Yielding to the Spirit: The Essence of Practical Christianity

All right, turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 12 is where we'll

Romans 12 · chapter mention

be today.

You know, several weeks ago when Pastor Josh told me that this

is where he would be.

Oh, thank you, sir.

If all the children I knew I would forget.

If all the children who would like to be dismissed go to children's

church, you can now leave.

After I said I wouldn't forget.

Praise the Lord.

Get carried away by God's mercy.

And we're going to talk more about his mercy.

Now, as, as I began thinking though, about what where Pastor Josh

would be in Romans chapter 12 and more accurately, where he is

Romans 12 · chapter mention

going to be going once he got to Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

The entire chapters proceeding before Romans chapter 12 talks about

Romans 12 · chapter mention

the mercies of God, talks about God's grace, talks about as,

as one, as one commentator put it, Romans is Paul's gospel, is his

portrayal of.

Of God.

It is his gospel given.

Just as the four writers wrote Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Paul

wrote the book of Romans so that we would know the gospel as

well from his perspective.

And the mercy that God poured out on mankind is on full display.

And to think about God's mercy, to see where it's been displayed

and how it affects us in general and all that wooing of God,

then we come to the great application beginning in Romans chapter

Romans 12 · chapter mention

12.

And it goes through the rest of the book in a very big application.

God began.

Paul begins to put to work the actions of God's mercy.

And my desire for us to understand is practically what do

we do with all this mercy, practically how do we live the Christian

life?

And that's exactly what Paul begins doing.

And he begins with none other than the spiritual gifts and understanding.

Okay, we are to practically live the Christian life.

What does that look like?

And what are you gifted to do?

Well, we're gifted to be ministers.

Every minister, every member should be a minister.

We're gifted to serve the body of Christ, to edify it, to edify

the body of believers in a way that is glorifying to God, that brings

us all up into the nourishment in the body of Christ and makes us

complete to.

Makes.

Makes us what we are needing to be as the body of Christ.

And so that's where I want to take a, a the fork in the road.

I want to stop.

And before we proceed on with Romans chapter 12, I want to talk

Romans 12 · chapter mention

about practical Christianity.

What does it mean to actually live this out now, thinking about

God and his mercies and talking to other Christians and saying

we, we should be always joyful you know, in trials and tribulations

and whenever we doubt, we need to put our faith in God.

All that, that's good.

It's very easy to say that stuff.

Okay.

But until you actually begin going through it, that experiential

put your faith in God is quite different than being on the outside

looking in and saying you got to put your faith in God.

Oh, you got, you got an impossible situation.

Just, just trust in God.

It's very, very easy to say.

The talk is very cheap as they say.

Walking that walk is quite different.

There's no circumstance like a trial that puts you into that place

of practical Christianity.

So look in your bibles here at Romans chapter 12 and you'll see

Romans 12 · chapter mention

what I am meaning.

Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

I think I said three.

It's Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

It says, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies

of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,

acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the

renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good, acceptable

and perfect will of God.

Let's pray.

We'll begin this morning.

Our heavenly Father, Lord, thank you so much for the mercy that

you have given us on the cross.

Thank you Lord, that your mercies do not stop at the cross,

but you actually enable us to live the Christian life that you

go with us through the battles, the fires, the storms.

Lord, all that you walk this path with us.

Lord, you have not left us once.

You've not forsaken us.

Lord, I thank you for that great faithfulness that you show

to us.

Even though we as Christians are oftentimes very unfaithful to

you.

But your faithfulness, your faithfulness remains.

So what I pray and ask for your grace now that you would help

us to understand you and how you want us to live as Christians.

Just a little bit more this morning as we look into your word

pray, it would be clear to us.

In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

In Romans chapter 12 he says that great.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Therefore, therefore, because of all of this, because of everything

that I just talked about, the mercy of God, the new life of grace

in a Christian, the spirit of God coming and dwelling amongst men,

the love that cannot ever be separated from us, that God has for

us, the calling of us to himself, the body of believers, all

of that because of God's mercy being poured onto us, because of

whosoever will, because of that, present your body a living

sacrifice.

Now we're going to get more into that understanding a little

bit later what that sacrifice entails.

But to understand how we are to be that living sacrifice offered

up onto the altar, that second verse, he says, don't be conformed

to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of the

mind that ye may prove what that is good, acceptable and perfect

will of God.

In order to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will

of God, you have to be renewed, transformed in your mind.

So the question is this, what does living the Christian life actually

look like?

It's good theology.

But where does theology meet the road?

Where does the rubber meet the road, so to speak?

What does it mean to live a Christian life practically?

Now, the first thing that all of us would probably come to mind

is a list.

List based Christianity.

Is it a list of do's and don'ts, do this, don't do that, read

your Bible, pray more, attend church.

And then that question says, okay, so does that mean do the list

and you're transformed?

Is that the objective that we are to take as Christians?

And as Christians, we have a very big problem with this because

we like to perform.

Some of us, we can be lazy at times, but for the most part, you

know, checklists make our hat.

Some people live by checklists.

Some people like to get up in the morning, look at their checklist,

and man, they look at that list and they get to the end of the

day, they like checking it off.

I had one, one friend that, that was his joy and pleasure.

When he gets to write that check, he's like, something is done.

He gets to the end of that day, that checklist.

As people, we like that.

It feels really good to complete a job and to be able to

look at your work and your handiwork and say, you know what?

I, I did that.

That's done, it's complete.

Now I get to, in some, some cases, people are like, now I get

to go do some other job over here.

I'm like, you know, I finally get to take a rest or something.

Let me tell you something, the checklist for moving into a house

is long.

There is no rest in my future.

That checklist is.

Yep, that's another one.

Let's go to the next project, to the next room.

Now let's go to the next part of this.

So as people, it would be very easy for us as humans trying to do

things on our own, as we are usually inclined to do, to set out

and create a list of what the Christian life looks like.

And many people have done that.

A list of do's and don'ts.

Our list, however, would be based on one's purse, one person's

perspective of what is right and wrong and would form in us danger.

It would form in us a sense of self righteousness that would rival

the Pharisees.

You know, that's what the Pharisees enjoyed doing.

They enjoyed their list.

They enjoyed creating a list that would get them around some of

the requirements of the official list.

They enjoyed coming up with their own laws, their own commandments,

which were very burdensome and placing those requirements on the

people.

Do lists have purpose?

I had a book.

I don't have it anymore.

I actually have three of the books.

It was three books and the first one was titled the First Volume.

Here are some questions, Dr. Rice Dr. John Rice was a man of God

and preacher and very successful in his ministry and saw

the Lord do many different things.

Things.

And he was looked at as a pillar of the faith, someone you

could trust, someone that you could go to and you could receive

wisdom from on how to live the Christian life.

He was a wonderful pastor, a great speaker, and did many things

for the cause of Christ.

Well, he had so many people asking him questions on how to live

that he created a book and it was titled Here are some questions,

Dr. Rice.

And in that book there were should boys and girls swim together?

Same sex swimming.

Should you go dancing?

That was a question.

And there's answers that he gave for all this and reasons of,

you know, this and that and that.

And that was just the beginning of those questions.

It was a book that was this thick and there were all kinds of

questions on him how a Christian should live their life.

And then he came out with volume two.

Here's more questions, Dr. Rice.

And then he came out with volume three.

Here's even more questions, Dr. Rice.

See, we as Christians love to follow a list so that we know we

are holy.

Want to know that I'm doing everything right.

We desire in so many ways and terms to please God, but we don't

know if we are pleasing God in everything that we do.

So if we create a list of this is right, this is wrong.

This is good music.

This is bad music.

This is the the right way to come to church.

This is the right clothes to wear.

This is the right way to talk.

There's a right and a wrong way to present the gospel.

There is a right way to read your Bible.

There's a wrong way to read your Bible.

There's the right Bible to read.

There's a wrong Bible to read.

I Mean the list just keeps going on and on and on and on and

on.

And we want that list.

Did you spend this much time in the Bible?

Did you talk to this many people about Jesus this week?

Did you do, do this?

We love that.

Why we want to check it off.

We want to know that what we are doing is pleasing to God.

A very, very, very good motive.

Yet the list can be self righteous lists that put us in the

same boat as the Pharisees.

Now do lists have a purpose?

Absolutely.

In verse number 10 of Romans chapter 12, look down there in your

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Bibles, Paul says, be kindly affectionate one to another with

brotherly love.

Hey, that's on the list.

That is a part of the list.

Look there in verse number 13.

We are to distribute to the needs of the saints.

Giving that's on the list for practical Christianity.

Chapter 13, verse 1.

We are subject to governing authorities.

Verse 9.

Not committing adultery, not stealing, not bearing false witness,

not coveting.

All are summed up in this saying, you shall love your neighbor

as yourself.

Verse 19.

Pursue the things which make for peace that you can edify one

another.

Now I don't know if you've caught this yet, but all these are

not very specific.

These are not specific things of how to love your neighbor.

Paul just says it can all be summed up with just love your neighbor

as yourself.

Kindly affection to one another with brotherly love.

That means love your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

How do we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, Dr. Rice?

That's not what Paul says.

He just says love.

That's it.

It's a broad command, distributing to the needs of the

saints.

Well, how much money do I need to give?

Is it 10%?

That's the tithe.

That's what we're supposed to give, right?

Or maybe you're supposed to be a good Christian and give 15% or

whatever, you know, number that you may come up with that thinks

that you qualify to be a good Christian.

What list do you have that you believe qualifies you to be a good

Christian?

That's the question that's being asked.

And yet Paul isn't giving these things subject to the governing

authorities.

Many people have a problem with that one.

You mean, you mean just.

How do you mean subject to them?

Can you give me some examples that, that we need to follow to.

No, he just says subject to the governing authorities.

To what does that entail?

Pursue the things which make peace, that you can edify one another.

Not how to make peace, not the things to say, not the things to

not say.

He just says, pursue peace.

Do you get how broad those commands are and how in depth they

could go if it was pursue the things which make for peace that

you can edify for one another.

If you created a list underneath that category, it would

go on for a mile long.

And you know, this is part of the point that Jesus was making.

And even in the Beatitudes, this is part of the point that Jesus

was constantly trying to help his.

His followers understand.

Be perfect because your Father in heaven is perfect.

There is no do your best to try.

The command is be perfect.

Jesus gave many things, and all of them were beyond the scope

of what we can do.

And that was the point.

The point is to overwhelm you.

The point is to overwhelm us even this morning with the list of

things, nay, the perfection that God would call us to and your

great inadequacy to do that.

Paul says, love one another, think no evil.

Don't not.

Don't think about X, Y, or Z.

So people are quick to say, you make a list, you got your list,

and it looks good.

And then someone says, well, the Bible doesn't say anything about

that.

Like, well, it's time to make a new list.

You know, where does it stop?

The command is, do not sin.

Not, don't do the list of bad things.

The command is just do not sin.

The command is, love your neighbor as yourself.

It's not a list of all the gifts that you can buy your neighbor

to make them love you or how far you need to go for your neighbor

when they ask for help.

Jesus said, if your neighbor asks you, or rather the Roman soldier

in this case, to go with you a mile, go two.

Now, was that the limit?

Two miles?

As soon as we go two miles, that's all you had to stop.

Was that the point?

The point was to go beyond what was asked in an effort to show

love.

Peter comes to Jesus.

Master, Rabbi, you know the Pharisees, they say, to love and

forgive three times three, number of perfection.

What if I forgave seven times?

And Jesus looked at him and said, I tell you, not seven times,

but seven times 70.

We still have a number, though.

That's 490 times.

Can you remember when you got to 490?

I doubt I would remember after the 30th time if I could count like

that.

What was the point of that number?

It was to give not a specific number, but the point is forgiveness

beyond counting.

Think of it like this.

The idea is about not the number, but to Forgive a multitude

of times, so many times that keeping count becomes meaningless.

It's similar to say, well I've done that a million times.

If you've been in your job for any amount of time, you begin to

feel like that, you know, that very first day you get onto the job

and whether or not it's, it's operating a piece of machinery or

running through a computer system in order to get the software

or.

I remember every single job that I've went to, they've had computer

training of some sort of.

And you go through that, that stuff.

Oh man.

If you go onto the job site or into a warehouse, industrial setting,

PPE personal protection equipment, you're going to watch

some videos about PPE personal protection equipment.

They're going to drill that into your head about how you're supposed

to be safety, wear gloves, wear goggles, wear a helmet, wear

a safety vest.

PPE man.

And the stuff is overwhelming.

But over time, I got this.

I know what that is.

I know exactly how to perform my job.

I know how to do it.

I can do it in my sleep.

It's old had I've done that a million times as the similarity here.

Have we actually done it a million times?

Probably not.

There's an expression used though to exaggerate the amount in

order to make the point.

So the problem that we come across cross here.

What again does it look like to live the Christian life practically?

Does it mean creating a list of specifics?

Paul would say yes and no.

Yes, there are commands, but the specific commands are exceedingly

broad.

Paul would say, stop sinning, love God, love your neighbor.

Extremely specific, extremely broad.

All of this serves as a trap.

You didn't realize it, but you came to be trapped this morning to

realize that you are in no position to perform this list.

The task is overwhelming the task before us.

The standard is so high and so broad, covering every avenue of life

that we begin to understand this cannot be accomplished so simply

by working harder.

Creating lists and checking boxes often breeds self righteous

pride that we have measured up in our Christian life and yet others

have come short of that.

And so the question becomes there's a massive amount of work

to be done.

Who?

And you can't do it.

Who's going to do it?

Who's going to do this work?

Turn to Romans chapter 7.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Romans, chapter 7.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Paul meets this exact problem and addresses it.

You've already went through it, so you should be familiar with

it as Pastor Josh has already covered this chapter.

And what does Paul say in this, this, this chapter Romans,

chapter seven.

Well, he talks about the stressfulness of trying to accomplish

the law.

What shall we say then is the law sample?

No, it's, it's not good.

He said, wherefore the law is holy, the commandment holy and just

and good.

In verse 13 was then that which is good made death unto me,

God forbid.

But sin that it might appear sin working death in me, that which

is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly

sinful.

The law is meant to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin.

The law is to show us the exceeding inadequacy of Christians

trying to perform it and trying to do it.

He says, I know in me that in my flesh dwells no good thing.

And he says, the wood that I would, the good that I would, I don't

do, the bad that I don't want to do.

I do.

And he says this great conundrum of I am trying in my own

power and in my own self to pull myself up by my, my, my shoes,

my bootstraps, if you will, and get this done.

And every single time I try to do it, I fall flat on my face.

And he said, who shall deliver me from this body of death?

This body of death.

That is how we are to think about our flesh and our life.

And as we try to to live for God, we are in a body of death trying

to do something that is impossible for us to do and something

that you and I were never able to do.

And he says, I thank my God.

The law of Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free.

Who is going to do the work?

Who is going to live this life?

Practically it is Christ in us.

I am crucified with Christ, yet not I, but Christ in me he lives,

and he is the one who is going to do this.

In Romans, chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in

Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

And he says the the Spirit is in us.

The body is dead because of sp sin.

The Spirit is life because of righteousness.

That Spirit dwells in us.

Verse 11.

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell

in you, there it is the Spirit dwells in you.

He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your

mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

It is Christ.

It is the Holy Spirit who is going to do this great work.

And so we come to this verse 2 in Romans, chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, not Be transformed

by the outward working of your flesh, nowward deeds of your body

and all that you can muster up, all the things that you can think

of that would make you a good Christian.

Be transformed by those outward things.

No, it is the inward transformation.

It is an inward source that transforms the outer.

I know that in me that is, in my flesh dwells no good thing but

Christ.

Christ is in us.

He is doing the actual transformation.

The renewing of our minds is not just to be informed about the

things of God.

We have been informed about the mercies of God.

That's why Paul says therefore in verse number one.

He says, therefore by the mercies of God, all that we have

talked about the right debt that we owed, the righteousness that

was given to us, the, the.

The righteousness, the, the old man dying and the new man coming,

the Spirit living, therefore the mercy of God, he says, he is

in us.

That is the inform.

But to be actually transformed by that inner understanding that

by the inner spirit is what we need, is the new life.

And now this word here, to be transformed in verse number two of

Romans chapter 12 says, Be ye transformed.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

That same word for transformed is that metamorphosis.

That's where we get metamorpho is the actual Greek word here.

But to change into another form, to transform, to transfigure.

Okay, get this image in your mind.

The same word that was used for Jesus's transfiguration on the

mountain there in front of Peter and, and, and James, John,

that transfiguration of him having this amazing outward display

of God's glory.

Whereas before he was in the.

The form vision of just a normal man, all of a sudden, now

his garments are shining.

Now it looks as if glory is just shining out of him.

That cross great transformation, transfiguration,

that great metamorphosis that would have happened if you were to

see that.

You would say, he has been transformed.

Whenever we see a person who is in Christ, that is what we are

to say.

He has been transformed.

That is one of the, the big.

That's.

That's basically how I lost all my friends in high school.

They said, what is wrong with this guy?

He is nothing like what we grew up with.

This is not the person that we did X, Y and Z with.

He is completely different.

We want nothing to do with him.

Transformation is like that.

It is completely different.

This new life is where the true essence of the divine essence

is formed in every believer.

In Romans chapter 6, verse 4, Therefore we are buried with him

Romans 6:4

by baptism into death.

That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of

the Father.

Even so, we also should walk in newness of life.

Chapter 7.

But now we are delivered from the law.

Second Corinthians, chapter 5.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.

Old things passed away.

There's something new here, and it's because of the work of the

Spirit.

Now, what Paul often helps us to understand is that this is not

a passive transformation.

Now, I believe that there is an amazing miracle and work that

happens in the life of every, every single believer at the moment

of salvation.

I've seen it so many times.

I've seen addicts give up their drugs immediately, go cold

turkey, get off everything.

I've seen people all of a sudden act differently.

Their anger is gone.

The way that they would treat people is different and changed.

They no longer are the same individual.

That is an amazing work that happens at the moment of creation.

A new creature.

And yet you know just as well as I know that you still have flaws

and that I still have sin and besetting sin and things that God

has not immediately transformed.

That is on the part of, of you and I to put off and to put on.

You see, it is a not a passive work of.

I just sit here in my pew and I just soak up the power of God and

I'm just.

I'm just transformed by this osmosis, this photosynthesis.

Like a plant gathers sunlight and energy and just trans.

Yeah, that's not the way this is working.

Okay?

It is not a passive transformation.

He says there in verse 22 of Ephesians, chapter 4, that ye put

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

off concerning the former conversation, the old man.

There's still a putting off that we have to do.

Put on the new man.

There is still a putting on that we have to do and you have to

put on the new.

After you have put off the old, you can't just say, well, I'm

going to stop doing that.

You got to replace it.

So there is an act of work.

But to have that morphe, as it's called, to be transformed is

to be shaped on the outside, not by what everyone else wants you

to do, not by the list of what someone else would tell you to do,

but rather by the inner source as to more perfectly reflect the

inner.

Now, this is not a living and doing what feels right on the inside.

Many people make that mistake.

I'm just going to do what feels good, right?

I'm just going to do.

Well, I just feel like this is How I should live.

And so this is what I'm going to do.

People do that all the time.

It's not about feeling and doing what feels right on the inside.

It's living according to the renewing that Jesus does in our minds,

thinking according to how he would order our thoughts.

Understand it is his control over our lives.

And when it comes to the trials and circumstances of life

and understanding that God is bringing us through things, we as

Christians are not the ones in control.

We know that.

We know we're not in control.

God's still on the throne.

He, he is the one who's directing our lives.

That's the sovereignty of God.

God is ordering things the way he wants them to be ordered.

However, your reaction to those things, how you handle those

things, that's not in your control either.

Or at least it shouldn't be in your control.

That should be left up to how God wants you to react.

That should be left up to how God wants you to work through the

circumstances of life.

We are as living vessels, doing what God wants us to do.

Therefore, when your boss at work comes in and, you know, just

rips your face off for something that you've done, you know

the motions that come whenever you feel like that.

I had a boss when I worked at a furniture store.

He, he was, he was scary.

It's like he would smile, but you really didn't want him to smile.

It was kind of mean smile or something.

He would fire people, bad salespeople.

And we knew he was firing someone because he wore a red shirt.

When, when Joe wore a red long sleeve shirt, everyone was like,

okay, he's firing someone.

He, he did that one time whenever I was there.

And he fired, he fired two people in the same day.

And I made a comment that was not directed to him.

I just made, you know, I was just having a good day.

So I made a comment and he walked by and said, you want to make

it a trifecta?

I said, nope, I'll go to work.

I'm working over here.

When that boss, neighbor, friend, spouse, person comes up to

you and says something to you, our reactions are not supposed to

be around.

They are to be controlled by the spirit.

And that is a principle of garbage in, garbage out, day in,

day out.

What is in you when life squeeze you, that will come out.

Your reaction is the true test of what is actually inside of us.

Has the inner affected the outer?

Now, God is never against feeling and doing.

It's not as if doing a list or feeling a certain way is Wrong.

God is a powerful and passionate and feeling and he commands

us to be doers.

That is exactly what James says.

Be not ye just hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word.

Yet feelings and doing are completely insufficient foundations

for the Christian life.

The first question that we ask cannot be how do I feel?

Or what do I do?

That's what we think of whenever we want to say we're going

to live the Christian life practically, what am I feeling right

now?

Or what should I do?

Rather, it must be what is true here?

What does God's Word say?

Or what does the Holy Spirit want me to do?

That is the emphasis.

Being spirit filled leads to being spirit control.

We always say that, pray that the Holy Spirit would have reign

over our lives.

Well, how does he do that?

That is living the life practically the Christian life practically

yielding to the Spirit.

That's the emphasis of today's sermon.

Yield to the spirit.

That's how you live the Christian life.

Do what the Spirit wants you to do, not what the Spirit wants

Paul and Peter to do, not what the Spirit has called Barnabas to

do.

You do what God has called you to do.

That is the emphasis.

You have to yield that control to God to work in you in order for

him to have that full control and full reign.

That means when God says, he, it is my will that you come to me

daily, enter in his thanks into his courts daily with thanksgiving

and praises.

Come to him daily when he says I want to spend time with you.

When God says I want a relationship with you, that is something

that we yield to.

Day in, day out.

We are doing what God wants us to do in the mundane and the smallest

aspects of our life.

So that whenever we have a decision to make, and that decision

can be as small as where do I go in my Bible reading?

And that decision can be as big as do I switch jobs?

Do I marry this individual?

Do I act this way?

Do I buy this house?

What do I do?

These major decisions.

Every college kid wants to know what is the will of God.

Well, Pastor preach on the will of God.

So I'll just know what I'm supposed to do.

All of life's choices, what career to take.

The will of God is discovered by doing the will of God and following

God of what you do know to do.

So that in the areas where you don't know, you can follow Him.

It is still up to how the Holy Spirit wants you to act.

That trumps all other leading or examples.

David said, lord, break their teeth, give me victory.

Over my enemy.

And God saw many victories by David's hand, his sword.

Is that your prayer too?

Does that apply to you?

Is that what you're praying about?

Lord, break their teeth.

Break my enemy's teeth.

We probably have some people in our life that we would consider

our enemies and may actually want to pray that God break their

teeth.

I'm tired of dealing with their attitude.

I'm tired of them coming to me with their problems.

And they're always causing me a problem.

Get rid of these people.

Is that prayer for David is the same leading of the Holy Spirit

for you?

Probably not.

Probably not.

Imposing a standard of living on yourself, no matter how biblical

you make it be, asking God to break the enemy's teeth, that's completely

biblical, right?

We can totally ask for that.

Asking God and imposing a standard living on yourself, no matter

how biblical you make it to be, does not mean that it is God's

design for you and how he wants to shape you.

Now understand exactly what I mean by that.

Do not misunderstand me.

It is God's design for you and his will for how he would transform

you.

He is on the inside, taking up abode within you.

The inner is changing the outside to make his shape.

But God may lead you within his will and still in accordance

with His Word and His character.

Differently that he may lead another believer.

It will still be in accordance with His Word and in accordance with

his character.

It is not a free for all for liberty.

Well, bless God.

You know, God would lead you to do that.

But God's led me another path.

That's fine.

That's fine.

Is it in accordance with God's character?

Is it in accordance with His Word?

Because God will never lead you to do something that His Word

is directly against.

And so the answer is, or the question rather is, is it biblical?

And are you following the Holy Spirit?

So this inner is changing the outside to reflect it.

He just bought a house and we are changing things.

It was empty.

We brought in furniture.

When.

When you buy a house, you repaint walls, you bring furniture

in, you tear old things out, you install new things.

The house gradually reflects the owner.

It's interesting.

I don't know how many of you have visited one another time and

time, but you go into a person's house and you start looking

around most of the time and you go, yeah, this is their house.

I can tell this is exactly the stuff that I would expect them to

have.

A house can tell you a lot about a person.

You can find out a lot of information about what this person

cares, cares about and, and how they interact.

You'll find out some things probably about us if you come over

to our house, which I know you will, you'll.

You'll see a decoration of thing to, to.

To things.

You'll see the way that things are set up and you'll get a picture

of that.

The house gradually reflects the owner in salvation.

God takes ownership of us.

The spirit begins rearranging attitudes, desires, priorities and

habits until our lives increasingly reflect Christ.

And this is the plan.

This is the will of God.

In Romans, chapter 8, verses 28, we know all things work together

Romans 8:28

for good to them that love God.

What do you mean work good?

What do you mean all things?

The idea, next verse is so that you would be conformed to the

image of Christ.

That is the plan.

The Bible says you've been, as a Christian, predestined to become

the image of Christ.

There's no choice in the matter if you're saved.

If you're a believer, you will be transformed into the image of

Christ.

That is God's design for you in your life.

And God will order your entire life to make sure that that is accomplished.

For it is a great work.

We'll talk more about that next Sunday.

But there is a lot of work to be done.

God resides in us and he begins changing the outside.

So when it comes to the circumstances that are in God's hands,

when it comes to us living the Christian life, we must understand

that we are not to be in control.

We are not in control, and we are not to ever be in control.

But yielding to the Holy Spirit in every single avenue of

life, therefore, this is the yielding part.

We must choose daily obedience in those circumstances.

God will empower you when you yield to him to do those things.

You say, well, it's hard to read my Bible.

It's hard to yield to God to do those things.

And God will empower you to yield to him and read your Bible.

Witness to people.

It's hard to talk to people.

It's.

It's difficult to let people know that you're a Christian.

It's difficult to talk about Jesus.

It is something that we need the comforter for to do those uncomfortable

things.

The comforter is there to empower you.

God empowers the believer, actively responds.

View the Christian life as cooperative obedience, cooperative

obedience rather than passive surrender.

It's not a, well, just do whatever you want with me, God.

It is a, I am going to cooperatively work with you.

There is the sanctification that happens at the moment of salvation.

And there is a sanctification that happens as you yield to God

in all areas of your life.

We are a living sacrifice.

Romans chapter 12 says.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And that sacrifice, that sacrifice is supposed to be a good

sacrifice.

Sacrifice.

You know the laws and the rules and regulations behind the

sacrifice system in the temple.

There's a long list of how to prepare that sacrifice.

And every single one of those instructions were to be followed.

Why?

Because we are to be an acceptable sacrifice.

We are presenting ourselves to God on the altar as a living sacrifice.

And God wants that sacrifice to be seasoned with salt.

He wants that sacrifice to have that flavor.

I don't know if any of you have ever tasted something that's

bland.

We've all had bland food at least once in our life.

There's nothing worse than an egg that has not been seasoned.

There's no flavor, it's just the yolk.

You know, just thinking, some people like their, their eggs scrambled.

Some people like it over easy.

You know, I could do both.

I like, I prefer it over easy.

And try to make that even though it falls apart over time,

there's nothing worse than eating something that doesn't have

any salt on it as a sacrifice.

Coming to God.

When you lay yourself up on the altar, God wants you, okay?

That is what God desires.

Now don't mistake this.

This is not a call for you to clean up your life before you present

yourself to God.

God is not asking you to clean yourself up in order to come to him.

He will do the cleaning up.

He doesn't desire for you to be unseasoned.

Once you lay yourself on the altar, that's whenever the yielding

can begin.

That's when the sanctification can begin.

That's when the seasoning, if you will, can begin.

And a seasoned Christian is something of beauty.

It is amazing to see a seasoned Christian.

Something happened in their life that is absolutely terrible.

And that believer respond with the fruit of the Spirit and you see

it and go, it's Christ.

That's the way Christ would.

It is a thing of beauty to see it.

And so that understanding of sacrifice, that understanding of

where does the Christian life go starts the starting point of practical

Christianity.

Living it is yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit so that

Christ's life is increasingly expressed through us.

Yield yourself to God.

Walk in the Spirit.

Present your body.

Put on Christ.

Mortify sin.

The Spirit led Christian life is not, how can I get the Spirit

to take control?

But how can I place myself on God's altar when God causes us to

pass through the fire, we say, okay, you're the one that's desiring

this right now.

I will yield to you.

Because we are that living sacrifice.

We are alive.

And the sacrifice that's living.

It'd be one thing if the thing was just dead on the plate, but we're

not dead on the plate.

Sacrifice that's living sometimes gets up off the plates

and walks away.

We have to come back every single morning and sit back on the

plate and say, we are on the altar.

Next week, we will ask, what does God do with that sacrifice?

How does he season that sacrifice?

And if you're here today at Milltown Baptist Church and you have

never accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, you never made that

choice to follow Jesus Christ, all of this is completely pointless

until you have a relationship with God.

You cannot yield to God.

If you have no relationship with God, you cannot obviously follow

a list of do this and do not.

In order to gain entrance into heaven.

You cannot have a relationship with Jesus because you did things.

The only way that you can have a relationship with God is because

you have come to the Son and following him, you have to begin

that relationship with Jesus Christ.

So if you have not began a relationship with Jesus Christ and

you are desiring that, or you have questions for that, come forward.

Today we're about to have an altar call, about to have an invitation.

And that invitation is there to simply so that you have a moment,

an opportunity to respond to what we've heard today, to not be

just a hearer of the Word, but a doer of the Word.

And if you want to talk with someone, we'll have some men or ladies

that can come and take you into the back to show you how you

can know what a relationship with Jesus Christ actually looks

like.

So we have every head bowed and every eye closed as we begin

this morning.

What would God call you to do?

Specifically, Would God call you to begin a relationship with

him or follow him more closely?

As the Spirit leads you, I pray that you will come.