A Living Sacrifice
Introduction
- v1-2
- Example from Aberystwyth Conference
- Spirit Empowered Mission
- Exhortation from Psalm 67
- Paul is encouraging us likewise also
- We are to be a living sacrifice
- A call not just to accept doctrine (chapters 1-11), but to put this doctrine into practice
- This is our reasonable service
- This is required of all Christians
- v1 - Therefore ...
- Throws us back:
- Chapters 1-3 (dead in our sins)
- Chapter 4 (Abraham justified by faith)
- Chapter 7 (a struggle)
- Chapter 8 (no condemnation)
- Chapters 9-11 (the purposes of Israel)
- Chapter 11:33 - the riches of God's wisdom
- 11:36 - a doxology
- Paul tells the church this must mean something to you
- You are to offer yourselves on the altar of God
- You are to give your all
- You are not to be conformed to the world
- Overview:
- A Living Sacrifice (v1)
- Be Renewed in your Minds (v2)
A Living Sacrifice (v1)
- Paul is begging them - "I beseech you"
- Paul traveled from place to place
- He worked night and day
- He went from house to house (Acts 20:20)
- He suffered much
- Paul was out and out for God
- We may not be called to this but we are called to be a living sacrifice
- Paul realised his situation and how God had loved and saved Him
- As a result nothing was too much for Paul
- Paul was willing to be bound and even to die for the sake of Christ
- He had counted the cost
- He had already died to self
- Rom 8 - a lamb prepared for the slaughter
- He was willing to give up everything for God
- We cannot do this ourselves
- We can only do it by the grace and mercies of God
- We should start little by little
- Start with prayer
- Reading two books
- 'We died before we came' a book about modern day missionaries
- Explanation
- 'Reckless abandonment'
- Explanation
- "It is only right and proper" to yield our life in this way
- Paul is not thinking of martyrdom (though it may lead to this)
- It is your "reasonable service"
- Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice
- What does it mean to present our bodies to God?
- Our eyes
- Look upon Holy things
- Be moved with pity
- Our ears
- Do not listen to the counsel of the ungodly
- Listen to the things of God
- Our tongues
- Do not use for gospel or in uncouth ways
- Speak of God
- Encourage others
- Our legs and feet
- Can take us to places we ought not to go
- Can take us to places where we can bless others
- The picture here is all about worship
- Some say it is a picture of the burnt offering
- It was wholly dedicated to God
- 'Alas and did my Saviour bleed and die' - verse 5
- Charles Wesley
- Ed McCulley quote (with Jim Elliot)
- We are all called to be living sacrifices
- Examples
- 1 Peter 2:5
- As priests - serve God
- The Servant King
- The sacrifice is holy and acceptable
- A perfect sacrifice from the Old Testament
- The body is for the Lord and the Lord for the body
- Flee sexual immorality
- Rom 6:13
Be Renewed in your Minds (v2)
- As you think determines how you live
- How much are we influenced by the world?
- TV, Facebook, Computer/Tablet use
- Are our standards slipping or is our mind being renewed
- The whole world lies in the sway of the wicked one
- TV, voices, our hearts
- We were selfish
- The lusts of the flesh
- Materialism
- Power, Money, Sex and Pleasure
- When you become a Christian
- You come under His authority
- Submit to Him
- Be changed for Him
- Be transformed - a metamorphis
- Little be little
- Reprogramming must go on
- It happens slowly
- Think about how Christ humbled Himself and made Himself of no reputation
- Let God shape your mind
- Psalm 1
- Walk -> Stand -> Sit -> Mock
- Little by little people stand away from God
- It only takes a little thing to cause problems
- The Old Testament: do not learn the ways of the pagans or the surrounding people
- Think of Lot
- We are in this world but do not let the world shape you
- His delight is in the law of the Lord
- Talk about the Bible to yourself and others
- Meditate on it
- "Prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (v2)
Closing Remarks