's what I want
to follow me. These mercies, goodness and mercies
shall follow me. Jude said, keep yourselves in
the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mercies behind us, mercies in
front of us, and mercies upon us. I beseech you by the mercies
of God. I obtain mercy. Paul never got
over it. You've never got over it. And
I've never got over it. I obtain mercy. Let us come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. Mercy. I tell you, mercy is what was
required. Nothing else could save us. Mercy is what we needed. Mercy is what we obtained. Mercy. Mercy. I beseech you by the mercies
of God. What a motivating force. I tell
you, to understand our need of mercy, to understand that we've
obtained mercy, if there's anything that will win our hearts and
motivate us to do what He tells us to do, that's one of the things
that will do it. I beseech you by the mercies
of God, look at this, that you present your bodies A living
sacrifice. A living sacrifice to God. When
they brought those animal sacrifices, they brought them there to the
door of the tabernacle. And they offered those animals
holy to the Lord. They picked them out. They just
didn't randomly go in and pick out a sacrifice. They picked
them out and made sure that He was a fit sacrifice and they
brought Him there and they dedicated that sacrifice to the Lord. It
was set aside for that purpose. And what the Apostle Paul is
saying here, I beseech you that you devote your bodies, all your
faculties, all your members, all your power, devote yourself
to the worship of God, to the service of God, to the glory
of God. Give your body, not as a dead
sacrifice, but a living sacrifice. Wholly acceptable unto God. Paul said you're not your own.
You're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body. Your body. Our bodies have been
purchased. God dwells in our body. The Spirit
of God dwells in us. Our bodies are the temple of
the Holy Ghost. Therefore, give your bodies to
Him for His glory and His service, His worship. Christ dwells in
our hearts by faith. And let this place where He dwells
be dedicated to Him, devoted to Him for His glory and His
service. I beseech you by the mercies
of God, that you offer your bodies a living sacrifice, holy. H-O-L-Y. Holy to God. Present your members as servants
of righteousness. That's what the Scripture tells
us. There was a time we were the servants of sin, and we yielded
our members to serve sin. But now yield your members as
those who are alive from the dead. As what? Instruments of
righteousness. For God's glory. Holy. Let our
lips speak that only which would honor God and would build up
His people. Speak the truth in love. Let
your ears be open to the voice of the Spirit. He that hath ears,
let him hear. Don't hear lies. Hear the truth. Let your feet follow God as dear
children. Follow the Lamb wheresoever He
goes. Let your hands be devoted to
the service of the Lord. And let your eyes always be alert
to the need of God's children, His people. Lord, give us eyes. Give us ears, give us feet, give
us hands, not to serve ourselves, not to serve this world and its
temporal pleasures and temporal advantages, but give us grace
to give our bodies wholly unto the Lord. And look at this, not
only wholly, but acceptable. Wholly acceptable to God. What's acceptable to God? Joe and I were watching a documentary
the other night, preachers and congregation handling serpents,
handling snakes. Is that acceptable to God? People
making pilgrimages from one city to another, from one country
to another. Pilgrims to visit a holy shrine. Is that acceptable to God? People
punish their bodies and whip their backs until they're bloody. Is that acceptable to God? What's
acceptable to God? This? Whatever He commands us
in His Word? That's acceptable to God. If
He says, do it, and we do it, that's acceptable to Him. Whatever
is offered to Him through Christ the Lord, that's acceptable to
Him. Whatever we do by faith, that's
acceptable to Him. A living sacrifice wholly acceptable
to God. And I'm telling you, if He commands
it, and if we offer it through Christ, and we do it by faith,
He accepts it. He accepts our service. Acceptable
sacrifice. And notice how He ends this verse.
which is your reasonable service. Reasonable service. It's only
reasonable since God is who He is for us to serve Him freely. And since Christ has done for
us what He's done for us, and since He is where He is on our
behalf, and since He's doing there what He's doing for us,
it's only reasonable For us to give ourselves a sacrifice to
Him for His glory. That's not unreasonable, is it?
That's just reasonable. Reasonable service. That we should
give ourselves to Him. Wholly acceptable to Him. And He says here in verse 2,
And be not conformed to this world. We live in this world, don't
we? So many of the afflictions that we suffer is common to the
world. A lot of things that we do, the
world does. We work just like the world.
We eat just like the world. Sometimes we get sick just like
the world. But we don't have to be fashioned
after this world. We don't have to think like this
world. We don't have to believe like
this world. We don't have to act like this
world. Don't be conformed to this world. The Lord Jesus said, I've given
unto them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they
are not of this world. When we came into this world,
we were of this world. And we walked according to the
course of this world. And if God had left us to stay
there, we would have died just as this world. Our end would
have been like theirs. But we've been born again. We've
been born from another world from above. Therefore, don't
fashion yourself. Don't conform yourself anymore
to this world. Don't be like it. Don't go after
its temporal advantages and its fleshly pleasures. Don't be conformed
to this world. You're in this world, but you're
not of it. You're not of it. Don't be molded. That's what that word means. Don't be molded. into the image
of this present world. But instead, he says, be ye transformed. This word is used several times
in the New Testament. Transform. Be transformed. It's
the same word when the Lord Jesus took His disciples up on the
mountain. And the Scripture says He was
transfigured before them. He was changed. His countenance
was altered, and his skin began to glow, and his clothes began
to shine. He was transformed. Be transformed. Be changed. Another place it's
used, it's called change. Listen to this. This is a wonderful
Scripture. In 2 Corinthians 3.18, Paul said, We with open face,
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are transformed. We are changed. unto the image,
what image? His image. His image will change
by beholding His face. It's like we look at Him through
a glass because we look at Him through faith. We see Him in
His Word, but we see Him so dimly. But just seeing Him through faith,
seeing Him through the Word, it transforms us into His glory. How does that happen? The Spirit
of the Lord. He opens our understanding. He
opens our hearts. And we get a view of Him. And
it changes us. It transforms us into His likeness. Moses, when he was in the presence
of God upon Mount Sinai, he came down from the mountain and his
face glowed. And they couldn't look on his
face. He had to put a bag over his head to talk to the people.
But it's not like that with Christ, you see. We behold His face. And the more of His face we can
see, the more like Him we are. Transform. Be ye transformed. When we're transformed to the
image of Christ, you know what we do? We love like He loved.
Not to the same degree, I know that, but it's the same love. We pray like He prayed. Father,
not my will, but Yours be done. We walk as He walked. We will
as He will. We think like He thought. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus. Be transformed. Be transformed. Or to be less like self and to
be more like Christ. Predestinated to be conformed
to the image of God's Son. How does this happen? Well, He
tells us. Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. This begins when we're regenerated. That's when we start to be transformed
into His image. And it's something that discontinues. It's a process that continues
all the time that we're in this world. by the renewing of your
mind. If you be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above. Where Christ sits on the right
hand of God, set your affection on things above. That's the way
we're renewed in our minds. Get our minds off of this world,
off of the cares. and offer the advantages that
the ungodly have, and set them upon things above where Christ
is. That's the way we're transformed
from this world. Let the words of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom. Be transformed that way. Don't
just read it. Meditate in it. And teach others
what you've read and what you've known. Be you transformed by
the renewal of your mind. Let the peace of God rule in
your heart to the which you are called. Just let it. Let it. And put on the new man
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created
him. Pray in all ways with all prayer
and supplications in the Spirit. Forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhort one another. and so much the more. That's
the way we renew our minds, by the means that He's graciously
provided for us. Don't be conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. For this reason, look at this,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God, that you may explore that you may investigate, that
you may ascertain, that you may realize, that you may know that
good will of God, that perfect will of God. You and I can't
know the perfect will of God. We can't know it perfectly. But
I hope we desire to know what He's revealed of His will. I
hope we desire that. Not everyone that saith to me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth
the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Let me show you
a few scriptures. Let me just read to you a few
scriptures concerning the will of God. Just a few scriptures
concerning the will of God. First of all, the will of God
concerning your eternal destiny. You know, the will of God is
involved in your eternal destiny. Listen to this. I'm not talking
now about what's possible. I'm not talking about that. I'm
not talking about what God desires. I'm not talking about what God
hopes for or something God wants but can't affect. But I'm talking
about something that God has willed. And it has to do with
your eternal destiny. I'm talking about the sovereign,
fixed, unchangeable will of God concerning your destiny. Boy, ain't that something? You
mean the will of God is involved in that? The will of God is involved
in my eternal destiny? I had no idea the will of God
was involved in that. It is. That's why Paul said,
give yourself a living sacrifice. Be transformed. Set your affections
upon things above that you may prove, that you may explore,
examine, and come to realize and know the will of God. Well, here it is. You're here
this evening, and you've been called out of darkness to light.
And your heart's been broken over your sins, and you've been
brought to repentance, and you've been brought to fully trust in
the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart. I mean, you've laid
it all upon Him. He's washed you. He's forgiven
you. He's sealed you with His Holy
Spirit. Did you know this? That you have a home in glory? That you have an eternal inheritance
that's laid up for you, that's reserved for you already? And
all of this, all of this, Your repentance, your faith, your
coming to Christ, your trust in Him, your following Him, and
your being in heaven at last, did you know all of that is according
to God's fixed, unchangeable will for you? Did you know that? You may know it. You probably
do. Listen to this. Ephesians 1,
9 and 11. having made known unto us, God
has made known unto us the mystery of His will. We can't know it
until He makes it known. He can write it down in His Bible,
and we go read it, and we can't understand it. We can't investigate
it. We can't know it. He has to reveal
it, even though He's put it on the pages of His Word. And here
it is. Here's what He's made known to
you. In Christ we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him
who works all things after the counsel of His own will." Before
you had a being, before the world, before time had a being, it was
God's will to predestinate you to repentance. and to faith in
Christ, and to give you that eternal inheritance, all according
to His will. Did you know that? Ain't that
wonderful? And number two, the will of God
concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, as our substitute,
as our representative, as our Savior. What He would do what
He would do on our behalf. Now let me say again, it's not
merely what He wanted to do, what He tried to do, what He
hoped that He did. I'm talking about what He actually
accomplished. He accomplished because it was
God's will for Him to do it. Listen to this. Christ gave Himself
for our sins to deliver us from this present evil world. Christ gave Himself for our sins
to deliver us from this present evil world. Now, if you're delivered
from this world this morning, if you're not of this world,
if you've been born out of this world, then you're delivered
from it. You deliver from its course,
you deliver from its end, its awful end that's coming upon
it soon. And listen to this, according to the will of God
and our Father. Why did Christ suffer for our
sin? Why did He pay that price that we owed that could not pay?
It was God's will. I've often told you about when
I was a teenager, I really believed it was God's will. that I do
many things to pay the debt I owe to God. And I tried to do them. I tried to do them. And then
in my early twenties, I began to think it's God's will to deliver
me and save me, not only by what I do, but I need help from Christ. And then Him cooperating together,
then surely I can obtain this deliverance. That didn't work.
You know why I thought that? I didn't know God's will. And
I found out God's will. He revealed His will to me. And
here it is. Christ gave Himself for our sins. And that's enough. That's enough. Listen to this. Very familiar
Scripture. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, But the will of Him that sent me, and this
is the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He hath
given me, I should lose nothing. I should lose nothing. Now, we
argue, we debate. People argue and debate about
the will of God, the secret will of God and the revealed will.
And that's fine. That's fine. That's good that we can discuss
those things. There's so much about God's will
that we don't know. We just have to acknowledge that.
But there's one thing that is beyond debate. There's one thing
that's settled. Jesus Christ did the will of
His Father. Jesus Christ never failed then. He's not failing now to do the
will of His Father. That's beyond debate, ain't it?
And what is the will of the Father concerning Him that of all that
He's given me, I should lose nothing. You debate our will. Our flimsy, fickle will. Well, if you don't will, if it
comes time that you don't will, well, I'll tell you what, brothers
and sisters, our will is so changeable and so fickle and fallible, I'll
tell you what studies us. I'll tell you what settles our
hearts. When we feel cold and we get in those long, dark valleys,
We go up on those long, hard hills and we begin to wonder,
am I going to make it over this one? And trouble comes and we
water our pillow with our tears. I'll tell you what will establish
us. I'll tell you what will keep
us steady then. I'll tell you what will give us confidence
then. When we say, it's not according to my will anyway. I'm just hanging
on. I realize that. But I tell you,
there's one in heaven who will not fail. There's one in heaven
whose will knows no change that's infallible, unchangeable. And he said, this is the will
of my Father concerning me. He says, I ain't going to ever
let you go. I ain't going to ever lose you. No matter where you are, no matter
what circumstances you find yourself in, I ain't going to lose you.
I ain't going to lose you. It's not first and foremost about
you anyway, is it? It's about Him. It's about Him. That's why I come, He said, to
do the will of my Father. Oh, give yourself, Paul said,
a living sacrifice and be transformed that you may prove, that you
may investigate, find out what God's will is. I mean in your
heart. In your heart. From His Word. The will of God concerning every
believer. What's the will of God concerning
us as believers? Like I said, there's things we
don't know and understand. Yet here are some things we do
know about God's will. We can be certain, we can prove,
we can investigate and prove God's will concerning every last
believer. First, we can be certain about
this concerning God's will. That everyone who believes on
the Lord Jesus Christ will never perish. We can know that's God's
will. Listen to the words of our Master.
This is the will of Him that sent me. Christ said, I came
down from heaven to do my Father's will, and this is the will of
Him to send me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth
on Him may have everlasting life. That's the will of God. That's
the will of God. Ain't that a wonderful thing?
I believe, Glenn. I believe it. I see Him. I wish I could see Him clearer,
but I do see Him in the Word, don't you? I see Him, and I do
believe on Him. I trust Him. I ain't got no other
trust, brothers and sisters, no other way. I ain't got another
way into God's presence. I don't have any other confidence
that God will ever smile upon me and receive me into heaven
except in Christ. My trust is in Him. I believe
in Him with all my heart. Oh, here's what God's will is
concerning me. Everyone which seeth the Son
and believes on Him will have everlasting life. Now, I'm telling
you, Donnie Bill said, that'll float your boat, won't it? That'll
float your boat. Here's another thing about the
will of God concerning every believer. That they should sometimes
suffer. It's God's will that we suffer
sometimes. We think we know that, don't
we? We think we've got this and we've got it in our heads. But
it's not yet sunk down into our hearts. And I tell you how we
know that. As soon as we begin to suffer,
what happens? We're filled with these doubts.
Always God angry with me. If He's not, why am I suffering?
Why am I being persecuted? Why am I suffering these afflictions
within and without? Well, here's what Peter said,
but Larry's been teaching it to us. Wherefore, let them that
suffer according to the will of God. Suffer according to the
will of God? Suffer because of your faith
in Christ? Suffer because you believe His
Word? Suffer because you want to keep
a pure conscience between you and the Lord? Suffer for righteousness'
sake? That's God's will. That's God's
will. Wherefore, let them that suffer
according to the will of God, let them commit the keeping of
their souls unto Him, and well do it, as unto a faithful Creator. We've had these preachers for
years now to tell us that it's God's will, that we never have
any trouble. Have you ever heard them talking
about that? It's no wonder John MacArthur got so aggravated listening
to them fellows on TV. I would too, if I had to sit
and listen to those fellows for six weeks. I heard one preaching
not long ago, and now this is how twisted they get. This one
fellow said, you know why, you know why Lazarus laid at the
rich man's table, desiring the crumbs? He said, you know why
he did that? He said, the desire of the righteous
shall be granted, and that's all He wanted. That's all He
wanted. He could have been, now listen,
He could have been just like the rich man if He had desired
it. And that's God's will. It's not
God's will that you suffer any kind of need. But what are we
going to do with this Scripture? Let them that suffer according
to the will of God. If we suffer with Him, we'll
reign with Him. The next time that someone afflicts
you or persecutes you because of your faith in Christ, say,
that's God's will. The next time the devil attacks
you and your soul and the conflict and the war goes on there, say,
that's God's will. The sufferings of Christ abound
in us. It's God's will. And don't listen
to these fellows tell us otherwise. Thirdly, the will of God concerning
the believers. It's God's will that you and
I as believers seek earnestly to possess our bodies in a way
of separation from this world and in honor Listen to this passage. This is the will of God, even
your sanctification, that you abstain from fornication, that
every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in
sanctification, in separation, and in honor to God. That's God's
will. I can know that when I abstain
from the evil of this world, and when I give myself, my being,
my members, my faculties, up to His service and His worship
and His people, I can know this. That's God's will. I know that.
I know that. And lastly is this. Turn over
here to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and I'll read this in closing. that you may prove, that you
may investigate and discern the will of God. Well, how in the world are we
going to find out that? Just like we've been looking at by
His Word. Look in verse 18. You can be
sure, dear child of God, this is God's will concerning you.
Verse 18 of 1 Thessalonians 5. Give thanks. For this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Be thankful. In everything? In everything. What about when I've fallen?
Yeah, we're broken then, aren't we? Oh, we're shamed then. But be thankful for this. You've
got an advocate. God will chasten you. He chastens
those He loves. In everything, give thanks. And you can know as you do that,
that that's God's will. Amen. Let's pray.