1 00:00:00,540 --> 00:00:02,120 Well, good morning out west. 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:07,020 Glory, glory. Hallelujah. God is good. Amen. 3 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:14,780 My name is Jay Miller, and I, again, just incredibly humbled. I'm incredibly honored to be 4 00:00:14,820 --> 00:00:18,780 able to stand before everybody and speak on the word of God and share in his word this morning. 5 00:00:19,580 --> 00:00:23,600 My family and I usually reside right over there in that section at church here. 6 00:00:23,980 --> 00:00:27,920 And we, I'm also affiliated with a group that's called Man Time. 7 00:00:28,180 --> 00:00:29,800 And I'm going to take just a couple of seconds. 8 00:00:29,860 --> 00:00:31,580 since I have the microphone to plug it. 9 00:00:32,419 --> 00:00:35,480 If you've not been to man time, I would highly encourage it. 10 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,920 There are two genders, and which is a men's group. 11 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:40,660 That is it. 12 00:00:41,220 --> 00:00:44,100 So if you are a man, we would love to have you join us. 13 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:46,520 And the purpose of man time is pretty simple. 14 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:52,340 Our objective is simply that we create and foster a community of men in an environment 15 00:00:52,540 --> 00:00:53,900 where we can be honest with one another. 16 00:00:54,380 --> 00:00:57,000 We can deal with the struggles that maybe we're walking out as men. 17 00:00:57,420 --> 00:00:59,820 And really, we just have an encouragement in other men. 18 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,980 men there to lift us up. Talk through some of those issues. It turns out that we've got some 19 00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:08,220 guys in there that have been through some things. And so if you're struggling, there's a guy in there 20 00:01:08,300 --> 00:01:12,460 that I can almost guarantee who has struggled with something similar and can be a support 21 00:01:12,660 --> 00:01:18,600 mechanism for you. So Monday nights at 7 p.m. We meet at guns in gear. And we meet in the 22 00:01:18,860 --> 00:01:23,280 upstairs room. There's a little, I guess, banquet type room up there. So I encourage any man 23 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,840 is welcome to join. It costs nothing. We would love to have you Monday nights at 7 p.m. 24 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:35,880 So my title today of a message is it's called God can't steer a parked car. 25 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,040 And we're going to be in the book of Romans. 26 00:01:39,740 --> 00:01:41,520 I want to take just a couple of moments, though. 27 00:01:41,740 --> 00:01:43,380 Actually, I got to start my timer. 28 00:01:43,740 --> 00:01:46,380 Forgive me because otherwise I don't know where I'm at. 29 00:01:47,460 --> 00:01:48,280 So bear with me. 30 00:01:52,740 --> 00:01:59,260 I think it's important to talk a little bit about the history and outline of each of the books. 31 00:01:59,580 --> 00:02:06,380 And the reason is because I often hear this idea that, or that's a phrase, rather, called Bible stories. 32 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,060 This is a Bible story or it's, you know, the story in the Bible. 33 00:02:12,060 --> 00:02:13,960 And the reality is that the Bible is more than just some stories. 34 00:02:14,700 --> 00:02:21,080 That idea really feeds into a secular narrative that something about this book is outdated, 35 00:02:21,540 --> 00:02:23,740 antiquated, or not relevant in today's culture. 36 00:02:24,140 --> 00:02:26,420 And that couldn't be further from the truth. 37 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,020 Not only is this the holy written, 38 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:37,000 Word, living word of God. But it also happens to be one of the most historically accurate texts that we have today. 39 00:02:37,180 --> 00:02:41,560 So even if you just looked at this thing and said, I'm going to look at it from purely a historical 40 00:02:41,980 --> 00:02:47,320 perspective, you could glean so much information and knowledge out of that. And as each 41 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:52,840 archaeological dig keeps coming forward, it just keeps confirming more and more that what is written 42 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:59,040 in this book is accurate and true. So I just want to dive into Romans for just a second. 43 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:06,920 The book of Romans was written by the bond servant Paul. Now, Paul was formerly Saul of Tarsus, 44 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:14,720 and Saul of Tarsus was a Roman citizen. He was also a very devout Pharisee, which means that he was not a 45 00:03:14,900 --> 00:03:20,220 fan of Jesus when he was in the pharicical group. He was trained by some of the greatest leaders of the 46 00:03:20,580 --> 00:03:25,340 Jewish faith, some of the greatest minds that were in existence at the time. And he's also pretty 47 00:03:25,540 --> 00:03:29,040 notorious as a guy who was systematically persecuting. He was trained. 48 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:34,600 and killing Christians, new believers at the time of Jesus, as they were coming in, right? 49 00:03:34,740 --> 00:03:41,680 And that whole era was starting to unfold. Now, I find it really ironic that this same man, 50 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:50,160 Saul, God also used to write 13 epistles in make up most of the New Testament today. 51 00:03:50,620 --> 00:03:55,400 So when you think about, man, in my life, I have done this or I've done that. 52 00:03:55,500 --> 00:03:59,000 This is a guy that was adamantly against Jesus and everything he stood. 53 00:03:59,060 --> 00:04:03,220 for. And then he used him to write the majority of the New Testament, which was pretty remarkable. 54 00:04:04,900 --> 00:04:09,400 Paul was at one of the original 12, but he did have a personal encounter with Jesus on his road to 55 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:15,240 Damascus. And this would have been about 32 or 33 AD. And then after this interaction that he had, 56 00:04:15,340 --> 00:04:22,580 he immediately began in his service to the Lord. And that service was largely defined by missions trips 57 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:29,000 where he was walking and traveling and going through modern day Syria, Greece, Turkey, so that 58 00:04:29,020 --> 00:04:30,140 He could spread the gospel. 59 00:04:30,340 --> 00:04:32,540 And now you can read all about this in the book of Acts. 60 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:34,500 If you have the time, I would highly suggest it. 61 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,100 The book of Romans was likely written towards the end of his third mission's journey. 62 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,120 This would have been around 56 AD. 63 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:48,300 So this text that we're going to read comes 20-something years after his initial 64 00:04:48,500 --> 00:04:54,720 encounter with Jesus and after his initial, you know, just giving in to the Lord for what the 65 00:04:54,940 --> 00:04:55,720 Lord wanted for him. 66 00:04:56,780 --> 00:04:58,980 Romans can be broken up a couple of different ways. 67 00:04:58,980 --> 00:05:03,560 but the MacArthur is the what I study. And it has the greeting in the theme in the beginning. 68 00:05:28,740 --> 00:05:28,780 It talks about the need for God's righteousness. It talks about the provision of God's righteousness. 69 00:05:28,780 --> 00:05:28,960 skip to the end for the good stuff. So that's where we're going to start today. We're going to be 70 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:30,660 11, verse 36. 71 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:34,640 And before we jump into the word, the reading of the word, we should go ahead and pray. 72 00:05:34,820 --> 00:05:40,340 Father God, I'm just so grateful to be here, Lord. 73 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,060 And I'm honored and humbled by your word. 74 00:05:43,260 --> 00:05:46,940 I pray, Lord, that you would enter and you would fill this room, that you would fill this 75 00:05:47,140 --> 00:05:51,640 space, that this word would speak to hearts and minds that need a message, Lord, 76 00:05:51,900 --> 00:05:53,580 a message that comes directly from you. 77 00:05:54,060 --> 00:05:58,860 I pray to be a conduit for that message and that my delivery would be helpful. 78 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,640 and hopeful for somebody, but not in my name in your name only, Lord. We thank you so much for the 79 00:06:03,900 --> 00:06:09,560 opportunity to come together. We thank you so much for your word, and it is in your son, Jesus' name, that we pray. 80 00:06:09,900 --> 00:06:22,380 Amen. So starting in verse, or chapter 11, Romans 11, verse 36. For of him and through him and to him are all things, 81 00:06:22,900 --> 00:06:28,920 to whom be glory forever. Amen. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy. By the 82 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:35,900 of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your 83 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:42,660 reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your 84 00:06:42,940 --> 00:06:50,040 mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 85 00:06:51,740 --> 00:06:57,140 Our message starts with a really simple declaration. God is everything. 86 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:06,740 In 1136, for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. 87 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:12,180 And really, we could just end right there. So we're packing it up. We're all done. Have a nice day. 88 00:07:12,860 --> 00:07:19,660 Just kidding. So the ESV translation reads, for from him and through him are all things. 89 00:07:20,220 --> 00:07:27,340 The very essence of everything that we know and also everything we don't know is formed and it lives in God. 90 00:07:27,980 --> 00:07:32,800 God created all of the physical universe that we see, the stars, the planets, the mountains, 91 00:07:33,340 --> 00:07:38,280 the oceans. This is the very first line of Genesis. In the beginning, God created. 92 00:07:39,060 --> 00:07:44,660 For context, in the physical sense, I thought I would look up a little bit about space, 93 00:07:44,820 --> 00:07:50,420 because space is a really big concept, right? And just to get a size context of God's ability, 94 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,760 I thought it would be good to look at our galaxy alone, which is the Milky Way galaxy. 95 00:07:54,940 --> 00:07:57,220 Now, I'm not an astronomer, so please forgive me a finish. 96 00:07:57,260 --> 00:07:59,300 any scientists in the room and I get something wrong. 97 00:07:59,460 --> 00:08:04,880 But from what I found, from end to end, the Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light years. 98 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:06,120 And I didn't know what that meant. 99 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:13,280 So to put that in miles, that's about 6 trillion miles filled with billions of stars. 100 00:08:13,540 --> 00:08:23,700 A quick Google search will tell you that astronomers estimate that there's around 200 trillion billion stars in the observable universe for whatever that means to you. 101 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,180 And now this is across two trillion galaxy. 102 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:35,860 All of this is at the hand of God. All of it. Every single piece. Kind of like our federal deficit. 103 00:08:36,820 --> 00:08:41,860 He also created the things that we don't see. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul tells us in 104 00:08:42,060 --> 00:08:47,580 chapter 1, verse 16, for by him, all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth. 105 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:55,200 Visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principles or powers, all things were created 106 00:08:55,740 --> 00:09:01,540 through him and for him. So God created everything we see in the physical. And equally is important, 107 00:09:01,700 --> 00:09:07,300 God created everything we see that, or excuse me, everything that we cannot see. This would be all the 108 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:14,460 systems that we adhere to in our lives, rules of physics, laws. This would be rise and fall of 109 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:20,620 governments. This would be all of the battles and the wars and all of their outcomes. And as well as both on 110 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,160 earth and spiritually, all of our known history and everything that we pretend, 111 00:09:25,180 --> 00:09:34,120 to know, is all known by God. It's all in, it's all for God and it's all for his glory. And most importantly, 112 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:39,880 that includes us, right? And this is where we come down to. Right. So God is this massive piece. 113 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:45,120 He created the universe. And then we come down to little bitty us. And I don't know about you, 114 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,520 but that makes me feel incredibly small when I think about the size and the scope of the universe. 115 00:09:53,360 --> 00:10:00,820 Every single person in this room was a specific creation for God, or by God, excuse me. 116 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:04,700 And God has a plan for your life. 117 00:10:04,820 --> 00:10:06,700 Every single person in this room, mine included. 118 00:10:06,940 --> 00:10:12,300 God created us in our physical bodies, but I think also important to recognize is this 119 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:16,640 idea of the unseen. God created us in the unseen. He created our souls. I've been struck 120 00:10:17,180 --> 00:10:20,900 with this idea about the difference between soul and body over the last couple of weeks, 121 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,080 really since the beginning of the year. And it's started. 122 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:28,440 with a book that was gifted to me by a friend. And it was Pastor Gordon's book. It's no accident. 123 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:34,760 He talks a lot about the idea of body and soul. And then a couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with 124 00:10:35,100 --> 00:10:39,760 Steve. And Steve asked me a very pointed question. He said, when you look around, do you see people 125 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:47,880 as bodies or souls? And I didn't really have a very good answer to that question. And then as I was 126 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:53,060 preparing for today, I came across this verse and it was really fairly random. But 127 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:54,840 The verse is Jeremiah 1-5. 128 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,700 And it says, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. 129 00:11:00,540 --> 00:11:07,660 And so it struck me because this idea, before I formed you, would mean that before he 130 00:11:07,900 --> 00:11:13,460 formed us in the physical sense, he knew us, which stands to reason that our soul had been 131 00:11:13,700 --> 00:11:14,100 created. 132 00:11:14,300 --> 00:11:17,620 Our objective and our missions in life had been created for him. 133 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,760 So I certainly won't be the defining answer on that one way or the other. 134 00:11:21,900 --> 00:11:23,840 but that's why this is the living word of God. 135 00:11:24,180 --> 00:11:28,920 Either way, we know that the eternal soul is critically important to God. 136 00:11:29,620 --> 00:11:31,580 We know that it's incredibly important to him. 137 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:36,160 So if everything we see and everything we do not see is for God's glory, 138 00:11:36,420 --> 00:11:39,080 that includes our souls and our bodies. 139 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:43,560 And like all of the things in creation, we were created to honor him. 140 00:11:44,180 --> 00:11:47,460 We were created to accept him for who he is and honor him. 141 00:11:47,540 --> 00:11:49,520 And that's this first step along our journey, right? 142 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:50,700 We've kind of got some steps. 143 00:11:50,980 --> 00:11:51,720 I'm a big four-step. 144 00:11:51,760 --> 00:12:00,620 guy. The first step is recognizing and accepting the fact that God is all things. He is the master and 145 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:05,680 the creator of our lives. Now, perhaps there's somebody here today. And it's your first time in church. 146 00:12:05,780 --> 00:12:10,520 And this is really heavy. And I'm sorry. But if you're in that space where you're unsure about 147 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:17,320 accepting God for who he is, truly for who he is, there's always this group of people that reside right here 148 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,720 after service. And if I may, please, can I encourage you just go talk to him? Even if you're 149 00:12:21,740 --> 00:12:23,620 you're not ready to accept that fact. 150 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:28,840 Even if you just have questions, can I encourage you to talk to somebody about it and they 151 00:12:28,940 --> 00:12:30,120 can help answer those questions. 152 00:12:30,220 --> 00:12:33,240 And if they don't have the answers, I'm sure they can help find them. 153 00:12:34,260 --> 00:12:39,340 And the reason it's so important to have this first recognition and acceptance of who 154 00:12:39,500 --> 00:12:42,740 God is is because it makes these next lines so much easier. 155 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:44,060 There is a wait. 156 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,700 When I came to Jesus about 10 years ago, a little more than 10 years. 157 00:12:48,820 --> 00:12:49,800 No, about 10 years ago. 158 00:12:50,300 --> 00:12:54,720 When I came to Jesus 10 years ago, there was a weight that was lifted off my shoulder that I really 159 00:12:55,020 --> 00:13:01,220 cannot describe for you. I don't have the words. And there was a feeling that just washed over me of 160 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:07,100 peace and comfort. And in addition to that, when we're talking about this next line, it will make it 161 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:12,720 so much easier when we think of it in this context, particularly this idea between body and soul. 162 00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:20,260 So continuing in Romans 12.1, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you 163 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:27,600 present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 164 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:36,820 Beseech. I beseech you. It's not a simple, polite suggestion. This is a strong urging. 165 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:42,780 The Greek root for this word is the same root in a word that Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit. 166 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:50,240 This is a strong urging of his brothers. I beseech you, therefore, this is why I had to include 1130. 167 00:13:50,260 --> 00:13:57,780 therefore would be in reference to that previous line, that God is all things. By the mercies of God, 168 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:05,220 what are the mercies of God? We've all been given the gift. Everybody here who chooses to 169 00:14:05,380 --> 00:14:11,920 accept it. How has it played out in your life? If I may, can I encourage you to think about that as 170 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:18,800 we walk through these next couple of verses? Think about the way that God's mercy has shown itself. 171 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:23,140 I've heard many times that mercy is not getting what I deserve. 172 00:14:23,580 --> 00:14:26,120 And the truth of the matter is I know what I deserve. 173 00:14:26,300 --> 00:14:27,480 I really know what I deserve. 174 00:14:28,140 --> 00:14:28,980 It's not good. 175 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,640 And biblically, we're all in that same boat, right? 176 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,380 But not only has God decide to show me mercy, 177 00:14:37,820 --> 00:14:39,800 and not only has he given me mercy upon my life, 178 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,920 but he's gone above and beyond and he's offered me additional gifts, 179 00:14:43,060 --> 00:14:45,580 and he offers them to all who ask of him. 180 00:14:45,980 --> 00:14:48,360 He's offered the gift of righteousness, the gift of faith, 181 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:54,700 the gift of grace. In earlier in Romans, Paul speaks of these gifts that he gave. In Romans 3, 182 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:01,680 verses 22 and 23, Paul says, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, 183 00:15:01,980 --> 00:15:08,040 to all and on all who believe, for there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the 184 00:15:08,140 --> 00:15:14,840 glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 185 00:15:16,340 --> 00:15:17,720 All these gifts he gives freely. 186 00:15:18,420 --> 00:15:24,160 all he desires in return is our faith in him, our belief in him and our commitment to him. 187 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:30,860 And if these three gifts weren't enough, he went a step further and he modeled the demonstration of love. 188 00:15:33,180 --> 00:15:39,860 I'm not sure that I truly comprehended what love meant until I knew Jesus personally. 189 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:44,780 I'm not sure that I had the secular view, the world view of love, right? 190 00:15:44,940 --> 00:15:47,500 But I'm not sure that I really understood in my heart. 191 00:15:47,540 --> 00:15:50,820 what that actually meant until I knew who Jesus was. 192 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,680 Most of us have likely come across the verse, John 316, 193 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,520 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, 194 00:15:58,860 --> 00:16:01,820 that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. 195 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:06,320 God sent his son to atone for our sins on the cross so that we might be with him in eternity. 196 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:12,680 But even in this human life, this fleshly form we're currently living right now. 197 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,200 God demonstrates love. And he serves as a model that we, 198 00:16:17,700 --> 00:16:22,460 should strive to, I guess, what's the word I'm looking for? 199 00:16:23,260 --> 00:16:26,880 Imitate. There we go. In Romans 8, verse 39, Paul writes, 200 00:16:27,300 --> 00:16:31,760 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, 201 00:16:32,060 --> 00:16:36,220 nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, 202 00:16:36,380 --> 00:16:41,380 nor any other thing created shall be able to separate us from the love of God, 203 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:46,240 which is in Christ, Jesus, our Lord. His love knows, no ends. 204 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:51,340 There's no depths, no end to the depths. So when we go back and we read this very first 205 00:16:51,460 --> 00:16:55,880 section of this verse of Romans 1, we shouldn't gloss over the magnitude of this idea of 206 00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:02,300 mercies of God. Paul is encouraging his fellow believers, but you might think of it in this way. 207 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:08,199 I'm urging you, my fellow believers, in the memory in the name of all that God has ever done for you 208 00:17:08,300 --> 00:17:13,180 in your life, redeeming you from all the sin you've ever committed in your life, taking the punishment 209 00:17:13,339 --> 00:17:16,480 that you deserved, and then on top of that, freely choose. 210 00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:24,260 to give you abundance and blessings. And with this in mind, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. 211 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:32,880 Love is a choice. Sacrifice is a choice. He chooses to love us and he chose to sacrifice for us. 212 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:41,200 He wants us to choose to love him. Is your love for him strong enough to make some sacrifices in 213 00:17:41,260 --> 00:17:46,460 your life? That's a question we all have to ask ourselves. So we're to present. 214 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,240 Our bodies as a living sacrifice. 215 00:17:50,660 --> 00:17:52,980 What exactly is meant by living sacrifice here? 216 00:17:53,300 --> 00:17:54,340 It's a good question. 217 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:56,700 Last weekend, I don't know if you all know this or not, 218 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:57,520 but there was this thing. 219 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:58,560 It was called the Super Bowl. 220 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:00,040 It's pretty big game. 221 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:00,900 I hear it's popular. 222 00:18:02,780 --> 00:18:05,340 I don't really particularly care about the Super Bowl, 223 00:18:05,460 --> 00:18:08,120 but what I do love is Super Bowl snacks. 224 00:18:08,860 --> 00:18:09,500 I'm a big fan. 225 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,000 And my dad kills it on the Super Bowl snack front. 226 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:14,680 I mean, we had the works, 227 00:18:15,260 --> 00:18:16,380 stuffed mushrooms, meat, 228 00:18:16,460 --> 00:18:24,500 balls, little smokies, lots of chips in caseo for me. And in all reality, I was struggling on Monday 229 00:18:24,900 --> 00:18:31,540 after the Super Bowl. I mean, I straight up sacrificed my body for Super Bowl snacks. 230 00:18:33,060 --> 00:18:40,600 Sacrifice. So if this is what is men, I'm all in, right? I don't think that this is what Paul 231 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:46,420 is intending here. I don't think that this is what he is speaking of. We're going to look at sacrifice in 232 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,900 the Bible, biblically, where sacrifice and what it is, but it comes a little bit easier, again, 233 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:56,980 going back to this idea of souls versus bodies. If we can acknowledge and you've surrendered and 234 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:02,680 accepted this fact that we are a soul created by God, it makes the whole sacrifice part of the 235 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:10,080 body a little bit easier because the world tends to prioritize the physical body. And we see the physical 236 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:15,860 body in the flesh. So naturally, we would tend to prioritize that. It takes continuous thought and 237 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:22,440 awareness to see ourselves and everyone else around us as a soul. That's an effort. It's a, you have to work at that. 238 00:19:22,820 --> 00:19:27,540 But it does make the sacrifice a little bit easier, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4, 239 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:35,080 4, verse 17 and 18, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for a far more 240 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:40,100 exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, 241 00:19:40,500 --> 00:19:45,840 but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are 242 00:19:45,860 --> 00:19:52,620 not seen are eternal. Paul challenges us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. And God 243 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:59,960 will bless your sacrifice. He always does. He comes through. The idea of sacrifice goes all the way 244 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:05,920 back to the offspring of Adam and Eve in Genesis 4. Kane and Abel both brought sacrifices. 245 00:20:06,340 --> 00:20:11,480 One was accepted. One was not because of a heart issue. Noah made an altar after the flood 246 00:20:11,780 --> 00:20:15,680 as a sacrifice to God, going all the way back to Noah. But I would argue, 247 00:20:15,700 --> 00:20:21,140 and submit to you that Noah's sacrifice came well before the altar. I mean, here's a lunatic building a 248 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,960 ship the size of a football field when there was no rain. And everybody's like, you're crazy, Noah. 249 00:20:26,380 --> 00:20:32,480 That took sacrifice. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son simply because he trusted the 250 00:20:33,340 --> 00:20:39,420 Lord, plain and simple. He knew that he knew, that he knew that God would bless whatever the outcome was 251 00:20:39,500 --> 00:20:45,420 of that sacrifice. There were five types of sacrifices are offering in the Levittical Law of Moses. 252 00:20:46,020 --> 00:20:51,940 I won't get into them, but the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, 253 00:20:52,100 --> 00:20:55,700 and the trespass offering, were all a part of the Levittical law. 254 00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:01,040 Three of them mandatory, two of them mandatory, and three of them voluntary. 255 00:21:01,380 --> 00:21:04,940 And they all required a sacrifice in order to commit to them. 256 00:21:05,060 --> 00:21:05,840 And they were a process. 257 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,940 If you want to learn about them, just read the first several chapters of Leviticus. 258 00:21:09,940 --> 00:21:10,620 It's good stuff. 259 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:12,140 It should make you thankful for Jesus. 260 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,500 There's so many other fantastic examples. 261 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:20,980 of sacrifice in the Bible and ways that God has blessed it. But there are also examples of failed 262 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:28,020 sacrifice in the Bible that God didn't necessarily bless. King Saul in the Old Testament had a few 263 00:21:28,140 --> 00:21:35,140 tough moments. One comes to mind particularly in 1 Samuel 15. Saul's commanded to kill King 264 00:21:35,420 --> 00:21:41,260 Agag and he's commanded to kill all the Amalekites and he's commanded to literally wipe everything 265 00:21:41,420 --> 00:21:45,480 off the face, right? Done with them. In verse 3, the Lord says, 266 00:21:45,500 --> 00:21:51,100 said, now go attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and do not spare them. 267 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:57,160 So Saul mostly did what he was commanded to do, but he did end up sparing King Agag 268 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,700 and he also spared the best of a livestock for his men to keep. 269 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:07,760 Then he took that livestock and he made a sacrifice in his mind to the Lord that he thought 270 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:08,500 would be accepted. 271 00:22:09,260 --> 00:22:12,840 When Samuel, the prophet returned, he expressed the Lord's anger and stated something that we 272 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:15,340 should all take to heart as we're thinking about. 273 00:22:15,780 --> 00:22:21,760 our sacrifice and what it is we're sacrificing. In verse 22, Samuel said, which pleases the Lord more, 274 00:22:22,420 --> 00:22:30,000 burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obeying his commands? Is it better to obey the Lord than to offer, 275 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:36,160 it is better to obey the Lord than to offer sacrifices to him. It is better to listen to him than to 276 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:44,860 offer the fat of Rams. Refusing to obey is as bad as the sin of sorcery. Being stubborn and doing 277 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:50,800 what you want is like the sin of worshipping idols. You refused to obey the Lord's command. So now he 278 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:59,560 refuses to accept you as king. I genuinely believe in my heart of hearts that obedience is what God 279 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:06,340 wants. That's the sacrifice. It's just obedience. Obedience to his will. And when we are obedient to his 280 00:23:06,500 --> 00:23:13,280 will, it's likely going to mean that we have to sacrifice something. I don't know what that is for each person in this room, 281 00:23:13,340 --> 00:23:15,680 but it's going to happen more often than not. 282 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,260 It might mean sacrificing just a simple worldly thing that you want. 283 00:23:19,940 --> 00:23:24,540 It might mean sacrificing certain friends that you know are leading you down a path 284 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:25,920 that you don't want to go anymore. 285 00:23:26,700 --> 00:23:31,060 It might mean that you choose to abstain from doing certain things that feel really, 286 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:36,260 really good to the flesh, like a screen, men, not calling that out for any particular reason. 287 00:23:37,060 --> 00:23:39,700 Obedience doesn't always have to be negative, though. 288 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,220 Most of you are probably not giant sinners like me. 289 00:23:42,500 --> 00:23:47,580 So for most of you, it's probably something like, God might be leading you to start a small 290 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:54,040 group. God might be leading you to serve somewhere in the church or attack kidsmen. 291 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:59,100 We know that that is a big thing. In Man's time, we covered this idea of something called the 292 00:23:59,260 --> 00:24:04,420 inverted gospel this last week. And it really struck a chord with me because I've been guilty of it 293 00:24:04,660 --> 00:24:11,099 so many times in my life. I know that I need Jesus. And I know how important he is in every aspect of 294 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:20,080 my life. But all too often as Christians, how often do we invite Jesus to come along? But we say, I invite you to be 295 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:27,720 behind me or right next to me, not always that I'm inviting you so that I can follow where it is that you 296 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,700 want me to go. That's the idea of the inverted gospel. We know we need Jesus, but we don't always want to 297 00:24:32,820 --> 00:24:38,560 live by his will and what he wants for us in our lives. I've been guilty. I've been guilty. 298 00:24:38,740 --> 00:24:41,080 And obedience might feel like we have difficult moments. We know we have difficult moments. 299 00:24:41,660 --> 00:24:43,240 but God will bless your obedience. 300 00:24:43,540 --> 00:24:46,960 James 125, the half-brother of Jesus tells us this. 301 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:51,600 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it, 302 00:24:51,900 --> 00:24:55,660 not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it, they will be blessed in what they do. 303 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,960 I believe that the two run in correlation, the greater to the obedience, the greater, 304 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,000 the blessing, truly greater the blessing. 305 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:07,640 Now, I want to make a quick note, this is not to be confused with salvation. 306 00:25:08,580 --> 00:25:09,940 You cannot earn your salvation. 307 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,440 That is a gift. It's truly a gift from God. 308 00:25:13,660 --> 00:25:19,420 But once you've received that gift, God will bless you in your obedience to him once you've 309 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:26,100 received it. I beseech you, brothers, by the mercy of God, present your body as a living 310 00:25:26,260 --> 00:25:31,720 sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 311 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:33,260 It's Paul's closing statement. 312 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:38,240 The Greek word for reasonable here is meant the word is logic. 313 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:38,880 Right. 314 00:25:39,100 --> 00:25:40,440 So in Paul's mind, there's a reasonable. 315 00:25:40,460 --> 00:25:46,420 only one logical solution with everything that God has done. Everything he is and everything he's done for us 316 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:52,440 in our lives. There is one logical conclusion that we have, which is to be obedient to his word. 317 00:25:52,540 --> 00:26:00,980 That is our reasonable service. Oftentimes we as believers, we say we're willing to die for 318 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:07,060 Jesus. I've been known to say that, and especially in the whole ISIS things and what's going around, 319 00:26:07,140 --> 00:26:10,400 right? I'd be willing to die for Jesus. But my question and my challenge, 320 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:15,680 for everybody and myself included is, great, are you willing to live for Jesus? 321 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,820 Are you willing to live as he wants you to live? 322 00:26:19,940 --> 00:26:22,420 Not as I want to live in the flesh? 323 00:26:23,340 --> 00:26:24,900 It's something that we all have to contend with. 324 00:26:25,020 --> 00:26:28,860 So first we accept God for who he really is. 325 00:26:29,620 --> 00:26:30,800 And then we surrender, right? 326 00:26:30,900 --> 00:26:35,180 The next step in this process is we surrender to his will for our lives. 327 00:26:35,260 --> 00:26:38,260 And we present ourselves as a living sacrifice. 328 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:42,060 And once we've done this, we have to walk it out daily. 329 00:26:43,100 --> 00:26:44,060 We have to walk it out daily. 330 00:26:44,540 --> 00:26:48,520 And we pick that up in verse 2 here in chapter 12 of Romans. 331 00:26:49,060 --> 00:26:51,360 And do not be conformed to this world. 332 00:26:52,980 --> 00:26:53,520 Walk it out. 333 00:26:54,540 --> 00:26:56,340 Pastor Scott, he spoke about this last week. 334 00:26:56,420 --> 00:27:01,120 He spoke of the devil being, or excuse me, Jesus being tempted by the devil for 40 days. 335 00:27:02,980 --> 00:27:06,380 This place, this world, this is his playground. 336 00:27:07,100 --> 00:27:08,280 And now if you have committed to, 337 00:27:08,300 --> 00:27:14,640 to steps one and two. Like if you've gone down that path, you've accepted God for who he is and you have 338 00:27:14,940 --> 00:27:23,160 surrendered your life to his will. Well, guess what? You just popped up in bright, flashing red lights 339 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:30,200 on the radar of the enemy. Because before that, he didn't really care. You were fine. You were not a threat or a 340 00:27:30,340 --> 00:27:34,460 concern. He already had you. But now that you've gone through this first and second step, 341 00:27:34,540 --> 00:27:37,760 you've done this work, you've accepted and surrendered. 342 00:27:38,540 --> 00:27:47,260 you just hit the radar and he doesn't play nice. He doesn't play nice. So do not be conformed to this world, 343 00:27:47,420 --> 00:27:53,640 which is where the devil lives. If you've surrendered your life to him, buckle up and get ready. 344 00:27:54,720 --> 00:28:01,200 One definition I found of this idea of conformed was to behave according to socially acceptable conventions or 345 00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:06,780 standards. Don't behave according to worldly acceptable standards. That's not okay. Right? 346 00:28:06,820 --> 00:28:07,940 That's what Paul's telling us here. 347 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:09,680 Don't act as the world acts. 348 00:28:10,100 --> 00:28:10,860 There's just one problem. 349 00:28:12,020 --> 00:28:14,180 Turns out things of this world are really enjoyable. 350 00:28:15,420 --> 00:28:18,220 They're fun for a time, right? 351 00:28:18,340 --> 00:28:19,160 For a period of time. 352 00:28:20,260 --> 00:28:24,600 It's difficult to live a life where we accept Jesus' words for what they are. 353 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,040 Give us this day our daily bread, right? 354 00:28:27,740 --> 00:28:35,400 I know myself, like I've been kind of a, I've learned to be more of a prepper at one point in life. 355 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,380 And then I've learned to surrender to Jesus and believe that he's going to take care of me. 356 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,980 Just one example. The world will tell you, be prepared, be prepared, be prepared. 357 00:28:45,340 --> 00:28:49,980 But Jesus has got this, right? Just one more example where it's not necessarily a bad thing. 358 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:59,680 Our world concerns often become idols, standing in between us and God, standing in between what God really 359 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:04,180 wants for our life. What worldly idols are you struggling with right now? 360 00:29:04,340 --> 00:29:05,500 I know I have lots of them. 361 00:29:07,260 --> 00:29:09,160 Paul gives us the list of worldly behaviors. 362 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:10,340 I won't go through all of them, 363 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,700 but they're found in Galatians chapter 5 versus 19 through 21, 364 00:29:14,980 --> 00:29:17,160 and their obvious sexual immorality, impurity, 365 00:29:17,340 --> 00:29:20,380 debauchity, deba, deba, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, 366 00:29:20,540 --> 00:29:21,760 selfist ambition, and he goes on. 367 00:29:22,380 --> 00:29:23,880 We know all those things, right? 368 00:29:24,100 --> 00:29:25,920 Those are the really obvious ones. 369 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:31,200 My challenge is to say, what about the not so obvious slights towards God? 370 00:29:32,580 --> 00:29:35,860 Please note that idols don't always have to be a bad thing. 371 00:29:36,780 --> 00:29:37,920 They can be a good thing. 372 00:29:38,980 --> 00:29:44,080 I can tell you from my own personal experience that I train and I run big races, 373 00:29:44,340 --> 00:29:48,920 run races, ultra-marathons, and that can become an idol for me. 374 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:54,460 God has commanded me to be the spiritual leader of my household, take care of my wife, 375 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:57,520 and take care of my family, and also be obedient to him. 376 00:29:58,100 --> 00:30:02,180 And if running becomes a problem, running in and it's a subject. 377 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:06,280 it's not a bad thing. But if it gets in the way of what God wants for my life, then it becomes an 378 00:30:06,460 --> 00:30:09,720 idol. And that's a bad thing. Right. So we have to be conscious of the good things that could be 379 00:30:10,300 --> 00:30:17,400 idols. But then also this idea of compromise. Where do we compromise on things in our life 380 00:30:17,660 --> 00:30:23,920 that we know aren't necessarily the right thing? I have a bit of a potty mouth from time to time. 381 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:30,840 And I have to correct that. I have to check it on a regular basis. I fall into a certain speech 382 00:30:30,900 --> 00:30:37,300 pattern and then I have to rip myself back out of that pattern. Right. That is conforming to the things of 383 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:42,340 this world. Another subject at Man Time that we talked about and we've talked about a lot is this idea 384 00:30:42,540 --> 00:30:48,140 of public praying when you go to a restaurant. I struggled with this for a long time. 385 00:30:48,620 --> 00:30:53,500 I really didn't do it. I didn't pray publicly over our meal. And then a guy that I work with, 386 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,800 we've been talking about it to the men of Man Time a lot because he and I made a commitment and we 387 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,800 said, we're going to pray in public. And we go to lunch. 388 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:06,180 a lot. And I'm in the advertising business. And so we go to lunch with clients a lot. Now, I don't know 389 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:12,200 where these clients stand with God. I have no idea. But we've made it a point to say, hey, we're going to 390 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:18,140 pray. And I hope that's okay because we're doing it anyway, right? We don't really know what's 391 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:23,420 going to happen. And we do it anyway. And it's been great. We've not had one complaint. 392 00:31:23,660 --> 00:31:29,440 Right. And then Steve challenged me maybe a week ago, two weeks ago, three weeks ago. I don't know. 393 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:39,780 Steve challenged and said on that conversation about souls and bodies, what he does is he asks the server their name and then ask them how he can pray for them. 394 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:47,180 And so I said, challenge accepted. And the guy that I go to lunch with a lot, he and I have started doing this where we're asking the name. 395 00:31:47,260 --> 00:31:53,520 Now, full disclosure, and I have to confess my sins. We've not done it every single time. I haven't asked every time. 396 00:31:54,240 --> 00:32:00,060 But we're trying. And we've had some really interesting responses. And so really those are the not. 397 00:32:00,100 --> 00:32:02,020 so obvious lights that we can make towards God. 398 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:07,940 When we talk about being a sacrifice, I know for myself, there's countless times where 399 00:32:07,980 --> 00:32:13,960 I've quieted the voice, right? I didn't pray or I didn't say something about Jesus when I knew 400 00:32:14,060 --> 00:32:20,060 that I should have. Oh, they'll judge you. They won't like you. They'll think you're weird, weird, 401 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:27,600 right? Jesus freak. Why do we do that? Why do we do that? It's the worldly concerns, and it's silly. 402 00:32:28,340 --> 00:32:30,060 It's silly. Galatians 110 tells us, 403 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:36,660 Paul, again, am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God? 404 00:32:37,860 --> 00:32:39,000 Am I trying to please people? 405 00:32:39,660 --> 00:32:44,000 If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Jesus. 406 00:32:45,180 --> 00:32:45,860 He wouldn't have done it. 407 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:48,980 He had a really great role in title as a Pharisee. 408 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:49,980 He wouldn't have had to bother. 409 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,940 There's only one weapon against the enemy in this world, and it's to be transformed. 410 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:56,900 And we continue that. 411 00:32:57,020 --> 00:32:59,840 Paul tells us continuing in verse 2 of Romans 12, 412 00:33:00,260 --> 00:33:03,820 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 413 00:33:04,820 --> 00:33:08,540 To achieve this transformation, we must renew our mind daily. 414 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:12,660 I'm going to rip through a couple of different verses here, but they're all very relevant. 415 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:15,820 Joshua 1-8 tells us this. 416 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:17,240 This is early. 417 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:19,560 This is right after the Levitical law had been created. 418 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:23,340 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, 419 00:33:23,740 --> 00:33:29,840 but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in 420 00:33:29,860 --> 00:33:37,240 for then you will make your way prosperous and you will have good success. God will bless your obedience. 421 00:33:38,940 --> 00:33:44,660 The Psalmist said in 119, verse 15, I will meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 422 00:33:44,980 --> 00:33:52,920 Later in Psalms 119 in verse 105, he says, your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. 423 00:33:53,060 --> 00:33:59,360 Your word will lead. It will guide. God will bless your sacrifice. 424 00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:04,660 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 and 17. 425 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:08,740 Paul tells us this as he's writing to Timothy. 426 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:13,620 All scripture is given by inspiration of God and it is profitable for doctrine, 427 00:34:14,100 --> 00:34:16,899 for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 428 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:22,919 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 429 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:28,320 If we're going to defend against the devil, and we're in his playground, 430 00:34:28,700 --> 00:34:35,560 If we're going to be renewed every day, we have to spend time in this book as Christians. 431 00:34:36,020 --> 00:34:37,780 There is no other way to do it. 432 00:34:38,860 --> 00:34:43,300 You can't listen your way to other sermons and other people talk. 433 00:34:43,399 --> 00:34:47,280 You have to take the time and you have to spend time in this book. 434 00:34:47,820 --> 00:34:49,899 There is a battle going on for our souls. 435 00:34:50,020 --> 00:34:51,220 It's always around us. 436 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:52,679 It never fails. 437 00:34:53,740 --> 00:34:56,440 In last week's message, Jesus rebuked Satan with scriptures. 438 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:58,660 But we also talked about how well-sense, 439 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:00,360 Satan knew the scriptures. 440 00:35:02,980 --> 00:35:03,500 He knows them. 441 00:35:04,500 --> 00:35:06,100 Better than most of us. 442 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:11,080 So if we're not taking the time, if we don't know God's word, how on earth can we 443 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:12,860 possibly defend against it? 444 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,960 My wife is much smarter than I am. 445 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,020 And she came up with this, not came up. 446 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:22,840 It was, she was struck with this idea. 447 00:35:22,980 --> 00:35:24,360 So I'll say she came up with it. 448 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,340 This idea of what's called a half-truth. 449 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,320 And we live in a world of half-truths. 450 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:33,580 Half-truths. 451 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:36,500 And half-truths sound pretty good. 452 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:43,580 And the devil will use this word, parts of it at least, as something of a half-truth. 453 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:47,220 And if we don't fully know it, we can be fooled by that. 454 00:35:47,340 --> 00:35:53,980 And I would submit that there are lots of church congregations right now that are being fooled by 455 00:35:54,220 --> 00:36:01,480 half truths, going ways that are not acceptable to God. If we don't study the word, we will be 456 00:36:01,740 --> 00:36:06,120 left defenseless against the schemes of the devil. There's a great quote by a guy named Charles 457 00:36:06,340 --> 00:36:11,640 Spurgeon that I really, really like. And the quote is, discernment is not knowing the difference 458 00:36:11,820 --> 00:36:17,860 between right and wrong. Discernment is knowing the difference between right and almost 459 00:36:18,860 --> 00:36:23,960 right. Right? Powerful. So if I could be so bold, I know, I know, 460 00:36:23,980 --> 00:36:28,940 did last week and we'll be so bold to stand up here as just your fellow believer, 461 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:34,560 please spend time in your Bible, 10 minutes a day, 10 minutes a day will change your life. 462 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,160 I promise. And then you will want more and more and more. So if you're not there, 463 00:36:39,260 --> 00:36:44,300 and if you're not there at 10 minutes a day, download the U version Bible app and just read one 464 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:48,580 verse a day and get your streak. Right. It even rewards you with a carrot there. You get the 465 00:36:50,300 --> 00:36:53,740 streak. One a day. Spend time in your word every single day. 466 00:36:55,120 --> 00:37:03,160 continuing in Romans 12 verse 2 that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 467 00:37:04,260 --> 00:37:09,060 Now, in the last few years, I've really been trying to consider what God's will is for my life. 468 00:37:10,580 --> 00:37:12,260 I don't really know that I know the answer. 469 00:37:13,260 --> 00:37:19,940 I'm just trying to remain humble and obedient to what it is that he asks of me. 470 00:37:22,380 --> 00:37:27,560 Have you ever given thought to your life? Have you really considered what God's will for your life? 471 00:37:27,820 --> 00:37:33,100 Because every person in this room, God has a plan for your life. And if you're not thinking about it, 472 00:37:33,180 --> 00:37:38,060 you're never going to discover what it is. Now, I don't know all the details of everybody's, 473 00:37:38,700 --> 00:37:43,640 God's will for everybody's life. But I do think he gives us some indication in the form of an outline 474 00:37:43,900 --> 00:37:48,180 from these verses that we've been looking at. If we just simply follow the direction of these last few 475 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,980 passages, it's a great start. First, we've recognized. We've recognized. 476 00:37:52,020 --> 00:38:00,140 recognize and accept just how big God really is. For all things are of him, through him, and for him. 477 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:06,620 Then we have to surrender to that fact. I beseech you, my fellow believers, to present your body as a 478 00:38:06,820 --> 00:38:12,900 living sacrifice acceptable to God. Paul tells us in First Thessalonians for three about God's will. 479 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:20,940 And it reads, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. I don't believe it ends there, though. 480 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:27,420 after we've accepted who God is and we've surrendered to our sin and we've given it all to him 481 00:38:27,500 --> 00:38:31,920 and we realize that the treasures of this world are not, they're not what's important. 482 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:34,120 They're not supposed to be our biggest priority. 483 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:40,180 Then we'll start to move in the direction that God wants from us. 484 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:42,180 Don't be conformed to this world. 485 00:38:42,620 --> 00:38:45,860 First John, chapter 2 verse 15 says it this way. 486 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,300 Do not love the world or the things in the world. 487 00:38:50,100 --> 00:38:52,820 If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. 488 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:55,840 It's pretty black and white. 489 00:38:56,720 --> 00:38:58,900 There's the world and then there's the way of God. 490 00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:01,920 This is the hard part, folks. 491 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:08,200 This is where we really, the first two, those usually come in a little bit easier space, 492 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,740 but walking it out day in and day out every single day, 493 00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:13,900 it becomes a challenge. 494 00:39:14,700 --> 00:39:19,700 I battle on this front every single day and it requires control of my thought life. 495 00:39:21,980 --> 00:39:28,260 I'm again going to coin my wife here as the author of this, but Philippians 4-8 is a very powerful verse. 496 00:39:28,980 --> 00:39:35,240 I can't quote it for you, but I can tell you that the idea is every single thought that you have, 497 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:41,240 you have to capture. And if it's not lovely, if it's not good, if it's not pleasing, then it is not of 498 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:46,260 God. And if the thought is not of God, we must discard it and surrender it to God and ask him to 499 00:39:47,180 --> 00:39:49,700 not allow us to dwell on those things. We can't let those things. We can't let those. 500 00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:55,580 those thoughts plant. We have to get rid of them. I've been taking some fairly bold steps in my life 501 00:39:55,740 --> 00:40:00,020 lately. And this is where the title of the message comes from. We've been moving in a direction 502 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:05,500 and I'm actually making a career change. And part of that has been really scary and we haven't 503 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:10,620 gotten a lot of feedback. And we were in the, I coined it from a gentleman who gave this great 504 00:40:11,660 --> 00:40:15,220 wisdom. We're like, we don't know what to do. And what's the next step. And I don't know. 505 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:19,680 And we said, here's what we're trying to do. We're trying to remain humble. And I'm trying to 506 00:40:19,740 --> 00:40:26,420 and glory of God. And the gentleman gave us this sound wisdom. He says, great. Keep doing that 507 00:40:27,140 --> 00:40:33,680 because God can't steer a parked car. If you're sitting idle and you're not moving forward, 508 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:38,280 God can't grab the steering wheel, right? If you're just sitting there and doing nothing, 509 00:40:39,060 --> 00:40:43,340 God can't use your life. So I encourage everybody here to think about what is God's will for your 510 00:40:43,660 --> 00:40:48,120 life and how can you start moving forward in whatever that is? And when you make mistakes, 511 00:40:49,340 --> 00:40:55,000 because it's going to happen. We all do. It's okay. Get back up. Surrender it to God and keep moving forward. 512 00:40:56,540 --> 00:41:02,420 Once you've accepted who God is, surrender our sin, and you realize that the things of this world aren't 513 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:13,220 important, we will be stronger, will be better. My prayer for the church body is that our actions would 514 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:18,740 demonstrate a commitment to this fact and that we'd be a little more bold in our actions every single day. 515 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:21,200 this church, as well as the capital C church. 516 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,660 There's some really cool things happening in the world right now, 517 00:41:25,420 --> 00:41:32,280 but it will require the church to take a stand if we want lasting change in our lives and in our 518 00:41:32,460 --> 00:41:32,780 communities. 519 00:41:32,980 --> 00:41:38,760 It will require the church to stand up and be bold for Jesus and be bold for who he is. 520 00:41:40,540 --> 00:41:46,080 In the final, or in verse three, and I won't go into it, but too deeply, 521 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:48,720 Paul talks about this idea of, 522 00:41:48,780 --> 00:41:54,440 humility. And I think it's really important. So we have this concept. We are accepting who God is. We're 523 00:41:54,760 --> 00:42:02,700 surrendering to his will. And we're walking it out every single day. But we have to stay humble. 524 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:08,300 For those of us that are more seasoned believers in this room and everywhere, we have to be humble. 525 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:12,560 One of the things that I battle with, and I've prayed about it long and hard with God, 526 00:42:12,940 --> 00:42:18,140 is that I have this tendency to get a little legalistic about things. I see things. And I'm like, 527 00:42:18,180 --> 00:42:19,780 I start seething. 528 00:42:20,700 --> 00:42:22,320 It's not okay. It's not okay. 529 00:42:22,460 --> 00:42:23,680 It's not that we accept sin. 530 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:26,900 It's not that we certainly don't celebrate sin. 531 00:42:27,380 --> 00:42:33,240 We call it out, but we don't have to be not humble about it. 532 00:42:33,380 --> 00:42:34,380 We can do it in humility. 533 00:42:34,540 --> 00:42:36,500 And that's what he's talking about in verse 3. 534 00:42:36,620 --> 00:42:40,260 So if I can encourage everybody to walk in humility, 535 00:42:41,620 --> 00:42:44,480 that's what we have to do if we want to call more people into the church. 536 00:42:44,700 --> 00:42:47,400 If we want to call more people into these seats and to fill these rooms, 537 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,100 we have to continue to walk in humility. 538 00:42:51,780 --> 00:42:54,160 The final piece is service. 539 00:42:55,600 --> 00:42:57,840 I genuinely believe that that's where God wants everybody. 540 00:42:59,020 --> 00:43:00,580 He wants you to serve. 541 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:03,420 He said it in the Great Commission, Matthew 2819, 542 00:43:03,700 --> 00:43:07,020 therefore go make disciples of all nations, 543 00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:09,480 baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, 544 00:43:09,860 --> 00:43:10,620 and the Holy Spirit, 545 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,780 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded. 546 00:43:14,820 --> 00:43:17,400 And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. 547 00:43:17,420 --> 00:43:21,460 in the Gospels, Jesus chose 12 very normal men. 548 00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:25,100 These were not super biblically deval. 549 00:43:25,220 --> 00:43:26,720 They weren't super well-versed. 550 00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:29,660 They were just normal guys, normal people that he used. 551 00:43:30,180 --> 00:43:33,300 Each one of them was consumed by what they had going on in their own lives, 552 00:43:33,420 --> 00:43:35,100 and they all walked through this process. 553 00:43:35,700 --> 00:43:38,440 Each one had to recognize Jesus for who he was. 554 00:43:40,300 --> 00:43:46,060 They had to surrender their lives to him and drop everything and go where he wanted him to go. 555 00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:47,380 Third, they had to walk it. 556 00:43:47,420 --> 00:43:51,700 out with their own behaviors in daily actions. They were with him for three years going through the motions. 557 00:43:53,240 --> 00:44:00,920 And once Jesus felt good about it, he sent them. Right? He sent them. He sent them out to go help 558 00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:06,560 others. Each one had their own battles. I know I have my own battles. It's just everybody else 559 00:44:06,740 --> 00:44:10,420 here has their own battles. But if I can encourage you, when you're walking with the Lord, 560 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:16,400 you surrender to his will, he will start moving in your life. Paul, who authored these lines faced immense 561 00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:23,240 battles for years and years, right? 20 years of torture. I think he was beaten within inches of his 562 00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:29,100 life, like five times, shipwrecked, homeless, basically, because he was always on the move. He lived this 563 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:35,000 life of sacrifice. And the great news is, is that while the 12 apostles had Jesus right there by their 564 00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:42,340 side, Paul was closely aligned with the Lord. We have the same tool. It's right here. 565 00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:46,220 We have this, and we have the Holy Spirit, both. 566 00:44:46,580 --> 00:44:50,460 They're both here, and they both will guide us, and they will both help us walk it out. 567 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:56,500 If every person in this church this morning are watching church online, and this is church 568 00:44:56,640 --> 00:45:01,660 across the nation, were to truly walk out their lives as a holy living sacrifice to God, 569 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,560 what kind of change might we see in our lifetime? 570 00:45:07,340 --> 00:45:16,260 I'll close with a quote, and it's from a British revivalist, Henry Varley, and I always attributed this quote 571 00:45:16,300 --> 00:45:21,380 Moody, but it turns out that this British revivalist, Henry Varley, was actually speaking to 572 00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:28,280 D.L. Moody when he said, and he said, the world has yet to see what God can do with a man 573 00:45:28,740 --> 00:45:40,080 fully consecrated to him. Moody replied, by God's help, I aim to be that man. That's my prayer for everyone 574 00:45:40,260 --> 00:45:46,240 here. My prayer is that you would find yourself fully consecrated to God, and with God, and with God, 575 00:45:46,260 --> 00:45:52,000 God's help that you would walk that path that he has for your life, the will for your life. 576 00:45:54,500 --> 00:45:59,980 With that, let's pray. Father, I am just so grateful again and humbled and honored to be here. 577 00:46:00,140 --> 00:46:06,020 I pray for the men and women in this room, I pray that you would lift them as they go forward 578 00:46:06,180 --> 00:46:11,500 throughout their week as they carry out their day to day, that they would recognize and accept 579 00:46:11,660 --> 00:46:16,220 you for who you are and how great you are, accept that their lives are designed by 580 00:46:16,240 --> 00:46:21,640 you and for you. I pray that they would surrender to your will, Lord, that they would continue to know you 581 00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:27,820 and walk with you. And then in that process of walking it out daily, Lord, that they would find 582 00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:45,640 that you would give them the courage and the love that you always do. And we thank you so much for your 583 00:46:45,660 --> 00:46:48,340 son, Jesus. And it's in his name that I pray. Amen. 584 00:46:49,660 --> 00:46:55,140 Well, thank you very much. I was told I have to sing a song at the end because that's what 585 00:46:55,320 --> 00:47:00,440 Scottie always does. So I don't have a guitar and I'm more of an old McDonald-had-a-farm kind of guy. 586 00:47:00,620 --> 00:47:05,480 So if you'll all join me, I'm just kidding. I won't torture you like that. But on a quick note, 587 00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:14,299 just one more brief reminder about next week, we will not be here. We will be at the 588 00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:20,520 Holiday Inn Express. It's over in Jackson Hole, junction, near Teton, Toyota. So just remember, 589 00:47:20,820 --> 00:47:25,300 if don't show up here, we won't be here for next week. Thank you so much, and I hope you all have a 590 00:47:25,460 --> 00:47:25,900 wonderful Sunday.