Good morning, everyone. You're welcome to church this morning. It's good to have you with us. If you're visiting for the first time, then you're very welcome. It's good to have Mark Lodge from the EFCC. I know he's trying to hide there incognito, but Mark, it's good to have you with us and a few other visitors. And if you're tuning in for the first time online, you're also very welcome. It's good to have you here. I want to read a few verses. Sorry, I'll do the announcements first, if you don't mind. Drew is unable to be here today so I'm filling in for Drew. That is to say that we are having communion right after this service this morning and if you know and love the Lord then you're invited to stay with us and to celebrate this great act which the Lord has commanded us to do. If you know and love the Lord and you're walking in fellowship with him then you're indeed very welcome. You will notice that there are little cards in the front of the pews in front of you. Those are for members only, and if you're a member, then please fill those in and put them in the offering box on your way out, and that will help. Then at five o'clock this evening, we have our time of prayer pre-service. If you want to join with us for prayer, then you'll be very welcome to do that as well at five o'clock, or any time between five and six if you can manage it. again here at six o'clock, and I'll be bringing God's word again this evening. And then for the incoming week, Tuesday night we have our prayer meeting and Bible study. We're working on the spiritual warfare. We were dealing with the attacks against truth and what truth is, and we're dealing with that subject, and we're still there on this incoming Tuesday at half past seven, and then our prayer meeting follows immediately after that. We know I would love to have you with us if you can do so. And then on Wednesday night at 7.30 we have our ladies fellowship meeting at 7.30 in the hall. Dr. Olive Buckley, GP, will be giving a personal word of testimony and speaking on the work of the Rowan Beside Antrim Hospital and supper will be provided. Come along and enjoy fellowship together, little cards in the foyer on your way out. Then on Thursday we have our English class for immigrants And that as well, do please continue to remember that in prayer, as well as all the other organizations that are meeting this incoming week. Also, can I remind you that next Lord's Day on the 9th of October, it's what we have called our Missionary Sunday. We're terming it our Missionary Sunday. Keith Lindsay from Acri will be speaking at 11 o'clock in the morning. And then at 6 p.m., Callum Webster from the Christian Institute will be speaking in the evening. We haven't had a missionary convention, as you know. COVID had interrupted that. And then Mondays and Tuesdays were difficult to get people out, so what we're doing from time to time, unless it changes, and it's possible that it could change, then we are gonna do the odd Sunday as our missionary Sunday. Also, just to remind you that we will not be lifting an offering, the members have taken that decision, but there are boxes on the foyer as you leave the church, and any freewill offering that you would like to give to the Lord, then you can do so. And also remember that the building fund is ongoing as well. This is a big day for Cailin and Lauren. Lauren Spencer and Cailin Dooley there will be tying the knot and getting married this coming Saturday. And so we want to wish them well and continue to remember them in your prayers. And also, not finally, but also remember the Bullard family. Andy's father passed away on Thursday, quite suddenly, and the Bullard family are quite upset. And so please remember them at this time. at the sudden home call of Andy's father. It's good to see Jean Harbertson's family in today. It's lovely to have you. We know that you've been through tough times in the passing of a mother and a grandmother and a great-grandmother, and she was somebody who was very special, but it's good to have the family here with us today. Now let us just turn to God's Word. I want to read to you a few verses from Psalm number 44. They grabbed my attention this morning as I thought of our call to worship. And it says there in Psalm 44 in verse four, you are my king, O God, command victories. Is that somebody's phone? All right, I thought maybe you hadn't heard it, because I can hear it. Psalm 44, maybe it's a toy, don't worry. Psalm 44 in verse four, you are my king, O God, command victories for Jacob. Through you we will push down our enemies. Through your name we will trample those who rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, nor shall my sword save me. But you have saved us from our enemies, and have put to shame those who hated us. In God we boast all day long, and praise your name forever. In God we boast all day long, and praise your name forever. Let's bow together in prayer before we start our time of worship together, please. Father, we want to thank you that we are gathered together in the house of God to sing the praises of him who loved us and washed us from our sins. We do not boast in our ability nor our spirituality. We do not boast in what we've accomplished or achieved. We boast in God alone, in him we put our trust, in him who is our deliverance, in whom we have that great reality that our God is our Savior and Lord. and father as we gather together today regardless of what has been going on in this world in this past week with all the turmoil politically economically socially morally lord help us to cast and focus our minds on god alone as we boast in him Lord, we thank you that this world is not out of control because we follow a sovereign God who is in absolute control of every circumstance and every situation. And dear Father, we pray that we'll focus on Him who's the answer to the world's ills and the world's needs. and grant, O God, that in this service, Lord, we pray that you will enrich our hearts and encourage us and inspire us. And as we gather later on around the table, we ask, Lord, that your presence, your gracious presence, will fill the house. And so, Lord, be one of our number today and grant us your peace and your favor and your blessing because we ask it in Jesus' name and in his name alone. Amen. Amen. We're going to start singing together. We're going to sing the first song, which is number 47. If you're using the hymn book, we have come into his house and gathered in his name to worship him. That's why we're here. It's not why you're here this morning. It's not why you dolled yourself up to be here this morning. So that you could worship him. Let's focus on him. Even if there's noise or phones going off or toys going off, let's focus on him. Let's stand and sing together. We have come into his house and gathered in his name. We have come into his house and gathered in his name. We have come into His house, gathered in His name to worship Him. We have come into His house, gathered in His name So forget about yourself Concentrate on Him and worship Him So forget about yourself Concentrate on Him and worship Him is a Let's remain standing. We're going to sing another song because way before the foundation of the world, God had, Jesus Christ had come and offered himself as sacrifice for sin. He's the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, says Peter. And so let's, as we sing this song, we have no other means, no other effort or no other route other than through the blood of Jesus. And the question here is, have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power. Remaining standing and we'll sing together. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you walking daily by the Savior's side? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Oh dancing Are your garments pockets are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? When the bridegroom cometh with the rosy white, pure and white in the blood of the Lamb. in the are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Lay aside the garments that are stained by sin, and be washed in the blood of the Lamb. There's a fountain flowing for the soul on three, oh be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Amen. You may be seated. Now, I'm gonna ask the boys and girls please to come and meet me at the front. This is your song and uh this song who's the king of the sea, so come on ahead. Thank you, good girl, Abigail. Thank you very much, Nora, Ada. Any more tickers? Thank you, man. Caleb, you're under orders. Are you going to a wedding? I tell you, that's the best-dressed young man in church today. Is that right? Everybody else is all insulted now, isn't that right? Oh, there's Michael. Anybody else want to come and join us? Any granny, granda? All right, this next song, if we can have it up there, please. Who's the king of the jungle? Who's the king of the sea? I don't know half of this. Anyway, we'll remain seated and we'll see how we can, see how we get on, will we? Who's the king of the jungle? Who's the king of the jungle? God, good man, yes, not the lion, not the lion, God is. He's the king of everywhere, and he's the king of me. All right, thank you very much, band. We'll try it through once, and then we'll try it through a second time and see how we get on, all right? You make sure and sing it out really well, won't you? That sounds encouraging. Okay, thank you very much. Who's the king of the jungle? Who's the king of the sea? Who's the king of the universe? And who's the king of me? I'll tell you, J-E-S-U-S He's the king of me He's the king of the universe And you know that that's him because this reminds us it matters not whether we're in the middle of the jungle, it matters not whether we're in the middle of the sea, it matters not where we're, what part of planet earth we're on, God... And it's very quick. Sorry? And it's very quick. It's very quick? Okay then. Alright, let's go one more time. Thank you very much. Who's the king of the jungle? Who's the king of the sea? Who's the king of the universe? And who's the king of me? I'll tell you J-E-S-U-S-E He's the king of me He's the king of the universe And the bull and the sea It's over. Thank you. Away you go. You can go down now to your stepping stones and tiny steps to your Sunday school classes. And folks, whenever you see the children, always remember that when they're going to Sunday school, someone is going to be teaching them and they've committed themselves to the boys and girls. So please remember that and pray for our young people and for the youth fellowship, all our teenagers. We need the Lord to intervene in these days and to work in the lives of our young people. We don't want the world or the devil getting them. Let's stand and sing together our scribe greatness to our God, the rock, and we're gonna sing it through twice. Ascribe greatness to our God, the Rock His work is perfect, and all His ways are just Ascribe greatness to our God, the Rock His work is perfect, and all His ways are just I'm God of faithfulness and without injustice, who doth not righteously. I'm God of faithfulness and without injustice, who doth not righteously. I scribe greatness to our God the love His work is perfect and all His ways are just I scribe greatness to our God the love His work is perfect and all His ways are just See that I notice Bobby and Sally Gilliland are in the service this morning as well. Sally, it's good to see you and to see that you're recovering and we trust that you do no continued recovery from your latest bout of sickness and Bobby as well. And it's good to have Gemre. Gemre's home from Turkey now after a long struggle. Isn't that right, sir? And she's taller than mammy and you probably didn't recognize her but it's good to have her home. and it's good to have her out in service this morning and she's with the kids to the stepping stones. Do pray for this family. They just lost a husband and a father and so do please continue to remember them as well as we remember each and every one who have lost loved ones. If I've missed you out, there's Gemre now, hello Gemre. If I've missed anybody out, it's not on purpose. I want you to turn with me please to God's word and we're reading from Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. when we're reading the first eight verses. The first eight verses. We'll pray after we read these verses. As we break into this new section, and I've been telling you all about it, it's living out what we've learned of the gospel. It's working out, living the gospel out. Romans 12 to 16 is you and I living out the gospel, the doctrines that we've learned in the previous chapters. If your doctrine doesn't change you, then I don't know what kind of doctrine you have. It's one thing to have it in your head, and it's another thing to have it in your heart, and then to see it working out through your life. So let's read together from Romans chapter 12 and verse 1 to the verse 8. 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 spiritual worship or reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, 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 and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. Or ministry, let us use it in our ministering. He who teaches in teaching. He who exhorts in exhortation. He who gives with liberality. He who leads with diligence. He who shows mercy with cheerfulness. Amen, let's bow together in prayer, let's pray. Our Father, as we gather together as a band of your people who have been redeemed, for those of us, Lord, who know and love you, we thank you for this opportunity again of gathering around your word. We thank you for the opportunity of lifting up our voices in praise and thanksgiving to our great God. We thank you, Lord, for the Spirit of God who, as your word says, where two or three are gathered, there am I in the midst of them. We thank you for your wonderful love for your people. We bless you, Lord, for every blessing that we've received from your hand. We thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank you that he bore our sins, that we might live for him. We thank that we know forgiveness. We know freedom. We know that sense of belonging, that sense of purpose, that sense of direction. Again, we've been connected to the living one. We thank you for knowing the source of life. We thank you for that life that flows through the children of God and inspires and encourages and directs and corrects and rebukes and does all those things that your word says. And dear Father, as we gather together this morning, we pray that we might be encouraged and inspired, that we might be humbled, we might be challenged as we look into your word. We ask for the gracious help of the Holy Spirit, that he will illuminate the page and give us that understanding of your truth, even to our hearts, that we might grow thereby. Remember many of our fellowship, Lord, who are ill, those who have lost loved ones, who are dealing with the loss of those precious family members. And dear Father, we pray that you will be a husband to the widow, that you'll be a comforter to those who are in turmoil and distress. For those who feel a sense of loss, our Father, we praise Thee that when we find Jesus, we find something wonderful. Our Father, we pray for Mae Fraser. We ask, Lord, that she may know that round about and underneath are the everlasting arms. We pray for Catherine, and we pray for Billy, and the whole family circle, Lord, as they watch a mother, much-loved mother, dealing with this awful sickness and weakness of the body. Remember those who are not here because of COVID. Remember those who are not here because of illness, of one thing or another. You know who's on our minds. You know, Lord, who it is that needs your touch. And so we ask, Lord, that wherever they are, whatever they might be, if there are those who are here today and they find themselves just wandering in, we pray that this will be an appointment with God. Lord, we ask now that you'll meet our need and grant us your peace and favor, for we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Paul's appeal or challenge to this new life will be the title for our message today. We are not going to get out of verse one and we are going to go into verse two this evening. But here's a slogan I'm sure you've heard many, many times. Let's just live life to the max. Let's just make the most of our lives. Don't waste your life, get the most out of life. That's the world's boast of view of life. But there's another life that God wants you to live to the full. It's this new life that Paul has been speaking about in those first 11 chapters of Romans. But after all, all of the doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to bring new life to every person who enters into that covenant of grace with God. This new life Paul has been instructing us in for the last 11 chapters of this wonderful book. And I ask myself, and I ask everyone here and those listening, are we living the new life in Christ to the max? Are we making the most out of it? Are we, as it were, displaying everything that God has purposed and planned for us? Or are we falling far short of this new life? You see, some people want to live the old life and the new life. They try to live it simultaneously. They want to have a little bit for their own personal enjoyment that has nothing to do with God or his purposes or his plans. And then there's another bit of people's lives where they want to be in the will of God and doing God's will for their lives. You can't live both. Because if you put something into the old life, then you're holding something back from the new life. So are we living this new life to the max? Let me go back to the beginning to try and catch where Paul is coming from, and seek to learn this life and how it may be achieved, developed, and accomplished, and become apparent in every one of us. Remember we finished last Lord's Day evening where Paul was soaring high, speaking of the greatness, the grace, and the glory of God. But as he looks back and sees the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the purposes and plans and the sovereignty of God, and he's working with men, and he was soaring high. Oh, he was in cloud nine as he was worshiping and praising God. And now, He offers and issues this appeal, this challenge to you and I to live this life. And he makes an appeal to you and I to be all in, all out, and all up for God. There are two things in his mind, I believe, as we get into these verses. And I thought they were far too important to separate them from this Sunday to next Sunday. In fact, it'll be three Sundays before I'm back in the pulpit here, given that we have our harvest and we have our missionary Sunday. And I thought it far too important to try and separate them with three or four weeks. Because in verse one, he's asking us to present our bodies. And in verse two of Romans 12, he's asking us for our minds. The two cannot be separated. So what's in Paul's mind then as he pens these words, what's in his heart? Well, I want to suggest two things before we get into the first verse. His thoughtfulness, sorry, his thankfulness. He thanks God for all that he has done for us. I mean, think about your own testimony here. Think about what God has done for you. Think about how he's brought you from darkness to light, how he intervened in your life. Because let's face it, even though some people don't like it, once we were not a people, but now are we the people of God. And it also says, none can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him. In other words, we would be nowhere if God hadn't intervened in our lives, isn't that right? We'll be still fast bound in sins, nature, and darkness, and night. We'll still be under condemnation and under the wrath of God, but God in his mercy and love gave us his son. A way back as Noel Dara often, as I learned from Noel Dara, a way back in the islands of eternity in the beginning which never began, Jesus Christ in full cooperation with God the Father and God the Son, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit gave his life. And that makes you feel special, dear child of God. That you would be in God's heart, and he'd want you to live life. Love's so amazing. James stole my closing hymn, so I had to change it. The rascal, where is he? I wanted to sing, when I survey the wondrous cross, and I wanted to sing it to the old tune, but he had it chosen for tonight, and he got in first, and well, maybe I'll win the next time. God doesn't make you do something that you do not want to do. You'll be as close to God as you want to be. That's why we'll come around the table and we'll thank God for his, as we remember his sacrifice. Thankfulness. The second thought, as he enters into these verses and into these next chapters, is thoughtfulness. New life is not a life where self is on the throne. It's a life where self is dethroned. This is a life, this new life is not lived for me, but it's lived for the purposes and the promises and the priority of God. Two themes dominate these chapters, mercy and worship. And if you read the NIV, you'll notice that at the NIV, the last part of the first verse, this is your spiritual worship. which is the literal Greek words that it's used. And we all want to worship God. And we love to come to church and we love to sing his praises and we love those good old going hymns. I love worship hymns, to be honest. Songs that bring us up to the throne, where we are standing before Him in the revelation for the headquarters of heaven, and we see into the glories of heaven. And Him who sits on the throne, and we lift our hearts in praise to Him, forgetting about everyone here, everybody else around us. This verse, in fact these two verses, are all about living your life. as a worship and praise to God. It's not only about the singing, it's about the living, living for Him. And I quoted that catechism that I learned in the Presbyterian church when I was brought up, man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. God created you and I, and God saved you and I for one purpose, and that is to live our lives in worship and praise to him. And so with all of that said, I want you to do two headings, and the third one will come tonight. As Paul makes his appeal, the motivation of Paul's appeal. There are a number of strands that come together to help us see the motivation that Paul has here. Paul is not on a seeking to gain and gather conscripts into a beleaguered army like Putin. Nor is he on a monetary commission basis here either. Paul's motivated by his experience of God. I beseech thee therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God." Notice the intimacy. I urge you. This is the appeal of a counselor. Paul isn't barking out orders, commanding and demanding. He's encouraging. The Greek word is para kaleo. Para means pull alongside. Kaleo, to give onto. You see, to encourage, to personally make a call, to throw your all in with God. Here's the picture. Two people walking along, one is a good friend who's seeking to encourage and inspire his other beleaguered friend, and they're facing a stiff and strong challenge. And it's as if this person, this encourager, this counselor, puts his arm around the individual and says, let me encourage you. You make that move. You take that decision. You make that choice, because you'd be blessed as a consequence. It's a passionate appeal tempered by God's mercy. In other words, Paul is displaying the mercy of God. He's not putting some legalistic kind of orders on his people, where God's people often feel bound and fettered by some vow that they've been coerced into. No, Paul says, as we'll see later on this evening, If you want to know the perfect will of God and how pleasing and how fulfilling and how so satisfying it is, just give yourself to him. Paul's heart has been so affected by the grace, the greatness, and the glory of God that he wants others to have that same experience, the intimacy. Notice the identity. Therefore, brethren, the appeal is to believers. When I was growing up, people used to say I made my commitment to Jesus, and that was them saying they got saved. You know, my dear friend, this is different. This is nothing. This is not you getting saved. Salvation initiates this. A lot of people try to, I know people that are committed to churches. I know people who are committed to their denomination. I know people and they'll clean the church, they'll do the grounds, they'll cut the grass, they'll polish the brass, they'll do everything. They'll set out the seats, their commitment to their particular religion. This is not commitment in the sense that you get saved. This is a commitment because you're saved. This is to the believers. This is your spiritual worship. This is your reasonable service. This is what is expected of the people of God. Expected. I have heard and you have heard of those who refer to salvation as being their commitment to Christ. That's like leapfrogging salvation, isn't it? Paul doesn't play with our consciences here, but he certainly pulls at our heartstrings. He's making his appeal based on the fact that we owe God our very lives. You ever thought of that? Would there be any here who would agree with me that I have no idea where I would be if God hadn't stepped into my life? I have to say, of someone who never went to school, someone who only lived a selfish, self-centered, hard-hearted, self-motivated life. As I've often said to you before, there's an awful lot of stuff. There's a young fellow growing up and an awful lot of things that I got into that I wish I had never, ever seen. But he rescued me. And I'll never cease to praise him. But he doesn't only want the words of our mouths. He wants the beats of our heart. Notice the inevitability of it. See, there's something else going on in Paul's mind here. Paul knows something that we don't know. Well, not yet anyway. He knows to live this new life of selflessness, of spiritual worship, requires us to dedicate ourselves, to commit ourselves fully and totally to him. I don't want to embarrass you. But in preparation for these messages, do you read ahead? I'm not asking the answer now. I'm asking that for the sink in. You knew it would be un-Romans. Let me read you a few verses of the next part of this chapter. Would you go there to Romans 12 and go to verse nine. You see, if I haven't done with the self-life, and if I haven't done with the selfish life, and if I haven't put out those old habits and harbingers of the old life, if I haven't taken some kind of stand against the old ways of life, then how am I going to do these things? Look at verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. in honoring, give 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, and on and on and on he goes, right throughout these verses and these chapters. There's a new life to be lived, and self is not in the center, but God is. God is. And it cannot be lived simultaneously with our old life. It must be lived with a focus and a desire that I am today, and you'll hear that in a wee few moments, I am today committing and dedicating myself to live for God. And the old things of life, and the old things that I used to be involved in, and the old things, the old attitude I used to hold, and the old opinions that I used to adhere to, they are gone. Now King Jesus and my God, my Father, is at the very center of the focus and the motivation for which I exist. This is tough stuff. Tough stuff. There's no room for half-hearted, lackadaisical, casual approach to this new life. It's challenging because it's not the normal behavior we grew up with. And just because we're Christians, it doesn't mean that it's automatically part of our lives. Otherwise, Paul wouldn't have said, I beseech you, I urge. One commentator says, I beg, but I don't think that's the word. I urge. Because I know there's a life to be lived. There's a kingdom to be enjoyed. The kingdom of grace. You know, many things in life change us. Time changes us. I went to Ian Booth's funeral on Thursday. I was taking part in the funeral. There were some people there that I hadn't seen for 30 years. I hardly recognized them and they hardly recognized me. Time changes us. Have you stood in front of the mirror lately? Get a photograph of yourself 20 years ago and then stand in front of the mirror and look at yourself. Time changes us. Trauma changes us. I know lots of people who have never recovered from a trauma. I know some people wouldn't come to church because of some trauma that happened to them in church. They were redirected. You know what else changes us? Technology. You know what I'm going to do now? Because that's what I see people doing today. And you go out for a romantic meal, and all you see is the husband and wife, and they're both on their different phones. And they say that on average, a person looks at their phone 450 times. On average. Oh, that we would take this book 450 times. Because you'll get more from this book than some of the rubbish that comes in our mobile phones. Tell you what else changes us. Responsibilities change us. We feel the weight of responsibility and it alters our habits. Sad that perhaps we're living in a day where the gospel doesn't seem to change many people. They just continue on the same old, same old. Paul is saying here, if we are to prove what is a good, acceptable, and perfect will of God for me, then I have to be all in. Let's very quickly then look at the second and final heading, the message of Paul's appeal, present your bodies. The message is, if you're going to live out this life, then God must have our lives, as I've been saying. And God must have your life and mine. The question is, does he have my life? And here's a few things to help you. It's a conscious act. Present your bodies. Presenting is two words, paraestimi. Para istimi. Para means alongside. Istimi, to place alongside your sacrifice, your life. The picture is, in the Old Testament, whenever they had experienced the blessing of God, or they're coming up to certain celebrations and certain ceremonies, that they would bring their sacrifice. And there are two, come along and put that sacrifice on the altar. Well, Paul is using that picture here, and he's saying, now put yourself on the altar as well. On the altar as well. You belong to God, body, soul, and spirit. And if you don't belong to God in all three aspects, you don't belong at all. I like what John Piper says here. The point here is not only to present your life and your spiritual being, but it's also to present your bodies. And I will be going somewhere, which is very important for the day in which we live, and bringing something out of this, which was initiated by John Piper. And we will look, in verse two, at the renewing of our mind. So he wants our minds as well. The point is to stress that your body counts. How you treat your body. Now, you might wonder where I'm going with this. Well, I'll show you in a few moments. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God? You're not your own, you're bought with a price. Some will take a hard look in the mirror and say, surely God doesn't want my body. It's odd shaped, nearsighted, wrinkled. Does that feel familiar? Stiff, awkward. That totally misses the point. The sacrifice of our bodies to God is not a sacrifice for sin. That's already done by the sacrifice of Christ. We don't give our bodies so that we might be forgiven. It's not meritorious. We give our bodies because they have been redeemed. Here's what Peter said. You also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices through this body, through your redeemed body. You offer up spiritual sacrifices to our almighty God. It's because of Jesus that our sacrifices to God are acceptable. God wants you lock, stock, and barrel, and that includes your body. And the offering of our body is not for our bodily looks. Here's the clincher. It's for our bodily behavior. Our bodily behavior. The body's not significant because of the way it looks, because of the way it acts, and because of what we do with them. And oh, that we could instill these thoughts into our young people, and those who've had eating disorders, and those who are hooked on addictions. And those who feel as if they can't do without their next fix, my dear friend, if you're on something or you're listening to a recording of this message, can I say to you that your body belongs to Him. Be careful how you treat it. It's the temple of the Holy Spirit. We should pray that God's perspective on our bodies be embedded in all of us. our sons and our daughters and ourselves. Instead of starving yourself to look better in your own eyes, mind you, I had a sister who had anorexia who near died. And when we challenge all of these ills and all these phobias that come on our mind and come on our hearts, it's good to challenge that my body belongs to him. God wants from us a body that does mercy. You know, the only beauty he wants is the beauty of a Christ-like nature. I had a conversation recently about some people, and they were talking about versions, and they were talking about mode of dress, and talking about this, that, and the other. They went on to the braided hair, and they said that Christians, the Bible says, Paul says that Christians shouldn't have braided hair. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say that. What it does say is, don't let your beauty only be on the outward. This is the Trevor Galander's paraphrase. What he's saying is, don't let your beauty be that which is your apparel. He's not saying you shouldn't have apparel. He says, but let your beauty be that which is of Christ. Of Christ. The person didn't agree with me, of course. But I disagreed with him. It's a conscious act. Jesus said, In Matthew 16, if any man, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life, for my sake shall save it. It's a conscious surrender. It is a continual surrender, a living sacrifice. Now this challenged me. I was brought up in the kind of atmosphere that once you did it, once that was it done. Anybody brought up like that in your Christian life? Well, I was the only one then. that once it's done, you didn't have to. You know what he's saying here? A living sacrifice is someone who's alive and alert and aware, and every morning gets up and reminds himself, the first thing that I have to do before my feet hits the ground. I was in a strange bed the other night. It was a big high bed. It was about that height there. Don't ask me how I got there, because I'm not going to tell you. And usually I'm in a lower bed, and if I want to see the time, my phone's on the floor as far away from my head as possible, and all I have to do is reach down and get it. Did anybody do that? No? I must be a strange being. But I was in this big high bed, and I put my hand over to put the phone down. I hadn't a clue where I was. I nearly fell out of bed looking for my phone, and I suddenly realized where I was, where I was. Whenever we waken up in the morning, let's never forget, regardless of our environment or circumstances, before my feet hits the ground, Lord, I'm yours today. I'm yours today. Because I don't know what's around the corner today. I don't know what challenge you're going to put. I don't know what soul you're going to put in my way today. I don't know what situation I'm going to face. I don't know what temptation is going to come my way today. But Lord, here and now, I'm making a covenant with you. My life is yours today. Today and tomorrow, the same. And the next day, the same. And the next day, the same. And we keep doing that until we're called home to glory. You know, I find it relatively easy to make decisions for God. It's relatively easy to make vows of one sort or another. It's quite something else to follow them through, isn't it? In the Old Testament, when the animal was offered, it was dead. But as W. and P. Nicholson says, Lord, I have a fairly lively carcass on my hands. How else could I prove my love for God? If I didn't get on my knees and, Lord, not my will, but thine, be done. Lord, I don't want to go here, but I'm going because you're master of my life. I've committed myself to you, and I'm following it through. I took this challenge to be a leader in an organization, and I don't care how discouraging it's going to get, I'm going to follow it through. Let's get a wee bit more personal. Lord, I walked up the aisle, five, 10, 15, 20 years ago. The boy I married isn't the boy that asked me to marry him. The girl I married, well, she pulled the wool over my eyes. But Lord, I stood in the front of that church, and with God's help, I'm going to follow it through. That doesn't mean to say you live with an animal, by the way. That doesn't mean to say that you cannot challenge them, and it doesn't mean to say that you have to live and be abused mentally all your life. But I want to tell you, there's far too few people fighting for their marriage. Far too few. You need to fight for it, and if it doesn't, then at least you've done everything you can. Because I'm living my married life for the glory of God. Because that's what these verses are all about. I'm bringing my children up for the glory of God. And boy, we don't pray half enough for young parents today. Because they have some challenge. They can go to school and they face something to do with homophobia, they've been called homophobics. We can't live truth anymore because if we live truth then we're hypocrites, we're homophobic. Young people, you take your stand and you keep your stand. Because you're going to see, be not conformed. I know I'm preaching this evening's message as well. Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold. Don't let it continue to see you deteriorate in your Christian experience and walk with God. But be not conformed. Don't give up and don't give in. And don't let the world overrule you, manipulate you, dominate you. Therefore, as you wake each morning, Train yourself. I'm gonna hold fast to the truth. Very quickly, because I know time's gonna beat me here. By the way, Paul, Jesus said, If any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me." The last thought on this is it is comprehensive, holy, and acceptable. If you go back to Romans chapter 6 for a wee moment, it's the mirror. Romans 6 and verse 13 is a mirror of this verse. The only thing is whenever Paul is dealing in Romans chapter 6, he's talking about don't yield your members. In other words, don't yield your tongue, don't yield your eyes, don't yield your hands, don't yield those members, those faculties of your body for sin and sinfulness. Look what it says in Romans 6 and 13. And do not present your bodies as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members of instruments of righteousness to God. For sin should not have control over you. It means your eyes, your ears, Can you see where I'm going here? Because if we don't deal with the body, then how are we going to deal with the mind later on, where the mind says, now be instructed, be corrected, be inspired, be taught, let the light shine. If you've still got your mind full of rubbish, then how on earth are you going to identify the light? Your hands, your feet, your heart, your will, your ambitions, your plans, Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love. Take my voice and let me sing always only for my King. Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold. Take my will and make it thine. Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store. God wants every part of us. your finances, your sexuality, your time, your talent, your relationships, and most of all, he wants your heart. My son, he says in Proverbs, give me thine heart. Here's what C.S. Lewis said. He cannot bless us unless he has us. And when we try to keep within us an area that is our own, we try to keep an area of death. Therefore, in love, he claims all. There's no bargaining with him. What do we do in response to God's grace, he asks? Surrender everything from now on. It's all his. He burns with passion for us. He wants all of us. And it's your reasonable service. Every one of us who are redeemed wants to worship Him, don't we? Well, don't we? I want to worship Him. What does that word reasonable service or more properly rendered spiritual worship, what does it mean? It doesn't add anything to the text, but it puts God in the center. Puts God in the center. Paul says, and we offer our bodies to God as an act of worship unto the Lord. We often think of worship as coming and singing songs but it's actually a life that's lived. Here's what Paul, as he wrote to the church in Colossae, chapter three, verses 23 and verse 24. Whatever you do, do it heartily. Chapter three, verse 23 and verse 24. Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men. knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ." It's not hard to see that Paul is preparing us to live out this new life before men. to deal with the challenges that are ahead of us of living in harmony, unity, caring, showing patience and love, giving generously to others. Or in other words, just letting Christ live out through us. It has to be all for Jesus, hasn't it? Let's bow together in prayer. We'll ask the band to come with us. Father, we, Thank you for your truth. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the challenge of this appeal. Thank you for this new life that's to be lived. We realize, Lord, it doesn't automatically happen. We thank you that we've entered into new life, as it were, in Christ. We've got a new master, a new Lord, a new direction, a new destiny. All of that is without question. The question is, are we going to live it out before men? God in heaven, help us to be sincere and be serious. in our walk and in our witness for King Jesus. In his name we pray, amen. We're gonna stand and sing Jesus, all for Jesus. Sing it for me twice. Jesus All for Jesus All for Jesus Jesus, all for Jesus All for Jesus, all I am I surrender these into your hands. And all of my ambitions, hopes, and plans, I surrender these into your hands. Oh Oh Oh Jesus, all for Jesus. Don't lie and tell, tell it to me. Jesus, all for Jesus, all I am and am and ever will be. I surrender these into your hands. And all of my ambitions, hopes, and plans, I surrender these Oh Oh Again, I issue that invitation to those of you who know and love the Lord. and that we will be celebrating the Lord's Supper. We'll be coming around the table to give thanks for his saving grace and for his sacrifice for us. If you don't love him and are walking in fellowship, you are very, very welcome to remain with us. Let's just pray. Our Father, as we separate those who must leave, we ask, God, that you will be with them. Lord, that we will consider this great challenge that has come to us as a consequence of your saving grace. We pray that, O God, that we might be true to your word, to your will, and to your ways. Continue with us, Lord, as we would celebrate the Lord's Supper. May we again, Lord, sense your presence. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.