The Gospel: Week 4

[00:00:02] Good morning, church. Go ahead, take a seat. And would you bow your head in prayer with me? [00:00:07] Father, we do just honor you and worship you this morning. And, Lord, we do thank you for your goodness, for your love, for your grace, for your mercy to us. [00:00:18] And today, Father, I pray you would make your word clear to us, compelling to us. [00:00:25] And I pray, Father, that we could just joyfully, either for the first time or for the millionth time, we could offer our lives fully to you without any reservations, but with joy and trust and faith. [00:00:42] Bless us, Lord. Teach us your way. We ask all this in the great name of Jesus. [00:00:48] Amen. [00:00:51] Well, I told many of you, a couple weeks ago, Allie and I went on vacation. We're doing a road trip. And part of our deal with the girls to kind of get through it was that when we got to West Virginia, at the Tamarack, we can stop and they can buy any toy that they want. [00:01:12] So, you know, because I need. We need some leverage and some bribing in the car. You know what I'm saying? [00:01:17] And so that was the deal. And so we finally got to the Tamarack, and Emery, my oldest, went and picked out a toy, and she picked out a coloring book. And I was like, perfect. Coloring book, no problem. [00:01:29] Then my middle daughter, Abby, she was looking at all the stuffed animals, and I was like, yeah, that's fine. And she was scoping them all out, like, trying to find the perfect stuffed animal. And so finally, she's like, hey, I found the one that I want. [00:01:44] And it was just kind of like your normal stuffed giraffe. I was like, cool. And I picked it up, and I looked at the price. [00:01:55] $90. [00:01:57] Church. I'm not exaggerating at all. I was like, is this thing dipped in gold? [00:02:03] Like, what? How is this thing $90? [00:02:06] And then my just heart was filled with anger and hate. [00:02:12] Cause I was like, you tamarack people, you know exactly what you're doing. You know, there's dads like me making deals like this, and you're just gonna exploit us. [00:02:23] And so I was like, Man, $90. I was like, look, babe, I know I said you could pick whatever toy you want, but I didn't mean this. [00:02:33] I know. $90. I know you know that doesn't mean anything to you right now, but there's just no way. And so I had to renegotiate the deal. You ever have those moments, like, I know I made this commitment, but now that I'm here, I realize it's more than I'm really willing to do. And so I said, look, Abby, we're going to make another stop. [00:02:56] And we're going to stop at this magical place that is filled with treasures old and new. [00:03:04] It's this place called Sheets. [00:03:10] And you know what? You can go and you can look and whatever you want there. [00:03:15] This time I really mean it. [00:03:17] You can get. And she bought a stuffed animal from Sheets. I don't know if you know this, but they sell stuffed animals there, and they're not $90. [00:03:28] And so I made it out. But, you know, I think in life, you know, have you ever. You made a commitment and then you realize what you're actually getting into, and then you're like, can I walk this commitment back a little bit? [00:03:44] And that. We're so used to that, you know, and we sign contracts and stuff, and it's like there's all this fine print for pages and pages. And what is all that? It's kind of weighs out. It's like, I'm committed to. [00:03:59] To a point, I'm committed, but I still have some measure of control. [00:04:05] And I think in general, those are the type of commitments we like, do you ever have people in your life where you're like, their commitment is hard to get out of them. Like, are you gonna come over tonight? And they're like, well, yes, as long as the moon's in the right phase and the air pressure's the right place. And, you know, and it's kind of. And I think in our world today, there's so much of that that we experience sometimes. There's so much of that in our own lives that I think we can easily bring it into our relationship with God. We're like, yes, Lord, I give you my life. But, Lord, I just. I got a little bit of fine print down here. [00:04:53] Lord, I trust most of my life to you, but I still want to kind of remain in control in these different areas. [00:05:02] And today, what we're going to see is the great apostle Paul, who'd been reading his letter in the book of Romans. He's going to show us today that as we understand the truth of the gospel, it changes our commitment level to God. [00:05:20] And it pulls out of us this absolute commitment built in trust, in love, in service. And Paul's going to show us that that is the exact commitment that God wants for us and that he's worthy of and we need to give him. And so we're going to look at Romans chapter 12 today and read these first two verses. I'm telling you, these verses are life changing. [00:05:48] They are so powerful. You can read them again and again, over and over again in your life, and they will challenge you, they will push you, they will make you think different about things. They're just awesome. So here's what they are. Romans 12. We're gonna start at verse one. [00:06:05] Paul says this, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God. [00:06:13] Now that therefore, In Romans chapter 12, you could think about that as like a big hinge moment in this book. Like, therefore, from everything I've said in chapters one through 11, we get to this, therefore. Paul said, as you've read and as you've thought about and as you've understood all these things, Paul says, now this is what it's going to mean for your life. So this is a big therefore here. This is a therefore that is kind of presuming all these other things that a lot of which we've talked about and even more than that. So he says, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God. [00:06:53] And that phrase is so important. By the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [00:07:24] So as we read these verses, you can see Paul is saying. He's saying, look, the right way to respond to God is to offer your life as a living sacrifice. [00:07:37] Paul said, if you understand everything I've been saying to you, and if you understand what the power and the message and the beauty of the good news of Jesus is, Paul says, then this is your response. And the way that I've been saying it is, this is that Paul is really telling us that we need to give our lives to God as if it was kind of writing a blank check. Do people write checks anymore? Remember, remember those? Okay, remember there was once a time where you had a checkbook and these checks, and at the bottom you signed your name because it was connected to your account. And then if you signed your name, it was like, all right, this is legit. This is real. [00:08:24] And then you would put to someone and then you would write the amount nobody remembers. Yeah. [00:08:33] And it was a check. And you never wanted a sign check with the other spaces blank. Right. Because then someone could take it. They could write whatever amount they want, and they could just write their name in it or something like that. But essentially, what Paul is saying to us, he's saying, I want you to give your life to God. As if it's a blank check where you sign the bottom and you say, lord, however much you want from me, whatever you want to do with my life, wherever you want to take me, however you want to use me, I'm offering myself completely to you. That's what he's saying. A living sacrifice. [00:09:14] I'm putting it all into your hands. Which is a big commitment, isn't it? And I think we hear a commitment like that and we're like, I want to, but I also want to make sure there's some fine print on this. [00:09:27] Yes, Lord, I want to. I want to sign that check. But. But just. Just know. You know, I got some plans with some of these funds here. [00:09:36] Netflix comes out on the 13th. [00:09:39] That's 1299. [00:09:41] Got it. And we want to kind of walk it back a little bit. But here's what Paul says. He says, first, if we are ever going to be able to do this, it begins by thinking about the mercies of God. Remember, he says, by the mercies of God, I appeal to you. By the mercies of God, offer your life as a living sacrifice. [00:10:08] Paul says, do you see how merciful God has been to you? [00:10:13] Do you see how much he's given you in Jesus Christ? Do you see his love for you? Do you see his acceptance? Do you see that he is fully trustworthy? See, I will never offer my life to God until I am convinced that he has showered my life with mercy after mercy after mercy, until I begin to realize that all the good things in my life come from his hand and I don't deserve them and I'm not worthy of them. But he gives them in his love and his grace to me. Only until I begin to make those connections will I actually really offer my life fully to Him. And so Paul says, here's where this begins. [00:11:02] Think about the mercy of God in your own life. [00:11:06] Think about all he's done for you. And as that becomes clearer and clearer, then I will be more willing to truly offer my life to Him. See, I don't know if you found this in life, but there's a difference between being pushed to do something and being pulled to do something. You with me on this? Like, you can only get pushed so far, but when you're pulled into something, it's a completely different level of commitment, isn't it? We've been working with reading with our daughter Emory, and we've got all these Learn to Read books. And it's like Matt has a cat. [00:11:51] Matt sat with his cat. [00:11:54] And unfortunately, the plots Never really go anywhere. You know, kind of like, man, where's the rising action? [00:12:02] Where's the resolution? You know, I want a little drama in here, but these books never get there. But, you know, they're good for them to learn how to read. And some days my daughter is more motivated than other days. And some days she'll be like, dad, can we read? And she'll bring out one of these books and we'll read all about Matt and his cat and how they like to sat, you know, and just go through it. [00:12:29] And then kind of we'll get to a point where, you know, we're going through it. And then she'll, like, start to lose interest parents, you know what I'm saying? And then I'll, like, try to push her a little bit further. Like, yeah, let's work on this. Let's come back to that. And I can push her a little bit, but then there just comes a point where I keep pushing and she just shuts down. [00:12:52] And I found that to be a theme in my life with many people. [00:12:56] I don't know if that's a me problem. I like to think it's a them problem, you know, but, you know, I can only push her so far before just she shuts down. [00:13:07] But what my hope is for is that one day the drive for that will. Because she is curious, because she sees the value of it, because she believes it's going to open a whole new world of growth. I want her pulled into it because you can only push so far. You with me on this? Here's what Paul is saying. The gospel pulls us to God. [00:13:34] Many of us, we grew up and people tried to push us to God. [00:13:39] And how'd that go? [00:13:41] You're like, I'm going the other way. [00:13:45] But people and they. And they tried to push. And sometimes the harder they pushed. What happened? You shut down. [00:13:52] And maybe you shut down for a while. [00:13:55] And now, like, this is a season in your life where your heart's opening back up because pushing only gets so far. But what Paul is saying is that the mercies of God, they pull us into devotion to God. Paul says, look at how kind he's been to you. Look at how he's loved you. Look at what he's done for you. Look and see that his love for you, it isn't just talk, it's action. He sent his son to die for you. Looked at that, he's already given you more than you could ever ask for. [00:14:32] And you can never doubt that he will even give you more. See, Paul's saying, if we understand all this, it pulls on us. [00:14:41] It pulls us to say, well, why wouldn't I want that God at the very center of my life. You with me? And so Paul's saying, you got to think about it. [00:14:53] You got to contemplate it. [00:14:56] You have to remember and rehearse and remind yourself of the mercies of God every single day, because that is the fuel for your devotion to God. You with me on this church? And so Paul says, by the mercy of God. Then he says, so therefore, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable. [00:15:24] Now, I find it fascinating that he says, present your bodies. [00:15:30] Because think about. In our world today, we talk about giving God our heart. [00:15:36] Paul says, no, no, give him your bodies. [00:15:39] Here's why we say, yes, God has my heart. There's like too much wiggle room in that, you know. You know he has my heart, but I don't do anything. You with me? God knows. He knows I love my heart. Yeah, but. But do you show it in your life? [00:15:54] Do you show it with your hands and with your feet and with your eyes? Right? We can. We can talk the heart game. But. But the heart game is like. It's so abstract. [00:16:04] It's like, yes, I. He has my heart. Paul says, cool, but does he have your body? [00:16:11] Do your feet go where he wants you to go? [00:16:15] Do your hands serve him? [00:16:17] And the ways you want, he wants you to serve him. Do your eyes see what he wants you to see and look for his presence and his guidance? [00:16:27] Do your ears listen to what he wants you to hear and what he wants you to do? Paul says, look, I'm not talking about this in an abstract way. I'm saying, is this real in your life? [00:16:41] Paul said, we've got to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice means we write the blank check. [00:16:51] We say, it's all yours. Now, the living sacrifice is kind of. It's a bit of a paradoxical phrase there, because sacrifices would, you know, they would be killed and they would not be living. But Paul's kind of. He's using that idea, and I think it communicates a couple important things. Number one, being a living sacrifice means that we have to renew our commitment to God every single day and maybe all throughout the day. See, I wish I could just have one moment in my life where I'm like, God, I fully trust you. [00:17:32] I devote my whole life to you, and then that's it. [00:17:36] Like, one and done. [00:17:38] I wish it could be that easy. [00:17:42] But here's what Paul shows us we gotta go to the altar again and again and again. [00:17:49] Cause in you and me, here's what many people say the problem with a living sacrifice is they can crawl off the altar. [00:17:58] That a great phrase. They crawl. They're like, all right, I'm right here. [00:18:02] Oh, this is. I'm gonna die. I'm getting off here. And they crawl. And that's what we do. We offer our lives to God. But then we say, but, Lord, just kind of. Let's put some restrictions on this, Lord, I'll trust you to this point, but don't ask me over here. Anyone with me? Or am I the only sinner in this room today? I need to talk to some broken people. 9:30 was filled with them. [00:18:27] All right, we got two. Praise God. [00:18:31] But we do, don't we? We offer and then we take back. [00:18:35] We commit, and then we try to negotiate that commitment and we say, lord, all right, you can have my life. [00:18:43] But up until this point, there's a great story that an older preacher named John Gerstner tell. He spent a lot of time in, like, Christian education and Christian colleges. And this was, like, in the 30s. He said that he had a young woman who was a student, a new college student, and her heart's desire was to be a missionary to some pretty remote areas in Asia. [00:19:09] This was in the 30s. Now, anytime you're going to be, like, a missionary to an unreached place or to a very. Like, that's very dangerous work. But especially at that time in history, that was very dangerous. That was a huge commitment. And she was like, that's what I want to do. I want to serve God. I don't care about money. I don't care. I don't care about success. [00:19:30] I don't care about all this other stuff. I want to serve God as a missionary in Asia. And the agency that was sending her was like, man, that's an amazing deal. You got to go through school. You got to go through seminary, you got to do this training. And you also have to be married, because we only send. At this time, they only sent married couples together. But she wasn't married. She was just going into college. So she said to God, she said, God, I want you to use my life this way in this purpose. I will commit. I'll do all the training. I'll do everything. Lord, you just have to bring me a husband. [00:20:08] You know where this is going? Yeah. [00:20:10] You ever made a deal with God? [00:20:13] Yeah. Anyway. And so she went through all the training. College, seminary, everything. [00:20:19] She got to the end of It. [00:20:22] And she didn't have a husband. [00:20:24] She wasn't engaged. [00:20:26] She wasn't even dating anyone. [00:20:29] There was no movement in that area of her life. And she said she sat in her room as a very angry young woman, and she was caught up in anger. She said, God, I'm giving you my life. I'm not doing anything foolish with my life. I'm not running around being a knucklehead. I'm not trying to, you know, do this or that, like I'm trying to serve you. I'm willing to sacrifice for it. But, Lord, you haven't upheld your side of the bargain. You're supposed to give me a husband. [00:21:03] And she said in her anger, she realized she hadn't really offered her life as a living sacrifice. [00:21:11] She still was trying to hold some cards in the deal and that she said that even as noble as that was, she still was in control of it. You with me? [00:21:26] And so she realized, I need to go back to this, and I need to just say, lord, whatever you want, whenever. However, lord, it's all in your hands. I don't have any fine print on this deal. [00:21:43] I give it all to you. And then John Gerstner says this. He says, look, if a woman as godly and noble as that struggled to give her life fully to God, is it possible that we struggle too with it? [00:21:59] That maybe in ways we think we really have, maybe we're still holding onto a little bit of something, maybe even though, you know, we think I've done it. But maybe it's good to say, but have I really put it all out on the table? Cause that's what a living sacrifice is saying, Lord, all of my life. There's a great prayer by Charles Swindoll I want to show you today, and I think it's a prayer that helps us to make this commitment to God. Here's what it says. Lord, guide me into your will. [00:22:35] Regardless of what change is necessary, regardless of where I must go or what I must do. [00:22:43] I want you to know, Lord, I'm. [00:22:46] I can't say that word. I'm willing, and I don't you ever have a word you can't say. I can't say that word. For whatever reason, I don't want to live outside your will. [00:22:56] And I just. I found that to be a helpful prayer. And I want to just encourage you and me that in our hearts of hearts, can we say that to God today? [00:23:06] Say, lord, I don't want to hold back. [00:23:09] I don't want to create any wiggle room. [00:23:12] I want to offer my life as a living sacrifice. Paul says, holy and acceptable. He says, which is your spiritual act of worship. [00:23:23] You know, what the worship God really wants from us is the offering of our lives to him. [00:23:30] See, it's great to worship through song. It's great to worship through prayer. It's great to worship through these other ways. But Paul says, here's what real worship is, is that on Monday and on Tuesday and on Wednesday and on Thursday and on Friday and on Saturday, we live out our days and we say, lord, I'm giving my life fully to you. Use me, send me, work in me, change me as you want me to. Paul says, that's the worship God wants. And then Paul also uses this interesting word in that phrase. It's kind of a difficult word to translate. But the word that gets translated, spiritual, can also be translated as rational or reasonable. [00:24:14] Paul says, when you and I offer our lives fully to God, it's actually the most reasonable thing we can do. [00:24:25] I think that's so important to think about. [00:24:27] Paul says, who better to give your life to, to trust your life to? Because church can we be honest? We can waste a lot of time and a lot of energy and a lot, a lot of. On things that are infinitely less important than God. Amen. [00:24:51] And Paul says. He says, think about it. What makes sense? [00:24:55] Who do you want to give? Give your life to everybody else. They're going to take, take, take, but our God first gives everything and says, see, I've shown you that you can trust me. Now, will you. You with me on this? [00:25:10] And church, we're gonna. Here's the. [00:25:13] I don't want to burst any bubbles, but none of you are getting out of this life alive. [00:25:19] I don't want to. Again, I know you have goals and dreams, but we're not getting out of this life alive, right? We're going to spend our lives doing something. [00:25:27] And Paul says, ultimately, you're going to sacrifice your life for something, whether it's our career or this or that. And certainly these things have our place in our life. But Paul says, but at the end of the day, what's at the center? [00:25:43] At the end of the day, who gets the lion's share of you? [00:25:48] Paul says, you know what? The only thing that makes sense, give it to God. [00:25:52] Give your life to him. Paul says, the only thing that makes sense. Don't hold back. [00:25:57] Paul says, the only thing that makes sense. Write that blank check, say, lord, here it is. [00:26:03] Whatever. Because I know whatever you want for my life is what I want. For my life, whatever you want for my life is good and trustworthy. And so Paul says, he says, and we've got to fight to keep this perspective in our heart. He says, don't be conformed by the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. See, some days, man, I wake up and, and I'm like, I'm gonna serve my family well. I'm gonna bring God's light and God's joy. [00:26:43] I'm gonna, you know, I'm just getting after it today. And then like a half hour into the day, all the grace has gone out of me. Anybody? [00:26:53] Yeah. All right, thank you. Still got three people with me. The rest of you are. [00:26:59] And you know, and what Paul's saying, he's saying, hey, the world's always squeezing us. [00:27:06] You know, today, maybe this morning, I'm fully committed to God, but by Tuesday, I'm struggling, I'm off. Paul says, don't be conformed to this world. The world is always going to try to squeeze you into a mold away from God. [00:27:26] Paul says, don't let it. You gotta resist it. You gotta resist and you have to persist. [00:27:33] You need to remind. You need to keep fighting the good fight. It's going to squeeze us. Paul says, but don't let it win. He says, in fact, renew your mind. [00:27:46] I love that because here's what I tend to think. I think, you know what, if God could change everyone else's minds, we'd be in good shape here, you know, if God could change these people I see over here, if he could change their mind, we'd be square. [00:28:04] If God could change these people I work with mind, we'd be good. [00:28:08] If God could change some of these people I live with their minds. I know you've never thought that, but you know what the Bible says. Bible says, actually God's most concerned with changing your mind. [00:28:22] And in fact, that's the only. [00:28:26] That's the only one that you're actually capable of changing anyway. [00:28:32] Paul says, don't be conformed to the fabric of the world, but be renewed in your own mind. Let God change it. Let God shape it. Here's what's awesome. [00:28:42] When God begins to reshape our mind and to wake us up in ways we need woken up and to see what we need to see. Guess what? All of a sudden, good things begin to happen around us and through us. Church many times, if we want to change the world around us, change your own mind. You with me. Put all the energy there and God will use It. And Paul says that our minds might be renewed, that we would test and discern what the will of God is. What is good, acceptable, and perfect. [00:29:19] I think this is so insightful. [00:29:21] Paul says only after we've devoted ourselves to God can we have clarity about his will. [00:29:32] Now think about this. [00:29:33] This is backwards from how we normally operate. [00:29:37] Do you ever have someone come up to you and they're like, can you do me a favor? [00:29:42] And you're like, maybe. [00:29:46] What is it? Right? [00:29:47] You tell me what it is and then I'll tell you if you can do it right. Or someone's like, hey, can you do something for me? You're like, you want to say yes, but you're like, but I don't know what are you asking me? Like, do you want me to help you move? Because that's a no. You want me to, right? Do you want, like, what. What are we talking here? Right? I need to know what it is that we're talking about. Then I can decide if I'm committed. You with me on this? [00:30:12] And generally, I think there's some wisdom in that. [00:30:15] However, Paul says in this regard, it doesn't work that way. Paul says only once we devote our lives to God will we begin to have clarity about what God wants us to do. [00:30:28] Here's why this is so helpful and important. Because in your life, in my life, and I've talked to people just so many times, we're like, what is God's will? I don't know what God's will. And we're wrestling through those questions and we're trying to figure it out, and we're lacking clarity. But here's what Paul says. The clarity comes after the commitment. [00:30:51] Am I willing to do what God wants me to do no matter what? Paul says that if you are, then clarity will follow that commitment. But here's what I find in my own life. I get fuzzy when my commitment gets fuzzy. [00:31:06] Because what I'm really saying is, you know, I still want some control on this. I want some left, right, limits of what God I want. Lord, I don't know what your will is because I'm not sure I'm ready to be fully committed to it. Paul says, well, until you are, it won't be clear to you. [00:31:27] And for some of us, maybe today, maybe there's areas where we're lacking some clarity. And. And I would just encourage you to think about the commitment first and say, man, am I offering my life in that way? And if I am, God will make it clear. And Paul says, and by the way, God's will is what is good, what is acceptable and perfect. [00:31:49] See, part of it again, it all goes back to trust. [00:31:54] It all goes back. If I give God the blank check, how's he gonna spend it? [00:31:59] Well, Paul says in a good way, in a good way, in an acceptable way. This is the word pleasing. [00:32:05] In a way that will be pleasing to him and pleasing to you. Church, I'm telling you, wherever God wants you to be is where you need to be, is good. [00:32:18] Wherever he leads us. Church, that's where we want to be. [00:32:22] Whoever he's calling us to be. [00:32:25] Man, we wanna take steps that way because it's good, it's acceptable, it's pleasing and it's perfect. [00:32:34] It's what we were made to do. That word perfect is really the word complete or it's the word telos. It means that it's something that accomplishes the end for which it was created. [00:32:49] See, you were created not to do everything, but you were created to do some things. [00:32:55] You were created to live a certain type of life and to glorify God in a certain way. [00:33:02] You have a role in this world. You have a lane in this world. And Paul says, when you offer your life to God, you then begin to live in that place. [00:33:12] And church, there is a beauty to that congruence that nurtures our heart and brings well being to our life. [00:33:22] When you can stand up and you can look in the mirror and you're saying, you know what? As far as I can tell, I am doing what God wants me to do. [00:33:29] Church, that is the best place to be. [00:33:34] Would you say, I'm doing what God, maybe it's hard, maybe it's stretching you, maybe it's challenging. But when you can look and you can say, I'm doing what he wants me to do, the best that I can understand it. [00:33:45] Church, that is an awesome place to be. [00:33:51] And so today I just want to encourage you and myself too to. Let's just have a moment today where we just offer our lives, our bodies, as a living sacrifice to him. But. But here. Here's what I would ask of you and ask of myself. [00:34:09] I don't want to do it reluctantly because God is worthy of something better. [00:34:15] I want to do it joyfully. [00:34:18] I want to offer my life to God because I say, lord, you are so good, you are so trustworthy, you are so merciful. [00:34:30] I'm offering my life with joy and with trust and with faith. Can we do that together? Let's pray. [00:34:39] Father, we love you and we thank you. So much for all the mercy in our lives and our families and our marriages and our church today. [00:34:54] And Father, we just acknowledge that every good thing in our life comes from the Father of Lights with whom there is oh variation and we worship you. But Lord, we worship you by just saying today, Lord, we want to present our bodies, our lives to you. [00:35:15] We want to be living sacrifices. [00:35:17] We know there's things in us that needs to die, our sin, our selfishness, our ego, our jealousy, all these things. [00:35:28] And we know Lord that there's things that you want to live and thrive through us. And Lord, we want to partner with you in all that. [00:35:36] And Father, we declare you are trustworthy, you are worthy, that the only response that makes sense to the truth of the gospel is to give our lives holy to you. [00:35:52] Help us to do that, Lord by your spirit's power. We ask this in the great name of Jesus. Amen.