ROM. 12:1-2
SUBJECT:
CHRISTIAN DEVOTION AND SERVICE
THEME:
Dedicate
Yourself More Completely to His Glory and Service.
For the Christian, the Foremost Priority must Be to Live for Christ and to Seek First His Kingdom (Matthew 6:33). That Does Not Line up with All the Talk We Hear Today about Self-realization. The Christian, However, Knows That We Were Created by God That We Might Glorify Him. Therefore, We Should Not Live to Please Ourselves, but, Rather to Exalt and Serve Our Lord. Our Dearest Treasure Should be the Light of His Smile and Approval—this is the Ultimate Goal of Our Lives.
Many Believers get saved, and never discover what God has saved them for. Others get saved and spend their entire
Christian life pretending from Sunday to Sunday. Some even get saved and spend their new life
living for themselves primarily. Then
there are those who get saved and live for God with fervor, joy, excitement,
sacrifice, and great heart-felt devotion. They are few, and they are real! May the Lord help us through this series to
become such Living Sacrifices. The work
of God can only move forward as individual believer began to take seriously
their commitments to Christ. Accepting
the church covenant without seeking to live out that covenant is merely a
ritual, not devotion. Making a trip to
the altar without ever seeking to live out the decisions made there is purely
superficial if it is not life altering and character shaping.
Note once again our key passage of consideration:
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 reasonable service.[2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:1-2)
Present Your Mind to God as an Offering. Vs. 2, “your mind”
Ephes. 5:17, Wherefore
be ye not unwise, but understanding
what the will of the Lord is.
“Understanding” means
Knowing the facts, Thinking Through them and putting them together, and then
Yielding to God’s Expressed Will in accordance with your discovery.
A. To Think About God’s Will.
“Understanding” has the idea that our thinking apparatus must be engaged
to discover the will of God.
1. Discovering God’s Will is Not Mystical.
Too often we get the idea that God’s will is mystical and
completely rules out clear thinking processes.
Don’t reduce discovering God’s will to some mystical experience that
can’t be tracked intelligently! This is
not only wrong but extremely dangerous.
Becoming a living sacrifice means that we must not only “Know” God’s will but also “Understand” what He expects of us individually and then set out to do
it. This doesn’t mean that we understand
everything that He requires, but we will at least know what He requires is
always reasonable and never too much!
ILLUSTRATION: Our
move to the Ansbach area to pastor Berean Baptist Church was not a mystical
experience. We had talked with the
church and candidate for the pastorate.
I had met many of the church members which truly was a joy. We had talked extensively about doctrine and practice, there was some
confusion, but they were willing to follow the Word of God. When they extended the call, I felt
compelled to respond favorably. It was
clear thinking, meditation on the Scriptures, prayer and yielding to God. Just walking through the open door of
opportunity He clearly and obviously had opened unto us (Rev. 3:7-8; Acts 16:5-12; Numb. 13:25-33). Often it takes faith to seize the opportunity God gives
you; this was certainly the case with us.
There were no flashing lights, no hand writing on the walls, no signs, dreams,
and visions. There were no voices
without bodies speaking to me. No, just
scripture, prayer, clear thinking, careful examination of my motives, and
correct circumstances.
2. Discovering God’s Will Requires Thinking.
A. Do
Not Resort to Guessing. Guessing will confuse you and is a sign
of laziness.
Proverbs 21:5, The thoughts of the diligent tend only to
plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty
only to want.
B. Do Not Listen to Your Heart. Your heart will mislead you. Jeremiah
17:9, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
can know it?
C. Decide God’s Will by Thinking
Biblically. Ephes. 5:17
God has given us the capacity to think and we need to
employ it by Thinking, Gathering Facts, Examining the Facts, and Weighing the
Facts and Praying for Wisdom (Js. 1:5) to make decisions which express “Understanding” (Eph. 5:17).
APPLICATION #1:
Gather the information, think through applicable Bible verses, and
consider your circumstances. Frequently
and sincerely ask the Lord in prayer for a wise and understanding heart
regarding specific decisions and responsibilities (1Kg. 3:7-12). Does
it allow you to be or remain completely dedicated to God? Does it Facilitate serving Christ through my
church? Will I have to forsake the Lord
in some way to do this? Will my
commitment to Christ be weakened or compromised? Will my intentions be misunderstood or
misread? These are good questions
to think on when making decisions. Matthew 22:37, Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
APPLICATION #2.
Understanding God’s Will Leads to Braking With Sin.
Job 28:28, And unto
man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
APPLICATION #3.
Understanding God’s Will Leads to Obeying His Statements.
Psalm 111:10, The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a
good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his
praise endureth for ever.
APPLICATION #4: Obedience is a sign that we do understand
His will very well. The most intelligent
believer is the most obedient one. Those
who make God's word their rule, understand themselves and their best
interest! It is of some understanding to know God's commandments and be able to discuss them insightfully, but a “good understanding” is reserved
for those who actually “do” them and walk according to them.
ILLUSTRATION: I can
go back to one evening in October 1991 and recall a period at the altar in
Grace Ind. Bapt. Church when I dedicated my entire life to God. I took my hands off my life and decided to go
all the way with God in His plan for me.
Many of the decisions in my Christian growth and progress were made in
advance that night because I had made that one decision to live for God. When I begin to hear the importance of going to Sunday School, and
through the day light savings time change I ended up in Sunday School and I
have been faithful every sense then.
Through preaching and teaching I learned about the importance of Sharing my Faith with the lost
and sense I had dedicated my life, I became more serious and faithful to this
privilege. Then I heard about Tithing through my local church
and I stopped giving to TV Evangelist and begin to give 10 % of my income to
the church. I begin to understand the
importance of Missions, so I
begin to give to missions and pray for our missionaries, after all I had dedicated
my life to God. I read in the Bible
about being Holy and Separated
in my Lifestyle, Language, and Appearance so I begin to trust God to cleanse my
life of poor habits, language, and even my companions. On the list goes concerning my personal experience
of consecrating my life to the Lord’s Will and Service personally. It did not happen automatically or over
night, but God showed me first the need to dedicated my entire life to Him and
His service! Everything else was natural
to living the Christian life by faith!
B. To Examine God’s Will.
There is an important phrase in Rom 12:2 that relates to
understanding the will of God and it is “That ye
may prove.”
I think it would be good to examine this closer. These words were commonly applied to the
operation of testing metals, or trying them by the severity of fire. Hence, it
also means to explore, investigate, and ascertain.
1. Examine & Renew the Mind
by Revelation. (The Word). (Heb. 4:12-13)
We Discover the Will of God from the Word of God and by
allowing our minds to be renewed and our lives transformed to conform to His will. (Rom. 12:1-2).
The sense is, that such a “renewed mind” is essential to a
successful inquiry for the will of God.
Having a disposition to obey Him, the mind will be prepared to
understand His precepts and requirements.
The reason why the mind is renewed is that we may continue to do the
will of God: the mind that is renewed is most prepared to appreciate and
understand His will.
2.
Examine & Renew the Mind by Dedication. Rom. 12:2,
“that ye may prove”
Therefore we must prove--- test and approve,
refusing the normal conduct of the sinful world and reaffirming for ourselves
the spiritual norms appropriate for the redeemed. Aiding this process is "the renewing of your mind," which mean that the believer is to keep going back in his
thought to the original commitment– the “Living
Sacrifice.”
Thus, dedication leads to discernment!
APPLICATION: You must obey what you know! Dedication to obedience is the way to
understand God’s will better and more completely. All who dedicate themselves to do His will demonstrate conclusively
that they have a good understanding (Eph. 5:17). Obedience is the key to receiving more
direction from the Lord. If any believer will obey His blessed revealed will,
he can expect to know more and more clearly the doctrine of Christ (John 7:17). Obey
what you know and He will more clearly show! The more you obey the more you will receive
from the Lord. This is a wonderful
promise for everyone who is earnestly seeking the truth. If a person is sincere, and truly wants to
know what is the truth, God will reveal it to him. “Obedience is the organ of
spiritual knowledge.”
APPLICATION: “Good success” and spiritual prosperity is reserved
exclusively for those who do God’s
will, according to what was promised to Joshua regarding obedience to the law (Josh. 1:8). It is at this point we make our way
prosperous and enjoy good success. We have every reason to praise God, to
praise Him forever, because he has placed us into such a wonder way to blessed
living. Too often we want to know all
the details of a matter before we take the first step of faith, this is not the
way God work. You most obey what you know
and He will more clearly show! He will
reward the obedient with more blessing, opportunities, insight, progress,
promotion, and service (Matt. 25:20-30; Lk.
12:40-48; Lk. 19:14-27).
ILLUSTRATION:
Nathanael beautifully illustrates the truth of obeying what you know in
order to receive more instruction and insight from the Lord. John
1:45-51, Philip findeth Nathanael, and
saith unto him, We have found him,
of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the
son of Joseph. [46] And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come
out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come
and see. [47] Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold
an Israelite indeed, in whom is no
guile! [48] Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus
answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast
under the fig tree, I saw thee. [49] Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art
the King of Israel. [50] Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said
unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest
thou? thou shalt see greater
things than these. [51] And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. The language
referring to Jesus as the one Moses wrote about indicates that Philip was also
a thoughtful seeker -- one who read the Old Testament Scriptures and was
looking for the Messiah. Moses had written about the Messiah in the Law (see
Deut 18:15-18), and the prophets had foretold his coming. Instantaneously, Nathanael realizes that
Jesus is “the Son of God” (Ps 2:7) and “the King of Israel” (Ps 2:6; Zeph 3:15). Unlike many of
the studied religious leaders of the day, these simple men understood the
Scriptures, and knew what to look for. So when the Messiah came, they
recognized Him! Jesus foretells that the
Disciples would hereafter see the angels ascending and descending upon Him, “the Son of Man” (a
messianic title, see Dan 7:13). As students of the Old Testament, his disciples
would have realized that Jesus was alluding to Jacob's vision of the ladder
connecting Heaven to earth (Gen 28:12). Jacob had left
home, having lied to his father and cheated his brother of the birthright. Yet
in his dream Jacob saw a vision of angels ministering to him. If God could
reveal himself to a sinner like Jacob, surely he could reveal himself in an
even greater way to Nathanael. To Nathanael and the others, the Heavens would
be opened -- i.e., they would be given insight into the things of Heaven [(Acts 10:11 (Evangelization); Rev 4:1 (Expectations); 19:11 (Revelation)].
Furthermore, they would realize that Jesus, as the “Son of Man,” was the
vehicle of communication between Heaven and earth. Just as God had appointed Jacob to be the father of the
twelve tribes (under the new name Israel), God had appointed Jesus to be the
founder of the new spiritual kingdom. The point is clear, Nathanael was ready
to receive more insight from the Lord because he immediately believed what the Lord had said and his
heart was free of guile, thus honest, transparent, and sincere. He could secure more insight because he
responded in faith to the first and more basic truths.
