The Abundant Life of Service
Notes
Transcript
When we started looking at “Living the Abundant Life”, the first thing we looked at was the “Abundant Life Is A Yielded Life”.
That yielding is to Christ, abiding in Him that we can bear fruit of righteousness.
I also mentioned that we are living beneath our privilege if we are believers and not enjoying the abundant life in Christ that He offers to each of his children!
Tonight I want us to look at the next thing we need to yield to in Christ and that is a “The Abundant Life of Service”.
Text; Rom. 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
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.
Too often we think Christian service is about how many ministries we can get involved in, or merely about our actions and good works. They are part of what serving Jesus is about, but the true abundant life of service is more about a heart posture aligned with God's purpose.
Jesus is our example of the abundant life of service as He served God from his heart all the way to Calvary!
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Paul mentions three things we must do in serving the Lord!
1. Present Your Body; 1a
1. Present Your Body; 1a
Present- a temple term used in bringing an offering to God [no spot or blemish, the firstfruit, the best].
Our service is a “heart posture” of thanksgiving to God because of His mercy.
Mercy is revealed in the actions God takes to relieve suffering [sin] and demonstrate His faithfulness and steadfast love.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Present our bodies- offer our whole self [body, soul, spirit] to God. Our bodies is the outlet for the inner working of the Holy Spirit.
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We yield our bodies everyday to physical service;
Job that many times we do not like
School that we do not want to be at
To doctors we hate to go to, but we go anyway
To certain activities we may not like but go to appease others
If we can yield our bodies to the service of things we don’t like and some we even hate, why is it so hard to yield our bodies to the One who loves us more than anyone?
2. A Living and Holy Sacrifice; 1b
2. A Living and Holy Sacrifice; 1b
It’ amazing when people get saved they make bold but often foolish statements like, “I am willing to give my all or to die for Jesus”! [Peter and the disciples said the very same thing]
Here’s the crazy of that. God doesn’t ask us to specifically die for Him, but to live for Him! [Dying as a christian is easy, living as one is the challenge]
Sacrifice- to kill, put to death, to offer
All OT sacrifices were killed in being offered to God. God wants us to die to self and let the Holy Spirit control our life.
Living Sacrifice- putting to death the things of the flesh so we will live by the Spirit
Holy Sacrifice- set apart, not common, not of the same method or approach as the world
Acceptable to God- in accordance to God’s will
Luke 9:23 (NKJV)
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
The Apostle Paul was one who modeled his life as a living and holy sacrifice to the Lord;
He was a “bond-servant” of Christ
1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God
He was a “warrior” for Christ in spiritual battle
Ephesians 6:11, 19-20 (NKJV)
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Paul was a “prisoner” of the Lord [Paul never mentioned Rome]
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—
Paul’s “chains” in Christ brought conversions and courage
12 But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel,
13 so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ;
14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
In “death” Paul was victorious in Christ
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Paul considered himself as a living sacrifice to God as “reasonable” [genuine, logical, rational] “service”/act of worship.
To present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God means complete and total surrender. It’s the difference between what a chicken and a pig bring to a bacon-and-egg breakfast. The chicken makes a contribution; the pig gives everything. What we often try to do with God is give an egg here and an egg there, but God wants sacrifice—the whole ham and all the bacon. Only total surrender can be called true worship.
Evans, T. (2019). The Tony Evans Study Bible (p. 1332). Holman Bible.
3. Transforming of Our Mind; 2a
3. Transforming of Our Mind; 2a
The major key to the “Abundant Life of Service” that is holy and acceptable to God, rests in the mind.
Mind- mental perception, manner of thought, attitude, the consciousness of life preceeding action
Transformed- metamorphosis, the nature from within revealed outside [the worm that goes into a cocoon was always a butterfly, but it was not known to the world until it was seen as a butterfly and not a worm]
Jesus’ inner divine nature was manifested outwardly
2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
Our inner redeemed nature is to be transformed outwardly in our daily living and service to Christ. We do that by renewing our mind!
Renewing our Mind- our mind is like a TV/radio that receives frequencies that give us photographic pictures and audible sound. We need to let God adjust the tuner of our mind like a TV/radio to receive a perfect picture or perception of holiness.
How does God do this? The Holy Spirit is the antenna that helps us tune into God!
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
Holy Spirit is the tune button or remote control that gets us to the right channel
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
Holy Spirit also updates our programming
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Holy Spirit is our channel guide to what we read, watch and listen to
Our minds can only be transformed from the world and conformed to the ways of God by the Holy Spirit of God through the Word of God!
4. Proving the Abundant Life of Service; 2b
4. Proving the Abundant Life of Service; 2b
When we surrender ourselves to Christ and His service, through those three steps Paul just mentioned, then we prove to the world that God’s plan is better than mans!
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;
Close;
The very purpose of “The Abundant Life of Service” is to honor God with our lives as an act of worship from our heart. When we consistently do this, people begin to take notice that there is something different about us, and they become curious of what it is.
That’s when we have the joy of telling them about our Jesus!
The Abundant Life of Service creates opportunities for evangelism!
