Romans chapter 12, if you have
your outline. If you have your outline, I'm
going to start at verse one and we're going to deal with verse
one tonight. Romans chapter 12, verse one,
there are three aspects in your outline that you see that we
are ultimately going to deal with. Three aspects in our outline,
and this might take us about three weeks. Today, we will start
dealing with the first part. present your bodies. We're gonna talk about this here
for a moment. The next part we'll be dealing with is preparing
your mind. And then the third part, the
third one we'll deal with is performing your calling. And
then we'll close out with positioning yourself for suffering. These
are the four categories that basically framework Romans chapter
12. Present your bodies, prepare
your minds, perform your calling, position yourself for suffering.
Romans chapter 12 is born out of Romans chapter 11. You cannot
understand Romans 12 without understanding how Romans chapter
11 closes out. And in fact, when you're reading
your Bible, you may take this to notice that the chapter and
verses that are in your Bibles are added by our translators
because in the original languages there were no chapters and verses. Chapters and verses are did for
division purposes where they thought often that new thoughts
began, new categories and ideas began, and so you have chapters
1, 2, 3, 4, 5. But these were letters, and like when you write
letters and I write letters, we don't have chapters. in our
letters. We don't have chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3. We just
have a flowing commentary. It may change in terms of the
subject matter and then you have a break in the paragraph, but
you don't have chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3. So the letter to
the Romans was really one long flowing letter. The breaks came
with the wherefores and the therefores. And that's why in your King James
Bible, often where they started new chapters with wherefores
and therefores, or thuses and very seldom thuses, the letters
are in all capital, are bolded to kind of give you an idea that
we're starting a new thought. But don't ever think that when
you are starting off with a chapter, that you're starting off with
a clean slate. That would be an error. You are merely building
upon A thought processes are a set of assumptions or theories
or propositions that have already been laid down. You will never
benefit from Romans 12 unless you understand all that Paul
has gone through to establish the gospel from chapters one
through chapters 11. Chapter 11, Paul closes out chapter
11 by saying to the Jews and the Gentiles, you have been highly
blessed to be brought into that which God is doing and has done. He closes out chapter 11 this
way. All the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out for who have known
the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor or who has
first given to him that it should be recompensed to him again.
Now, listen to verse 36. for of him and through him and
to him are all things to whom be glory forever, amen. This is a doxology of praise. Paul is acknowledging this master
plan that he was talking to the Jews and the Gentiles about.
Haven't we been talking about that for several weeks? This
master plan. And he seals this master plan
of the salvation of the Jews through the Gentiles Because
of the salvation of the Gentiles through the Jews, he seals this
master plan by saying this all started with God, it's sustained
by God, and it will be concluded by God, who is worthy to be praised. And he closes out with this doxology,
Amen. He's exalting in what God has
purpose to do in the salvation of people from these two categories
called the Jews and the Gentiles. That's the foundation from which
we launch into chapter 12. You don't go into chapter 12
with a blank slate. You go into chapter 12 marveling,
marveling two things that God has even purpose to look on us
as undeserving hell bound sinners. and marveling that you and I,
if we are saved, have actually been brought into the scope and
scheme of God's eternal redemptive purpose. You and I are part of
something that's been going on for a long time. This is the
foundation from which Romans chapter 12 opens up. And therefore,
you can mark this down. Romans chapter 12 is not a message
to the world. It's a message to the church.
You need to understand that because as we go into the nuances of
chapter 12, there are things that the apostle will be saying
to the church at Rome that have no relevance to an unsaved person
or a person outside of the church. There are things that the scriptures
speak about and teach and exhort, and they only apply to the believer. This portion of the scripture,
chapter 12, is exclusively to the church. It's to the people
of God. is to the body of Christ is to
men and women who are visibly part of this grand scheme that
God has purposed. He has brought the past initiated
and is sustaining right now. And this is why he opens up chapter
12 verse one this way. I beseech you. Do you see it?
I beseech you. The Hebrew, the Greek term there
is parakaleo. It's rooted in the Greek term,
the paraclete. The paraclete is the spirit of
God. The work of the spirit of God
is to call sinners to Christ. The root word kaleo means to
call. Parakaleo means to call alongside
of. When the spirit of God calls
a sinner to Christ, he brings that sinner through the preaching
of the gospel near to God so that he can hear God's voice.
When you and I are lost and unsaved and outside of Christ, we are
far off. We can't hear God. We can't find
God. We can't see God. God has to
hunt us down and then begin to bring us to himself. And he does
that through the gospel. The call of the gospel brings
men and women. Not it's the para Kaleo. It's the para Kaleo. And the
only ones coming when the call is uttered are his sheep. Paul
says, I therefore beseech you. I'm begging you. I'm exhorting
you. I'm calling you. I'm calling you. That's what
we do when we preach the gospel. I'm calling you. Now, listen
to what he says. I'm calling you, therefore. Brethren, by
the mercies of God, do you see that? Now, I want you to hear
it now is very important. Paul is about to predicate what
he's about to say on this concept, the mercies of God. I'm calling
you near to hear what I'm saying based on God's mercies. Mercy is calling me. Mercy is
prompting me to call you. Mercy is telling me to come,
telling me to tell you to come near. I've got something to say
to you. Now, this word mercy, Paul has used several times outside
of the epistle to the Romans, but certainly within the epistle.
Didn't want to go through all of the aspects of mercy But I
want to deal with three aspects of God's mercy By which Paul
is conscious that he's speaking to the church at Rome and maybe
they will apply to you now notice what he says Brethren, I'm calling
you by the mercies not mercy singular Mercy plural. Do you guys see that now? Let
me define that if you don't already know Mercy is God not doing to
you what you deserve. I Mercy is God not bringing his
wrath upon you, according as you justly deserve it. Remember
now, whenever God punishes a sinner, he deserves it. Whenever he punishes
a sinner, he deserves it. But salvation is never to be
viewed as something you deserve. You and I never deserve God's
salvation. There's nothing about you and
I that ever constitutes God having to give us his salvation. There
is nothing that you and I do that demands that God save us. Are you guys hearing me? See,
if you think that salvation is based upon a reciprocating relationship
where you make a decision for Jesus and now Jesus has got to
save you, you have totally missed the point of what salvation is.
Now you make God a debtor. And what Paul said in Romans
chapter 11, if you recall, he says, who has given unto God
that God should recompense them again. Isn't that what he said?
Who had given unto God that God now is obligated to give them
something. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
And so when we use the term mercies, we are saying that God does something
for us that he didn't have to do. And he shouldn't have done. Now, let me build this because
I want you to get it. Psalm 119. Go with me in your
Bible to Psalm 119. David understood this. David
understood that he was a hell bound, undeserving sinner. But God looked on David anyway. God had mercy on David anyway.
And here is what Psalm 119 verse 41 says. I want you to hear it
and you can mark this. Memorize this. It's one of those
wonderful passages worth memorizing. Here's what David said in Psalm
119 verse 41. In fact, while you're at it,
just memorize all of Psalm 119. All right, just do that. It's
only 156 verses in the divisions. Okay, just memorize them. Me
and the kids used to memorize all of the divisions when we
were little. My kids used to memorize three, four, five divisions,
and you grown folk can do it. I'm sure you're smarter than
little kids. So just while you're at it, just go and memorize all
156 verses, okay? It tells us in verse 41 of Psalm
119, let thy mercies, do you see it? Let thy mercies come
also unto me, O Lord. Now notice how he explains it.
We call this in theology an explanation of the proposition or an exegetical. Let thy mercies come also unto
me, O Lord. What is that? Even your salvation according
to your word. You know what David is saying?
Save me. Save me, oh Lord. Now I'm asking you to save me
not on the grounds of who I am or what I've done, but according
to your mercies. David understood that the salvation
of sinners was the mere mercies of God. Do you guys see that?
All right, I'm going to quote another verse. You guys have
heard this one before. This is Titus 3, 5. If you haven't been
there, you can go there. But if you know it, this is what
the Bible says, not by works of righteousness, which we've
done. But according to his mercy, have he saved us? Isn't that clear? Let me say
it again. Not by works of righteousness
that we have done. But according to his mercy, hath
he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Ghost, which he has shed upon us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Lord, having justified us freely by his sovereign
grace. You guys got that? Not by works
of righteousness, which we had done, but according to his mercy,
God hath saved us. This is what Paul is talking
about also in our text. Go back to Romans chapter 12.
I want to share with you three aspects of this mercy of God
that's in the book of Romans that I'm going to lead us on
up into the 12th chapter. There are three aspects of this
mercy. The first aspect of this mercy is seen for us in Romans
chapter 9. Just flip back to Romans 9. I
want you to see how Paul explains this in Romans 9. I'm gonna start
at verse 22 and go through verse 24. Romans 9, 22 through 24. The first aspect of God's mercy
with reference to Paul's mindset is the fact that he has made
some of us vessels of mercy. Vessels of mercy. Are we there? Listen to what it says. Romans
9, verse 22. What of God willing to show his wrath? Do you guys
see that? This is what we call a hypothetical proposition, but
it's true. God is willing to show his wrath. Did you know
that? When you read your Bible from Genesis to Revelation, what
we know is there are times when God pours his wrath out on people.
Noah's flood was a wrath execution, wasn't it? God was willing to
show his wrath then, wasn't he? You know what he did he told
Noah for 120 years I'm gonna let you build an art testify
to the world that the only way of escape is through Jesus Christ
Represented by that art whoever shows up gets in the art will
be saved the ones who don't show up will be down You guys got
that 120 years God was willing to show his wrath Do you know
what happened precisely the day that Noah finished and God had
purposed God called Noah to get into the art That's what the
text says read it for yourself. Genesis 8 9 and the Bible says
God closed the door behind Noah Do you know what that means?
Will you hear me? I'm gonna be preaching this on Sunday Salvation
is not always possible for people There's a day that comes in the
life of human beings where they will not hear God's voice again
God will not always be heard Am I telling the truth? See,
you know you you'll hear people say, you know, God's always there
for you. The Bible doesn't teach that Proverbs chapter 1 is very
clear. God said when I called you wouldn't
listen when I stretched out my hand You wouldn't hear you turned
your back on me. Therefore when you call I won't
hear you That's Proverbs chapter 1 and then the Bible says in
Isaiah chapter 55. You better call on the Lord while
he is near while he may be found because there's a day when the
Spirit of God withdraws himself from hard-hearted sinners who
have heard the gospel again and again and again and again and
again and God will not hear you say pastor I don't believe that
I don't care if you don't believe it it's Jeremiah chapter 7 when
God decided to destroy Israel Jeremiah fell on his face Lord
have mercy on Israel you know what God said Jeremiah stop praying
I will not hear you These people are going to be destroyed, given
to the famine, given to the sword, scattered to the four winds.
There's a time when God Almighty stops speaking to sinners. I'm
going to expand on that on Sunday, but listen to what Paul said.
What if God willing to show his wrath and to make his power? No, he didn't know what he did
with Pharaoh. He didn't know what he did with Pharaoh. When
he came into Egypt, he cleaned house, didn't he? By the time
he got through cleaning house the Israelites walked out high-headed
with a whole bunch of gold and silver Dry shot through the Red
Sea into the wilderness God so clean house in the land of Egypt. God was showing his wrath Are
you hearing me? God was showing his wrath What
if God willing to show his wrath watch this and to make his power
known endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath what? Fitted
for destruction. That's what your Bible says That's
not what Pastor Jesse says. That's what your Bible says.
I simply affirm that. I affirm that a sovereign God
has a right to whenever he wants to execute his own. I'll get
you in a second. Hold on. There's not a question
to answer, but I'll get you in a second. I affirm that the true and the
living God has a right to when he wants to give men over to
their base passions, let them go passively into the darkness
and sinful behavior that they want. This is called reprobation.
as long as he needs to justify why he will pour out his wrath
on that person. And when he pours out his wrath
on that person, everyone that has any sense will know God was
patient with that person for a long time. And finally, he
took him out. Am I making some sense? See,
he didn't tell his servant Moses to go into Egypt and simply tear
the place up. He told his servant Moses to
tell Pharaoh to let my people go. And in our study right now
in theology class, we are considering the question, who is God? Isn't
that right? Who is God? Well, Pharaoh said
that to Moses when he came in there, who is the Lord that I
should obey him? That's a hard heart, isn't it?
Who is the Lord that I should obey him? Some of you guys are
just like Pharaoh right now. Who is the Lord that I should
obey him? And Moses said, I'm gonna turn around and leave cuz
God's getting ready to show up and show you who he is And when
he's done you won't be you won't be questioning who the Lord is
God has a right to do that with its creatures. Isn't that what
he said in Jeremiah 17? Isn't that what he said in the
gospel? Cannot I do that with that which is my own? and doesn't
the Bible say that everything that God does is just a You know
what the bible says so see god's people don't ever argue with
how god operates because we know that whenever god does whatever
god does is right And then you can read it in the proverbs in
your own time. Just read this is jesus proverbs Just running
through my mind. The bible says the righteous Wisely considereth
the house of the wicked But the lord throws overthrows it for
its wickedness anyway The righteous watch and we observe and we see
how men raise hell, wreak havoc, oppose God, blaspheme his name,
as David said, and God is patient. And then right about when we
are saying, you know, look like God's not around, boom, the judgment
comes down. And then we go, Lord, have mercy.
Isn't that right? Lord have mercy the righteous
wisely considers the house of the wicked, but God destroys
it Anyway, see God will always punish sin Be sure of that. The God of the Bible is a just
God your question my friend Well, you can ask it we don't
mind get it over with you might forget it Okay, that's radically different.
What Job went through was not the wrath of God, not even close. God never pours his wrath upon
his people, not his elect, not those that are bought with Christ's
blood. You and I who are actually saved, will you hear me? Those
of us who are actually saved, and Job was saved, never experienced
the wrath of God. Can I explain that before I go
on? This is important to know. And the reason why this question
is not already apprehended by God's people and settled is because
we don't know what happened on Calvary's tree. See, 2000 years
ago, God poured out all his wrath that I deserve on my substitute
in surety, Jesus Christ. so that his death satisfied the
justice of God against his wrath that was due upon me, so that
God cannot and will not and does not desire to ever pour his wrath
out on me since justice cannot twice demand, first at my surety's
hand and then again at mine. If God already took my substitute,
cause him to suffer the wrath of God, to be punished as it
were in hell for all eternity. All God can do for me now is
give me that which Christ died to give me, and that is his righteousness. So for all of God's elect, for
everyone for whom Christ died, you will never, you will never,
ever have to face God's wrath. Listen to me. The Bible is very
clear in John chapter four, around verse 20, John chapter five,
around verse 24, 25. Listen to it now. He that believeth
on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall never come into
judgment but has passed from death to life. He's passed from
death to life because Christ took his death. Are you guys
hearing me? Now, I wanna be clear now. When
God talks about his wrath, he's talking about his wrath on people
who don't have a substitute. There are two places where God
explicitly demonstrates his wrath. One is at a throne of grace.
The other is at a throne of justice. The throne of grace is Calvary's
tree. The throne of justice is what
will take place on the last day. Are you guys hearing me so far?
Now, when you ask the question about Job, what Job experienced
was God's providential purposes that appeared to be suffering,
which was designed to chase in Job and to prove to the world
that Job was one of his children. Therefore you tie what Job said
in the book of Job with what the writer to the Hebrew said
in Hebrews chapter 12 and that's this Everyone whom the Lord loves
he chastens Now we know this because the Bible tells me in
Isaiah chapter 53 the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all
the chastisement of my peace was upon him and by his stripes
I'm what and what that means is if God chastened his only
darling son when he saw sin on him God will chasing you and
me too are you hearing what I'm saying in fact if God doesn't
chasing you you're not his if God allows you to go on living
like hell and doesn't correct you you're not his you're lost
And listen to me now, when God saves you and changes your heart
and renews your mind and he places his spirit in you and he pours
the love of God in your heart and he brings you into union
with Christ, he lets you know that he's chasing in you. In
other words, an informed believer will never sense that God is
pouring his wrath on him, but rather out of love chasing him
because he's been too long dealing with that foolishness that he
didn't fix. Am I making some sense? See,
true believers know what I'm talking about, right? See, true
believers know what I'm talking about. He's a good father, doesn't
he? He's not gonna let us live raggedy lives, tore up lives,
bad testimonies. He'll tear up everything and
bring us right to the foot of the cross and have us crying
out and persuading us, listen to me now, persuading us that
trusting and obeying There's no other way to be happy in Jesus
but to trust and obey Now if you don't want to trust and obey
God will go ahead on and tear it up in your life now if you're
not his he'll let you go on living like hell lying and cheating
and deceiving and Conniving and being slick and he'll meet you
at the judgment throne on the last day There's a whole lot
of folk in church just like that right now They think they can
get away with it because God has been silent. We learned this
last night Read it for yourself, Psalm 50, because I kept silent. Psalm 50, around verse 21, you
thought I was just like you. Because I kept silent, you thought
I was just like you. See, God's people who know him
don't want God to keep silent. I don't want God to ever stop
talking to me. I don't want him to stop speaking
to me by his providence. I don't want him to stop speaking
to me by his word. I don't want him to stop speaking
to me by his spirit. I don't want him to stop speaking
to me by his unctuous. I want to be able to feel his
prodding. I want to be able to sense his providence. I want
to know God is moving me in the direction that he wants to move
me into. I don't want God to stop talking to me because once
God stops talking to me, I'm in trouble. Are you guys hearing
what I'm saying? Did I help you out a little bit?
Good, good, good. Let's go on now. The text tells
us in verse 23, not only is God willing to show his long-suffering,
his power, make his power and wrath known through patience
and long-suffering with vessels of wrath fitted for destruction,
but that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of what? Which he hath before the world
began prepared unto glory. Even us, whom he hath what? And we're talking about the gospel
call. We're talking about the call of the Spirit. We're talking
about that call that works effectually in your soul when the Spirit
of God raises you from the dead and gives you life and faith
in Christ. Some of you know what I'm talking about. The Bible
says in John chapter 4 verse 25 and 26, the hour is coming
and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God. We call it the gospel call. The dead shall hear his voice.
Do you remember when you heard the Bible and it didn't make
a lick of sense. And then all of a sudden one
day it was crystal clear. It was crystal clear. My sheep
hear my voice and they follow me. That's what we're talking
about. The called the called. We hear his voice and we are
compelled to come to him because that call has the same kind of
power that it did when Jesus stood outside of Lazarus tomb
and said, Lazarus, Come forth and the Bible says in the dead
came forth the dead came forth Grave clothes and all the dead
came forth That's what happens when God
saves the sinner am I telling the truth when he saves the sinner
he comes forth He comes forth Now listen to what he says even
us whom he hath called not of the Jews only but also of who?
So what Paul is saying when he says brethren according to the
mercies of God Hear me now according to God's mercy because God has
made you a vessel of what? You need to meditate on that
for a season Because some of us are high and and haughty and
high-minded and we don't realize that we're nothing if we're saved
but vessels of mercy God didn't have to call you. He didn't have
to bring you into the kingdom. He didn't have to use you. He
could have left you alone. Am I making some sense? I'm thankful
that I'm a vessel of mercy. That's point number one. Paul
knew what he was saying when he said, I'm, I'm beseeching
you on the basis of mercies. The fact that he's made us vessels
of mercy. Secondly, The other thing that
I want you to see is not only that did he made us vessels of
mercy predicated upon a salvation of mercy, but he's brought us
into a scheme of redemption. Look at chapter 11 verse 30 that
constitute a reciprocating mercy that should be exhibited in the
life of all God's people. Not only did God save us by His
mercy, make us vessels of mercy, but He brought us into a scheme
of redemption by which mercy is a reciprocating process in
our life. Am I speaking in tongue still?
I'll explain this if you need some help. Look at what it says
over in verse 30. Are we there? For as in time past, for as you
in time past have not believed God, yet now have obtained what? through their unbelief, that
is who? The Jews. Verse 31, even so have these
also now not believed that through your what? They also might obtain
what? For God had concluded them all
in unbelief that he might have what? Upon all. See, this is
about mercy. This is about mercy. You guys
got that? The whole gospel scheme is about mercy. Salvation is
about mercy. So as we open up chapter 12,
what Paula says, I'm begging you on the basis of being saved
by mercy, made vessels of mercy and being brought into the scheme
of mercy. Is that OK? Here's what he's
calling us to do now. This gets us into our text. We'll
be able to work this for the next 30 minutes. I beg you by
the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable unto God. which is your reasonable service. The first part is simple. The
first aspect of this I wanna deal with is presenting your
bodies. You guys see that? He says, you present your bodies. We'll be able to work with our
outline to do this. This is gonna be the bulk of the rest of the
study tonight because I wanna make sure you get this. I wanna
make sure you get this. In this generation, I'm very
sure that people do not understand the significance of what it means
to be saved, what it means to be called and what it means to
be brought into the service of God. Because you see, we all
live this pseudo autonomous life. There we go again with these
big words. OK, let me explain. We live a false sense of self-determination. Somehow we think that we can
do whatever we want to whenever we want to however we want to
and we're still all right with God But will you please hear
me when God saved you that was over with? Please hear what I'm
saying the reason why so many professing Christians lives are
wrecked is I mean, wreck, I mean, full of havoc, full of pain,
full of all kinds of trouble and sorrow is because the Christian,
the professing Christian does not know that God has called
him into a scheme of redemption by which he is to, she is to,
they are to glorify God in their bodies, which are his. You guys
get that? So I'm gonna deal with three
things here in our outline that's explicit in our text and I want
you to see this. When God saved you, he bought you. You know
what the word bought means? It means bought. That's what
it means. God owns you. He owns you, bought. How come you don't act like it?
Well, maybe it's because you're ignorant or maybe it's because
you're not bought. But we're gonna deal with that right now,
okay? This is so very important. I would think that if I were
a slave and I had been tossed around on the slave market week
in and week out, month in, month out, abused and ridiculed and
maligned and spit on and made a gazing stock and someone came
up and spent a great deal of money to purchase me, to get
me off that slave block, I would think that I would know that
I've been delivered, don't you? And I would think that I would
know that I'm owned by that person that bought me. Am I making some
sense? I doubt very seriously this would
be sort of an oxymoronic ideology. I doubt very seriously if a slave
who's been purchased by a slave owner get down off that slave
block and shake himself off and say well I'm good to go and just
go doing whatever he want to do. Am I making some sense? So The
assumption, the already established fact in scripture is that everyone
who has been called has been bought and they are owned of
God. We are slaves of righteousness. Do you guys believe that? As
Romans chapter six, verses 11 through 14, Paul has already
established this concept that you and I who have been bought
by Christ are slaves of righteousness. Righteousness is a synonym for
Christ. We are slaves of Christ. We are owned by Christ. We are
bond servants of Christ. Dulos is the Greek word. It means
he bought us. He owns us. His mark is on us. His mark is in us. God branded
us with his spirit. Do you guys believe that? So
that's what Paul is meaning when he speaks in 1 Corinthians chapter
6, verses 12 through 17, when he says, you are not your own.
You've been brought with a Christ. Therefore glorify God in your
bodies, which are his. And we're getting ready to develop
this concept. The idea that I want us to deal with is being a present. Notice what he says, present. Do you guys see that present? And what he's saying is present
your bodies. Now I want to develop that in
three categories, present your bodies. But first of all, let's
deal with the word present. It's an interesting term. Notice
what he says, present your bodies. The word present is a Greek word,
and for those of you who might be Greek students, it's peristemi,
and it's a compound word which means to stand by, to stand by. When it's put together, it means
to present. The idea is to take something and bring it into the
presence and present it to someone or something. Are you guys following
me so far? I want to develop this through
a number of passages of scripture. When Paul says to the church,
present your bodies. What he's saying to the church
is you are to execute the same type of worship that was executed
in the Old Testament when God told the men of Israel three
times a year, I want you to present yourselves before the Lord. Go
with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 31. Right now, Deuteronomy
16. I'll use that one. Deuteronomy
16. Don't fall asleep on me. You need to hear this. Deuteronomy
16. I'm gonna make an application before we close. We got about
20 minutes Deuteronomy 16 Paul is drawing from the Old Testament
analogy of the children of Israel and you know, we are the new
Israel and he is drawing from the Old Testament analogy of
the responsibility of the men to come before God and three
times a year. There were three major feasts
that God commanded the men to observe. Three major feasts,
Feast of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Feast of Tabernacles,
and the Feast of Trumpets. These three feasts were feasts
that they were to come and present themselves before the Lord. And
you'll see it in Deuteronomy 16, verse 15 and 16. Are we there? Seven days shall you keep a solemn
feast unto the Lord your God in the place which the Lord shall
choose. Because the Lord your God shall
bless you in all your increase and in all the works of your
hands. Therefore, you shall surely rejoice. 16. Three times in a
year shall your males do what? Appear before the Lord your God. That Hebrew word appear is synonymous
to our Greek term present. You guys got that? Three times
a year shall your mills appear before the Lord your God. Now
watch this, in the place which he shall choose. Now Moses is
writing this in the wilderness. So we're not in the land of promise.
So they're sojourning, they're making their way through, and
they have what is called the tabernacle, but we don't have
the temple yet. So God gave Israel 42 encampments. Some of you guys know that we'd
soldier through the wilderness for 38 years after the law was
given 40 years as a total. And we had 42 encampments wherever
God said, stop it. That's where Israel stopped.
They pitched the tabernacle. That's where the kind of glory
came down. When we got into the promised land, God had a specific
place where he would have the tabernacle or the temple built.
Once the temple was built, All of the meal the males were to
come three times a year to the temple three times a year to
the temple This is what is meant by to the place where God shall
choose You guys got that to the place where God shall choose
now notice what he goes on to say This is so very important
Three times a year your mail shall appear before the Lord
your God in the place where he shall choose in the feast of unleavened
bread That's Passover in the feast of weeks as Pentecost and
in the feast of tabernacles That's the feast of trumpets that and
they shall not appear before the Lord empty Got it. I'm gonna read verse 17 and then
I will make some application Every man shall give as he is
able according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he
hath given thee In the Old Testament, when the men came, they were
to bring of the resources that God had blessed them with in
terms of their livestock or their grain or their agriculture. Because
remember, every one of the families, every one of the tribes were
given an inheritance in Israel. They were an agricultural worshiping
people. So God had already given them
their lot. Remember the promised land? corresponds
to the New Testament promise of the what? Spirit! You got
it. In the Old Testament, Israel
got the land. God carved out all of the different
lots of inheritances so that each man had his condo, each
family had their acre or two or five or ten, whatever God
had distributed according to the sizes of their family. God
had already brought them into the land, into a place that he
had prepared for them. This signifies and points to
the fullness of God's grace into which the people of God entered.
In other words, they didn't have to go in and till and work and
produce the land. They walked right into the blessings.
This corresponds to what Paul teaches in Ephesians chapter
one, verse three, God had blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. Am I making some sense? So when
you get saved, you get brought right into a fullness and an
inheritance You have an obligation, however, once brought into that
fullness. So they were to come three times
a year with an offering. That offering had to be as little,
it could have been as little as grain, if they had a little
harvest of wheat or barley or some other grain, or as significant
as the lambs and the flocks of the field. They were to bring
to God what God had given them. See, remember, salvation is all
of what? Grace. Don't ever forget that. There's nothing that you and
I have that God didn't first give us. So whenever we give
God something, we are only giving God that which he had already
given us. Am I making some sense? That's
what David said in the Chronicles. Lord, we are only given to you
that which you gave unto us. For who can give unto the Lord?
And the Lord therefore must recompense unto him again. Everything came
from God. So all we're doing is giving to God what he gave
to us to signify that we acknowledge that from God do all the blessings
flow. So while we sing it as a doxology
at the end of worship, praise God from whom all blessings flow.
That's what we say. Why? Because they come from God.
In the Old Testament, they were physical things. In Romans chapter
12, he says, I want you to bring your bodies. Got it? I want you to present your bodies. I don't want you to present a
lamb. I don't want you to present a bullock. I don't want to present
an ox. I don't want grains. I don't want corn. Guess what
he's saying? I want you. I want you. The concept is to stand by. This
is a really interesting analogy and metaphor because actually
here's what he's saying. I want you who are spirit beings
and soul personalities to present yourself before me with your
bodies. We're gonna be dealing with this
in our theology class when we get to the concept of anthropology. Remember I told us we are a trichotomous
being, soul, body, and spirit, 1 Thessalonians chapter five,
verse 23 or so. Soul, body, and spirit. And sometimes what folks
think who are not informed by the Bible is that you can worship
God any old kind of way you want to. Isn't that what we hear all
the time? We can just worship God any kind of way we want to.
But what God says is I want everything because I have a plan and I have
a purpose. In other words, watch this. When
God says present yourself, he doesn't mean simply for you to
present yourself while you sitting up flicking the TV. He doesn't mean present yourself
while you're laying in the bathtub or eating your dinner on Sunday
morning, easy like Sunday morning. Remember, easy like Sunday morning,
easy like Sunday morning. That's because you don't worship.
That's the reason why it's easy for you because you don't worship
God. You worship God, you find out a little bit more than easy,
isn't it? You got to get up early. You got to get prepared. You
got to get your heart right. You got to be dispositioned to worship
God. You got to be willing to enter into his presence. Isn't
that what the Bible teaches? Easy like Sunday morning. What's
his name? Lionel Richie. He doesn't know God easy like
Sunday morning Hear me now I'm gonna develop
this is a very important God knows what he's doing He's saying
I want you to present yourself before me So see if I can help
you with a few verses. This is quite interesting Go
with me to Romans chapter 6 verse 13 Romans 6 13. I'm going to
run through about five verses to develop this. This is what
we call exegesis. So if you're bored with exegesis,
you don't have to come back next week, but I'm going to help you
understand the verse tonight. When you go away, you won't be
ignorant of this verse. Okay. Romans chapter six. I want you to see this. Paul
uses the same concept. Peristome here in Romans 6 as
he has already explained who we are and and whose we are and
in verse 13 I'm gonna use I'm gonna quote verse 13 and then
again, I'm gonna quote verse 19 and in verse 13 The word that
is rendered in verse in Romans 12 1 to present is given to us
in the second word in verse 13 Are we there? Neither yield Do
you see the word yield that means present? It's the same Greek
word neither present Your members, you know what your members are
watch this now your hand Your feet your mouth your belly your
private parts I got to say that because I might have to get into
that tonight Depending on which way the Spirit of God goes because
we're in a mess right about now Are you hearing me? Ye do not
yield your members Isn't that what it says do not present your
members It didn't say bodies. I'm not the body. I'm talking
about your hands. I'm talking about your eyes.
I'm talking about your belly. I'm talking about your feet.
I'm talking about your legs. I'm talking about your heart. I'm talking
about your wheel. I'm talking about your inclination. Do not
use your members. Isn't that what it says? Do not
use your members as instruments of what? Do I have to explain that? Do
I have to explain it? Okay, good, let me go on. But
yield, same Greek word, present yourself unto who? That's what
I'm talking about. Now, ladies, do you guys remember
when I talked to you about the concept quorum Deo? Do you guys
remember that? Some of you, do you remember
that, sister Phyllis? Quorum means presence, Deo means
God. When a person is born again,
They are translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the
kingdom of his dear son. When a man's born again, he's
translated from an earthly realm to a spiritual realm, from a
physical realm to a heavenly realm. When a man or woman is
born again, they are brought into the presence of God, Coram
Deo. The child of God, therefore,
is to live, Coram Deo. Got it? I want you to meditate
on that for a moment. Because while as yet you think
like you used to think in terms of the flesh and your worldly
ideas and your worldly notions and your carnal principles, you
are not cognitively in the presence of God. Am I telling the truth?
And as a consequence, wherever you are, the only way you are
cognitively in the presence of God is when you are aware of
two things, who God is and who you are in relationship to God.
Am I telling the truth? Otherwise, you have just closed
the door on God, closed the curtains on God, and says, God, you don't
live here. Am I telling the truth? You can,
out there, we're cool, but in here, we do a whole different
thing here. Coram Dale doesn't allow that
type of assumption on the part of God's children. Coram Dale, when you walk in
the presence of God, you are conscious of God all the time. And that consciousness of God
affects your decisions, it affects your actions, it affects your
choices, because you actually, you actually arrange everything
in your life in light of his presence, you who have to do
with him does that help a little bit now see this actually is
the application and I might as well do it now this actually
is the application because that's really what Paul means when he
says present your bodies a living sacrifice you guys see that a
living sacrifice I guess I'll develop that while I'm here a
living sacrifice present your bodies a A living sacrifice. You know what that means? A living
sacrifice. The Greek word is not bios. It's the Greek word Zoe. And
what it means is spiritually alive. Can I help you with that? No, Pastor, you're already getting
too hard. But I have to. I have to, because I really want
to see you saved. I really wanna see you saved. A living sacrifice, a living
body, a living presentation means that you have actually been born
again and your relationship to God is based on new life in Christ. What this does is contrast the
Old Testament sacrifices where the man brought the bullock and
offered him up on the burnt offering and slaughtered him. These are
dead sacrifices. This is why the Hebrew writer
said in Hebrews chapter 9, God had purged our conscience from
dead works that we might serve the true and the living God by
a new and living way which Jesus consecrated for us through his
flesh that is the veil. He made a bloody way for us into
the presence of God. Through his death, his burial
and resurrection, and the impartation of his spirit into our life,
we now give ourselves to God as new creatures. Born again,
spiritually quickened, alive in Christ, operating out of spiritual
principles with a spiritual perspective. That's a living sacrifice. You
guys got that? That's a living sacrifice. I'm
not merely talking about getting up every day and drudging your
way through a 24 hour period. Oh, I made it through the day,
Lord. That it has nothing to do with
the flesh. It has to do with a heart that
is renewed and committed to communion with the true and the living
God anywhere, anytime. What that means is at school
and on my job and on the bar and on the way home and at the
grocery store, I am constantly waiting on God, having presented
myself and my body ready to do God's will any kind of way he
wants me to break out and do it. You guys got that? Oh, that's
too much. That's the only way to serve
the true and the living God. That's the only way to serve the true
and the living God So this is what he means in our text if
we are in Romans chapter go back to Romans 12 I want you to see
it before we we got about five more minutes. This is what he
means I want you to see this now. This is what he means Brethren I beg you by the mercies
of God that you present that you Stand by your bodies. This is literally what it means
to stand by your body. This is absolutely phenomenal
that you stand by your bodies in the presence of God, that
you present your bodies in the presence of God. It sounds so
weird, but keep your hand here and go with me to second Timothy
chapter four. I'll show you what I'm talking about. This is, but
your minds are opening up a little bit, aren't they? Now watch this.
I want you to see how Paul explains this in second Timothy chapter
four. I want you to see how this goes.
I'm going to be reading over in, um, 2nd Timothy chapter 4. I'm going to start at verse 14
and go through verse 18. Paul is finding himself having
to defend the gospel before the courts and he has to make what
is called his defense and he's telling Timothy about the trials
that he's had with false brethren Who have accused him falsely
and have departed from the gospel look at verse 14 alexander the
coppersmith did me much evil The lord reward him according
to his work. Do you see that? And the lord will too of whom
Be thou aware also for he had greatly withstood our words. He's a false prophet now He used
to preach grace But now he's preaching for money and the two
are mutually exclusive. Verse 16, at my first answer,
that's the Greek word apologios, defense, at my first defense,
no man what? Stood with me. That's our term. Watch this. But everyone forsook
me. Pray that God may not hold it
to their charge. Now watch verse 17, here it is.
Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me. That's our turn. Now watch this saints. If the
Lord will stand with you when you are doing his will, doesn't
it make sense that you should stand for him when he calls you
to do his will? This is remarkable and it's phenomenal
because what Paul is saying is I'm standing before Caesar I
could get my head cut off anytime. I'm declaring the gospel as God
had given it to me. Everybody's forsaken me. See
Paul's a great type of Christ right here. Smite the shepherd
and the sheep shall be what? Scattered. Jesus was left alone
wasn't he? But here paul stands before the
roman court. You know what paul is doing right
now He's presenting his body a living sacrifice before the
lord. Am I making some sense? He's presenting himself before
the courts coram deo who's there god is Now god's on his side
because he's on god's side Got it god's on his side because
he's on god's side Now I want to just back up and establish
that in the mouth of Paul speaking to Timothy, and then we'll wrap
it up. And we'll come back here next
week if y'all want to deal with some more Bible study next week.
I'm in chapter 1 of 2 Timothy. Chapter 1 of 2 Timothy. Chapter
2, I'm sorry. Back up to chapter 2. Are we
there? Paul says in verse three, and
we're gonna make our way down to verse 13. He says, thou therefore
endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ. This is Paul talking
to Timothy as a gospel preacher. Timothy, you have to endure hardness
as a good soldier of Christ. No man that wareth, the word
war is a metaphor for spiritual combat, which is what takes place
in the ministry of the gospel. No man that wareth, listen to
it, entangle it himself with the cares of this world. Do you
see that? This is why If your preacher is worth his weight
in salt, he doesn't spend all his time with you or with anybody. Will you hear me? This is why
if your pastor is worth his weight in salt, you're not going to
find him running all over town, engaging in all of the secular
activities of the world. He cannot Indulge you in your
carnal fantasies and earthly Indulgences and spend time with
God and do your eternity bound soul any good? He only has 24
hours just like you do and if you know that you don't have
hardly any time to spend with God What you think you're gonna
do to him trying to drag him out to this event that event
the other event, you know Ain't got no time for as well as long
as he got time for God. He can do your soul some good.
Am I making some sense? He cannot get wrapped up in this
world if he's going to hear from God. And if God's going to do
something through him for you, he's got to be consecrated to
God. It cannot be any other way. You meet a man who calls himself
a God, but you can find him all over Timbuktu enjoying this life. He doesn't have time for God
and God doesn't have time for him. And you'll know it in his
message. It won't have any substance. It won't have any clarity. It
won't be unctioned. There will be no power. You will
know that he's playing games. Am I making some sense? That's
why most of you guys can't catch me. I'm just using this text to let
you know, I ain't really in a hurry to be with you. Just understand
that. I love you, but I ain't got time
for you. If you want me to speak to your
soul, I gotta be with God. Besides, there's a lot of problems
when the pastor hangs out with you guys too much. You know that,
right? A lot of problems. Listen to it. This is what he
says. And if a man also strive for
masteries, yet he is not crowned except he strive lawfully. The
husbandman that labors must be first partaker of the fruit.
You guys see that metaphor? I cannot tell you to believe
or do anything that I don't first believe or do. Can't do it. Got
it? I cannot tell you to believe
something I don't believe. I cannot tell you to embrace
something that I haven't embraced. I must be, if I'm selling you
goods, I must know that those goods are authentic and they
can benefit you. So Paul is using several metaphors
to help Timothy avoid the political haranguing that goes on in the
church. Am I making some sense? Because that's what folks just
don't know. They just don't know. And so
all he's saying to Timothy, Timothy, make sure you stay in the presence
of God. Let me go on. Consider what I
say and the Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember that
Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead, according
to my gospel. Wherefore I suffer trouble as
an evildoer even unto bonds, but the Word of God is not bound
See how Paul could take every suffering and exalt Christ in
it Listen to this. I'm almost done. Therefore. I
endure all things for who ah I love the elect God does to
God does to this is all about God calling sheep from every
nation kindred tribe and tongue you guys got that I He says,
I endure all things for the elect say that they may watch this
also obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal
glory. See, Paul is operating out of
the mercy principle. He obtained mercy. Now he's given
mercy because he want those who are not a people of God to become
a people of God, like he was not a people of God, but now
has become a people of God. So he lives in his mind. Paul
knows he's an object of mercy. He knows that. Listen to what
it goes on to say. It is a faithful saying for if
we be dead with him, you know what that means? For you to take
your place on Calvary street, recognize that when Christ died,
you died. And when Christ was buried, your
old man was buried and that you have been raised to newness of
life by the spirit of God in the life fashion, where in Christ
was raised from the dead, which means you don't care about what
people think about your reputation. You don't care about what people
think about your body or what you do. You're dead with Christ.
And you know, you can't hurt a dead man. Did you know that?
You can't hurt a dead man. You just can't hurt him. When
a brother's dead already, you can't do nothing to him. And
do you know Paul had been stoned? He had been left for dead. The
Lord raised him up again. Paul was awesome. You couldn't
hurt Paul. He had already died and risen
again. Not only that, he had flown to the third heaven. He
checked out glory for a season, came on back down here. Paul
wasn't fazed by men's arguments, carpings, or persecutions. You
can't do anything to a dead person. And see, sometimes this is the
issue that goes on when folk actually become born again and
you get infatuated with the Lord Jesus Christ and He, as it were,
detaches you from the cares of this life. You do your job, but
you are so caught up into Christ that earthly things don't mean
anything to you. Now, the carnal mind can't get with that. And
now they want to poke you and prod you and get you offended
and tear you down because you love to think on and meditate
upon and talk about the Lord Jesus. Am I making some sense? So you instigate the evil in
the carnal man when you tell him you did. I haven't died with
Christ. That's what Paul said. I have
been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live in the
flesh. I live by the faith of the son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's the way
every true believer is supposed to be. Dead, buried, and raised
again with Christ. Yeah, that's how all your religious
churches do that, that believe in tithing and making sure y'all
give the priest his 10%. Ha ha! Oh, my goodness. Y'all know that's
the truth, don't you? Some of y'all know that's the
truth, right? The husbandman must be first
partaker of the fruit is a complete analogy. It's a complete analogy. For us, the goods we engage in
are not making money. It's the presentation of the
gospel. Our goods is the gospel. Our good, our talent is the word
of God. Our gifts are the word of God.
What we give to people, what we barter to people, what we
sell to people, what we give away is Christ. We don't give
away schemes on making money. And the reciprocity of me giving
you word and you giving me money is only a means by which we move
this ship down the line till we get to glory. This is not
about the pastor becoming filthy rich. That's a complete perversion
of the scriptures. But now y'all can go ahead on
and give him all that money you want to. That's up to you. It's simply saying, as Paul,
you guys read your Bible, right? You know what Paul says? God
has taught me how to abound and to abate. He taught me how to
live humbly. He taught me how to live high
on the heart. But he taught me, as Paul said in Philippians chapter
four, I'm not begging anybody for anything. Gospel preachers
never beg people, and they certainly don't twist the arms of their
members. If you know God, you know how to give. If you don't
know God, you don't know how to give, and you won't give.
Are you hearing me? And if giving ain't enough, it's
not enough. And we don't ever talk about
money around here. All we talk about is Christ.
That's all we talk about. And God take care of the rest.
Now listen to what it says. I'm at verse 11. It's a faithful
saying, if we be dead with him, we shall also what live with
him. If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him. Ah, but if he, if we deny him,
he'll deny us. You're not gonna manipulate God.
Do you hear me? You're not gonna manipulate God.
If we believe not, yet he abided faithful, he cannot deny himself.
You guys got that? And Paul was specifically talking
to Timothy about what it means to be a pastor in the first century.
In the first century to be a pastor and to preach the gospel meant
to be ready to die. You can't be preaching to people
to suffer with Christ Find out that your parishioners are dying
and being killed as soon as they get baptized. And then when they
come for you, you recant on Jesus. See what I'm saying? That's,
that's all I'm saying. See, the gospel was a whole lot
more serious in the first century, but I got news for you is just
as serious today. We are in some tough times. We
are in some very tough times and we need the grace of God. I don't even know how to say
it, how badly we need God's grace. So we'll take the rest of this
up next time. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your
time. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the truth. We
thank you for your spirit as we go our way. Give us traveling
mercies. Take us home safely. Cause these
things to sink deep down into our heart. Help us to meditate
upon them. Do what your word says. Cause
them to take root downward. Therefore fruit upward all for
your glory and your praise. Prepare us to worship you on
Sunday. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you.