All right, thank you. Please be seated. And good morning. It's good to be with you today.
In light of what Dan mentioned earlier in the service today, in the absence of our pastors, Ted and Zach, the elders had to really dig deep to the bottom of the barrel. And I even heard it that Dan scraped his knuckles in the bottom of the barrel when he found my name and pulled me out. But you know what I'm thankful for today? I'm thankful that I'm still in the barrel.
All right. Amen. Well, I invite you to join with me in prayer as we commit our time together in God's Word to the Lord. That's great.
Thank you for this wonderful day. And we thank you that we can gather to worship. We ask now, Father, as we turn our attention to your holy and eternal Word, that you would speak to our hearts. Lord, I pray that your Spirit would illuminate our minds and our hearts to your truth, that we would have ears to hear and hearts to receive your holy Word.
We thank you now in Jesus' name. Amen. What's the big idea? Have you heard that question before?
Or perhaps you've asked that question. What's the big idea? Well, I have to confess to you that I've heard that question more than my fair share of times as a little boy growing up in my parents' home. You'll find that this is very difficult to believe, but I could actually be somewhat mischievous as a little boy.
And on those occasions, my mom would stand over me with her hands on her hips and she would say, young man, what's the big idea? And then it usually went south from there for me. But today I want to ask that question in a little bit more positive context. What's the big idea of our Christian life?
Have you ever thought about that? What's the big idea of the Christian life? I mean, once we're saved, once we've been justified, and now we are followers of Christ, from that point of our salvation to the time that we die or until Christ returns, what's the big idea? Well, that might not be a question that you've asked in those specific words, but there's a corollary question that I know that if you've been a Christian for five minutes or longer, you've asked yourself at least once.
And probably multiple times over the course of your journey as a follower of Jesus. And that question is this, what is the will of God for my life? You've asked that question? What is the will of God for my life?
Well, I want you to know that both of those questions, what's the big idea of the Christian life and what is God's will for my life, they both have the same answer. Paul gives us the answer in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 3. There he gives us the big picture of what it's all about. And there he writes this, for this is God's will.
Per sanctification. That's the macro view of what our lives are all about as followers of Jesus, our sanctification. Now, that word sanctification biblically has two meanings. The primary meaning of sanctification is to be uniquely set apart by God for God.
And the secondary meaning of sanctification means holiness or purity or righteousness. So the word altogether simply means that you and I have been uniquely set apart by God for God to pursue a life of holiness or purity and righteousness. What I want to do now is turn your attention to Romans 12. And I ask that you would take your Bibles and we're going to be reading some of the verses from that chapter.
And here Paul goes from the macro view of what our lives as Christians are all about in 1 Thessalonians 4 to now the micro view in Romans 12, where he gives us details about what this life is all about and how our lives should be lived before our heavenly Father and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here in chapter 12 Paul does not use the word sanctification. Rather, he uses the word transformation. And I'm using those two terms this morning as synonymous.
But in actuality the way we are sanctified is by being transformed. They do go together. Now, as we look at Romans 12 there's something that we should know. Here in this chapter we have a shift that takes place.
In Romans chapter 1 through chapter 11 we recognize that these chapters are primarily theological or doctrinal in nature. Paul wants us to understand who God is and what he has done in the gospel of Jesus Christ for us. And then starting in Romans chapter 12 Paul wants us to understand how we are to live as those who have been redeemed by Jesus. And so as we look together today at Romans 12 verses 1 and 2 and 9 through 21 we're going to learn at least four ways that we can be transformed.
But before we do that whenever I have the opportunity to speak on the concept of transformation I like to share this story. Stories about a farming family who are from the deep south in Mississippi. It's a family that has never left the county in which they were born. They were a hard-working family.
They are fifth or sixth generation farmers in that same land. They're just down to earth people. But they entered a contest and they happened to win. And the prize for that contest was to be able to spend a weekend at a grand plaza hotel in the inner city of a big city.
So as this family is making their way to the hotel they're about 10 miles out of town and they cast their gaze upon this amazing skyline of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 skyscrapers. They've never seen such a site before. And then as they get closer to the downtown area they find themselves traveling with thousands and thousands of other cars. They've never seen such congestion.
And then when they get downtown they're amazed at the thousands of people walking the sidewalks. While they park their car and as they're making their way up the stairs to this grand hotel they approach the doors and there are two doorman who open the doors for them. And they walk in. But they just go a few steps when they stop in their tracks because they are overwhelmed by the sheer opulence of this grand hall in this hotel.
They've never seen such beauty. The glitz, the glamour. Well finally mom and daughter made their way over to the desk to register. And dad and son went over to where the elevators were.
And they were amazed at this particular site because they had never seen an elevator before, but a lone ride one. And so they were just standing there watching these elevator doors open and closed, open and closed, open and closed. And while they were doing that this little old lady, humped over walking with a cane with white hair, slowly walks by them, stands before an elevator, the door is open and she walks in. Door is closed behind her.
And then about 15 or 20 seconds later those very same elevator doors open and out walks this stunningly beautiful young lady. The father's jaw just drops and he can't stop staring. All he can do is tap his son on the shoulder and he said son go get your mother. I want you to know that that's not the type of transformation that Paul is speaking to in Romans 12.
That type of transformation is the world's view of transformation. The world's concerned about what we look like on the outside. But the Bible's concerned about what we look like on the inside. Because the Bible makes the assumption that if everything's right on the inside, the outside will take care of itself.
Well with that in view, let's take a look now at what Paul tells us with regard to four ways that we can be transformed. And the first way is that we are transformed by being renewed, transformed by being renewed. Look what Paul says in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 12. 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.
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. Now I want you to notice what Paul says in verse 1. He says, therefore, and of course anytime there's a therefore, we need to pay attention to what it's there for. And this therefore is there to refer back to all that Paul has described in the first eleven chapters of the book of Romans.
And then with that in view, Paul says, by the mercies of God, or another way to say that, in view of God's mercies. So Paul has described in chapters 1 through 11, is the wonderful, deep, rich and amazing mercies of God. Because of God's great compassion on both Jews and Gentiles in offering salvation through Jesus Christ, Paul wants us to know how we are to live as those who have been justified by Jesus' atoning sacrifice for our sins. You see, God is full of mercy, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
And so since God is merciful and has shown us mercy, Paul then urges us to do something. He says, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. You see, because Jesus sacrificed on our behalf, we are rescued from sin, we are made new, we are adopted as God's children, we have homes prepared for us in heaven, and we have eternal paradise that awaits us. And so since God has shown us mercy through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, we are animated to live as living sacrifices before our Lord.
And as living sacrifices, we seek to please and glorify Him. Now I want you to notice that Paul concludes verse 1 by pointing out that this act of living as a sacrifice is not an obligation, nor is it mere religious duty. Well, what is it then? Well, Paul tells us it's your spiritual or true worship.
When we live as sacrifices, we are worshiping the Lord. You see, God's grace in Christ makes us spiritually alive, and those who are spiritually alive joyfully become living sacrifices of praise. And you know what? This type of worship is not only for Sunday mornings, as we're gathered here as the church, but it is to mark the way we live our lives in totality, to be living sacrifices of praise.
Next I want you to notice Paul speaks of the transformation part. He says in verse 2, do not be conformed to this world or this age, but be transformed. In other words, we're not to be like everybody else in this world, people who are of this age. We are instead to be like Jesus, to be all that God created and redeemed us to be.
You see, God has a purpose for our lives. He has a purpose for your life and mine. And in Jesus, we can recover and pursue that purpose. Sin, ruin us.
Sin changed us. Sin distorted God's image in us. However, in Jesus, we are remade. In Jesus, we are new creations.
In Jesus, we are transformed. And now Paul tells us how we are to be transformed. He says, you are transformed by the renewal of your mind. You see, Christianity certainly is an emotional relationship.
I love Jesus. I have joy in my heart for God. I feel blessed. However, Christianity is also an intellectual relationship.
We must not only feel, but we also must know. We must know things like Jesus is Lord. We must know that we are dead to sin. We must know that we are alive in Jesus.
We must know that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We must know that we are called to be holy as God is holy. We must know that we are sons and daughters of God. And we must not only know these truths, but we must remember them.
And when we do, we are renewing our minds. So when the world seeks to deceive you, renew your mind. When you forget all that God has done for you in the gospel, renew your mind. When sin seems to be more appealing to you than Jesus, renew your mind.
I don't know about you, but I want to fulfill the will of God in my life. But that presupposes that I know what the will of God is. If we renew our minds, then we can know the will of God. You might right now be asking the question, how can I renew my mind?
And I appreciate you asking that question because I want to answer that. I want to give you four tips on how you can renew your mind. Now, there are many other ways that you can renew your mind other than these four. But I think that these are the essential ways in which God desires for us to be renewed in mind day by day.
The first tip is this, read and study scripture consistently. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 119 verse 11, I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Remember in John 17, there we have recorded for us Jesus' longest prayer. It's often referred to as the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus.
And in that prayer, Jesus begins by glorifying his Father in heaven. He then begins to pray for his apostles and then for his disciples. And all those who will come to faith through their testimony and witness all the way down to you and me today. Did you know that Jesus prayed for you 2000 years ago?
You were in his mind and his heart. He was thinking of you in his prayer, his high priestly prayer. But in verse 17 of John 17, Jesus prays this, Father, sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.
Another way that we could render that would be Father, set them apart in your truth. Your word is truth. So how can we renew our minds? It's by saturating our minds with the Word of God day by day.
Second tip is to pray. As Jesus taught us how to pray, He said in Luke 11, 4, and lead us not into temptation. You know, prayer is a wonderful gift that God gives to us. It enables us in the privacy of our own minds and hearts to develop our rapport and relationship with Jesus who redeemed us from our sins.
There's nothing more intimate in developing a relationship with the Lord than in prayer. The more we apply ourselves to prayer, the more intimately we become connected to Jesus. And when we are connected intimately to Jesus, then He by His Spirit renews our minds. A third tip for renewing our minds is to focus on Godly thoughts.
Focus on Godly thoughts. Listen to what Paul writes in Philippians 4, verse 8. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable. If there is any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Now let's understand that in the context of our daily life. Throughout the entirety of our waking hours, we are bombarded with thousands and thousands of thoughts, and most of those thoughts are worldly thoughts. How do we offset the world's influence from those thoughts? We do it by focusing on those things that are uplifting.
We do it by focusing on that which is good and right and pure and true. And the more we discipline our minds to think that way, the more we renew our minds and become more like crimes. And then the fourth tip I would give you this morning is this. Hang out with Godly people.
Hang out with Godly people. Proverbs 27, 17 says, iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another. What's most important for you and me today is that we surround ourselves with brothers and sisters in Christ who have a passion for Jesus and a love for His Word. When we hang around those kinds of people, we are lifted up in Christ.
Conversely, if we hang around those who are nominally Christian or not Christians, over time we find ourselves being dragged down. In fact, the Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1533, do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. And I can attest to that as being very true.
Now I'm not talking here about the fact that we should have non-Christian friends and acquaintances. We should. We should go out of our way to have non-Christian friends so that we have the opportunity to be effective witnesses to them with respect to the gospel. What I'm referring to here is that inner circle of people that has your ear.
Those are the people that need to be strong and mature believers who can build into our lives the truths of Scripture and lift us up above where we might otherwise be. So those are just a few ways, I think the most important ways, that we can renew our mind. And when we do, then we'll be able to do what Paul says. To discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
So first, be transformed by the renewal of your minds. And then second, be transformed by being loving. Now for the next three points we're going to be walking through verses 9-21. And we're going to identify three key themes, the first being loving.
So let's look together now at verses 9-21. You can follow along as I read. Paul writes, let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
Live one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit.
Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints. And seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.
Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil. But give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves. But leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord.
To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by so doing you will keep burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Remember back in verse 1, Paul urged just to live lives that are holy and pleasing to God. Now Paul is giving us specifics on how to live holy and pleasing lives. And first, we are to be transformed into those who are holy and pleasing by being people of love. Verse 9 says, let love be genuine.
That is, without hypocrisy. You may recall that being a hypocrite is to say one thing but do something entirely different. In other words, what Paul is telling us to do here is to really be people of love, not just claim to be people of love. We should really love God.
We should really love the church. We should really love one another and others. In verse 10, Paul gives us a picture of what it looks like to love each other. He says this, love one another deeply as brothers and sisters.
Take the lead in honoring one another. That's from the Christian standard translation. Now, sometimes brothers and sisters don't always get along. But when they truly love each other, they seek to reconcile.
They come together and are made stronger through the Christian bond of love. And also, Paul says, we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. In other words, we are to feel what our brothers and sisters feel. We are to be tender-hearted toward those who suffer because we love each other as members of God's eternal family.
And then next, we are to be transformed by being humble. Transform by being humble. I think verse 16 makes this very clear. It says, do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.
Paul is saying here, not only are we not to be proud, but we shouldn't even hang out with those who are proud. Rather, we should hang out or associate with the humble. I said it before, and I'll say it again here, if you want to be more like Jesus, surround yourself with people who are more like Jesus. When it comes to humility, Paul also says in verse 13, share with the saints in their needs.
Pursue hospitality. Verse 16, never be wise in your own sight. Verse 17, repay no one evil for evil. Give thought to do what is honorable.
You see, Paul is very concerned with us understanding that the person who is transformed by Jesus Christ is a person of humility. Think back to your life before Christ. When you were living in the unregenerate communion of people. What was your life like?
What were your thoughts? What were your pursuits? Who was most important in your life at that time? You see, sinners are selfish.
Sinners seek to prove themselves right. Sinners try to get their way. Sinners are concerned primarily with themselves, but not so the followers of Jesus. They are transformed.
They are selfless. They are humble. They seek the good of others. And then finally, Paul tells us to be transformed by being peaceful.
You know, the New Testament has a lot to say about peace. In fact, Romans 12 has a lot to say about peace itself. You know what Paul says regarding us being transformed by being people of peace. Verse 12, we are to be patient in tribulation.
Verse 14, we are to bless those who persecute us. We are to bless them and not curse them. Verse 16, we are to live in harmony with one another. Verse 17, Paul says, do not repay anyone evil for evil.
He goes on to say, give thought to what is honorable in the sight of all. And then in verse 18, Paul is very clear. He says, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. And then in verse 19, he says, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.
I mean, could it be any planer that God desires for us to be people of peace? And the reason he wants us to be people of peace is because Jesus himself was the great peacemaker. He came into this world to establish peace between the human creation that had turned away from God. And we are now at enmity with God.
He came that we might have peace with God through a relationship that would begin with Christ himself. We are called to be peacemakers. We are called to be people of peace. And one of the sure signs of being a person of peace is that we are transformed by Jesus himself to be peacemakers, taking on the qualities of Christ himself in our own lives.
Well then, Paul includes verse 20, which I have to say right out the front here is rather odd to me. And it might be rather odd to you as well. But let's look at verses 19 and 20 again. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.
For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. Do the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For by so doing you will keep burning coals on his head. There it is. You will keep burning coals on his head. What in the world is all that about?
That seems kind of strange, doesn't it? Put that right there. You will keep burning coals on his head. Well, there are some that say that this means you will basically set your enemy's heads on fire.
Now, if that was true, if that's the correct interpretation, we'd all have to carry fires thing which is where this is where we went, right? But that's not the right interpretation of what Paul is trying to say. Others point to an ancient Egyptian practice where a person would show their repentance by carrying a pan of hot coals on their head. Now, if you lived in Minnesota in February, that might be okay.
But I don't think that's what Paul had in mind either. I think what Paul had in mind is this. What I did is that our enemies will be ashamed of how they treat us if we in turn treat them with respect and kindness. You want to know if Jesus is really working that transformation in you?
It's by being kind and friendly and loving to the very one who has just disparaged you. The person who says bad things about you. The person who hurts you with their words. If we can respond to that situation with love and peace and kindness, we know that God is working transformation in our lives.
Now, that particular interpretation agrees with what Peter said in 1 Peter 3 verses 15 and 16, and there we read this, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. There it is.
That's what it means to keep coals on someone's head. It's that your response, your life, is a life of integrity responding in the love of Christ to the very one who seeks to hurt you. And in so doing, they are put to shame and convicted by their own wrongful acts. So here's what we can conclude.
We are to be people of peace. We are to let God deal with those who do wrong. We are to love our enemies so much that they are ashamed when they treat us poorly. Of course, we all know that this type of behavior does not come naturally.
This is how someone lives when they are truly transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we are transformed by being renewed. We are transformed by being loving. We are transformed by being humble.
And we are transformed by being peaceful. So here's the bottom line. Live as a transformed person. Don't be like you once were.
Be transformed by the power of God through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, manifest it through the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in your heart. As I close, I want to give you a challenge. And the challenge is this. Pick one verse from Romans 12, 1 and 2, or 9 through 21.
Pick one verse. And then ask God this week to help you employ it in your life, to begin to live it out. And then pick one transformative act and apply that in your life this week as well. You'll be amazed at what God will do.
God always honors those who seek to honor Him by being faithful to His Word. So I encourage you with that challenge. And then the next week and the week after that build upon what you started this week. And the Lord will do a wonderful redeeming, sanctifying work in your heart and mind to become more like Jesus.
That's the big idea of the Christian life, our sanctification. That's the will of God for your life and for mine, our sanctification. Living a life of godly transformation to the glory of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Let's pray.
Lord, thank you so much for your word. And indeed, Lord, your word can oftentimes be quite challenging. It is also quite convicting, but at the same time it's enriching and a rich source of tremendous blessing to us. I ask Lord Jesus that you would give each one of us the ability to become increasingly day by day the people that you've called us to be.
Help us to be more like our Lord and Savior. Help us to be people who are renewed in mind, who are renewed and transformed by being loving, humble and peaceful. We ask this now in Jesus' name, amen. Would you please stand now and let's sing together when I survey the wondrous cross?