God Wants More

GOD WANTS MORE

ROMANS 12:1

(As I reflect back on this past year…) I’m inclined to believe that the God we serve is a faithful God…? I’m of the persuasion and conviction that He is the sustainer and the maintainer of my entire life… He’s carried me through dangers seen and unseen… In fact, He’s kept me, even when I couldn’t keep myself…He is an awesome God… “Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from Heaven above; with wisdom, strong power and love, our God is an awesome God…” He is a God who has never gone back on His Word… As I look back, I can truly say... God is faithful…!

And because He is so faithful… Because He is so awesome…He requires us, His servants to be faithful also... The Word says, “...To whom much is given, much be will required (Luke 12:48)…” And as we record into history, the first day of this New Year, this New Millennium, I want to share with you what I believe is perhaps the greatest problem facing us today... This is a problem that I believe has plagued, infected, infested and infiltrated the body of Christ; the church as a whole… Let me suggest to you that the greatest problem facing us is not the gang problem on the outside, not the drug pusher on the outside, not the moral values of our youth, not ungodliness... Not unrighteousness, not darkness on the outside, not sin on the outside... The greatest problem facing us today is not what’s going on, on the outside... But what ain’t going on, on the inside!!! We may be doing everything in the church, but God Wants More!!!! I believe that’s what Paul is trying to us... “You’re moving in the anointing, your services are flowing, your membership is growing, new programs are being implemented...” But he says here in this 12th chapter of Romans; God Wants More!!!!

(Text) “I beseech you....” that word beseech is a term that means to call along side, to come along side, to encourage... Paul says, “I’m calling you to accountability now...” It is a word that was used in military circles that tells what happens when a military leader calls the soldiers to action. When the troops are on their way to war, the commander would call them together because they were preparing to do battle... That’s the same term used here; Paul says, “I’m calling you to attention, I’m calling you to come together, I beseech you, I encourage you, I exhort you....” (I’m trying to get you to see the urgency here...)

“I plead with you, I’m encouraging you, I confront you, I challenge you...” He says, “I beseech you therefore...” Now, we’ve just come to what I want to call a Spiritual Stop Sign, and we’ve got to stop! “I beseech you therefore....” The word therefore is a connecting word, and is the key to the entire verse.

We must recognize that the word therefore means, “I said ..........., and based on what I said, I’m getting ready to say something else!” He says, “I beseech you therefore...” And we can’t go any further until we find out what the therefore is there for... Because the therefore is there for a reason... And unless we know what the therefore is there for, we won’t understand what he is saying following the therefore... Because what he says following the therefore is based on what he said before he said the therefore. So let’s see if we can discover what the therefore is there for…!

He says, (Text…) I have discovered that there are 3 crucial therefore’s. Remember therefore means, “I said ..........., and based on what I said, I’m getting ready to say something else!” So, if we were to outline this book, we’d find that the first crucial therefore is found in Romans 5:1…

It says, “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It’s the first crucial therefore… All that he said from chapters 1:1 to 4:25; hinges on chapter 5:1; where he says in Rom. 5:1… That word justified is a legal term, which means, “to be declared righteous...” It means that we have been declared innocent, we have been declared righteous, we have been declared blameless... It is a term that is used in a court of law...

(Paint picture) You did it; you got caught committing a crime. You’ve been hauled off to a court of law... You see, we all have committed the crime of sin and been found guilty (Rom 3:23)... But God is the judge at out trial; and we have been given an attorney; (John calls Him an advocate;) someone to plead our case; and if you check His credentials, you will discover that He is none other than Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of the Judge… And our attorney is there to plead our case. In fact He not only pleads our case, but He willingly takes our place and pays the penalty and covers us with His blood…! So every time the judge look at us; He sees our attorney Jesus, who stands in front of us raising His hand in objection…! When He raises His hand you can see the nail prints... And where they pierced Him in His side...