The Hinge of the Christian Life

Robert Locklear

Youth Sunday • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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The Hinge of the Christian Life

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Context:

Paul is speaking to the church in Rome. And in this letter to the Romans, He spends the first 11 chapters giving a theological foundation of the Christian faith. And it doesn’t take long to realize the depth and the thoroughness of his argument. When you get to Romans 12 though, there is a shift from the foundations of the Christian faith…to the foundations of the Christian life. And in between this connection of Romans 11 and Romans 12…between the Christian faith and life..there are these two verses which I believe are the hinge that connects what we believe and how we live as Christians. And my thesis I present is that it is this phrase…This being a “Living Sacrifice” which is the hinge that connects the Christian message and faith to the Christian life. The Roman church of Jews and Gentiles, was a mix of culture and in the midst of various pagan beliefs. The challenge was living a Christian life that reflected this new Christian faith..and how that life would look in a pagan world. Paul builds this argument systematically…and these verses connect the faith and life of the Christian . It is what puts feet to our faith.

MIM: Being a Living Sacrifice is the Hinge Which Connects the Christian Faith to the Christian Life

4 Points of Contact for This Hinge Which Connect the Christian Message to the Christian Life:

1. A Thankful Heart, Shaped By God’s Mercy

Living Sacrifice: What is the type of sacrifice? A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving.

The believer is to live with God’s mercy and Christ’s sacrifice continually in view. It is to be a constant and intentional reflection. This reflection doesn’t just see God’s mercy of the past, but sees God’s mercy in the present. Keeping the mercy of God in view is an intellectual discipline that shapes and motivates the heart. It fosters a deep thankfulness and gratitude. This is about the affection of your heart.

When God’s mercy isn’t kept intentionally in view, it will harden your heart, make your sacrifices insincere, and it will create an unsatisfied and discontent person.

This principal can be proven time and time again throughout the bible. One of the clearest examples can be seen in Numbers 11:1-10.

Numbers 11:1–10 ESV

1 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them. 4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” 7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9 When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. 10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased.

The Israelites go from a song of victory and thanks to God when God leads them through the Red Sea…to complaining about their troubles. When God’s mercies were no longer in view…they complained, had hardened hearts..and their lives became less and less Holy unto God. They began to look and think more like the world. The disconnect between their confession and their life…had begun the moment they lost view of God’s mercy to them.

One of the first ways Christian message connects to the Christian life is through a heart gratitude and thankfulness. This is why those who complain the most about the church, or complain in general, will always do the least to fix the problems that they see. Because when we focus on what is wrong, instead of God’s mercy..when we no longer live in light of this mercy towards us..the Christian message is unhinged from the Christian life.

Test:

We begin complaining about the very things we prayed for. (Spouse, Job, etc)

We become critics. We are quick to judge and slow to show mercy because we spend very little time reflection on the mercy God shows and has shown.

We are never satisfied. Spouse is never good enough. Job, the amount of money we make, the church, the school, the president, our lives…are never good enough. We always seem to want what others have.

Gratitude is the beginning of a connected Christian message and life…What we say, and what we do. And if thankfulness is the beginning then being hardened to that mercy, or complaining..will be the beginning of an unhinged life.

Message to those who haven’t received or believe in Jesus:

If you are here today and you don’t know Jesus…my encouragement, as Pauls was..is to first reflect on the mercy He has shown you. He died for you..offered himself for you so that He could give you life. If you are unsatisfied today…I know who can satisfy your heart. If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired…I know where is rest for your soul. There is much to be thankful for, whether you’re saved or not…and if you’re not saved…Thank Him..that he has given you another day to get it right. Another day out of hell..and another opportunity to trust in Him. To be here today…under the word of God. He is speaking to you..He is speaking to us…because whether we are thankful for Him or not..or His gift or not…He still offers you the gift..and He will not, can not, has not given up on you. Look to his mercies today.

Application:

Lamentations 3:21–26 ESV

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

This is what we do!

Lamentations, a book about the punishment and destruction of Jerusalem is full of pain..and tears. To Lament is to weep and thats what this book is. But in the middle of the book..its like the clouds part..and the sun shines through. Just as the sun in the rain and storm clouds…the writer sees that God is always there.

Notice he says…I call this to mind! I will reflect and remember on God’s goodness. I will place it before my eyes.

The problem wasn’t forgetting who God was…the Israelites knew..the Roman church knew…the danger through was that they would fail to keep these mercies before their eyes!

Lyrics: Never Forget: Gary Levox

Lord your love is like a song That I heard when I first believed Life is loud now but underneath I can still hear that melody cause my soul still remembers What my eyes can't see And my heart still rejoices In that memory My today is a witness Of our history

Jesus I'll never forget What you've done for me

Your soul must remember even when your eyes can’t see..and you have to choose to rejoice in that memory! And see your present as a witness to God’s faithfulness

The first part of connecting what you say you believe, and what you do is a heart of thankfulness. This sacrifice is one of thanksgiving. The motive is gratitude. The first point of contact for this hinge..between the Christian message and the Christian life…is gratitude. And the second we see with trying to understanding this phrase “Living Sacrifice”

2. The death of the idea that you can live your life as you please.

The readers throughout the roman world, Jews and Gentiles included, would’ve known about the idea of a sacrifice. You offer an animal, kill it on the altar before a god as an offering. These were dying sacrifices. But a sacrifice means killing..so what does Paul mean by a living sacrifice.

Living “Killing”…it is an intentional paradox.

It means something is being killed..and this is it: It means that your life now is no longer your own. It means that you don’t have the right to live as you please. It means that you do not know what is best.

D.L. Moody said it this way: The problem with a living sacrifice is it keeps crawling off the altar.

This means that it takes daily intention, a daily decision to die to yourself..again every day.

The moment you forget that this idea of running your own life will never truly die as long as you live here…if you are not killing that idea every day..and I mean every day…you set yourself up for great spiritual failure and sin..and the connection between who we say we are, and how we live is no longer in step.

Old Testament example: David: 2Samuel 11:1

2 Samuel 11:1 ESV

1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

David, instead of battling like he normally did…rests on his victories. Maybe he says, I’m good this time. I’ll take this battle off. But the point is, it is the time when he is normally at battle. But..he takes it off. And finds himself caught off guard..from a different sort of battle...and falls. A man after God’s heart..his outer life became unhinged from his inner life. He sees a beautiful woman, falls into temptation, sleeps with another man’s wife..ends up getting her pregnant…killling her husband, the son dies and God pronounces judgment on David…Literally one of the most starting failures in character in the bible because of who it is and that he is said to be after God’s heart.

Hear me church, your victories of yesterday won’t win todays battle. Yesterday’s sacrifice doesn’t get you off the hook for todays.

You have to keep on killing that idea that you run your life every day..or the day you stop you get closer and closer to a life where your beliefs about God and life for God are farther and farther apart.

In the journey of addiction recovery..you will notice at AA meetings, or just talking to an recovering addict..whether they are one month sober, 1 year, or a decade..they will refer to themself as an addict. They’ll say, “My name is Johnny and I am addict” Always. And you know why? Because you have to keep reminding yourself that the day you stop fighting this addiction..the day we stop remembering that we are in a battle we have already lost and it catches us sleeping.

What we need to start doing is look ourself in the mirror every day and say, “My name is RJ am addicted to running my own life.” “I am addicted to living life the way I please, instead of the way God pleases”. The moment you forget that your heart is an “idol making factory” as John Piper says…the moment we stop killing this idea to run our lives…every day it will kill us.

Message to those who haven’t recieved or believed in Jesus:

If you are here today and you are not a believer, and you are wondering what this has to do with you, let me tell you…once you have reflected on God’s mercy towards you..it is time to admit that the life you’re living, your way, is not enough. You can try and live this life for your own pleasure, but when the doors close..and you are at home by yourself..and you don’t have your job, your friends, and what you’ve done to hide behind and its just you and you…ask yourself this question, “Does it matter? When I die…will they remember me, or just what I’ve done?” You’re sacrificing your life for something..why not for Jesus..who has sacrificed his life for you..not because he needed you but because he wanted you? Don’t miss Him!

Test:

We think that doing one good thing for God yesterday, takes us off the hook for doing what God has asked us to do today.

1. I give God my Sunday, so what I do with my Monday-Saturday is for me

2. I tithe, so I can spend my money on what I want to spend my money on

3. I serve on Wednesdays, so I can treat my coworkers or friends or family with disrespect and that’s ok.

4. Your spiritual life is one of great highs and low lows…but not consistency.

5. We celebrate sacrificing ourself on the altar yesterday for God…and while we are celebrating…our prideful hearts have already gotten back up off the altar.

6. Spiritual laziness: lack of daily spiritual devotion

1 Corinthians 15:31 ESV

31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!

Luke 9:23 ESV

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

When is the last time your faith has brought you to do something uncomfortable? A year ago? A month ago? A week ago? Yesterday?...the picture is clear…if our faith is not challenging us today, to do something or say something which is uncomfortable. Our lives begin to get unhinged…what we say and what we do becomes more disconnected as we celebrate yesterdays wins…and are sleeping during today’s battles.

Application:

·Do something you don’t want to do, that God wants you to do.

· Wake up daily with the assumption that you laid your cross down when you fell asleep..and if you don’t pick up every morning…your life will become unhinged.

· Ask the question every day, “God, what do you want me to do today?” And when He tells you something..do it.

Ask yourself, am I taking “days off” in following Jesus or taking Jesus. And then ask yourself this question, “Am I ok with that? Do I think nothing will happen, or there won’t be consequences?

Are our lifes unhinged?

3. The Christian life involves all your life

Whats the significance of this phrase..”Present your bodies”

Gnosticism was perhaps the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church during the first three centuries. Influenced by such philosophers as Plato, Gnosticism is based on two false premises. First, it espouses a dualism regarding spirit and matter. Gnostics assert that matter is inherently evil and spirit is good. As a result of this presupposition, Gnostics believe anything done in the body, even the grossest sin, has no meaning because real life exists in the spirit realm only.

Second, Gnostics claim to possess an elevated knowledge, a “higher truth” known only to a certain few. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis which means “to know.” Gnostics claim to possess a higher knowledge, not from the Bible, but acquired on some mystical higher plane of existence. Gnostics see themselves as a privileged class elevated above everybody else by their higher, deeper knowledge of God.

So Paul is challenging the idea, the dangerous heresy that it didn’t matter about the body, or what you did in your body. It is only about enlightenment or beliefs. Wrong! The Christian faith is not about principles or theory it is vitally connected to what you do in your body.

So this faith, this message was never meant to be a theological exercise. God is not after your head, but He is after your hands and your heart too!

1Corinthians 6:13-20

1 Corinthians 6:13–20 ESV

13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

John Piper writes: So the reason we have bodies is that Christ might be magnified and God might be glorified in them. In a sense our bodies are like musical instruments intended to play songs of worship for God. Or like tools intended to work for God’s purposes. Or like weapons intended to fight for God’s cause.If we were only spirits without bodies, we could still worship and we could obey like the angels do in heaven. But God is so zealous for the display of his glory that he conceived of a dimension of reality that didn’t exist before, namely, the physical, material universe. And he created it and put humans in it with physical bodies in order to create added possibilities for the ways in which the inexhaustible wealth of his glory could be shown forth and enjoyed by his creatures.

So he says that our bodies give us ways to magnify him in worship and obedience that we would not have had if we had no bodies.

We have bodies so that God’s glory can be made manifest in them.

Now our bodies are not redeemed yet..and so we are fighting against the desires of the flesh, and choosing to live for God. (Romans 8:23)

Paul talks about a new mind, heart and body..and the point is clear..the Christian faith involves your whole life.

When Paul talks about be transformed by the renewing of your mind he means that we should reflect on the truths of the gospel and bring those truths to bear in our lives and bodies! Your body is for God’s glory! The Christian faith always links to the Christians feet. When Christ changes His heart, his actions change. James 2:14-20

James 2:14–20 ESV

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

And a person who claims a Christian faith that doesn’t connect to the Christians feet…is a fool. You can not disconnect what you believe from what you do. The only way to separate a body and a soul is death…and the only way to separate the Christians hands and their feet is by killing the very nature of what it is to be Christian. When the Christian faith no longer shapes the Christians life..something has died.

And this is the paradox…if you will present your bodies as a sacrifice…kill the desires of the flesh..you find life! If you won’t, and your inner and outer life becomes unhinged…you claim Christian faith while at the same time doing what you want and not what God wants…something has died. There has been an unbiblical severing of the Christian faith and the Christian lilfe..that is not a reflection of life!

1Peter 2:10-12

1 Peter 2:10–12 ESV

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

The way that the spirit acts in the world is through the body…we are not lifeless spirits, so whatever we are is revealed in how we use our hands, our feet, and our bodies.

So, here is a test to see if we are not giving to God all of our selves.

Test:

1. We take more pride in theological definitions than Spiritual application

2. We fight to be right, rather than to do right. We fight harder to prove that people are wrong. Rather than loving those who are wrong so that they can do right.

3. We use this statement…”I know I did that, but its not my heart”. We create a false dichotomy between our faith and our actions. We say, I don’t tell anybody about Jesus…I don’t serve in the church..but I love Jesus.

4. Our faith is purely internal…private…there is nothing to show for our faith in the world.

5. We will think that knowing the right thing, or believing the right thing..takes us off the hook for doing the wrong thing.

6. We have created an unbiblical divide between our head, heart and hands. We become functional Gnostics…saying it doesn’t matter what I do, as long I believe in Jesus.

Message to those who haven’t recieved or believed in Jesus:

God knows what you’ve done, he knows your mistakes..and Jesus can ask you to present your bodies because he presented His for you. Jesus didn’t come just to feed your belly, he came to satisfy your soul. You know and I know..that you are here today looking for something real..something more than an idea in my head..but someone that can connect with all I am. Something authentic. Let me tell you there is nothing more real, no one more authentic..no one that knows more about what you’re going through and loves you anyway..and loves all of you than Jesus. And if you are worried about changing your actions…about wanting to do right, but worrying that you won’t get everything right..thats ok. Just is the one who connects our heart and hands..and He can’t change what youre doing untill he chagnes who you are! Let Him tranform you..it isn’t just a philosophy we talk about..this is a deeply transformative salvation that brings your soul from death to life and will change what you say, what you do..He will make you into a new creature!

Application:

Engage your feet, your hands, and your mouth in the service of God.

Feet: Go somewhere you wouldn’t normally go to love and connect with people you wouldn’t normally connect with.

Hands: Serve

Mouth: Pray, Encourage, Call

If you haven’t felt as close to God…sometimes the problem is thinking if we just think right, it will make the doing easy. Sometimes we have to do the right thing, and allow our mind to follow. There are some things your not going to know about God until your serve. No studying, no reading. If you want to know God…reading isn’t isn’t enough. Present your bodies.

4. You were made to worship God, and you are always worshiping something

You may hear all this and say, you know what RJ, that doesn’t sound like fun..I’ll pass on this worship thing. But understand..you are already worshiping something. Whatever claims the most weight in your soul, the most affection of your heart, and the most sweat from hands you worship.

Our hearts are made to worship. We grasp on to something, and we give looking for something in return.

We are all worshiping something…we don’t get to choose to worship..we choose what we worship. If you do not worship God..something will take its place…or something already has its place.

The question is…do you trust “it” to provide the life your soul desperately needs?

You can give yourself to your job and hope in some life it can provide..but eventually it will let you down. If you put your significance and worth in your job it will crush you.

If you put your hope in a spouse it will crush you.

God is the only thing your soul deeply needs…that doesn’t need anything from you!

Think about it, if you stop coming to work..get sick…your job will move on quick. You stop putting in work…you stop receiving whatever momentary satisfaction it offers.

Let your spouse down, lose your temper…and you will find that that spouse, as pretty and perfect as you thought they were, still will let you down and leave you longing for something..because they are broken and longing for something too!

Illustration: Bank:

Church looking for a bank in a new project. A lot of banks work for you when you can pay..but we have never dropped a church because they couldn’t pay. WE always worked with them.

When you’re choosing what to worship, don’t base it on what they claim to offer when you have it all together and are doing everything right…choose something..more specifically someone…who offers you something at your worst.

Jesus was a sacrifice for us…who offered his best at our worst! He wasn’t a living sacrifice..Jesus was a dying sacrifice. He gave his very life..and shed his precious blood. Jesus offers you the blessing and takes the cursing.

And now, he asks us to trust Him, worship Him, receive Him..and receive his sacrifice..and become living sacrifices for Him!

Everything you worship and sacrifice for will lead you to death. Empty..but what a paradox that only sacficing for Him…being a living sacrifice for Him…we find more life.

2Corinthians 4:16-17

2 Corinthians 4:16–17 ESV

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

It is time we understood what it means to be a living sacrifice..by looking to Jesus Dying sacrifice..and allowing Him to flow into our Christian lives

No longer can we live with the Christian faith and Christian life separated. We must allow to reconnect our hearts and lives.

1. Through a thankful heart, reflecting on God’s mercy

2. By dying to the idea that we can live as we please

3. By giving God all of our lives..our hands, our mind, our heart

4. And by choosing to worship Him!

I stand on God’s word, and offer you a promise today..if we will refocus on what it means to be a living sacrifice..and allow these truths to reconnect the Christian message/faith to the Christian life…God will be glorified, and your life, this church..will shake this community, your life will be renewed, your hearts will be refreshed, your families will be transformed..and your relationship with God will be closer than it has before.

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