Personal Transformation
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Great to be back in in our building today. Thank you all for coming out this morning and for those who chose to stay home and watch online, thank you for tuning in.
I’m excited to be taking this first step to getting our church back to business.
I’m thankful for the momentum that the Lord allowed us to continue to have throughout our Drive in Services and I’m praying He will allow that to continue as we go forward.
I’ve said for a time now that this is a great opportunity to for a “Reset” in our church and really for churches across the globe. That can be accomplished in a number of ways but the most important way is not in our programming, curriculum, or how our facilities look. The most important transformation that can take place at anytime in the life of a church is when the people of the church are transformed.
Today we will be looking at a popular verse of scripture out of the book of Romans. We will be in chapter 12.
The book of Romans has been affectionately called the gospel according to Paul. He is writing to believers in Rome that have some interaction with or familiarization with Judaism as he overcomes many thoughts of judiazers with the truths of the gospel.
Here in Romans 12 Paul delivers remarks about what a renewed life looks like for believers. While I won’t go into a lot of detail in regards to the end result, I want us to look more at what leads to a Renewed life, the process we go through and then a couple of the more important results of a Renewed mind and spirit.
Let’s start back at Romans 11:33 and go through 12:3
Romans 11:33-12:3
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller?
35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
PRAY
Let’s begin by seeing the Reason for Renewal
I. The Reason for Renewal
I. The Reason for Renewal
I don’t advocate doing anything without purpose or reason. I’ve said it before that we must find our why. Why do we do what we do? The answer the that question might not matter as much in times of peace but when pressured, that answer will determine our willingness to stay true to our principles and truths.
As I preached last week about prayer and who God is I want to again reiterate this week that the who God is should not just lead us to desire a closer relationship with Him, it should lead to us living for Him.
Knowing all about who God is, leads us into a relationship and then trusting Him to do what He says He will do leads us into living for Him. It leads us into a Renewed life that is different than it was before.
Not a conformed life…that is different. If we conform to the Lord for the sake of those around us but don’t allow our hearts and minds to be transformed by the Lord, then it is only a matter of time until we resent the Lord and what He “makes” us do.
Spiritual transformation and renewal begins with knowing who God is and continues when we understand God’s wise plan.
A. God’s Wise Plan
A. God’s Wise Plan
Paul praises God for His wisdom and knowledge in verse 33 and speaks to how His judgements and ways are past finding out.
The Bible teaches in various passages that God is omniscient, meaning He knows all. We can’t know all that God knows. We can’t see situations as God sees them.
That should not frustrate us or upset us, it should help us to see the need for God in our lives and how we are not God.
I saw a post on social media this last week that I want to share with you right now
it read “Could it be that God didn’t wire us to carry every event, taking place in every part of the world, at every moment, as if it were ours? Could it be that technology has produced a faux omniscience and omnipresence that is hurting mankind and not helping it?”
Through technology we have been able to be exposed to so much more than many have in history. While there are great things about that, there are also terrible things.
We spoke about accepting who we are last week. This is another area I believe it would benefit many Christians to begin accepting and doing something about.
I do not find it in scripture that it is His plan for us to become people that are always aware of what is going on around the globe at every moment. I don’t even think it’s the Lord’s intent for us to be aware of what is going on across our country at every moment.
As human beings are minds are finite and can only handle so much. Some more than others but ultimately we can’t handle knowing everything. If we could, we would be God.
God’s Wise plan is not for us to be God. It is for us to depend on Him
Proverbs 3:5-8
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
8 It shall be health to thy navel, And marrow to thy bones.
We can look around and easily identify sins that we should stay away from but what about the things in life that might not appear sinful that keep us from leaning on God and trusting Him?
I’d say those are things that lead you to sin. Can I be transparent for a moment?
Facebook has become a source of stress and anxiety for me personally in recent months. I’ve had to go to God over that more than once. The rumors, the expressions of Christians that are ungodly, and just the all around tone of most of the content on Facebook anymore leads me to either be upset with someone else or myself. Maybe your like me. Maybe your not.
Either way let me teach you a doctrine that has helped me in this and other areas, it’s called Separation. (short explanation)
God is wise, and when we accept that we need His wisdom rather than our own we can begin to live for God’s Glory.
B. God’s Glory
B. God’s Glory
Look at verse 36
Romans 11:36
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
1 Cor 10:31
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
What is God’s glory?
The following is a paraphrase of thoughts from another preacher that I believe help us to understand what God’s glory is.
God’s glory is like beauty. If you were to ask 10 people to define beauty you would get 20 different definitions. If you were to ask what is a basketball…well, we could all pretty much describe that.
However if we follow the line of reasoning I’m about to present I think we can get an understanding of what God’s glory is.
Isaiah 6:3
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: The whole earth is full of his glory.
Here is a vision of God sitting on a throne and angels around Him saying Holy, Holy, Holy.
God’s holiness refers to His perfection. It refers to all He is that no one else can be. His wisdom, His power, His infiniteness.
Here these angels sing Holy Holy Holy and then say “The whole earth is full of His...” not holiness…glory.
This leads me to believe that the glory of God is a manifestation of His holiness.
Lev 10:3
3 Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
The word sanctified means set apart, the same as holy. God will be shown to be Holy and through that He is glorified.
When we live in such a way that we are exemplifying the holiness of God by living holy, or set apart, ourselves we are manifesting the glory of God on earth for all people to see.
Peter wrote and said
1 Peter 1:16
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Why should we be Holy? Because of who God is, because of what God has done, because in being holy, we manifest the perfections of God on earth.
We could park here for a while and discuss various means of being holy and glorifying God. Let me say this and move forward.
If you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior, then you know what God has done for you. If Jesus was willing to do that for you, shouldn’t we be willing to live for Him? That may mean a transformation in how you live your life.
How does that happen?
Look at what Paul says about the Process of Renewal.
II. The Process of Renewal
II. The Process of Renewal
Romans 12:1
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
See how Paul first speaks of a Personal investment.
A. Personal Investment
A. Personal Investment
I know what your thinking…Investment? Pastor Paul said sacrifice....Your right. And I’m not trying to change scripture nor am I trying to add or take away from it. I do want to help you in seeing the sacrifice Paul is talking about as more than just giving up what you percieve as your way of life.
First, let’s understand the context of the passage. Paul is using this analogy to refer back to the Old Testament sacrifical system that ultimatley pointed to the sacrifice that Christ would make for us.
The animals would be brought to the priest, killed, and all parts used to either be burned or to be used for the priest to live off of and the temple to keep going.
Paul says to be a living sacrifice though.
There are two living sacrifices that stood out to me in the Bible as I studied.
First is Isaac. Abraham took Isaacx up the mountain to be sacrificed. Abraham was an old man at this time. You have to know the young boy Isaac could have ran, could have gotten away, but instead, I believe, he willing got on the altar and as Abraham was about to bring down the fatal blow, the Lord provided a ram.
Isaac was willing to lay down His life for the glory of God. He was willing to give all the He had so that God could be worshipped.
Next is the obvious one, Jesus. He willingly gave up His life through crucifixion.
These are the examples we have to look back to. Now what does that look like in our lives.
It’s us saying, I’ve beleived, acted, or lived a certian way for this long but God says it’s either a sin or unwise so for His glory I will sacrifice my own desires and will for His.
Pastor didn’t you say it’s an investment? Yes!
What happens when we live for the glory of God?
First and foremost, God is glorified. Second, others begin to see God through us. I love telling the story of a man in our church who God saved and because of God working in His life and changing Him from the inside out, his little girl got saved. His that man perfect, no. But as a result of God working in his life his marriage is better, his daughter his saved, and Lord knows what other things God will use him for.
What could God use you to accomplish if you lived for Him and not for self?
Now, I want to caution you. Don’t try to enter into some contract or deal with God. Don’t go to the Lord saying “I’ll live this way, I’ll do this thing if you will do thus and so.”
The blessings of God come from His grace, mercy, and love for us. The works we do and lives we live are not for acceptance in Him....we are already accepted in Christ. They are not for His blessings…if you are a christian you have already been blessed beyond compare. The works we do and the lives we live should be a result of His love for us and our love for Him.
Those works, those lifestyle changes are investments in eternity committed as worshipful acts.
B. Worshipful Acts
B. Worshipful Acts
When we are living in the service of God we are doing so as an act of worship.
We invest in eternity by living for the Lord and seeking to have His glory manifested on earth through us as an act of worship to Him for all that He is and all that He has done.
Too often we confuse worship with what happens on Sunday mornings when we sing. Yes, that is an act of Worship but so is praying, so is being humble when you could be prideful, so is being long suffering when you could fly off the handle, so is giving to the Lord or others, so is anything you do because of who God is for others to see what He has done.
We can worship God daily. We can worship Him in the valleys of life. We can worship Him on the mountains. We can worship Him no matter who is in the White house. We can Worship Him no matter what’s going on in our lives.
Paul was in prison singing Hymns and praising God. He got assaulted with stones and got back up and kept preaching…that’s worship.
He told others about Jesus..that’s worship. He discipled believers, that’s worship.
He was ship wrecked and kept going. That’s worship.
What can you do to be worshipping God in your life? What’s an area that you have allowed your flesh to come in and rob you of your worship? What’s going on that has taken your joy? Find your joy in who God is and what God has done and your joy will never leave you because He never leaves you.
I love speaking on this topic of renewal and transformation because I’ve personally seen God work in my life and renew my heart and mind. I want that same transformation for every person I meet. I want you to know God the way I know God. I want you to know God better than I know God.
I want to close with speaking for a moment on what the result of a renewed life looks like.
III. The Result of Renewal
III. The Result of Renewal
Romans 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
First you will find that you have a transformed life
A. Transformed life
A. Transformed life
Your live is transformed because your mind is renewed or transformed by the Word of God. It is in the Bible we find the principles and truths of God that lead to us being transformed from the inside out.
The world would have us to conform to its way of thinking and living but God wants to transform us but that will only happen as we allow ourselves to be saturated with His Word. Through teaching, preaching, and reading the Bible we are being influenced by the Lord and learning more about how great He is and how wonderful his plans for us are.
As life begins to return to normal let’s take a look at our lives as Christians and decide if normal is what we need or if our “normal” needs to be transformed.
Does your normal glorify God? does your normal reflect a transformed life that brings glory to God or does your normal have no affect on the lives of others for the glory of God?
A renewed mind that leads to a transformed life with also bless you with a discerning spirit.
B. Discerning Spirit
B. Discerning Spirit
The end of Verse 2 tells us that with a renewed mind we are are able to prove, or understand, what the good and perfect will of God is.
I’ve preached on the will of God before and how I don’t like for us to think it is some mystical thing only found by a few.
The will of God in your life will be different than others. I can’t tell you exactly how God desires for you to live out His specific will for you but I can tell you that if you seeking to bring Him glory by loving Him and loving others as yourself. You’re living out His general will for you.
So…are you? Are you living for the glory of God? has your mind been renewed by your udnerstanding of who God is and what God has done? Does your life reflect the spiritual transformation that comes from faith in Jesus? If not…why not? If not…what could you be doing to fix that?
Time of Resposne
Time of Resposne
Are you here this morning and don’t have that relationship with God? You look around at everything going on and your anxious, stressed, and worried about what tomorrow will hold? You don’t have to be. Is your mind conformed to the ideas of the world instead of renewed and transformed by Jesus?
You can have that renewed mind and transformed life just like every Christian. It all starts with faith in Christ.
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Jesus died on the cross so that you may spend eterniy in heaven with God and have a relationship with Him now. He died so that your life could bring glory to God the father. All you have to do is accept that payment for your sins by faith.
Eph 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Romans 3:23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 10:9,13
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
It’s that easy.
Christians, you know Jesus. You know what He’s done for you. Will you allow your mind to be renewed by this truth and present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable act of worship for all the He is and all the He has done.
If your hear this morning and believe the Lord pointed out an area of your life that needs to be transformed…would you raise your hand and let me pray for you?
thank you.
If you are here today and want to trust Jesus as your Savior I want to help you confirm that in your heart with a prayer.
Are you here this morning and want to trust Jesus as your Savior?
I want to help you confirm that decision. I’m going to word a prayer for you but the words of the prayer mean nothing, what you believe in your heart means everything.
“Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner, I believe you came to die on the cross and rose from the dead. I put my faith right now in you and ask you to come into my life and change me from the inside out. Amen.”
PRAY
Announcements
Offering at door
Dismissed by rows
Music