Living Sacrifices…And Practicality Romans 12:1-2
Sermon by Pastor Dennis R. Gleason -- August 14, 2005
1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. The Living Bible Translation
The KJV of these verses says this: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your spiritual worship.”
When we understand what Christianity is; we recognize that Christianity is Christ…the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is life…His life lived in those who have trusted in Him as Savior and Lord. This life must be lived in this world…as broken and as ungodly as it really is 24/7.Even though we are given the command not to be part of the world system governing the world, we have to live here.
As we continue our study in Romans, we should note that the last five chapters of Paul’s letters are concerned with the living of this life by individual Christians.
The King James Version of our text contains the word “therefore”. You have heard me say time and again that when the Bible uses the word “therefore” we need to understand what it is there for.
The “therefore” that opens the second chapter of Romans goes back to a few verses that mark out the terrible sinfulness and depravity of man.
The “therefore” that opens the fifth chapter of this book builds on the thirty-six verses which go before, in which Paul spells out the doctrine of justification by faith, apart from the works of the law.
The “therefore” of our text builds upon all the truth that Paul has presented in the 315 verses of the first 11 chapters of his letter to the Romans.
We can sum up those 315 verses with two thoughts:
1. Man has been completely ruined by sin.
2. God’s remedy to the complete ruin experienced by man is found in Christ Jesus. It is available by faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ.
There is no darker picture of mankind in any literature than what we find in the first two and a half chapters of Romans. These verses penetrate the depths of the human heart and clearly reveal man’s sinfulness.
It has been reported that a Hindu man was given Scriptures containing the book of Romans. When he had read the first chapters of Romans he nodded hi shead and said, “The writer of this pamphlet lived in India.”
Paul had not lived in India, but he did know the heart of man was deceitful above all things and is incurably sick. (Jeremiah 17:9) Paul knew that the nature of man was a bottomless pit of sin and degradation.
Last week I reminded you that man is a sinner by nature, and, further, he is a sinner by choice.
There is no individual who has not deliberately and willfully turned his back on God and His Righteousness at one time or another and desired nothing more than his own way. Those who acknowledge their spiritual need are in the position to be cleansed from their sin by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
God’s offer of forgiveness and salvation has nothing to do with anything man can do. Only God could initiate the plan of salvation. It is the mercies of God that have led him to provide a way out of sin and death that grips mankind.
Romans 8 contains another “therefore”: It tells us that “there is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Whys is this true? It is true because Jesus bore all of the condemnation for sin for us.
Eric Fellman speaks of meeting a Chinese couple in Hong Kong, while traveling to China. "A friend took me down a narrow alley to a second-floor flat to meet a man recently released from prison in China. I knew I would be pressed to carry Bibles and literature on my trip. But I was hesitant and tried to mask my fear with rationalizations about legalities and other concerns.
A Chinese man in his 6Os opened the door. His smile was radiant, but his back was bent almost double. He led us to a sparsely furnished room. A Chinese woman of about the same age came in to serve tea. As she lingered, I couldn't help but notice how they touched and lovingly looked at each other. My staring apparently didn't go unnoticed, for soon they were both giggling. "What is it?" I asked my friend. "Oh nothing," he said with a smile. "They just wanted you to know it was OK--they're newlyweds." I learned they had been engaged in 1949, when he was a student at Nanking Seminary. On the day of their wedding rehearsal, Chinese communists seized the seminary. They took the students to a hard-labor prison. For the next 30 years, the bride-to-be was allowed only one visit per year. Each time, following their brief minutes together, the man would be called to the warden's office. "You may go home with your bride," he said, "if you will renounce Christianity." Year after year, this man replied with just one word; "No." I was stunned. How had he been able to stand the strain for so long, being denied his family, his marriage, and even his health? When I asked, he seemed astonished at my question. He replied, "With all that Jesus has done for me, how could I betray Him?" The next day, I requested that my suitcase be crammed with Bibles and training literature for Chinese Christians. I determined not to lie about the materials, yet lost not one minute of sleep worrying about the consequences. And as God had planned, my suitcases were never inspected.
Eric Fellman, Moody Monthly, January 1986 p. 33.
Most people wish to serve God -- but in an advisory capacity only.
Quoted in Sunday Express, London.
Sacrifice and Friendship
“I have called you friends …” (John 15:15).
We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if … !” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.
But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see 15:13–14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.
Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God … .” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1–2).
--Dennis Gleason
