Practical Blessings: His Living Sacrifice

Pastor Darryl Bentley

Midland SDA Church

September 24, 2011

 

Homiletical Idea: Some words do not mean as much to us until we have experienced them first-hand.  Sacrifice is one of those words I think.  If we truly understood the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf then we would hesitate much less to live our lives as a sacrifice to Him as He has called us to do.  Casting off the trappings of this world is one step in the process of being a living sacrifice for Christ, and part of the world’s trappings are made manifest in the wearing of adornment and jewelry as well as being worldly by what we watch, listen to, and read for entertainment.  Jesus is calling His people to be in the world but not be of the world, and if we simply blend in to the point that there is no difference between us and the outside world why bother living a lie, why bother professing Jesus in name only?  Truly it leads to a form of godliness while denying the power thereof.

1.       Opening Illustration: Remembering the ultimate sacrifice.

2.       Transition to the text: Romans 12:1, 2

a.       Full surrender

                                                               i.      You don’t partially sacrifice something, it kills the whole animal

                                                             ii.      Sacrifice entails giving up something

1.       Control of our lives in general

2.       Control of our sexuality

3.       Control of how we spend our time

4.       Control of our finances

b.      Reasonable service or obligation to God

                                                               i.      Once we come to Christ we are not our own and therefore cannot make decisions apart from God.

                                                             ii.      We are His children and He has the right to ask this of us.

                                                            iii.      In fact, He has purchased us twice.

1.       First when He created us.

2.       Secondly when He redeemed us from sin through the blood of Christ (I Cor 6:19, 20).

c.       Not conformed to the world

                                                               i.      When we take our eyes off God the world shines brighter.

                                                             ii.      Eventually we begin to look like the world:

1.       In our recreational habits.

2.       In our speech.

3.       In our music.

4.       In our dress.

a.       Yes, even in our dress we are to be a living sacrifice to Christ.  Let’s keep in mind that we are His living sacrifice.

                                                                                                                                       i.      That means that He has the right to set forth the standard that the sacrifice must meet.

                                                                                                                                     ii.      The Lord God did this in the Bible did He not?

1.       People could not just bring any old sacrifice to the altar.  Cain tried this and he quickly found out that his sacrificial offering was not acceptable in the site of the Lord because he failed to bring what was required by God.

2.       In the days of Malachi the people of Israel were essentially doing the same thing.  Instead of bringing the animals that were without spot or blemish Malachi 1:7 says that they offered defiled blood on the altar.  It was defiled because they brought the worst of their flocks instead of the very best.  They brought blind, lame animals, and even stolen animals to sacrifice to God.  This was contemptible in the site of the Lord.

                                                                                                                                    iii.      So if you and I attempt to give ourselves to God in the manner that suits us then we too bring contempt upon the name of our Lord.

                                                                                                                                   iv.      So what standard of dress has the Bible set forth?  Let’s look at that today for a bit.

1.       The Bible sets forth a partial record of the history of the children of Israel.  That record is tarnished with times of open rebellion to God.  But that record also contains many times where God called His children home to Himself.  What we see when we look at the biblical record is a graph of ups and downs. 

2.       We see times of surrender and willingness to follow God contrasted with times of open rebellion against God and His statutes. 

3.       It’s interesting to note that when God’s people strayed from Him they immediately flocked to worldly things.  They seemed to be drawn to just blend in with the pagans around them instead of maintaining the hallmarks of godliness that made them God’s peculiar people.

4.       Their dress is one such area.  When they left the side of God their dress reflected that they had left Him.  Ultimately their moral fall was reflected in what they wore or put on their bodies.  Their dress standards became a symbol of spiritual adultery against God.  Notice these passages:

a.       Genesis 35:2, 4-They were commanded to give up their false gods and the jewelry that associated them with idolatry.

b.      Exodus 33:4-6-Again, they had not surrendered to God who had delivered them from the bondage of Egypt and their inward sin was characterized by outward adornment.  In order to come to God they had to remove those symbols of spiritual adultery.

c.       Isaiah 3:18-24-Again, we see that God’s people strayed from Him and when they did the women were decked in all manner of precious things attempting to make themselves look provocative to the men in their society.  Everyone knows that sex sells when it comes to advertising and making ourselves more attractive to others has been a tool used to sway people throughout the ages.  Herodias used it to sway Herod and it cost John the Baptist his head.

d.      Hosea 2:13-Some may ask why I have used the wording of “spiritual adultery”.  I use it because that’s essentially what God used here.  God associates chasing after false gods with spiritual adultery because He is supposed to have first place in our hearts above anyone and anything.

e.      Ezekiel 23:37-40, 49-Here again idol worship is called adultery in the spiritual sense and when idol worship was present it was accompanied by pagan adornment and jewelry.

f.        I Timothy 2:9, 10-Some may think that this a only an OT concept and is therefore outdated.  That’s simply not true.  Paul affirms the OT accounts by giving Pastor Timothy counsel on how he should instruct the people in his congregation.  He was told to tell them to stay away from seductive dress and outward adornment.

d.      Transformed by the renewing of your mind

                                                               i.      By beholding we become changed.

1.       Philippians 4:8 tells us what we should fill our minds with.

a.       That which is “true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

b.      By dwelling or meditating on these things we have a chance to behold the image of Christ in this world of sin and heartache.

                                                             ii.      If we behold the image of Christ we become like Him.

1.       How do we become like Him?   

2.       We must learn what He was like.

3.       We must duplicate what He did.

4.       We must share what we have learned with others.

3.       Practical Application:

a.       So how do we tell the world about being a living sacrifice to God in a practical way?

                                                               i.      First, we have to be living in such a way that we are embodying this passage in our own lives.  If we do not allow the Holy Spirit to convict our hearts then we will lower God’s standard and be convinced in our minds that it does not matter to God.

1.       So once we have embraced God’s standard our lives will reflect that.  I often have people ask me why I don’t do this or that as they get to know me.  One area I get questions about is not wearing a wedding ring.  If gives me an opportunity to share a little about what God expects of His people.  Others have noticed that my wife does not wear earrings or necklaces and when they ask why she has an open door to glorify God.

2.       The same is true when it comes to what we watch, listen to or eat.  When I share these things with people I do not begrudge the fact that God has asked His people to not wear jewelry or dress like harlots and gigolos.  I feel freedom from the pressures of society to look like the world.

3.       Some have asked me about neckties and watches.  Neither of these things has ever been associated with spiritual adultery.  I agree that we can take it too far by spending way too much money on these things, but that makes us a poor steward of what God has given us not spiritual adulterers.

                                                             ii.      Secondly, when people ask me about dress and adornment I simply tell them that because I love God I have no problem coming in line with His standard in any area.  I have wrestled with my diet all my life, but when I finally surrendered that to God and asked Him to empower me to follow His standard for eating He has blessed me with losing weight.  The Lord has allowed me to lose nearly 30 pounds since the second week of June just by following His standard for eating.  Are there times I want to dive in and eat a whole pizza or bury myself in a cherry pie?  For sure, but it’s in those moments that I simply pray, “Lord, please help me to honor You with my body.” And He takes away that craving.  No, pizza and cherry pie are not inherently evil, but they were controlling my diet and causing my body to put on weight in such a way that I felt convicted was dishonoring God.  There was way too much Pastor Bentley to love, and you all can only handle so much of me, Amen?

                                                            iii.      Lastly, when people ask me about jewelry in specific I tell them that I am waiting for the crown that will not fade.  In Revelation 2:10 Jesus promise to give us a crown of life.  In I Peter 5:4 Peter promises that we will receive an unfading crown of glory from the Lord.  I am willing to wait upon the Lord and let Him adorn me as He sees fit.  You see in heaven we will be handle jewelry.  In heaven there will be no competition to look the best or to try to make ourselves more attractive.  In heaven we will all be clothed in the righteousness of Christ and that will be enough for us.

4.       Closing Illustration:  M.E.P.S.

5.       Wrap-up & appeal: This really is not just about jewelry folks, it’s about letting Jesus have control of every aspect of our lives.  And I tell people that I want Jesus to control my life so that I can be prepared for citizenship in heaven, and I want my children to be prepared as well.  I also want each of you prepared for that heavenly citizenship.  Heaven just will not be the same unless you are all there.