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INTRODUCTION
*Open your Bibles to Romans 12
Illustration: It is fitting, as we turn to Romans chapter 12, that tonight is Halloween
The festival that we know as Halloween began as a Pagan festival in the Celts of Ireland and Scotland called Samhain.
They believed that at this time of year, the line between the living and the dead became blurred
People built bonfires and wore scary costumes to scare off the ghosts that might hurt them
In the 8th century, the Pope named November 1st as “All Saints Day,” a holy day to remember those saints of the Lord that have passed on before us.
This brought people to call the night of October 31st, “Hallowed Eve,” or, “the night made holy.”
It wasn’t long before the two celebrations began to blend together and the “Hallowed Eve” became “Halloween”
It slowly morphed into the costume-clad candy-grab that it is known as today
Now, I’m not here today today to advocate for the celebration of Halloween or to attack it
But what I will say is that there two things in the history of this day that point us towards the passage we are focusing on this morning
The first is that the costumes of this celebration point us to a need and a desire for transformation
In the face of spiritual realities of darkness, there is a need for you and I to be more than what we are
The second is that there is a call on us, on you and on me, there is a call for us to step out of the death of the ordinary and into living holiness.
We are called to be set apart.
TRANSITION
Last week, we completed chapter 11, and with it we ended a kind of mini-series on the Romans Road
And in that mini-series,the kind of over-arching theme was along these lines,
That God has gone through great pains and great lengths to make a place for you in His family
God is the one that saves Jews, and God is the one that saves Gentiles
He has a plan for the Jews, even as He has a plan for the Gentiles
AND NONE OF US CAN SAVE OURSELVES:Salvation is a merciful, gracious gift of God
None of us can save ourselves, God must save us through the blood of Jesus Christ
Anyone can be saved, but only those whom God chooses, only those who believe in Jesus Christ, living by faith in Him, will be saved
Your works cannot save you, but if you are saved, there will be works
God is going to be glorified in the end.
God will have all of the glory from all things in His creation
God will be glorified in those that serve Him in faithful obedience
God will be glorified in those that suffer His wrathful judgment for their disobedience
In all of these things, we’ve been building to what comes this morning at the beginning of chapter 12.
PRAY, Invite the church to sit
*LISTENING GUIDES OUT
There, in chapter 12, verse 1, word 1, is what you and I have been waiting for
As my pastor used to say “what’s the “therefore” there for?
PAUL has been building to this for a long while
Because you are incapable of earning your salvation
Because God loved you while you were His enemy
Because you deserve hell and death, but God gives you every gift as a coheir with Christ
Because God has given everything for you
Because you have been grafted onto the tree and you can be just as easily cut off
Because your salvation was completely an act of God, and HE deserves to be glorified and worshipped,
Because all glory and honor and power belong to Him forever and ever,
What is the therefore there for?
In these eight verses, therefore points us to three truths.
Because we are saved by God through Jesus Christ, because we are saved to follow Him, there are some things that need to be true about us or we’re lying to ourselves.
There are things that must be true about us if we want to follow Jesus, and the first is this:
To follow Christ, you must be transformed-you cannot stay the same
This isn’t a suggestion, friends, it is an urgent command
Paul is being emphatic, saying...
Because of the mercy of God, BE TRANSFORMED!-DON’T
BE THE SAME.
IT IS TIME TO BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Tonight, kids are going to dress up
there will be some here, going to our trunk or treat
They will dress up, but they are not transformed.
They are the same kids with different clothes on, different behaviors that they are acting out
WHY ARE THEY PRETENDING?
Because they can’t actually be transformed
YOU AND I CAN BE TRANSFORMED, AND YOU ARE COMMANDED TO BE
You can’t be a Christian and be the same
You can’t serve Jesus Christ and your own desires
This world serves their desires
The grace of God is free-but it will cost you everything because you owe Him everything
Without Him, all you have is death.
But in the life He gives you, your life from before is forfeit!
He is the One calling the shots
A living sacrifice is what you are, meaning that your life now belongs to Him
In 1 Samuel, we learn of the boy Samuel
His mom couldn’t have a child
She cried to the Lord, and He gave her a son
She dedicated her son to God, a living sacrifice
The boy and all of His life belonged to the service of the LORD
JUST LIKE SAMUEL, your life belongs to God
Your transformation begins in your mind
Studying God’s Word gives you a new mind
praying gives you a new mind
Serving others will give you a new mind
As your mind is changed, so will your life be changed
Having a new mind doesn’t just mean you know different things.
I know lots of truth that I do nothing with
Having a new mind means that you think differently than before
Different thinking leads to different acting
Different acting leads to different habits
Different habits lead to a different life
YOUR LIFE SHOULD LOOK DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT from others around you
You will steer your life towards what you fix your eyes on.
If your life isn’t headed towards sacrificial living for Jesus, your eyes aren’t fixed on Him
If your eyes aren’t fixed on Him, what does that say about your lack of transformation?
Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus and be renewed to think differently
The second thing we see must be true to follow Jesus is this:
To follow Christ, you must unite with His body-you cannot do it alone!
Verse 3 tells us to have sound judgment, but it gives us an odd road map: humility
It sounds funny at first?
How will humility bring you sound judgment?
An arrogant man is hard-pressed to find sound judgment for two reasons
First, he assumes that he is right about everything
ladies, don’t hit your husbands, you’ll want to save that for a moment
The arrogant man thinks he is always right, and so he struggles to hear the opinions of others?
Secondly, ladies get ready, he assumes that his opinion is the only one that matters or is important
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