Glorious song of gospel proclamation. Brothers and sisters, if you have your copy of God's Word, turn with me to Romans. By God's grace, we continue our series in this book, and we now take another turn, a new chapter. Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. Hear now the word of the living God. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. This is the word of God, and we say, thanks be to God. Please be seated. Let's pray today. Almighty God, now is the time. Now is the hour that you have appointed for us to hear from Christ that the preaching of the word by the Spirit might be the very words of Christ to his people. Lord, we pray for the Spirit's aid in both the preaching and in the hearing of your word. And we thank you that we sit here today in freedom, able to hear the Bible proclaimed. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We come to another therefore in the Book of Romans. They are there regularly. And one of the challenges that we see here is that Paul says in Romans 12, verse 1, that he's begging, if you will. I heard one preacher say, begging, beseeching, that the people of God do something based on what he has already written. Writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now, he could be saying that he wants them to present their bodies as living sacrifices because of the mercies of God, just based on what he said in chapter 11, or chapters nine through 11. But I think most scholars agree that Paul is now taking a shift. That because of what Paul has said in chapters one, two, three, and all the way to 11, there is a response that believers are to take. Because God's gospel of righteousness offered to any that will receive it by faith has been proclaimed to the nations. That it is the power of God unto salvation. That those who've walked in darkness, Jew and Gentile alike, have access to the gospel. That the only hindrance to the gospel is unbelief. That those are the ones who can grow in sanctification, chapter seven. Doing the things that they don't want to do. And not doing the things that they do want to do. And yet, continuing to struggle because the Spirit is at work in them. To which Paul sounds forth the glorious words of Romans 8.1. There is, therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Then he deals with the issue of the one olive tree of the people of God that God is forming by His Spirit through His Son of Jews and Gentiles. The true church and Israel of God down through the ages. And he ends in praise in verse 36 of chapter 11. Speaking of the triune God. For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. And now, now brothers and sisters, Paul is ready to make application. If you study the letters of Paul, you will often find that he spends the first half of the book, in this case more, dealing with doctrine, and then application. He does it in Ephesians, he does it in Galatians, and in Colossians, he does it in Romans. Now, I beg you, I beseech you, I implore you, brothers and sisters, to do something by and because of the mercies of God. And what is that something? Brothers and sisters, I think there are at least three things that we can observe in this passage today, and I want us to walk through them briefly together. Notice first the context. I beseech you, therefore, brothers and sisters, brethren, by the mercies of God. Now, in context, he's recently dealt with mercy, hasn't he? Look at chapter 11, verse 30 through 32. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet now have obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you, they also may obtain mercy." If you're just joining us, it's the Jewish people. who reject the gospel, and the gospel moves to the Gentile people, and in God's great plan of redemption, He uses that eventually over time to cause Jewish people to want to embrace Christ. It's as if God takes the rejection of the gospel by Jews and Gentiles alike, and He uses it to bring the other group to Christ. This is what He's speaking. You all have obtained mercy, for God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all." There is this discussion of mercy. It's the mercy of Romans chapter 8. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It's the mercy of Romans chapter 8. There is therefore now nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. It's the mercy of Romans chapter 5. Therefore, having been justified by faith, you have peace with God. It's the mercy of Romans chapter 3, which says all have sinned, fallen short of the glory of God, along with chapter 6, doesn't it? And that we're justified by faith alone. Because of these mercies, and I think Paul says firstly, live a life of constant devotion to God. Because of God's mercy, live a life of constant devotion to God. Now that's very broad. It's not very specific. I want us to make it a little more specific today. Because I think if you were to ask the average Christian, should I be living a life of constant devotion to God, the answer would be yes. Whether they are or they're not, the assumption would be that if God is my Savior, that I'm to live a life devoted to Him. But Paul says as much, doesn't he, when he says, present your bodies a living sacrifice. holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, or it could be translated your logical worship. It's the logical outworking of the mercy that God has had on you, that you live a life that is a living sacrifice. But you know, Paul regularly talks about how we are to do things because of God's mercy. Look at 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 3, where you can hear it read, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort. However you view God, beloved, do you view Him as the Father of all mercies? The God of all comfort. In the last century, the Presbyterian commentator John Murray, writing on this verse, says this, It is the appeal of loving relationship. But the heart of the exhortation rises in the expression by the mercies of God. These are the tender mercies of God, the riches of His compassion, and are made the plea to present our bodies a living sacrifice. It is the mercy of God. that melts the heart, and it is as we are moved by these mercies of God that we shall know the constraint of consecration as it pertains to our bodies. You see, beloved, in Romans chapter six, we are reminded that when Jesus saves a man, when Jesus saves a woman, that that one by the Spirit is united to Him. His righteousness becomes their righteousness by faith. It's not theirs that they accomplished. It's His. But by faith, His entire righteousness is placed on their account. We call this union with Christ. And their unrighteousness, every deed, past, present, and future, is imputed to the account of Christ at the cross. Boys and girls, imputed means you do something And I get credit for it. And it is this great union with Christ that we are reminded of in Paul's letters in Romans. Remember in 1 Corinthians 6 when he's talking about sexual sin? And he says, your bodies are united to Christ. Do with them as if they are members of Christ. So the gospel that's been proclaimed in this book is that man and woman, we are unrighteous. We are born in sin. And we don't obey God. Our every impulse is to disobey God, to go our own way. It's cute when our children sometimes have a little bit of a headstrong personality and want to test boundaries. It gets old rather quickly. And we say, well, it's sinful, but occasionally it can be cute. That's our very being, beloved. It's just not cute. And our whole lives are like that. We don't do what God asks us to do, and this is the author of life. We reject Him. We're at war with Him. We rebel against Him. Our wills are in bondage to sin against Him, and yet in His mercies, for He is the Father of all mercies. He awakens us by His Spirit. We hear the proclamation of the gospel in a sermon, in a Sunday school class. We read it in the Word or in a gospel track. And like an arrow to our hearts, the Spirit awakens us to see our need for Christ. And we respond in true faith and desire for Him after being awakened by His Spirit. And we repent of our sins. And we trust Christ completely. This is the Gospel. Is this the Gospel that you know? Or is it one of your own works? One of your own reputation? One of your own church going? Cleaning yourself up? Living a better life? These are all wonderful things, friend. But they are not the Gospel. It is this clear gospel of Jesus saving all that the Father has given Him, completely and wholly. It is this gospel that Paul says, because of this, God's mercies. Now live a life of constant devotion to God. How does he describe it? He says, present your bodies. Now I would submit to you that I don't think Paul means just your bodies. You can do whatever you want with your soul, that non-material part of you. But your fingers and your toes, boys and girls, and your ears and your eyes, that's your body. Is God saying to us he just wants us to be concerned about our bodies? No, Paul is using an image for the whole of who we are, but much of what he says actually is outworked in our bodies. But there's a reason that I think Paul is doing this. He's told us not to do something before. Look at Romans chapter 6 and verse 13. Remember there Paul says, and do not present your members, your bodies, do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members, your bodies, as instruments of righteousness to God. So Paul is saying what he's already said. But why say present your bodies? as if there's an altar and you're just going to lay your body on it as a sacrifice. Have there ever been whole bodies laid on an altar in the Bible before? Yes. But they're dead. Read through the Old Testament and you will see dead animals year after year, week after week, their bodies laid on the altar. And Paul is either saying one of two things or maybe both. Just like those Old Testament bodies of animals were laid out, Christ has taken your death. And now you, who live in Him, are a living sacrifice. You're not a dead animal that's presented before the Lord to atone for sin, to make yourself ceremonially clean. You have that. Now your life in Christ, the great highest priest, is a constant living sacrifice. Can you imagine the aroma that it is as the scripture speaks of the aroma of God being the people of God? Can you imagine the aroma of living sacrifices in India and Africa and Iran? You can tell I've just come back from the nation, can't you? Can you imagine the aroma of the sacrifice of millions of people living their lives as if Christ is the center of the universe? But you know, Paul may also be comparing not just to the Old Testament sacrificial system, and he's saying, by contrast, you're a living sacrifice. You're one who lives. He might also be adding to that this is an ongoing sacrifice. It's not a one-time thing. It's a sacrifice that lives. And then he says, this whole thing is a sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to God. We have seen from the very first few pages of the Bible that not all sacrifices are pleasing and acceptable to God, are they? The very first sacrifice that we read of that was not acceptable was that of Cain's. And this leads him ultimately, in the sinfulness of his heart, to murder his brother. The first blood spilled in the Bible. There are people who are sacrificing all kinds of things all over the world to all kinds of pagan deities. It's not the fact that you are working. It is, in Christ, now acceptable and holy So if you want to get into the specifics of how you are to live this life, well, 1 Thessalonians, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, your sanctification. The Bible details in God's moral law what holiness is. We seek to be holy now, not in order to earn our place with God, but to glorify God, to be a living sacrifice. We don't commit adultery when others do. We don't steal. We don't lie. We don't have idols. We don't covet. And you may be thinking, I do those things. You don't do, Romans 7, what you want to do. And sometimes what you want to do, that you don't do. But, in Christ, the sin has been wiped away And by God's grace, as you grow in sanctification, you are a living sacrifice. A sacrifice that lives. A sacrifice whose aroma is pleasing. It's acceptable. And then Paul says, it's your reasonable service. Maybe this year, instead of joining and reading a systematic theology book, you ought to pick up A Brockels. Very pastoral work. The Christian's reasonable service. It's named after this verse. It's a lot of pages. But it's walking through the truths of God's Word to answer the question, what is the Christian's logical worship? The Christian's reasonable service? A life of constant devotion to God. And a life where you're never fully content with where you are. You long for heaven's shores. And sometimes you look at your own living sacrifice and you think, I wish I had more desire, more devotion. Friends, do you realize that when you look at your own life and you say, I just mourn the fact that I'm not more devoted to Christ than I am. Do you know who it is that has implanted that desire within you? It is the Spirit of God. Even when we recognize spiritual weakness, It is a grace and a mercy of God. Do you know, beloved, how many people are walking across this city, this state, this country, this world, and they have no clue that there is a Father of mercies? They've never heard the Gospel, or if they've heard it, they've rejected it. They don't care about God's mercy, they don't care about devotion to God, but you do, and you're growing in it, believer. So Paul says, by the mercies of God, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is the logical worship that one should offer? We get the word logical from the Greek word used in this text. It's your logical, your reasonable response to what God has done. So when is the last time you told yourself that you would do something or you wouldn't do something out of sacrifice to God? Ask yourself, this is a reality of who I am, but yet it's also a command. So is my thinking ever informed by Romans 12.1? I'm a living sacrifice. I'm not going to live in this way today. I'm not going to live in that way today. Or I'm going to live in this way because I am a living sacrifice. all the while remembering that living sacrifices are only made and based completely on Christ alone. I just want to be crystal clear for any of you who are just joining us, those of you that are new, or those of you that have sat in these seats for years and still don't know the Gospel, that Paul is not saying in Romans 12, verse 1, do something more to be better before God. Do something better so that God will save you. Romans 12 only comes after Romans 1, 3, 5, 6, and 8 where Christ alone is the foundation of all the Gospel. So now Paul is saying because of all that, because of who you are, because you're heaven-bound, because you're saved, live a life of constant devotion to God. But secondly, I think Paul says this, because of God's mercy, do not be molded by the world. What he says there in verse 2, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So not only are we to live a life of constant devotion to God, a living sacrifice, Paul would say, but we're not to be molded and conformed to this world. If it literally translates that, don't let the world shape you into its own pattern. How does this world shape us? Well, it shapes us in a whole host of ways. And many of them, in God's common grace, are good. Paul is not saying you can't do anything here in the world. There's nothing good in the world. That's not what he's saying. He's saying don't let the world, as it is arrayed, dressed in armor against Christ, against the Lord and His anointed. Don't let the world, this system of anti-godness, get you and mold you. Now, to be clear, there are many Christians who will go to heaven when they die because of Jesus's blood, but who are currently now molded in many ways by the world. And yet, Paul doesn't neglect to tell us not to. How does this world shape us? How about our entertainment? Have you noticed how in the last 50 years, or those of you that are younger, in the last few years. It's as if our culture is moving into a slow fade into dulling of conscience. And then it just seems like a few years ago, the pace began to pick up. Now what used to be considered virtue in entertainment is called legalism. Christians from bygone eras wouldn't recognize what we allow the world to shape us by. And I don't just mean the reformed. If you have some time, Pull the books off the shelves of godly men who've lived through the ages. Take Clement of Alexandria in the late second century. Riding to churches, pleading with them. Don't go to these places. Don't go to the games. Why not? What's harmless about the games? I'm still coming to church on Sunday because at the games they kill people for fun. We just dress it up so that now we can't wait to grab our popcorn and our Coke and watch fake killings. And I'm not saying that all movies are bad. Please don't hear that. But there's just a slow fade of our culture And as things move, our consciences allow more and more in. What about our speech? Friend, what drives your language? Worldly nastiness or biblical purity? I'm not trying to be legalistic, friend. The text says, don't be conformed to the world. I can read it and we can all go home and we can actually dig in. What actually drives your speech? What contributes to your speech? The world and its nastiness? It's hatred of women and their bodies. Does that drive your world, brothers? Or does biblical purity? What drives our thoughts, the philosophies of the world? These are questions that we don't need to obsess about. But we should ask, if the Lord says, don't be conformed to this world, how might I be conformed in my speech, in my entertainment, in my practices, in my recreation, whatever it may be, even in good areas, to the world? Why is it that most American Christians in churches like ours today now think that lengthy focus on doctrine Modesty and dress, purity and speech, observing of a Sabbath, and sacrificing to hear and read the Word of God is not that important, but just a hundred years ago, these were core values of the biblical faith for most all Christians in their practice. How has this happened? Has the Word of God changed? Have we understood something different? Or have we allowed ourselves to be molded by the world? Let me be bold here, friend. You might be a Christian who has been molded by the world in every possible way, and if Jesus died for you, you will be saved. But, you will be molded by a world that is hostile to the Father of mercies. So we should ask ourselves when we read Paul's words, where is it that I, where is it that my family, where is it that my church might be conformed to this world? And we all have different answers, and sometimes we need the word of God and good and godly brothers and sisters to keep us from going off into the two ditches of, well, just don't be legalistic. Or the other ditch. of being too legalistic. Some people read Romans chapter 12 verse 1 and 2 in the 1900s and for them that was just don't play cards, don't dance, and don't drink alcohol. I don't think that's exactly what Paul had in mind. Every culture and every time needs the biblical text to tell us the things that are wrong so that we avoid legalism or antinomianism, not living according to God's commands, but It is time for us to ask the question, as believers in the 21st century, in the West, how does this world conform me? The answer is not, I need to live in a monastery. I need to get away from the world. But the answer is also not, I'm just going to be in the world, go to church, try to pray and read my Bible. Because Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour. The world comes after us with all of its philosophies. And we now look at certain truths, as some of the ones mentioned earlier, and they seem foreign to us. And I would submit to you, in many of those cases, it's because it's very tempting to want to have Jesus and bring Him into our mold of the world versus letting Jesus shatter the mold and remake us by His sanctifying grace. So because of God's mercy, live a life of constant devotion to God. Because of his mercy, don't be molded to the world. But look, boys and girls, what Paul says next. You see there? He says, don't be conformed to this world. Do you see what he writes next? But be transformed. Do you all know what that means, boys and girls? Change turns into something different. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. See, the assumption is the world already has molded us before we came to Christ. Now we're to seek by God's grace to the extent that we are able to not be conformed to this world, but now to be transformed, to be changed into something different. Now look at that phrase, but be transformed. Present tense, which in Greek could be translated an ongoing thing. Keep on being transformed. Just like keep being a living sacrifice. It's ongoing. It's by the Spirit. Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 7. Paul's not telling us to do something for which there is no spirit to lead us. Keep on being transformed, but it's passive. It happens to us. Notice what he says. He doesn't say, transform yourselves, does he? He says, be transformed from the outside. God is gonna do it to you, and it's a command. We are to be open to the Spirit's work. We are to love it. We are to long for it. We are to pray for it. We are to seek that the Spirit would transform us. Remember what Paul says in Philippians 2, verse 12 and 13. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you. both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Don't be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." He actually gives us a little bit of a hint there. William Hendrickson writing on that phrase says this, this is a very significant statement. It shows that in order to discern the will of God for their lives, believers cannot just depend on their conscience. Conscience is indeed very important, but it must constantly be sent back to the school of scripture to receive instruction from the Holy Spirit. It is in this manner that believers become and remain aware of God's will. That's why we don't take a new believer and say, well, now you've trusted in Christ. John 3.16, go off and live for him. By the Spirit, through the Word, we're transformed. We're living sacrifices. We're not conformed to the world. And then notice what he says at the end. That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I don't know what your English translation says. Most of them say prove, and that's a good word, but what does that mean? That you may prove Is this saying you don't know what the will of God is and so you can test various things and see what works for you? I think what Paul is saying is more akin to our word approve. It's not, hey, let me see whether something is bad or good and see if that works well. is with a renewed mind by the Scriptures, you and I grow more and more in our understanding of God's revealed will. And it is shown to be true in our lives more and more. We don't know all of God's will, the secret will of decree, but we do know His revealed will. It's not as though we don't have a Bible. And we have to just kind of test God, see what works, see where the magic comes from, see where the prosperity comes down. No, he's given us his will revealed to us. So then what does it mean to prove unless You and I will grow in seeing that what is written is actually good and right and true and it works. The very truths of God's Word that we rejected about what marriage was before we came to Christ. About what sexuality was before we came to Christ. About what sin was before we came to Christ. The very truths that we were willing to trample on and spit on some of us, are now the truths which we cling to and say, those are good! Those are right! Deuteronomy 29 29 the secret things belong to the Lord our God But those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law You know boys and girls pastor Ryan has a some good traits, and some not so good traits. And I don't know if you ever do projects with your dad or your mom, looking to cook something or fix something. I fix all kinds of things, sort of, in my house. Floors, toilets. Thanks to YouTube, most jobs can get done. But you know, One of the interesting things about Pastor Ryan is that I rarely like to put things together. If it's a toy or a piece of furniture, Ikea is an absolute nightmare for me on this. Wonderful stuff, just don't want to put it together. Because if I put it together, I'm going to have to read the manual. And I don't like doing that. But I've actually learned something over the years, putting things together. There are a lot of times where I will spend a lot of hours and a lot of energy putting something together without reading the manual, without reading the book that comes with the product. I'll read the instructions. But eventually, there's a piece left on the floor. or two pieces, or 10 pieces. I think I've got the thing together, and there's pieces. So what do I do? I finally break down, and I pull out the manual, and I read it, and I follow the steps, and I prove that what was written there was the right way to do it all along. I think that's a little bit about what Paul is saying here, except we're not putting together IKEA furniture. This is the very work of God in His people. I don't think Paul is saying, hey, test and see what works. No. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind by the Spirit through His Word and you will prove over and over and over and over again what is good and acceptable and perfect. will of God. So brothers and sisters, because of the Father of all mercies, Paul is pleading with the church at Rome. God, in a sense, is commanding us, beseeching us, that we live lives of constant devotion Sacrifices that are not molded by the world, but that are transformed by His Spirit through His Word. And what a glory it is when God's people see how good and acceptable and perfect the revealed will of God is. Let's pray. Almighty God, now we pray that You would make of us what this text commands of us. Lord, in this new year, we pray that You would grant Your saints an increasing desire and zeal to be living sacrifices of devotion to You, of looking by Your Spirit and through Your Word earnestly where our lives are being molded by the world and not by the text. And Lord, give us an earnest desire. How we pray. To be transformed for your glory. And we ask that you would give us, if it be your will, moments of delight where we see that the truths of scripture, when lived out, are good. And they're right. And they're crisp. And they're clean. And they're holy. And they work. Bless your saints, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.