And it seems fitting as well because one thing we'd like to be doing as a church, if you've noticed that the memory verse for this month is Romans 12, verses 1 through 8. The memory verse for next month is the rest of the chapter. And it's been six years ago, and we actually preached starting through Romans 12, I think it was, through the end of Romans. And it was a purposeful time to preach through that, especially chapters 12 through 15, Because the emphasis there after all of this preaching and teaching on in-depth details and doctrines on justification by faith, then Paul gets into application and the bulk of it is Christian liberty, unity of the brethren, the love of the brethren. How is this applied in the real life of the church and in the world by the Christian? And so I think it will be wise for us as a church to memorize some of that scripture as we're reading through it in our scripture readings. But then perhaps it's wise to start at verse 1 and 2 in chapter 12 and at least preach that as we'll begin reading through the rest of it in our scripture reading as well in chapters 12 and 13 in the coming weeks. A context needs to be laid about Romans 12 verses 1 through 2. There might be several of us here that have those verses memorized. It seems to be easily memorized and pointed to a couple of verses, and I think it is very important. But I think it helps to see the flow of the first 11 chapters to, we get to Romans chapter 12. In Romans chapters 1 through 3, Paul fully described the inexcusable helpless state of dead in sin mankind. And he closed Romans chapter 1 with this description of sinful mankind. He said, they are undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them. It seems to be reflective of our culture. Then in Romans 2 and 3, Paul shows not only is sinful man unmerciful, that was one of the descriptions, interesting enough, of sinful man, they're unmerciful, but only mercy can save such a man. Not only Is there none righteous, but none seek after God, and there's no fear of God before their eyes, Paul writes in Romans chapter three. But then when you get to Romans chapter three, verse 21, finally the joyous message of God's mercy is proclaimed to the desperate, unmerciful sinner. And Paul says, but now, but now the righteousness of God is revealed in Christ Jesus through faith in him. And now the powerful, perfect mercy of God is freely given through justification by faith in Jesus Christ. Through Christ's perfect life and death, the wrath that our sin deserves is propitiated. It means it's satisfied, it's poured out on Him, and we don't have to suffer it in eternity in hell. And our sins can be forgiven, and righteousness is given through Christ. And that we see in Romans 4-11 that mercy is everywhere. The theme of mercy is everywhere. In Romans 4, we see that by God's mercy, our sins through Christ are not imputed to us, they're imputed to Him. And His righteousness is imputed to us by repentance and faith, by the mercy of God. In Romans 5, we see that it's by God's mercy that in Christ and justification by faith in Him, we have the benefits of the peace with God and access To God, the hope of glory, the love of God is poured out into our hearts by the Spirit of God. And there's a guarantee of a good record and a good heart in the second Adam to replace the bad record and the bad heart that came from the first Adam. Then in Romans chapter 6, we see that by God's mercy, we have a new identity. and a new master in Christ. And so therefore, we can live in such a way. In Romans 7, we see that it's by God's mercy we have a new relationship with the law that no longer can the law condemn us because Christ has taken that, but now the law is our friend to know how to love God and to love others. In Romans 8, then, perhaps the best chapter of the whole Bible some people say, but Romans 8, we see by God's mercy we are free from sin. and no longer has dominion over it, but now we're free from it. We have the indwelling and the intercession of the Spirit of God. We're adopted as sons and daughters before God the Father. We can now cry out, Abba, Father. We glory because even our suffering means nothing compared to the glory that awaits for us when we are with Christ and with Christ returns. And we have the security of the sovereign purpose of God to conform us into the image of His Son that's promised. And the promise of His love that will always keep us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. All by the mercy of God. And then in Romans 9, we see that by God's mercy, from sinful lumps of clay, He has made us into vessels of mercy. prepared beforehand for his glory that he might make known his riches of glory. And then in Romans 10 and 11, we see that by God's mercy, we who are committed to disobedience now have obtained mercy in Christ Jesus, and that by God's showing mercy to all types of undeserving, unmerciful people from the Jew to the Gentile, We might humbly rejoice as Paul did in the amazement of the mercy of God when he said, oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. That's Romans 1 through 11. And it's all filled with God's mercy. And so when Paul comes to the application of the doctrine of the first 11 chapters, and the application is going to be, then how do we live this new life we have in Christ? That's the simplicity of this application. How then do we live this new life in Christ? It should not surprise us that God's great mercy is the basis of God's exhortation, Paul's exhortation to the brethren. Because he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, the plural, the multiple mercies of God, this is how you live. And so much like Romans 1, verses 16 and 17, is the foundation for which the next 11 chapters come. In Romans chapter 1, Paul writes, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and then for the Greek. For it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, for the just shall live by faith. That's the basis for the first 11 chapters of Romans. It shouldn't surprise us that then Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, is the basis from which Romans 12 through 16, the rest of the book, is founded and flows. And so these two verses are the key to the rest of the book. It's the key to our life in Christ. And if you wanted to summarize Romans 12 verses 1 through 12, but using more words than Romans 12 verses 1 through 12 says, you would say, because of God's great mercy, so great that it's in plural, it's His mercies, we are to respond with such humble gratitude and awe and joy that we offer our lives as a living, holy sacrifice unto God. proactively and purposely living out this new life and this new standing in response to God's mercy. And we are to do this by proactively and purposely not conforming to the world, not listening to it, not being influenced by it or fit into its pattern, but by being transformed by the renewing of our minds. As we are metamorphosing from the inside out, not being conformed from the outside in, so that we might proactively and purposely prove the will of God, obeying it and experiencing its goodness and its perfection for the glory of God. That's Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. And then we have like 35 minutes to tell you more about that as well. But these two small verses at the beginning of Romans chapter 12 are the basis from which the rest of the book flows. I think it's also the basis for how our life should flow as well. And in your bulletin you see a brief outline, which maybe is longer than the two verses, but you see a brief outline. Usually we think of mind renewal in these two verses, but it's mind and life renewal. And first we'll look in verse one, the aim in our living a new life, the aim or the goal in our living a new life. It's the what? And we'll look at what is the motivation for this living a new life in Christ? Well, it's the mercy of God and the fellowship of the brethren. Then we'll see what is the destination? What is the goal? Well, it's have lives of living sacrifice and service to God. Then we'll look at the avenue or the means for living such a new life. We'll see what must be shunned, as William Hendrickson said, and what must be done, not to be conformed but to be transformed. And then we'll see a brief application or the result of living this new life. What does it look like? So first of all, the aim or the goal of living this new life that's being spoken of in Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. Again, Romans 12, 1 says, I 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. So first of all, we look at the aim. Now let's look at the motivation. What motivates us to live in such a way? Well, there's two things. It's the mercy of God and the fellowship of the brethren, is what we'll look at in this brief passage. Notice it says, I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God. That's Paul's first point. I beseech you, therefore, and the therefore points back to Romans 1-11. Because of all of the depth of the doctrine I've just talked to you about in Romans 1-11, because of that, I beseech you by the mercies of God that I've just outlined over and over and over again. Paul looks back to his exposition of Romans 1-11, and he sees the foundation of God's mercies in justifying sinners. And it's that bedrock of truth and then our response to it and gratitude and joy that's to be the great motivation for living for a merciful God in Christ. Charles Hodge said, all the doctrine of justification, grace, election, and final salvation taught in the preceding 11 chapters of this epistle are made the foundation for the practical duties enjoined in this. Because of everything I just said and the mercy of God in it, Live this way. That's your motivation. And if we believe what Paul has written in Romans chapter 1 through 11, I know there's a lot there. Then we will think differently and therefore we will act differently. Our lives will be different. But notice not merely just knowing the truth, but it's responding to the truth and gratitude that motivates. So the key thing is the mercies of God that should motivate us. But then more subtly, though, is the fellowship of the brethren, the fellowship of the brethren. Notice Paul says, I beseech you. We should resurrect that word. I beseech you. Brethren. You have to love the word brethren. And Paul uses it a lot. Beseech means to urge or to exhort. And what Paul is saying is, after this great doctrine of justification I've spent all this time unfolding to you, then that doctrine that I just taught should cause you to act. And that's how doctrine should work. Doctrine doesn't just cause you to sit around at Starbucks and argue about points of theology. Doctrine should cause you to act because of the richness of the doctrine that's being taught. And certainly that's the case in Romans chapter 11. And the word for beseech basically means calling alongside in order to help. It's not just I'm commanding you to do this, it's calling alongside in order to help is what it means in the Greek. What Paul is doing as an apostle is not merely commanding, but he's urging the brethren to act in response. It's as if he's expressing a desire to come alongside them in love, to aid them. If only I could be there, I would go along beside you and aid you in responding to the mercy of God and living such a life. I like that picture. And then he says brethren, which emphasizes the intimate fellowship he has with his brothers and sisters in Christ. Brethren are those who share in union with Christ and in justification by Christ. So we have together with the mercy of God and the fellowship of the brethren, we see the response and gratitude of love and joy and humility to the truths and realities of God's mercies in chapters one through 11. That's the primary motivation for us to live such a life. but the encouragement and reality of fellowship coming alongside and sharing is still a needed and important motivation as well. Do not neglect the grace and the helps of the local body of Christ. We need each other to live such a life of living sacrifice. So that's the motivation of this new life, but what's the destination? What is the goal? What's the purpose of this life? Well, he says that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. The destination, the goal is that you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. So we're going to be presenting our bodies as sacrifices, the word present. has the idea of offering a sacrifice. It's a word that you would use when you offer a sacrifice. You present it, it means surrendering or yielding up such a sacrifice. And the word for bodies, it may emphasize the physical body because that's what you see, but it actually entails the entire personality, the whole being of a person, the heart, mind, soul, and strength of a person. And so when it says present your body as a living sacrifice, it means you're called in a grateful response to the truth and experience of God's mercy to offer up, to yield up your whole being unto God. What are the characteristics of this sacrifice? Well, Paul says it's a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. It's a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. It's living. Our offering to God must proceed from the new life that's given by God's mercy. You can't offer this sacrifice if you're still spiritually dead, if you're outside of Christ. When you come to Christ in repentance and faith, your life is changed eternally from the inside out. So the living sacrifice is offering to God something that proceeds from a new life given by God's mercy. And because of Christ's once for all sacrifice, dead sacrifices will no longer do. You can no longer offer dead sacrifices. Christ's final sacrifice was the sacrifice unto death. That's it, it is finished. And he lives even now to intercede and to act on behalf of his people. And so God requires living sacrifices with the life of Christ to sacrificially live for him. So they're living, but they're to be holy. Now when you're born again, when you're justified before God, you are set apart. You're made holy unto God. Positionally, you are set apart and holy unto God. And that can never be lost. You're changed from the heart out, and you're sealed by the Holy Spirit. I think what's talked about here is then the holiness, the being set apart by the Holy Spirit. not just in your position, but in your practice, you're pursuing a life of Christ, is influenced by the Holy Spirit's work upon you. And that's a necessity as well. And such a living, Holy Spirit-empowered, sacrificial life is acceptable. It's acceptable. It's pleasing to God. It's well-pleasing to God. which is your aim and your desire to live a life that's pleasing and acceptable before God. Now be careful, you can never be more pleasing or more acceptable to God than the day that you were redeemed by Christ. You're in the beloved one when you're redeemed and you can have no more favor with God than that. Don't make this be some sort of a legalistic righteousness. I have to make myself more presentable to God so he'll like me more. That doesn't work that way. If you're in Christ, you can never be loved any more than the moment you come to Christ. But yet we want to have living, holy, pleasing sacrifices to God. And it makes sense. That's our desire. And so we're to present our bodies as sacrifice, living, holy, and acceptable sacrifices. And the last part in reasonable service to God. We're presenting our bodies, our lives as sacrifices to God in reasonable service to God. Paul says, which is your reasonable service? Now, if you listen to C.K., and I hope you did, it was only two verses. You didn't have to have a very long attention span. I'm trying you now, I know, but C.K., when he read, he only had two verses. He had a different verse in the New King James. You might have noticed that that verse that I just read, which is your reasonable service, sounded different. Well, it's because both the word reasonable and service can be something else. It can mean reasonable or spiritual service. And instead of service, it can be service or worship. So you have a combination of four different things, and you can figure out how many combinations you can get that way, and in different versions we'll combine them different ways. Is it reasonable or spiritual service or worship? And all four of them work, because all four of them are true. Our service to God is to be offered up like worship unto our merciful God, and thus it's a spiritual act, but it's also reasonable. What's more logical than offering up your bodies to such a merciful God who has redeemed you and saved you and guaranteed all of these things? So I like the word reasonable. It's logical. What else would you want to do in response to such a God but offer your lives to him in sacrifice? And so we see the aim in living this new life. It's motivated by God's mercy and by the fellowship of the brethren. And the goal then is to be presenting our lives as living, holy, acceptable sacrifices unto God as we reasonably serve and worship Him. That's what our life is supposed to be. Maybe the next question then, well, how do you do that? Or maybe, how are you doing with that? I don't want you to be feeling too low. This is a lifelong endeavor. So we look at the avenue or the means for living such a life in Romans 12 verse 2. And Paul writes, and 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. So I believe it was William Hendrickson who said, there must be some things that are shunned and some things that must be done. I hope that's not too cute, but it is memorable. Some things are to be shunned, some things are to be done. And the shunning part is actually pretty easy. Do not be conformed to this world. That's pretty straight, straightaway put. The word conformed has the word scheme in it. So it has the idea of don't let the world force you into its schemes, into its pattern, into its mold. Literally, though, the word conform means an outward expression that does not reflect what is within. I think this is a precious definition of conformed. This being conformed means an outward expression, what you see on the outside, that does not reflect what is actually on the inside. And the idea of being conformed to the world is an idea of the external source, the world itself, forcing on the individual its own scheme or pattern, and we're not allowed that to happen. We're not to allow that to happen. James Boyce, in his wonderful book, I believe it's called Mind Renewal in a Mindless Age. If you have a chance to get that book, it's really helpful. He says, this could be interpreted as, do not let the age in which you live force you into its scheme of thinking and behaving. Do not let the age in which you live force you into its scheme of thinking and behaving. And Phillips interprets this as, don't let the world around you squeeze you into its mold. And it's happening even as we speak, seven days a week, and we have to be aware of it. Don't assume an outward expression pattern after this world. when you've been changed on the inside to be different. Don't assume an outward expression, pattern after the world, an expression that does not come from your new inner being because it's not who you are. William Hendrickson said that Paul is warning the membership then and now against yielding to the various manifestations of worldliness by which they are being constantly surrounded. He said the main reason Paul warns against allowing oneself to be fashioned after the pattern of this evil age is that man's chief aim should never be to live only for himself. He should do everything to the glory of God. And we could probably spend a long time talking about the evils and the pressures of the world, and then we can get depressed. But we do have to be reminded that the world's obscenity, the world's amusements, The world's actions and attitudes and affections are contrary to those of the church and the Christian. The world encourages us to cast out virtue, to cast out humility and kindness and purity and selflessness. And it tries to force us into a mold of vulgarity, hedonism, crassness, promiscuousness, and selfishness. Please remember, that the world in which we live, the kingdom is not of our world, we should say, the world in which we live is forcing us into a mold of something that we're not made to be as Christians. Don't despair because we're victors in Christ, but we have to be aware of the pressures that are upon us. That's what must be shunned, but what must be done, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Whereas the conforming of the world was the outside pushing in something foreign, and we should shun that, the transforming is a change from the inward natural reality to the outside. It's the new life of Christ now being displayed on the outside. That's what we should be doing. The word for transformed is where we get the word metamorphosis, which I can never say, let alone spell. But it's the idea of changing from a caterpillar to a butterfly. That's what that word transform means. It's a word used to describe Christ's transfiguration in Matthew chapter 17, where Christ's inner divine nature and glory were, to some extent, were displayed on the outside of his human body. In a similar way, our redeemed nature is to be manifest outward in our daily living. Our redeemed nature, likewise, is to be manifested outwardly in our daily living. And the only other place that this word is used in Scripture other than Matthew 17 is 2 Corinthians 3.18. 2 Corinthians 3.18. And there it speaks about our ongoing transformation. as we're being sanctified day by day. And in 2 Corinthians 3.18, Paul writes, but we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. We are being transformed, Christian, into the same image of Christ from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. That transformation is referring to our ongoing transformation into Christ-likeness, which is promised. I'm so happy it's promised, because sometimes it doesn't look like we're ever going to get there. I'm thinking about myself. I'm not looking at you when I say that. And it's an ongoing transformation to Christ-likeness that will be completed only at the return of Christ. That's what we have here in 2 Corinthians 3.18, what Paul is saying is, this transformation is happening by the Spirit of God. And so you get to Romans 12 verse 2, what Paul is saying is, let it happen. We go from it is happening in 2 Corinthians 3 to now saying in Romans 12 verse 2, so let it be happening in your life. take a hold of the responsibility you have to walk with Christ as the Spirit of God transforms you by the Word of God. And in Romans 12, verse 2, when it says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, first of all, that's in present tense, which means continue to be transformed. It's not just a one-time act. It's a day-by-day plodding with Christ through the Word by the Spirit of God. It's in present tense. Continue to be transformed. It's also in a passive voice, which means continue to let yourself be transformed. You're not transforming yourself. It's the work of God happening on you through the life of God that he's given you. And thirdly, it's in an imperative mood. It's present tense. Continue to be transformed. It's in passive voice. Continue to let yourself be transformed, but it's an imperative mood, which means cooperate. You're commanded then to cooperate with this act upon you as you're being transformed. Continue to let yourself be transformed, cooperating with the Spirit of God. And so that leads to the question, well, how then? What do I do to cooperate with the Spirit of God? Well, Paul says, by the renewing of your mind. The key thing he lists here is the renewing of your mind. And we've had several sermons, and it's one of my favorite topics, of the importance of the mind in the Christian life. The importance of the mind in anybody's life, but the importance of the mind in the Christian life. The mind and to think Christianly is the key to the Christian life. Proverbs 23.7 says, for as he thinks in his own heart, so he is. It's not you are what you eat, it's you are what you think. It represents who you are. God has made us with minds and minds that are the pace setters in our life and then our emotions are designed to respond to our thinking and the problem is we usually have that flipped. Our emotions get going and we start thinking in response to our emotions and we get messed up. But the key is having our minds be the pace setting engine and then our emotions responding to our thinking. And so then the key is to feed upon God's Word. so that our affections, our actions, and our emotions will follow suit accordingly to the Word of God and the Spirit of God, using the Word of God in our lives. It's pithy, but it's a good little message to say that the Spirit of God takes the Word of God to conform the child of God into the image of the Son of God and all for the glory of God. That's the key point of the Christian life. The spirit of God takes the word of God to conform the child of God into the image of the son of God and all for the glory of God. And that's the renewing of your mind. The spirit transforms us and sanctifies us largely by taking the word of God that's implanted in our mind. That's the resource they use over and over and over again. And it's interesting in Ephesians chapter five, verse 18, we're told to be filled with the spirit, The parallel passage to being filled with the Spirit is Colossians 3.16, which says, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. You want to be filled with the Spirit? Get in the Word of God and let it dwell in you richly. That's what it means. And so you kind of put this together. The outward transformation is to be affected by the Spirit-empowered interchange of our mind and our thinking. And the way we think must be different from the world around us. We must think in a Christian way. And thinking in a Christian way is not a matter of just thinking about Christian subjects, and certainly not on Twitter. That's usually not helpful for you. But rather thinking in a Christian way about everything. We need to have a Christian mind that knows the word of God and is empowered by the spirit to understand things and to discern by the word of God, and then to act accordingly. As your thinking changes, then your behavior will change. As you think like Christ, you become more and more like Christ. I don't want you to think this is some kind of a studious thing like taking a class. When you're in the Word of God, you're prayerfully in the Word of God, hopefully on a daily basis. And a reading schedule is a wonderful thing, and making yourself available for the means of grace and the teaching and the preaching of a local church. As you're doing that, you're communing with your God. We commune with God through His Word and prayer. We speak to him in prayer. He speaks to us by his spirit, through his word. This is not a dry, boring thing. This is the heartbeat of our lives as Christians. And so a transformed and renewed mind is a mind saturated and controlled by the word of God. Then we become more and more like Christ in our thinking, in our behavior, and in our will, which is the last of Romans 12.2, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You can't get to that part, which is what we all want, until you go through those other steps ahead of that. A transformed mind produces a transformed will, the mind of Christ in us. Turn to Philippians chapter 4. Let me pronounce all of the syllables. Turn to Philippians chapter 4. You have to love Philippians chapter 4. I don't know if there's any better section of scripture to deal with discouragement, depression, discontent, than Philippians chapter 4. It actually starts in chapter 3. At the end of chapter 3, We see the Christian's identity as he's a citizen of heaven. His identity is in Christ. That's a foundational point. And he looks forward to the day when Christ returns and we'll see him as he is and we'll be made like him, we'll be transformed fully. That's a good place to start at the end of chapter three. Then you get into chapter four and he starts with a little powwow between a couple of ladies in the church. But the point is you want to have contentment in your life, seek unity in the church and fellowship with the brethren. So right unity, then it's rejoicing in all things, learning to rejoice in God and not your circumstances. And then starting with verse six, don't worry, but pray. You need to have right prayer in your life, but then we have right thinking and right doing. And after that, he says, be content in all things. Philippians four is wonderful, but I want us to focus starting on verse eight, Philippians chapter 4. It says, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue and if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. But Paul is calling us, he lists several virtues. I think there's at least eight there. He says, meditate on these, think on these things, garner your mind on the things of God. That's the key to contentment and to have a renewed mind that leads to a transformed life. Meditate on these things. We live in a world of constant stimulation and most of them are anti-biblical through our media, our pop culture. and we're attached to it all day long because there's electronic devices in our pockets. We have a busy, noisy world that's always trying to conform us to keep us from thinking at all, which is not a good thing. We need to have time to stop and think or to make us to think wrongly. And so it's utterly important to seize every moment to fill our mind with the things of the word of God. That's the deal. And so Paul says, think on these right things. Meditate on these things. Embed these truths of the Word of God in your mind and your heart, so then you can filter and discern the input from the world and know joy in Christ. And so he goes through these things. He says, if there's anything true, whatever things are true, that means truthful things versus falsehood. It's really hard to determine truth versus falsehood in our media. The point is, though, is what I'm thinking about or hearing, is it in line with God's Word and God Himself? If not, then I want to throw it out. Whatever things are noble, the second one, means whatever is honorable, dignified, serious, and that's in comparison to the frivolity and the triviality of our world. If it's trivial and frivolous, let's think about something else. The third one, whatever things are just, means whatever things are righteous or fair. The point is, is this thing in harmony with God's law and God's will? If not, then I'm going to move aside and think about other things. Whatever is pure means whatever is holy or morally clean. That's hard. Ephesians 5 tells us we're to expose the deeds of darkness and not even mention what the disobedient do in secret. But we're pretty flippant with our words and the things we consume. but we would be meditating on those things that are pure. Whatever things are lovely, whatever things are winsome, that are pleasing, that are attractive. One way of thinking about this word, whatever things are lovely, whatever things that evoke love in your life. That's wonderful. Think on those things. It changes you. And that's versus the crassness and the harshness of the world. And there's a stark difference. Whatever things are of a good report, that means whatever is well thought of or highly regarded, That doesn't have to be just Christian material. We focus our mind and meditate on those things are of good report. If there's any virtue or excellence or anything that's praiseworthy, which is kind of a summary of all of this stuff, in case I've forgotten anything Paul's saying, if anything is virtuous or praiseworthy, well then meditate on these things. Any and all moral and spiritually excellent thing. These are the things that you fill your mind on and you talk about and you meditate upon. Meditating is the constantly thinking upon, pondering or meditating on these things. Using these godly virtues as a filter to strain out the bad and a template to frame the good. You might print out verses eight and nine and put on your computer screen or on your television screen or whatever it is to keep in mind what are the things I'm supposed to be meditating on and imbibing in. It's good for my heart. It's good for my life. Using these godly virtues as a filter to strain out the bad and as a template to frame the good, it will have a great effect on what you watch, you listen to, you read, you talk about, you look at, both to feed and control the mind and then the actions that flow from what you think upon. A couple of practical thoughts related to that. First from Jay Adams, a reminder is most of us deal with bad habits. and besetting sins of one sort of another. And when something becomes a habit, it's hard to break. And we try to break it, and we do well for a little bit, but then we realize it doesn't just go away overnight, and we give up. Don't do that. Understand that changing bad habits and bad thought patterns, it takes time and persistence. It makes you have to actually think about it for a longer time to resuscitate your mind in a right way. Whether it's habits of addictions, or lust, or worry, And so J. Adams says, whenever you catch your mind wandering back into the forbidden territory, and you can be sure that it will more frequently at first until you retrain and discipline it, change the direction of your thought. Do not allow yourself one conscious moment of such a thought. Instead, crisply ask God to help you to refocus upon those things that fit into Paul's list recorded in Philippians 4, verses 8 and 9. It's a day-by-day plotting and meditating. Another comment by Richard Mayhew reminds us that it takes time and persistence to have our minds to be thinking more and more biblically. And Richard Mayhew says, to hear something once for most of us is not enough. To briefly ponder something profound does not allow enough time to grasp and fully understand its significance. This proves to be most true with God's mind in scripture. The idea of meditating sometimes lends itself to misunderstanding, so let me illustrate its meaning. This is going to date me a little bit. Most of you probably don't know about a coffee percolator, where you have the coffee grounds at the top, and it takes the water below and puts it through the coffee and keeps recycling it, recycling it, recycling it, until finally the water becomes coffee. So that's the idea. Richard Mayhew says, for me, the most vivid picture comes from a coffee percolator. The water goes up a small tube and drains down through the coffee grounds. And after enough cycles, the flavor of the coffee beans has been transferred to the water, which we then call coffee. So it is that we need to cycle our thoughts through the grounds of God's word until we think like God. And so I hope you can see the importance of reading the Word of God in godly literature. It nourishes us and it builds us up. What we read becomes part of us in our thinking, even if we don't remember what we read. What did you have for breakfast yesterday morning? Don't answer that. But whether you remember or not, it still nourished you. Or didn't, depending, maybe it was a donut. But still, what you eat, whether you remember what it was or not, it still nourishes you and builds you up. So is your reading and meditating on the Word of God. And meditating itself is the idea of taking a passage of scripture and just thinking through it, repeating it to yourself, memorizing it. And pretty soon, aspects and different facets of the Word of God become more and more clear to you and precious to you. And then your life begins changing from your mind through your heart to your life. And so verse 9 in chapter 4 of Philippians says, Basically, don't just think about those things. Do them! Because whatever you think about needs to be turned into action. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw on me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. We are meant to be doers of the Word, not just readers or thinkers or meditators. We're to be thinking with a purpose. There's a sphere of action in our thinking. We're to hear, meditate, and understand, but then act upon it. If you deal with depression, sometimes it's prescribed to those who have depression to just stay by themselves. We're not made for that. Get out and do something. Serve others. We're meant to do, to work, to be outward with what's going on in the insides of our lives to keep us out of trouble. And again, it shows the necessity of the local Church of Christ to rub the shoulders with the brothers and sisters in Christ and serve with them. And so the flow of Philippians chapter 4 is to pray, to think, but then to do. Right prayer leads to right thinking, which leads to right action. When we are in the midst of worry, it's usually the other way around. And I think that's the flow that we have in Romans chapter 12. And so to have a brief application of Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2, the brief application, the result of living this new life, The where does this happen? Well, it happens before God in the church and in the world for the Christian. Romans 12 verses 1 and 2 has the flow of thinking on the great mercies of God in Romans chapter 1 through 11, and then gratefully offering oneself up to God as a humble living sacrifice, resisting the world's thoughts while being transformed in the mind, so then he can pursue and experience the will of God in his life. So you have the same pattern in Romans 1 through 12, as you have in Philippians 4, of thinking and then doing. But what follows in Romans chapter 12, verse 3, and following, is an application of this new transformed life. It's to be applied outwardly to others. It's not to be kept to oneself. We don't sit at home with our new inward life that's being displayed on the outside and look in the mirror. We do this around other people. It's to be shown outwardly to others in the church and in the world. And that's what we see with the rest of the Book of Romans. The believer is a humble, living sacrifice by the gift of God for God, who lives out that life humbly and sacrificially, using the Spirit's gifts for others, first within the church family, and then within the world. It's a reminder that Christianity is an outward, unselfish life. before God, then before others, and for the sake of God and others. It's not about me. In Romans chapter 12, verses one and two, we see that we're to love God with our whole heart, soul, strength, and mind. And then we are prepared and called to, Romans 12, three and following, to love our neighbor as ourself, starting with our brethren first. Look at Romans chapter 12, verse three. I want to close just by reading some of what follows after Romans 12, 1 and 2. Sometimes we look at Romans 12, 1 and 2 in isolation. We don't see anything of what's happening before or after it. What happens when we're talking about living sacrifices being transformed by the renewing of our mind according to the will of God? Well, then we see in verse 3, Romans 12, verse 3, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, So we being many are one body in Christ. This is speaking about the local body of Christ where this life is being lived out. And individually members of one another, I love that phrase, we're individually members of one another in the local body. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them as living sacrifices being renewed. Verse nine, let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Do you see the outwardness? Verse 14, Blessing those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. This is what your living sacrifice should look like. And in verse 17, repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. So it's not just in the church, but it's in all of your dealings with the world. And so these two verses are really the heartbeat of our life, the heartbeat of the rest of the chapter of Romans, or the rest of the book of Romans, I should say. They're with the motivation of the mercy of God and the brethren. We're then to present our lives as living sacrifices, as a reasonable service to our God, shunning the world, but being transformed by the renewing of our mind according to the spirit of God and the word of God that we might enjoy. This is really the prescription for joy, the good and acceptable and perfect will of God in our lives. And it's been played out before God, before one another in the local church, before our neighbor. And so as we pursue this kind of living sacrificial life before God and for men, we become more like Christ. Remember Christ was sent and he came by the abundant mercies of God and he humbled himself to take on a body that he might live a perfect life for the purpose of offering himself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God himself. And this was his reasonable and spiritual service for the redemption of his people. He came to do the father's good and perfect will and he did it, it is finished. But Christ is a living sacrifice. For he rose from the dead and he ascended on high so that we who were willingly conformed to our own sin and to the world can be transformed by the renewal of our hearts and minds through repentance and faith. And like Christ's example, we too can offer ourselves a new life to God and be a sacrificial humble servant to our brethren and to sinners in the world. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Such a simple and short couple of verses can take a long time to expound, but it also takes a whole lifetime to put into practice. Please give us patience and help us to be always going back to the mercies of God in Christ, which we saw so much in the book of Romans. Your mercy is so great that you saved us when we had no hope in any other way. And you promised us that we will be conformed to the image of your son by the spirit of God, taking the word of God and for your glory. May we be compliant living sacrifices. Grateful, humble, compliant living sacrifices waking up every morning saying thank you for another day of life. Thank you even more so for eternal life through Christ Jesus. We praise you for your mercy and your grace. Help us to know true joy in serving you and being a living sacrifice for Christ for others. this day. May that be the daily plotting of our lives. And as we sin, may we confess quickly because there's forgiveness continually in Christ's blood. And Lord, you would sanctify us and build us up for your glory, for the proclamation of Christ and for the good of our brothers and for the salvation of sinners. We do pray, Lord, for those who are outside of Christ that today would be the day of salvation for them. that they would see the abundant, infinite well of mercy that's only available through Christ Jesus, and it's the only thing that saves them from their infinite, abundant sin and the wrath that it deserves. May they come to know Christ this day. It's in His name we pray. Amen.