ROMANS ~ Part 8
Sin : Consecration
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith – www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS
6:00PM Evening Service at the church –
“Seminary Students will be preaching”
Monday 5:00PM Bible Study
Tuesday Women’s at Lori’s 5:00PM
WHERE WE
† Maturing in Christ
† Understanding in Christ
† Love of God
† God’s Spiritual Fruit
This Series: The Book of Romans
Previously: Apostasy, Judgment, Sin
SCRIPTURE READING
Romans 12:1, 2 ~ Living Sacrifices
“1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
INTRODUCTION
CONSECRATION: a solemn commitment of your life or your time to some cherished purpose (to a service or a goal); sanctification of something by setting it apart (usually with religious rites) as dedicated to God;
I. IN VIEW OF GOD’S MERCY
1. God has shown us mercy
i. MERCY: clemency: leniency and compassion shown toward offenders (sinners) by a person or agency charged with administering justice;
ii. God could have destroyed us all, but chose love
1. We must meet God on his terms
a. Confess we are sinners
b. Repent of our sin
c. Believe that Jesus Died and rose again as a sacrifice for us
d. Make Jesus Christ our Lord
2. If not, we will not be allowed to spend eternity with Him
a. There will be no sin or rebellion allowed in heaven
b. If you can’t love God now, you won’t love Him for eternity
c. If you can’t submit to God now, you won’t submit for eternity
3. This is why Hell was created
a. For those who rebel against god
b. For those who do not worship God
c. For those who will not submit to God
iii. He loved us first, but we must love Him back
1. He showed His love by dying on the cross
a. I John 4:8-10 “ 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins”
2. He shows His mercy by giving us His grace
a. I Timothy 1:15-17 “15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
b. Matthew 5:7 “ 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
3. GRACE: The time God allows you to turn from sin and repent
a. God’s grace - Unmerited Favor – One does not “earn” God’s grace by any works…but by belonging to the Kingdom of god.
b. Grace of God upon him – Having the Holy Spirit (Another unmerited Grace
c. In Paul’s letters we see grace associated with salvation, the gospel, sanctification and justification.
2. Return that mercy by offering your bodies
i. Your offering
1. in view of God's mercy
a. We need to take into account, God’s taking the first step
b. He loved us first
c. Receive the hand that God is extending out to you
ii. Living sacrifices
1. We offer ourselves as living sacrifices
a. We sacrifice everything in our lives that takes place above God
b. We put God first in everything that takes place in our lives
i. TIME
ii. MONEY
iii. ACTIVITIES
iv. POSESSIONS
v. WORSHIP
2. God has called us to BE sacrifices!
a. God has called the Christian to something so much more. Maybe it will be giving up our time for another, giving up our money for another, giving up our possessions for another, giving up our comforts for another. What about giving up ourselves, our lives, for Christ?
3. Are you presenting your bodies as living and holy sacrifices to God?
a. Our bodies are the temple of the living God
i. I Corinthians 6:18-20 “18Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
ii. John 2:20-22 “20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”
II. THIS IS YOUR SPIRITUAL ACT OF WORSHIP
i. There are many acts of worship
1. Just because worship is offered, does not mean it’s acceptable
a. We MUST meet God on HIS terms!
i. Since God is God, He has the right to specify and stipulate what kind of worship He accepts!
b. There are two kinds of worship God accepts
i. PUBLIC WORSHIP – It is evident from a study of the scriptures that the early Christians participated in public worship (Acts 4: 23). Public worship on the Lord's Day was very important to the early Christians and was presented as a requisite
ii. (Hebrews 10: 25 – “ 5Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”). They came together in "formal worship" to celebrate the Lord's Supper, to pray, sing praise to God, give of their means, and to hear the word proclaimed (Acts 20: 7; 2: 42; Ephesians 5: 19; I Corinthians 16: 1, 2; Acts 20: 7, 2 Timothy 4: 1)
iii. These five public acts on the Lord's Day involved the Christian in praising and adorning God. Public worship must be orderly and reverent (I Corinthians 14: 40; Hebrews 12: 28). God's word must be allowed to govern worship least we are guilty of "will worship," worshipping the way we want to (Colossians. 2: 23). Remember, Jesus said we must worship in truth (John 4: 24).
iv. PRIVATE WORSHIP – Vine states that not only is worship praise, as such, but can be "deed done in such acknowledgement." The view, then, that an act is only worship if it is performed in a religious assembly or in a church building is false. The Christian who endeavors to teach another the gospel, obey civil law, and practice holiness is worshipping God, in a broad sense of the act (Philippians 2: 16; Romans 13: 1-7; 2 Cointhians 7: 1).
c. Worship God rejects
i. Public display for the praise of men
1. Matthew 6:2 “"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”
2. Matthew 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”
3. Matthew 6:16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”
ii. Basically – Any time you do anything for others, you’re not doing it for God, and therefore it is rejected by God.
iii. Ignorant Worship
1. Acts 17:23 “ 23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”
a. The Athenians were ignorantly worshipping the God of heaven (Acts 17: 16-23). They had one idol, included in their pantheon, with the inscription "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD" (Acts 17: 23). God was unknown to them because they had rejected a knowledge of him (Romans 1: 22-25). As a result, their worship was not accepted (Acts 17: 23-31).
2. John 4:22 Jesus said, “22You Samaritans worship what you do not know;”
a. John 4:24 “24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
iv. VAIN WORSHIP
1. Matthew 15:8, 9 8" 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
9They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'
v. Vain worship was and is worshipping God "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15: 9). Ignorant and vain worship are condemned
1. Matthew 15: 1-9. therefore, it is in the best interest of man to know the God he seeks to worship and worship him according to the truth revealed in the Bible.
ii. The act of presenting ourselves as living sacrifices is TRUE worship
iii. God the Father is to be worshipped in Spirit and Truth
1. Offering your body as a living sacrifice is the Spiritual act of worshipping God the Father
2. John 4:21-24 “21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
III. DO NOT CONFORM ANY LONGER TO THIS WORLD
1. But be transformed!
i. Changed (born again, new creation, the old has passed away!)
2. Transformed by the renewing of your mind!
i. Have a mind like Christ
1. I Corinthians 2:16
2. Change your OLD thinking!
3. THEN – YOU WILL KNOW THE WILL OF GOD
i. The three wills of God are;
1. All are saved and come to Christ
2. You receive the Holy Spirit
3. With the Holy Spirit you;
a. You use the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT to show God’s character to the World and draw them in to Him
b. Use the GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT to build (add to or grow the Body of Christ) and edify (strengthen and lift up) the Body of Christ.
c. Use the WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD to live as a soldier in God’s Spiritual Army.
CONCLUSION
Romans 12:1, 2 ~ Living Sacrifices
“1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
