Coffee House Chapel #5

February 16

Romans 12:1, “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.”

A third important truth in our text is that we must die to our own desires in order to serve Christ - and when we actually do this - we learn to live! This truth is not difficult to understand, we know that dying to self means putting our personal desires behind us - so that we can put the desires of God for us and the needs of other people first. Understanding this is not the problem - the problem is believing this. We’ve learned from the world that denying ourselves will make us miserable, so we disbelieve God.

Think about what Jesus told us in Matthew 5:3-10, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is the way we find happiness - according to Jesus Christ.

But the world has a different idea. Their philosophy is “blessed are the rich, for they can have all they want; blessed are the powerful, for they can control others; blessed are the sexually liberated, for they can fully satisfy themselves; blessed are the famous, because they are envied.” Unfortunately, too many professing Christians subscribe to this way of thinking. Can this philosophy make people happy? A man believes he will be happy with a six figure income, until he achieves that goal, then he wants more. John D. Rockefeller was asked, “How much money is enough?” His honest answer was, “Just a little bit more.” Friends, that’s like tomorrow - it never arrives.

The person who craves power will never be satisfied with holding a local elective office. That person always aspires to a higher office - until they reach the top - and then where can they go. A famous world’s statesman once told Billy Graham, “I am an old man. Life has lost all meaning. I am ready to take a fateful leap into the unknown.”

The path of sexual liberation and the craving of fame do not bring happiness. Sexual liberation can and often does bring premature death, and for those not fortunate enough to die, it brings a hopelessness than can never be filled by that lifestyle. The desire for fame is a difficult taskmaster. Many famous people crave for anonymity, but only find it when they flee society.

The “me first” philosophy does not bring happiness, it is only an “empty promise.” We need to listen to Paul as he pleads, “ 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 ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Rom 12:1-2) God does not lie! You will find that His way is “good, and acceptable, and perfect.” His way is the only place you will find true happiness!

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

February 17

Romans 12:1, “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.”

There are four foundational truths taught in these verses. (1) God redeemed us; (2) God joined us to Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit - so that we are new creations; (3) That great paradox - life by dying; and (4) Today’s truth - this living sacrifice Paul urges us to be - is not something that is done for us - it is something we must do!

Paul paints an interesting picture for us in this verse. The picture is that of a sacrifice - offered to God - by a priest. In the O.T. - the worshiper would take the sacrifice to a priest - who would kill it - pour out the blood - and burn the victim’s body. In the O.T. - the priest and the sacrifice were two separate entities. In our text - the priest and the sacrifice are one and the same. We - believers - are the priests - and we offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices.

The model for this truth is our Savior. He was both the sacrifice and the priest who made the sacrifice. Yes - there is a tremendous difference between the sacrifice Christ made for us - as the priest/sacrifice and the sacrifice of ourselves to God. Christ’s sacrifice of Himself was a sacrifice for sin - He was our substitute - He died in our place to pay for our sin! The similarity is that Christ the Priest offered Himself, and we - the believer priest offer ourselves to God.

In the O.T. there were different kinds of sacrifices. Some of the sacrifices were for sin and these sacrifices pointed ahead to the Savior’s sacrifice of Himself for us. The Savior’s sacrifice will never be repeated - it was a one time deal. Additionally, the O.T. priests offered sacrifices of thanksgiving. This was a sacrifice to thank God for some blessing He had bestowed upon them. That sacrifice is similar to the sacrifice of ourselves to God - which Paul said was “our reasonable service.”

Most people today - don’t like to think about the subject of sacrifice. We do not want to give anything up - we only want to accumulate! But the Christian life starts with us sacrificing ourselves to God.

God is sovereign. He has everything under control. We are willing to give God a great deal - but we hold back ourselves. It’s about time that we trust God with our most cherished possession - ourselves. God makes no mistakes - and that includes the things He does to and with us - when we give ourselves to Him - completely!

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

PS to Charles - sounds like a good example to me!

 

February 18

Romans 12:1, “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.”

In Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities,” the disreputable character, Sydney Carton, substitutes himself for his friend Charles Darney. Darney was being held for execution in the Bastille prison. When Carton goes to the scaffold, in Darney’s place - he says, “It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known.” Dickens was an excellent writer, and one can scarcely read the Carton/Darney tale without feeling the emotion the author was eliciting.

When one person - gives their life - to save another’s - such an act tugs at our heart-strings. It is the ultimate proof of true love. As believers, many have been called upon to give their lives in service to the Savior. Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus set the perfect example of the ultimate sacrifice when He gave His life for our sin. Whereas some believers have been called upon to give their lives for Christ – all believers are called upon to gives themselves to Him as a “living sacrifice.”

In future devotionals - we’ll look at what exactly is meant by sacrifice, and how we believers are to do it.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

February 21

Romans 12:1, “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.”

The idea of “living sacrifices” is an interesting one. In Paul’s day - the sacrifice was always killed. The animal was brought to the priest - the presenter confessed his over the animal - transferring the sin symbolically to the animal - then the animal died (had its blood shed) - in the place of the worshiper. This O.T. rite taught substitution (which pictured what Christ would do for us with His death) - and it brought home the truth first stated in the O.T. “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4 and 18:20) - which Paul reiterated in Romans 3:23 - that “The wages of sin is death.” Now in “a burst of divinely inspired creativity, Paul reveals that the sacrifices we are to offer are not to be dead but rather living. We are to offer our lives to God so that, as a result, we might ‘no longer live for [ourselves] but for Him who died for [us] and was raised again’ (2 Cor 5:15).” (Boice)

We possess two lives - our new life in Christ, and the remnants of our old sinful life which shall remain with us until we die or until the trumpet sounds at the rapture. We are to give that new life - which we received at the new birth - back to our Savior.

Robert Smith Candlish - a Scottish pastor (1806-73) - left some marvellous studies of Scripture. In his study of Romans 12 - he examines the nature of the life we are to offer to God. “What life? Not merely animal life, the life that is common to all sentient (conscious) and moving creatures; not merely, in addition to that, intelligent life, the life that characterizes all beings capable of thought and voluntary choice; but spiritual life: life in the highest sense; the very life which those on whose behalf the sacrifice of atonement is presented lost, when they fell into that state which makes a sacrifice of atonement necessary.”

The only people who can offer “living sacrifices” to God are believers (Christians). Other people may offer God their money and time. They may even take up a religious vocation - but only a Christian can give back to God the new spiritual life in Christ that has first been given. “Indeed, it is only because we have been made alive in Christ that we are able to do this or even want to.” (Boice)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

February 22

Romans 12:1, “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.”

We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. Calvin wrote, “By bodies he means not only our skin and bones, but the totality of which we are composed.” While it is certainly true that we are to offer to God all that we are - that is adding something to the text that is not there. Paul specifically says bodies - though he does not elaborate upon what he means in the Romans 12 text - I trust we will be able to get some clues from other Scriptures.

Leon Morris writes, “Paul surely expected Christians to offer to God not only their bodies but their whole selves .... But we should bear in mind that the body is very important in the Christian understanding of things. Our bodies may be ‘implements of righteousness’ (Rom 6:13) and ‘members of Christ’ (1 Cor 6:15). The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19); Paul can speak of being ‘holy both in body and in spirit’ (1 Cor 7:34). He knows that there are possibilities of evil in the body but that in the believer ‘the body of sin’ has been brought to nothing (Rom 6:6).”

Robert Haldane says, “It is of the body that the apostle here speaks, and it is not proper to extract out of his language more than it contains ..... This shows the importance of serving God with the body as well as with the soul.”

In Romans 6:12-14, Paul says, “ Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” In Romans 6, (where Paul begins to talk of sanctification) and in Romans 12:1 - he makes the same point - “we are to serve God by offering Him our bodies.” (Boice)

Sin is able to control us through our bodies (which are not yet redeemed) - but it doesn’t need to. Instead of offering our bodies as “instruments of sin,” we are to offer God our bodies as instruments of doing His will. This involves specific body parts - as we shall see in future devotionals.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

February 23

Romans 12:1, “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.”

We, as believers, are to serve God by offering Him our bodies. This concerns specific body parts.

It has been said of computers - garbage in - garbage out! Though we often think of our minds as being separate from our bodies - we need to realize that is not true. Our minds are indeed part of our bodies - in fact our minds are the place that the victory we need must begin. In the next verse of our text - Paul reminds us that we need to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.”

“Have you ever considered that what you do with your mind will determine a great deal of what you will become as a Christian?” (Boice) Garbage in – garbage out! If you fill your minds with the secular junk of this world - then you will remain secular and sinful. If you read trashy novels - you will begin to live like the characters is those trashy novels. If you spend most of your spare time watching TV - you will begin to sound like the scoundrels on TV. Garbage in - garbage out! Perhaps you’ve heard one of your young children using foul language - and have wondered where they learned that language! It may be because they’ve heard it from you - or the TV programs and movies you’ve been watching. “On the other hand, if you feed your mind on the Bible and Christian books, train it by godly conversation, and discipline it to critique what you see and hear by applying biblical truths to the world’s ideas, you will grow in godliness and become increasingly useful to God.” (Boice)

Dr. Boice suggests that “for every secular book you read, make it you goal also to read one good Christian book, a book that can stretch your mind spiritually.”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

February 24

Romans 12:1, “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.”

We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. This includes specific body parts. Last time we looked at the mind, today we look at the eyes, ears, and tongues. We receive impressions with our eyes and ears, as well as our minds, so we must also surrender these to God.

In our society - by the time one reaches the age of twenty-one - the average person will have been exposed to about three hundred thousand commercial messages. Some will be perceived with the eye (magazine or newspaper ads), some with the ear (radio ads), and some with both (TV comes to mind). Most all of these ads appeal to personal gratification. Our society puts acquisition of stuff before godliness. Growing spiritually in this environment is difficult. Constant watching and listening to secular TV and radio hinders spiritual growth.

Boice writes, “I am not advocating an evangelical monasticism in which we retreat from the culture, though it is far better to retreat from it than perish in it. But somehow the secular input must be counterbalanced by the spiritual. [A] simple goal might be .... to spend as many hours studying your Bible, praying, and going to church as watching television.”

Our tongue is another body part that needs to be surrendered to God. The tongue is a mighty weapon - either for good or evil. James 3:5-6, “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” Beware - if your tongue is not given to God to be used as an instrument of righteousness - then James warning will be true in your life.

How does one learn to use the tongue in a righteous manner? Use your tongue to praise and serve God, recite Scripture, sing spiritual songs and hymns, and witness. Boice writes, “Use your tongue as much to tell others about Jesus as for idle conversation.”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

February 25

Romans 12:1, “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.”

We’ve been looking at the body parts we should be presenting to God as a living sacrifice. Thus far we’ve looked at our minds, our eyes and ears, and our tongues, today we’re looking at our hands and our feet.

What should we be doing with our hands? Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, “And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.” In Ephesians 4:28 he tells us, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

An important passage on use of the feet is Romans 10:14-15, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

In light of the above Scripture, the question we must ask ourselves is, “What do we do with our hands and where do our feet take us?” Do we willing go where Christ is blasphemed and denied or where sin is openly practiced? Do we spend most of our free time in places that would lead us from our first love - the Lord Jesus Christ? We need to be doing things and going places that honor the name of our Savior - that promote spiritual growth - not spiritual sloth.

Dr. Boice writes, “For every special secular function you attend, determine to attend a Christian function also. And when you attend a secular function, do so as a witness by word and action for the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

PS - I’ve just received a call informing me that Miss Eleanor Acker, a native New Yorker, who spent over 50 years in the hills of Kentucky teaching released time classes and starting Sunday Schools, has left this earthly life and is in the presence of her Savior. Declining health placed Miss Acker in a nursing home facility for the past few years, but she continued her missionary activities by teaching Bible lessons to the other residents of the facility.

 

February 28

Romans 12:1, “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.”

The next important word the describes the nature of the sacrifices is holy. Any sacrifice offered to God had to be spotless and without blemish. God demands no less from us today. Peter reminds us that our Savior met the law’s demanding standards, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19) Peter also vividly reminds us that we are to be holy, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16) The human author of Hebrews wrote, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

Holiness is the sum total of being a living sacrifice. The entire Epistle of Romans is about salvation. “But as someone wise has noted, salvation does not mean that Jesus died to save us in our sins - but to save us from them.” (Boice)

“As we actually approach the rules of holiness now before us, let us once more recollect what we have seen all along in the Epistle, that holiness is the aim and issue of the entire Gospel. It is indeed an ‘evidence of life,’ infinitely weighty in the enquiry whether a man knows God indeed and is on the way to His heaven. But it is much more; it is the expression of life; it is the form and action in which life is intended to come out .... We who believe are ‘chosen’ and ‘ordained’ to ‘bring forth fruit’ (John 15:16), fruit much and lasting.” (Handley C. G. Moule)

Nothing today is more neglected among evangelicals in America than holiness. “There was a time when holiness was a serious pursuit of anyone who called himself or herself a Christian, and how one lived and who one was inside was important.” (Boice)

J. I. Packer writes, “The Puritans insisted that all life and relationships must become ‘holiness to the lord.’ John Wesley told the world that God had raised up methodism ‘to spread scriptural holiness throughout the land.’” Robert Murray McCheyne once said, “My people’s greatest need is my personal holiness.” But what do churches today look for in a pastor? They want a man with a winsome personality, communication skills, administrative ability, and the like. They want seminars on “How to Be Happy,” “How to Raise Children,” “How to Have a Good Sex Life,” “How to Succeed in Business,” and so on. What we need are preachers who live holy lives, and are not afraid to preach on the subject of holiness.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Charles,

None of us will be sinlessly perfect until we see Him face to face. According to Romans 8:29, the ultimate goal for believers is "to be conformed to the image of his Son." Now as we strive through the Spirit's help to achieve that state - (some have professed to be so - but my argument would be - that if they truly were at that state - they would no longer be in the land of the living!) - we will be most aware of how unholy we truly are - and how much farther we need to go!

 

March 1

Romans 12:1, “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.”

The final word the apostle uses to describe how we should present our bodies to God is acceptable or pleasing. When we, as Paul tells us we should, offer our “bodies a living sacrifice ... to God” - then we find out that what we have done is pleasing and acceptable to God.

What an amazing thing - that anything we might do - could possibly be pleasing to Him. This word appears twice in this paragraph. In verse 2 the apostle writes, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable [pleasing], and perfect, will of God.” The first time we find out that God is pleased, when we make the offering of ourselves, the second time we find that when we make that offering - we will find that God’s will for us is pleasing, as well as good and perfect. Dr. Boice writes, “That God’s will for me should be pleasing, pleasing to me – that I understand. How could it be otherwise if God is all-wise and all-good? He must will what is good for me. But that my offering of myself to Him should somehow also please Him when I know myself to be sinful and ignorant and half-hearted even in my best efforts – that is astonishing.”

The most that I can think of myself as being - even when I’ve done my duty is - unworthy or unprofitable, Luke 17:10, “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” But if I live for Jesus - and offer back to Him what He has given to me, then one day I can expect Him to say to me, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)

“Living for Christ may be hard. It always will be in this sinful, God-defying world. I may not understand what good it does either for me or for other people. But that commendation, the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ, will be enough for me. It will make it worthwhile.” (Boice)

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

March 2

Romans 12:1, “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.”

For the next few devotionals, I want to discuss the motivation for a believer offering themselves as a living sacrifice to God. So just what is it that motivates people to be “the best they can be,” as the Army recruitment ad says?

I’ve often heard it said that money is the great motivator! The truth is - money may motivate - but only for a short time. An employee may complain of the “smallness” of his paycheck. But about three pay periods after receiving a pay raise - the money motivation ceases to work.

Dale Carnegie (author of “How to Win Friends and Influence People”) tells of a mill manager whose employees were not producing. The owner was Charles Schwab, and he questioned the manager as to what was wrong. The manager had no idea. He had tried about everything he could think of - coaxing, pushing, cussing, swearing, and threats of firing, and nothing worked.

Schwab asked how many heats the shift had made that day. The answer, “six.” Schwab said nothing - but chalked a big number “6” on the floor. The night shift asked what the “6” on the floor meant. They were informed that the “big boss” had been there that day and that was the total production of the day shift. The next morning Schwab walked through the mill. The “6” had been replaced by a “7.” The day shift was not to be outdone. When they left work that day, there was a “10” on the floor. Schwab had increased production by 66% in 24 hours, just by issuing an unspoken challenge.

Napoleon used “trinkets” (medals) as a motivator. Soldiers would risk death for recognition. Winston Churchill motivated his fellow citizens by his vision of victory and by brilliant speeches.

But what motivates a Christian to offer themselves as “living sacrifices” to God. In our text, Paul claimed that it is “our reasonable service” to make such an offering. After all, God is our Creator, He redeemed us from sin and death, He’s made us alive in Christ, and He loves and cares for us. When we think about these facts rationally - it only makes sense - it is reasonable that we should offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice.” But we are seldom that rational. The truth is - we need to be motivated - and that motivation is what we’ll begin to look at next time.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

March 3

Romans 12:1, “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.”

Have you ever ordered a “loaded potato” at your favorite restaurant? You know - the ones with butter, broccoli, cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream! Sounds good to me about now! Well our text is a “loaded” text - there is so much to learn from it.

We looked at the word “therefore” which tied Romans 12:1-2 to all that Paul wrote previously in the epistle. We looked at the idea of sacrifices - finding that believers live when they die to self. Then we looked at the nature of the Romans 12:1-2 sacrifices, they are: (1) to be living, (2) to involve giving the individual parts of our bodies to God, (3) must be holy, and (4) when they are all these things - then they are acceptable to God.

But what is the motive for our giving our bodies as “living sacrifices?” The rational answer, as Paul states it, is that it is the “reasonable” thing to do! The simple answer is - because of God’s mercies, the manifold mercies of God.

“This is entirely different from the way the world looks at things. Assuming that people in today’s world should even get concerned about living righteously – and it is doubtful that very many could – they would probably say, ‘The reason to live a moral a moral life is because you are going to get in trouble if you don’t.’ Or to give secular thinking the greatest possible credit, perhaps they might say, ‘Because it is good for you.’” (Boice) But this is not what we have in our text.

In “Rediscovering Holiness,” J. I. Packer says, “The secular world never understands Christian motivation. Faced with the question of what makes Christians tick, unbelievers maintain that Christianity is practiced only out of self-serving purposes. They see Christians as fearing the consequences of not being Christians (religion as fire insurance), or feeling the need of help and support to achieve their goals (religion as a crutch), or wishing to sustain a social identity (religion as a badge of respectability). No doubt all these motivations can be found among the membership of churches: it would be futile to dispute that. But just as a horse brought into a house is not thereby made human, so a self-seeking motivation brought into the church is not thereby made Christian, nor will holiness ever be the right name for religious routines thus motivated. From the plan of salvation I learn that the true driving force in authentic Christian living is, and ever must be, not the hope of gain, but the heart of gratitude.”

John Calvin wrote, “Paul’s entreaty teaches us that men will never worship God with a sincere heart, or be roused to fear and obey Him with sufficient zeal, until they properly understand how much they are indebted to His mercy.”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd