LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS IN THE POWER OF GOD’S TRANSFORMATION – PART 1
This is a night message presented in Boston, England, a longer one. However for the purposes of length on SermonCentral, I have split the message into two parts. This is PART 1.
[A]. THE WORLD’S WAY, BUT NOT OUR LIFE
We know the case of farmers in my nation, and I think all over the greedy world, very much drought affected, with no ability to pull through until rain, and now they have mortgages so huge they are crippled. The big banks won’t rewrite their mortgages, or demonstrate any will to help. They have taken the station/ranch property’s animals at very reduced prices; won’t help with sustainability; taken the farm’s machinery until all that is left is drought, and unproductive farms, because the banks have taken away the ability to exist. Lastly they take away the property itself, saying that the land is worthless without rain and cattle, and the owners are forced off, and THEIR land is taken for next to nothing. The banks value the land so low, then end up owning it and hold it until times improve. This is immoral. It is reprehensible. The same happens with businesses. It is one total disgrace on humanity.
I have a cousin who stayed with us recently who claims all religion in man-made. Man made his own gods to make him feel better, and which religion uses to control others. He is a great intellectual. I think men strain at excuses so that they don’t have to face the probability of a God, but they do so with great delusion, because the god of this world has blinded the eyes of those who do not believe lest they come to a knowledge of the truth.
Then you have a world with a dark side, a very dark history. One might well ask, “Where is justice in this world?” Not too many in the western world really care, because they are not too badly affected, and are somewhat isolated from the stark reality of the suffering of others in much worse conditions. Hundreds of millions are starving and mal-nourished and have diseases, and are dying in wars often not of their own making, but where is the justice for these people? In the scheme of things, man has no justice, for man is morally bankrupt
The greatest criminals of the world are the mass murderers and the worst of them lived in a period of 50 years in the 20th century. Adolph Hitler’s estimated victims number 30 million; Starlin’s ranks 40 million; and the greatest is Mao Zedong at 60 million. The last two centuries are stained with the blood of hundreds of millions because of vile, hellish men. The sad thing is that millions followed these men, and did their commands. Today in China, the world’s vilest criminal is honoured and revered constantly, the great Chairman Mao.
The average man and woman must wonder sometimes when and how the wrongs are going to be righted. We live in times when these evils are evident among us. The faces have changed. We see Islamic fanaticism on the rise; Islamic terrorism, and more riots associated with race. The Old Testament prophets also saw these evils, and decried their times and spoke of the coming judgement and the overthrow of Israel by the Assyrians, and of Judah by the Babylonians. Israel was crushed at the hands of their enemies, but they had played into the enemy’s hands by their foul sin and idolatry against God. We are living on the brink of judgement and it will most certainly come, and the crimes and stored up evil will meet headlong, with the stored up judgement of God.
We know all that will happen as part of the Day of the Lord we considered briefly earlier today, but I want to move on from that and into an area that is so important for everyone of us, and that will be the focus of the message tonight. This is an important scripture from Peter -
{{2 Peter 3:10-14 “but the DAY OF THE LORD will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, WHAT SORT OF PEOPLE OUGHT YOU TO BE IN HOLY CONDUCT AND GODLINESS . . . but according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to BE FOUND BY HIM IN PEACE, SPOTLESS AND BLAMELESS,”}}
There is a serious and high calling on us in these verses. We read “holy conduct and godliness” and “peace, spotless, and blameless”. I have shared with you the word of God with its application to the last days of this Church age, but unless we can be changed by the word, then what have we accomplished? Let us move to two well-known verses from Romans -
[B]. PRESENTATION, THE ACT OF WORSHIP – ROMANS 12 Verse 1
NASB. {{Romans 12:1 “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to PRESENT YOUR BODIES a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”}}
[1]. Romans 12:1 “I urge you therefore, brethren,”
The apostolic request is not merely Paul’s, but is directly God’s, by inspiration. This is God speaking individually to you. It does not involve force or compulsion. Paul urges, but in fact it is the pleading of the Holy Spirit. Why does the Spirit plead with Christians? What is the purpose? It was common for the Jewish teachers who used to be present in Jewish society, and any of these eastern gurus for that matter, – to gather around them a group to instruct into their teaching and behaviour as learners or disciples. The Holy Spirit, however, wants to instill us into Christ, not into the teachings of a man or system. We ought not be afar off. “To be like Him” is to grow into Christ. Paul wants to see his fellow believers attain the goal towards which he, himself, pushes. This is Paul’s love for the saints, but more so, it is God’s loving desire for you!
[2]. “by the mercies of God,”
This is the basis for the urging. The foundation of God stands sure. The basis is God’s mercy. God’s immutable character and attributes are undergirding any plea God makes to you. Here, it is mercy which is the kindness of God motivated by love for you, and like grace, absolutely undeserved. God is merciful so then, all His intentions towards us are good. These two Roman verses are considering submission to God’s service and to worship, so the basis for our loyalty is declared, that is, a merciful God is the One calling us to submission in worship. The response to God’s mercy should be reality, honesty, desire and willingness, and may I add, with full humility.
[3]. “to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,”
Sacrifice is an unpopular word in Christian profession as it suggests reality (being real) and involves commitment. It is easier to hang back in the fringes and maybe let a few others obey these verses. Some Christians are not committed, and are along for the ride with a profession that is mediocre; social Christians who love the company but don’t want commitment. We can’t do that in these days I believe. The time is coming when we must nail our colours to the wall. The world is becoming more insecure, more chaotic, more confused, and above all, more evil as it prepares for the coming of the traumatic events of the Tribulation. We need committed lives in order to stand for the Lord in today’s world. The forces of evil are rallying very quickly.
Jesus said this in one of the greatest challenges He made – {{Luke 9:23-24 He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY, and follow Me, for whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”}} The hearers knew exactly what Jesus meant for they saw this play out often. When a man took up his cross under the Romans he was going to a place of execution, his own. This is real Christianity, not pretend play-acting. The Lord was saying to follow Him meant you were going to die. The primary meaning was that you were to die to yourself and be alive in Jesus Christ. It might mean also that you could become a martyr.
Sacrifice demands separation. When the animal of the Old Testament was to be a sacrifice, it was separated from the herd or flock and it had to be perfect, no defect or mutation or disease, and it was observed. Separation is misunderstood. Some think of it as a monastic life of displeasure, but it is not that at all. It means being under the full control of the Saviour who bought you; it means having your priorities right; it means God has His rightful place in your time and activities; it means you live for the Lord not with a foot in the world’s pleasures.
In the Old Testament, it was the priest who offered the sacrifice on behalf of the sinner. Here now it is us offering ourselves for service, as we are priests, and we rightfully have that obligation. A church needs committed Christians, not for its own interests, but to be a people committed to the Lord. That vertical commitment will flow out in service in the horizontal plane.
We can’t escape the word “holy” in this verse though in our human natures we like to pass over the word. The very character of God is holiness (one of His attributes) and nothing unholy will ever enter heaven or abide in God’s presence. Holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life, and the word denotes separation, forgiveness and cleansing and sanctification. The Apostle takes this idea up in verse 2.
In the Old Testament, a priest would have to be holy before he could intercede for others. He needed to be cleaned from defilement himself. It is the same with us.
[4]. “ACCEPTABLE TO GOD,”
It says in the word of God that God loves a cheerful giver so the giving of our bodies to God, of course, will be acceptable. God wants the best for us, and His best for us is found when we present ourselves to Him. God does not take – He gives, but the mystery is, we realise the abundant giving of God in spiritual blessings, as we present ourselves.
[5]. “which is your spiritual SERVICE of WORSHIP.”
Using the NASB here. A horse meant to pull the King’s coach can’t serve properly if one leg is tethered to a post. A carrier pigeon can’t transport valuable information if one wing is laden down with weights. Spiritual service is undertaken by those not encumbered by impediments and hindrances, and they are the ones who are continually presenting themselves to God, for this is what the verse means in the original. It’s a continuous tense. Present, and keep on presenting.
Service for God is dedication and honourable. It is your desire and commitment, and don’t serve God without wearing those garments of righteousness. Serve God as those who are continually presenting themselves. So much service is done in the flesh, or even from pride or self-gratification, or even from denominational empire building. May God rescue us from these evil motives. It has nothing to do with duty. It is commitment.
Too much “worship activity” can be contrived, man-made and a mere performance. “Spiritual service of worship” happens on an individual basis in communion - person - to - God. When this happens - persons to God - then true worship happens corporately. One example of this we have in the Bible in the great scene in Revelation chapters 4 and 5. Examine the contents of these chapters, and you will see all attention is on the Lamb of God, not on the worshippers. This is proper worship when all credit and attention and focus goes to, and is on the Lord. Worship in singing is when attention is on the Lord, not on us, or to state it another way, worship is God-centered not egocentric.
The one aspect we are being taught here is that sacrificial commitment is spiritual service of worship. This can be by an individual such as we see with Mary at the feet of Jesus and fully occupied with Him.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
