The Call of Christianity
Romans 12:1-2
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
One of the problems with the world today is they are selfish.
"What is in it for me!"
Ill. How to catch a monkey
Native hunters in the jungles of Africa have a clever way of trapping monkeys.
They slice a coconut in two, hollow it out, and in one half of the shell cut a hole just big enough for a monkey’s hand to pass through. Then they place an orange in the other coconut half before fastening together the two halves of the coconut shell. Finally, they secure the coconut to a tree with a rope, retreat into the jungle, and wait.
Sooner or later, an unsuspecting monkey swings by, smells the delicious orange, and discovers its location inside the coconut. The monkey then slips his hand through the small hole, grasp the orange, and tries to pull it through the hole. Of course, the orange won’t come out; it’s too big for the hole. To no avail the persistent monkey continues to pull and pull, never realizing the danger he is in.
While the monkey struggles with the orange, the hunters simply stroll in and capture the monkey by throwing a net over him. As long as the monkey keeps his fist wrapped around the orange, the monkey is trapped.
It’s too bad-the poor monkey could save its own life if it would let go of the orange. It rarely occurs to a monkey, however, that it can’t have both the orange and its freedom. That delicious orange becomes a deadly trap.
The world sets traps for you that are not unlike the monkey trap. You hear constantly that if you just have enough money, enough stuff, enough power, enough prestige-then you’ll be happy. Under that illusion people spend their whole lives thinking you must have it all.
The call of Christianity is unlike that of the world. The world focus’ on what you and get out of life. A Christian should focus on what they can give.
This morning I would like to show you three things that God calls of to give to him.
I. You give God your body (v.1)
Before we trusted Christ, we used our body for sinful pleasures and purposes, but now that we belong to Him, we want to use our body for His glory.
Living sacrifice
Example is Isaac (Gen. 22); when Abraham took him on the mountain to offer him as a sacrifice.
Isaac "died" just the same—he died to self and willingly yielded himself to the will of God. When he got off that altar, Isaac was a "living sacrifice" to the glory of God.
The verb "present" in this verse means "present once and for all."
Just as a bride and groom in their wedding service commit themselves to each other.
Paul gives us two reasons for this commitment:
(1) it is the right response to all that God has done for us—"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God"
(2) this commitment is "our reasonable service" or "our spiritual worship." This means that every day is a worship experience when your body is yielded to the Lord.
This is the way it should be. Not something special.
Ill. A manager interviewing employee’s who where up for raises at Wal-mart. He would ask them what made them eligible for a raise. They would answer that they did there job and was always on time. He would answer that is what they where being paid for in the first place.
II. You give Him your mind (v. 2a).
The world wants to control your mind, but God wants to transform your mind.
The Greek word for transform is:
metamorphooô (met-am-or-fo’-o)
Where we get our English word "metamorphosis."
It describes a change from within.
We are transformed by:
meditating on God’s Word
memorizing it
III. You give Him your will (v. 2b).
Your mind controls your body, and your will controls your mind.
The will, not to be conceived as demand, but as an expression or inclination of pleasure toward that which is liked, that which pleases and creates joy.
We surrender our wills to God through disciplined prayer.
To have a right relationship with God, we must start the day by yielding to Him our bodies, minds, and wills.
This sermon was preached August, 2000 at Frist Baptist Church of Cross City.
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