Hello and welcome to another broadcast. We're looking in Romans chapter 12, trying to figure out why people respond the way they do. Stay tuned for our program. In our previous broadcast, we were looking at the seven gifts that are mentioned in Romans chapter 12 that the Bible says the Lord has given to Christians to equip them for service. Now, equipping, that is simply supplying what is necessary to get the job done. And so the Bible tells us very plainly in Romans chapter 1 and verse number 11 that Paul said, I long to see you, that I may impart or make known unto you some spiritual gift to the end that ye may be established." He said, now I'd like you to be established in these gifts so you know what they are and how to use them. And so they're there for our serving the Lord. Now to serve the Lord is a duty, but it's also a privilege. We get the idea sometimes that we think we're doing god a favor if we do something for him no it's a privilege to be able to serve him so as we start out in this chapter 12 of the book of romans paul says to these christians 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," that word has been translated discern twice, that you might prove or discern what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now we're going to come back to these verses a little bit later, but he says in verse three, for I say through the grace given unto me, that word grace is in the Bible 23 times, and it simply means the desire and the ability to do God's will. He said that is given unto me and James chapter 4 and verse number 2 says you have not because you asked not so if you would like to have this Bible says we need to ask for it because it is given unto me and he said to every man that is among you and not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God has dealt or distributed to every man the measure of faith." Now, the measure means the amount, and faith has to do with doctrinal knowledge. The Bible talks about faith The only time it talks about that word meaning to trust is only used five times. 240 sometimes it's used talking about Bible doctrine, the faith, keep the faith. Now back in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul said in verse number one, Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Well, he talks about the situation that the Corinthians in these carnal, very, very worldly Christians were thinking they were filled with the Spirit because they were speaking in tongues. And he's dealing with that. And for three chapters here, he deals with it. And in those three chapters, in the original Greek, it's all one paragraph. And so he says, now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. For three chapters, he explains it. And then in chapter 14 and verse number 38, he said, if any man be ignorant, Let them be ignorant still. Well, that's all you can do. You can explain the Bible and what it says to people, but if they choose to be ignorant, then go ahead and be ignorant. Well, back in Romans chapter 12, it says in verse 6, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given us, whether number one, prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith, a doctrine. number two on ministry or the servant verse 7 let us wait on our ministering or he that teaches verse 7 on teaching and then number 4 he that exhorteth on exhortation he that giveth let him do it with simplicity he that ruleth or the administrator with diligence and he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness now if you go down in Romans chapter 12 here And you look at the verses from verses 9 on through verse 15. These verses correspond with those seven gifts. For instance, in verse 9, it says, let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good. And as we said on our previous broadcast, that is the motivation of a prophet. He hates the evil. He likes the good and with him. That's what he's going to preach about. That's evil. Don't do it This is good. Do it. That's the way a prophet preaches. Well then in verse 10, it talks about the servant And the verse there says, be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love in honor, preferring one another. The servant is motivated to do that. Then in verse 11, it talks about the teacher and that one is not slothful in business. That word business has been translated diligence five times, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. That's the teacher. He's not slothful. He will spend hours and hours and hours doing word studies in verses. because he wants to get the truth. Then in verse number 12, it talks about the exhorter. And we said that person is the one who will take a Christian and exhort him. And it says concerning him or her in verse number 12, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer as they take a Christian step by step from whatever problem they're in into getting the victory. Then in verse number 13, it refers to the person who has the gift of giving, And it says, distribute to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. That's what that person is motivated to do. And then the ruler, it says in verse 14, bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not. If you're going to have a position of leadership, if you're going to be the ruler, you're going to face a little persecution. There's no doubt about it. then in verse 15 it refers to the mercy shore where it says here rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep it's interesting how the lord has put these together now we want to figure out how to get to know what our gift is how to get to know well we said that a gift the way we have it is qualifications for service and you know in the business world if you're going to go and work in a department store or whatever, you're going to have to have some qualifications. If you're going to work as a mechanic in an automotive center somewhere, you're going to have to have some qualifications. Well, the church is way more important than any of those business things, and for us to be able to serve the Lord, we need to have some qualifications. Now, He starts out with this whole thing with verses 1 and 2, where he says, now, here's some qualifications. Here's some qualifications. I beseech you, he says, verse 1, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies to living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Now, first of all, he says the fact that we get to serve God is by the mercy of God. We get the idea, now I have to serve God. No, I don't have to serve God. I get to. For you and I to put this in some kind of perspective, it would be like you're going to open up a big factory and you go outside, lift up a rock, find a dirty bug underneath that rock and say, I'd like to put you in as a manager of this. particular department over here. Well, that's what it's like for God to look at us. We're despicable sinners that sent his son to the cross, and if we get to serve him at all, it's at the mercy of God. Not because we have to, no, we get to. And so he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. You present your bodies. He said this is a reasonable thing. A reasonable is based on good sense. He goes on to say, and be not conformed to this world, verse 2, 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. Now, conform to the world, that it means to comply with the standards of the world, to just go along with what is sociably acceptable. And when it's talking about the world, it's talking about the world system. And he says, be transformed. That's changed into another form. The Bible says, the renewing of your mind. It says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, all things pass away and all things become new. And so it's presenting your body a living sacrifice. That's how you dress it. That's where you take it. That's what you put in it. That's what you listen to. That's what comes out of it. Your body. Present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind And how to do that is to wash the scriptures through the mind. The scriptures are cleaned out that you may prove or discern what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now, if those two verses are not a reality, you might as well just say, forget it, because you're not going to be able to learn what your gift is and how to use it. In fact, you don't even get qualified to use it unless you're going to follow the instructions that are here. These are the basic qualifications for serving the Lord. Well, verse 1 says that we need to be a living sacrifice, your bodies holy, acceptable unto God. Now, the Lord says, God says, be ye holy as I am holy. You look at that and say, that's not possible. Well, it is, or he wouldn't have said it. The word holy here means simply to be separated. Well, the Lord is simply saying here, be determined to be separate from the things I'm separate from, and you are qualified for service in the work of the Lord. I've said many times that a Christian never really finds real happiness until he finds the purpose for which he's in this world and then begins to fulfill that purpose. Be sure and tune in to our upcoming broadcast as we look at these areas on the seven gifts. you