Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Romans 12:1

Theme: You’re not living the Christian life unless you put to death the idea that you have a right to live as you choose.

Date: 02/05/2017 File name: Romans_2016_34.wpd

ID Number: 237

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

(Romans 12:1, NASB95).

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a great British preacher of the last century, while preaching through the Book of Romans, preached ten consecutive weeks on verses 1–2.

You’re going to get just two (PTL).

The question before us this morning is this: If you believe the Scriptures, what does it mean to live the Christian life in light of their truth?

Here in this verses the Apostle gives us the essence of the Christian life — we must be a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God.

That’s it.

That’s the foundation of our Christian experience.

Everything flows from that.

So here’s the fundamental truth of Romans 12:1 — and it’s a hard one — You’re not living the Christian life unless you put to death the idea that you have a right to live as you choose.

It’s a hard truth because, at the present time, there probably has never been a culture in the history of the world more averse to the very essence of what it means to live a Christian life.

We live in an era of radical self-autonomy — a libertarianism on steroids — where all restraint, especially sexual restraint, is considered unhealthy, and repressive.

The most important attributes in our culture have become autonomy, self-esteem, and self actualization.

This is the antithesis of what the Apostle encourage of his readers.

In an age of radical self-autonomy, the apostle call for radical self-sacrifice.

I. THE GREATEST APPEAL IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies ... “

1. we live in an era of urgent appeals

ILLUS.

In 2016, if you were like me, you received a steady barrage of urgent appeals from various political candidates or political action committees asking for donations.

Most of them were in the negative ... if you don’t give to us the “other guy” is going to win, and the result is doom and gloom.

ILLUS.

I steadily get urgent appeals from Publisher’s Clearing House ... “Don’t ignore this mailing.

You’ll forfeit you chance of $5,000 a week for life if you don’t enter.”

ILLUS.

Weekly, our church receives urgent appeals from various ministries announcing that their ministry may soon end if we don’t support them.

2. we live in an era of urgent appeals, mot of which are not really urgent at all

a. the Apostle begins this new section of his letter with his own urgent appeal to the believers in the Church at Rome

b. it is ...

A. AN APPEAL TO THE SURRENDERED LIFE

1. the Apostle writes, “I urge you, therefore... “ — it’s literally the word beseech; “I beseech you” — and represents an urging that comes from the depth of his being

a. the Apostle cannot rest until he makes his case for the consecrated life

b. the Apostle is earnestly contending, pleading, appealing in the strongest way possible that these believers join with him as brethren in Christ in presenting themselves to God fully surrendered

2. the call to the surrendered life is a noble call

a. due to the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, due to His unsearchable judgment, due to His grace for which no man can repay him, Paul issues a summons and an encouragement to personal consecration — the presentation of our bodies — to God, and to the things of God

3. the call to the surrendered life is a personal call

a. in the Greek the emphasis falls on the personal pronoun "you"

1) the surrendered life begins with yourself, and not the other guy

ILLUS.

It’s tempting, is it not, to gauge our spirituality by looking at some other Christian’s life.

The problem is that we always look at the fellow Christian whom we believe to be spiritually inferior to ourselves.

We never look at the 80 year-old deacon who is living a deeply sanctified life, and think to ourselves, “I’d like to be more like him.”

We look at the inactive reprobate, and tell ourselves, “Well, at least I go to church, or cheat on my spouse.”

b. it is always be easy to find those in the church less dedicated to the cause of Christ than you

ILLUS.

There is an illuminating incident in the last chapter of John's gospel.

Jesus meets his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

There we have that intriguing encounter between Jesus and Peter where our Lord asks the apostle three times.

"Peter, do you love me?" It's a story of restoration after Peter's denial.

You'd think that Peter is on the road to spiritual recovery, but what do we see happening next?

“Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them.

(This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?

You must follow me.”

(John 21:20–22, NIV84)

b.

Peter should have been concerned with God's will for Peter and not God's will for John

4. the call to the surrendered life is a self-sacrificing call

a. the world present or offer in vs. 1 was the technical term for a Jewish priest placing an offering on the altar

b.

Paul call on Christians to perform what is essentially a priestly act of worship — with themself as the sacrifice

5. Paul’s Appeal is to the Surrendered Life, But It Is Also ...

B. AN APPEAL TO THE SURRENDERED LIFE BASED ON THE MERCIES OF GOD

" ... therefore, brethern, by the mercies of God ... "

1. the greatest appeal in the Christian life is based on the greatest motivation in the Christian life: the mercies of God

2. therefore is a transitional word

a. it reaches back to include the whole story of God's unfolding mercy to sinful men as told by Paul in the first 11 chapters of his letter to the Christians at Rome

1) God’s mercies are seen in His patience with sinners

2) God’s mercies are seen through our salvation in Christ

3) God’s mercies are seen in our justification by faith

4) God’s mercies are seen in our sanctification through the Word

5) God’s mercies are seen through the gift of the Holy Spirit

6) God’s mercies are seen through our adoption as sons

7) God’s mercies are seen through the remembrance of His people

8) God’s mercies are seen in His wisdom and knowledge and, His unsearchable ways

b.

Paul is not beseeching these Christians at Rome based on his own apostolic authority, but Paul — from the depth of his heart — is beseeching them (and us) by the mercies of God

1) do this for God’s sake, become a living, and holy sacrifice for the sake of God who loved you and sent His Son to die for sin in your place

3. Paul wants the Christians at Rome, as well as you and I, to remember God's graciousness in our lives in order that we might be motivated to make a firm and total commitment to the Christian life

a. the Christian faith was never meant to be a "have too" religion, but a "want to" faith based on a relationship with the living God

b. far to often our Christian walk and service is motivated, not by love and humble service, but by guilt or secret agendas

4. gratitude and love for what God has done in our lives ought to be the compelling reason which motivates us in Christian service

5. Paul’s Appeal is to the Surrendered Life, Based On The Mercies of God, But It Is Also ...

C. AN APPEAL TO THE SURRENDERED LIFE BASED ON THE MERCIES OF GOD TO A SURRENDERED LIFE

" ... that you present you bodies ... "

1. the verb present is in a tense that demands continuous action

a. Christians are to yield continually or to continually offer up themselves to God

1) yes, there was a point-in-time when you first came to Christ and willingly offered you life to him

a) the problem with being a living sacrifice is that we’re frequently tempted to crawl down off of the altar

2) but the Christian is to keep on coming to Christ, to keep on becoming a holy and living sacrifice each day

“Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

(Luke 9:23, NIV84)

ILLUS.

David Livingstone, the renowned missionary to Africa, wrote in his journal about the surrendered life.

“People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa.

Can that be called sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of the great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay?

Away with such an idea, such a view, and such a thought!