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...
And where the blood came streaming down... And it represents what He did on Calvary and He did that for you and for me... And even though all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and even though the wages of sin is death; the gift of God is eternal life... So when The Judge (The Daddy) sees The Attorney (The Son) standing before you (The Defendant) who is saved through The Son... He bangs His gavel and says, “I now declare you righteous... I now declare you blameless... Not because of who you are, but because or your attorney, My Son... And not because you what you’ve done, but because of what He’s done for you....!!!! And THEREFORE...” We are justified by faith...
We now come to the second crucial therefore in Romans 8:1... He says, “There is, therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit…” In other words, although we are uncommitted, we are uncondemned... Because the penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ; and due to the fact that Jesus paid the penalty, God will not lay the penalty and the punishment of sin on us…!
Isaiah said, “He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes, we are healed (Is 53:5).” But (before you start to shout) look at this… The penalty of sin has already been paid; therefore, you are no longer condemned, and since you are no longer condemned, you now have a responsibility to the One who has declared you righteous, and declared you uncondemned... That leads us back to our text, where he says in 12:1....
“Now based on all I’ve said... Based on the fact that you do deserve damnation... Based on the fact that My Son did stand in your place... Based on the fact that you did stand before Me guilty... Based on the fact that my Son took the penalty for you... Based on the fact God has not given you what you deserve... Based on the fact you are no longer condemned... Based on all of that… Now I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice...” God says, “Based on all that I have done; you now have a responsibility…!” He says, “I beseech you therefore brethren...”
Now understand that when Paul uses the term brethren, he does not use it in the ethnic sense, but in a spiritual sense. Paul here is talking to people who have already been saved… He’s speaking to ‘church folk…’ Folks who have been ‘saved, sanctified, and filled with Holy Ghost!’ Folks, who come to church and sing in the choir, serve on the usher board, pay their tithes... He’s talking to folks that are already saved, but he challenges them to do something they have not already done…! You see, God is never interested in when you got saved, as He is with “what have you done since you’ve been saved…!” (Title)
He’s talking to folks that are already saved, and he confronts them to do something they have not already done…! “I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies... In other words,“you’ve already given Me something, but you have not given Me all that I want...” He’s talking about discipleship... He’s talking about total surrender... “I beseech you brethren... sisteren... Saints of God... To do something that you have not already done!” And he says, I’m basing all of this on the Mercies of God...
Now, we got to understand the difference between Grace and Mercy… Grace is God’s unmerited favor, in other words, when God gives you what you don’t deserve…Mercy, on the other hand, is when God doesn’t give you what you do deserve! Let me give you an example (Trey and Kool-Aid)...
(Moral) Daddy (God) laid down the law.... Child (Us) broke the law.... Somebody had to clean up the mess... Daddy provided what it took to clean up the mess himself (that’s Justice)… Daddy saw the tears of repentance on the eyes of the child and didn’t spank the child (that’s Mercy), then took her out for a treat (that’s Grace!) Mercy is based on justification... (Text…) In other words God is saying, “Based on the fact that I’m not going to give you what you deserve... You deserve to lift your eyes in hell... You deserve weeping and gnashing of teeth... You deserve eternal damnation... You deserve eternal separation from Me... You deserve eternal death... But because of My Son, Jesus, I’m gonna give you what you don’t deserve (and that’s Grace), and I’m gonna withhold what you do deserve and (that’s Mercy)... And based on the fact that I’m not gonna give you what you deserve... (Text…)
“…That you present your bodies.... That you present your bodies....” Let me stop right here and pose this question... When was the last time you broke God’s law without your body…? When was the last time you disobeyed God without your body…? When he says present to Him, your body, it means literally, all that you are...! Your body is an instrument of sin.... Your hands, your feet... But the challenge is that you present your body as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable... But what does Paul mean by present…?
The word present is what I want to call a technical temple term... And when Paul said present, everybody automatically knew what he was talking about. The word present was a word that was used to describe what happens when you go to the temple to worship… You see, when you go to the temple, there was always a priest there... And the worshipper would come and take his offering or his sacrifice in his hand and then come before the altar and place (present) his offering in the hand of the priest...! It’s a technical temple term…He places his offering in his hand, he comes before the priest, and he places his offering in the hand of the priest! It’s a technical temple term…What I’m trying to say is that there is a precise, technical moment when you have presented...
And before that precise technical moment, nothing that you do qualifies as presenting…! (Show you…) You place your offering in your hand, you come before the altar, you come before the priest, you place it in his hand... Then you have presented...!
In other words, you have not presented, when you place your offering in your hand... You have not presented, when you come to the temple... You have not presented, when you place your offering in the hands of the priest... You have only presented at the very technical point after you place the offering in your hand... After you come to the temple... After you stand before the altar... After you come before the priest... After you place you offering in the hand of the priest and then you take your hand off of it…!!!! It is a Technical Temple Term... And until you reach that precise technical moment in which you place it in his hands, and then take your hand off of it... You Have Not Presented!!!!
And until you place your body, until you place your life, until you place your career, until you place your family, until you place your future, until you place your all... And put it in the Hands of God.... and then TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF IT... YOU HAVE NOT PRESENTED, AND YOU HAVE NOT COMMITTED, BECAUSE GOD WANTS MORE…!!!!
Coming to the temple (church) is not enough! It does not matter how big your Bible is, if you have not given Him control, you’re not committed... It does not matter how long you’ve been a member of the church, if you’re still calling the shots in your life, you are not committed... It does not matter how much money you pay, how sweet your song, or how pretty your prayer.... If you’re still calling the shots in your life and you have not taken your hands off of it... YOU ARE NOT COMMITTED... And you have not presented yourself to the Lord…! Coming to church on Sunday is not commitment; that’s habit... Singing in the choir, being an usher, or a deacon is not commitment; that’s rehearsal...!
He says, “I beseech you that you present...!” It means that you take your life and all that you have, place it in God’s hands and then take your filthy hands off of it…Because God’s calling the shots, God’s making the decisions, God’s in control... And anything less than that is not commitment… Because GOD WANTS MORE!!!!!
(Text…) “Holy...” This means to set it aside for God’s use and God’s use only…! We need to understand that our body belongs to God and it is sanctified (or set apart), and it is His property... Why…? Because Paul says, “It is your reasonable service...!” The word reasonable comes from the Greek word logikos (log-ik-os’); which means, “logical by investigation…” Paul is saying, “I’m calling on you to present your body to the Lord, and that is your reasonable service....” He says, “I have investigated it.... and it’s logical.... In other words, it just makes sense!”
“Well Paul, why does it make sense…? Why is it so logical…? You have investigated it... You have checked it out.... And the result of your analysis is that, it just makes sense… But Paul, why is it so logical that I give my all to God…?” The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20... He says, “What? Do you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s!”
So Paul is telling us, when God says to us that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, it makes sense simply because when you give yourself to God… You’re giving Him back what He already owns…!!!! He’s saying that we ought to do that because we belong to God... In fact we’re His twice... (1) Because He made us, and He knows all about us, and (2) because He paid for us... When He sent His Son, Jesus to die on Calvary... And He says, (Text…) What I ‘m trying to say is that you’ve got to present your body as a living sacrifice to be used of God because you belong to Him... All that you have, all that you are… Belongs to Him…!
But I hear somebody saying, “Well God, what are gonna do with my hands...? What are gonna do with my feet...? How do you want to use me.... in your service...? The Bible says (Acts 1:8) “You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you shall be my witnesses...”
The word witness, is a legal term, that talks about what happens in a court of law; it’s when you get on the witness stand... You put your hand on the Bible; and the clerk says, “Do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth...?”
Somebody says, “I wanna be a witness; I wanna testify about what I heard... I heard He was born of a virgin named Mary; I heard He came down through 42 generations; I heard they wrapped Him swaddling clothes; I heard they laid Him in a manger....”
But when you start testifying about what you heard; the devil says, “Objection, objection...! That testimony is not admissible in this court; because what you heard is just hearsay... Can I get another witness…?”
“Do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth...?” Somebody says, “I wanna testify; about what I believe... I believe He heeled the sick; I believe He raised the dead; I believe He walked on water one day; I believe He unstopped deaf ears; I believe He made the blind to see; I believe He told Lazarus to come forth one day…I believe they lied on Him and accused Him.... I believe they put an old rusty cross on His back and marched him up Golgotha’s hill… I believe they put nails in His hands and nails in His feet; I believe they placed a crown of thorns on His head.... I believe they put a spear in His side; I believe He hung there from the sixth to the ninth hour; I believe He hung his head and gave up the Ghost…
I believe they put Him in a tomb; I believe He stayed there all night Friday, all day Saturday, all night Saturday.... I believe that early Sunday morning with All Power.... All Power in His Hands…!!!!
But when you start testifying about what you believe; the devil says, “Objection, objection...! That testimony is not admissible in this court; because what you believe is conjecture... Can I get another witness?”
Is there anybody here who has a testimony for the Lord? Will you take the stand and be a witness...? Will you stand and be a witness for the Lord? Do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth...? Somebody says, “I wanna testify; I don’t want to talk about what I heard, because that’s just hearsay; I don’t want to talk about what I believe, because that’s just conjecture; But I’ve got a testimony, and I wanna testify about what I know...!” Is there somebody here who knows what God has done them? You ought to stand up and be a witness…! I don’t know what He’s done for you… And because He’s done so much, I hear Him saying… (Text) No matter what life may bring, all you have to do is turn it over to Jesus… Because He can work it out…
