Living Sacrifice (Part 2)

How does ne develop a consistent walk with Christ? You let the mercy and the grace of God move you. Last week we spent the majority of our time looking at these principles found in the beginning of Romans 12:1-2.

Daily remind yourself of the mercy of God

Remember your intended pattern for living, not conformed - transformed

Remember the proper perspective on life comes as a result of denying the flesh and the worlds pattern of life.

Now today we are going to continue on with this same theme of Consistency with Christ. So for context sake follow along as I read our text for the next few weeks.

Romans 12 CSB

1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. 3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness. 9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. 10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. 11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. 20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. 21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

Now in order to develop a consistent walk with Christ it requires humility

I. A consistent walk requires a proper perspective of one’s self.

Romans 12:3 CSB

3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

What does it mean to not think of yourself more highly the you should? Over the years I have noticed that nothing stunts quite like pride.

Pride takes all sorts of forms. From insecurity...scared of what others think of me. Often the most insecure people are also your highly critical people. Because in their hearts they are so critical of others they assume others are that critical of them.

Of course then there is th boasting type of pride. I am superior to you.

But then there is another form of Pride that manifest itself in religious circles, spiritual pride.

Paul starts out this admonition with this statement...”For by the grace given to me”

Why would Paul start out this way? He is using another phrase to say to the same thing. In view of the mercy of God or because God has given me much grace due to my own sin, I encourage you also to remember that God has given you too a lot of grace therefore understand who you are in Christ.

Like many pastors have, I have interviewed many times with many different churches. In the description of many of the pastoral openings you will find some sort of statement like this. We seek a man of God to take us to the next level spiritually. What does that even mean? Did you know there are really only four categories given in scripture concerning people and none of them have multiple levels.

Saved or Lost

Immature or maturing.

So where pride stunts growth are in two ways.

A prideful person will see no need for repentance and forgiveness, so they will die in thier in sin.

A believer who compares his/her walk with others will see there faith deficiencies, feel good about themselves and then lose their appreciation of God’s mercy and grace. This person is not mature at all but believes himself to be. So then thier growth is stunted. It stops.

Can I say this, the longer you have been in church the easier it is to give into this temptation.

Afterall, you are faithful to attend, faithful to give, faithful to volunteer. You read your chapter a day. You are not involved in immoral activities so then you must be mature right?

Wrong. A Person who is maturing is not self satisfied or self righteous. This is the same mistake the pharisees made. Instead, they are still grateful for the daily mercy of God and are pursuing him, his will, and see themselves as servant on mission in the Kingdom.

Romans 12:3 CSB

3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

So then don’t compare yourself to others or look down at another person who is at a different place in thier Journey with Christ. Instead think sensibly or use sound judgment based upon the grace that God has given and the faith He has grown in you.

Next we see, that a growing believer or one that is developing that consistent walk will use his faith and the gifting that he has been given in service of the King

II. A Consistent walk requires living on purpose.

Romans 12:4–8 CSB

4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.

Notice with me that Paul is instructing the believers that thier life choices should be primarily centered around using thier gifts for his kingdom through the local body, His church . In fact he uses the illustration of the body to show that all members have a part to play in the health of the church.

When those whom he placed in a local assembly sit on the sidelines it affects the health of everyone else. This isn’t a maybe but a reality.

Now, I like to do puzzles. I guess it’s kind of nostalgic for me because I would occasionally do them with my grandparents. I don’t do them often. Usually I do one a year. Ill start just after thanksgiving and try to finish before the new year. Now one of the worst things after spending the time is have placed all the pieces and see that somehow one of the pieces is missing. Anyone ever had that happen to you? Its one of the most frustrating things. Every piece matters.

What you do or don’t do matters and contributes to the overall health or problems of the local body. God has designed us to be like an interlocking puzzle. Every piece matters to show the full image of Christ to a lost world.

We are to orient our lives around using our gifts to serve both God and the local body of believers. next week we will circle back around on what it looks like to live for other but for now remember this: If you are not asking the question of how can I serve my faith family than chances are you are not serving your faith family. Why because any space in life that is not filled in living out your intended purpose will be quickly filled by other obligations.

Illustrations of the Jar, sand, and nails.

I brought with me this morning a few items. This Jar symbolizes the spaces of your life. these nails the work and assignments that God has for us to do. The sand is all other things that consume our time, energy, and mind from work, sports, hobbies. The sand isn't necessarily bad things. They are activities that had fun and value to our lives.

But if they become my priority I want to show you what happens. (Pour sand in first). If I try to fit the kingdom of God in afterward....It will never work.

Your life will never be used to its fullest potential and your life will have a lot of empty spaces. but when I orient my life around God and his kingdom, sure I will have to sacrifice some other things but my life will be completely filled and I will feel fulfilled.

This is the idea here.

Seek the benefit of God’s kingdom and his people first by using the special gifts and talents he has given you will have a consistent walk with Christ that makes a real-world impact. You can make a difference in the lives of people in the kingdom of God. For some of you, you have been the missing puzzle piece.

Do to one of the forms of pride or misplaced priorities you have offered very little of yourselves to the body that Christ has placed you in. And to be honest there are those wearing themselves out trying to make up the difference. But they never can, one piece of the puzzle cannot fit very well in the place of another.

If you are going to have a consistent walk with Christ than...

1.Daily remind yourself of the mercy of God

2.Remember your intended pattern for living, not conformed - transformed

3.Remember the proper perspective on life comes as a result of denying the flesh and the worlds pattern of life.

4.Have a proper perspective of oneself

5.Live life on purpose - make it a priority to use your gifts

I know inquiring minds want to know about these gifts that are mentioned, especially the gift of prophesy. Now understand that Paul is not making a complete list of the gifts. He is just using some of these as example.

Romans 12:6–8 CSB

6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; 7 if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.

So the first one...Prophesy.

Prophesy in the O.T. and prophesy in the new testament is in essence the same thing but it takes a different form.

Prophets in the O.T. were God’s direct messengers. At times they foretold future events as revealed to them by God but thier main function was for the correction and edification of the nation of Israel.

Now in the New Testament. Instead of one or two prophets the gift of prophesy is given to many. They did not necessarily hold authority like in the OT. Instead the apostles had authority.

The gift of prophesy in the NT seems to transition from future telling to being able deliver the message of God through his Word and being able to discern if a message or event is from the Lord. The purpose is for the protection and edification of the church.

2. service - some people have the gift of just being able to serve others and not tire.

3. Teaching - this one is pretty obvious

4. Exhortation- this is the idea of having the gift of taking the teaching and being able to encourage and motivate people to obey it’s truth

5. Giving - some people have the gift of generosity. Giving just fills them so they do often with great generosity

6. leading with diligence- This is the gift of administration. Some people are really great at systems and knowing how to keep things running smoothly. They are your detailed people

7. Mercy - a heart that is drawn toward the hurting and marginalized that manifest itself in action

Now like i already mentioned Paul’s goal was not to make a complete list, but rather to show the varied grace of God in our lives. To show that everyone is needed and important. To show that not using your gifts actually is harming those around you.

In view of the mercy of God, use whatever Gifts God has given you and you will find where you fit in the body of Christ and his kingdom work.