Would you turn with me to the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Romans, chapter 12?
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to think as to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith.
For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office; so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another.
And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith;
Or ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry; or he that teacheth, to his teaching;
Or he that exhorteth, to his exhorting: he that giveth, let him do it with liberality; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another;
In diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.
And then, if you will turn with me to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 8, from verse 34.
And He called unto Him the multitude with His disciples, and said unto them, If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it.
And then, in the same Gospel, Mark chapter 10, from verse 42.
And Jesus called them to Him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they who are accounted to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great ones exercise authority over them.
But it is not so among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister;
And whosoever would be first among you shall be servant of all.
For the Son of man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Shall we just have a further word of prayer?
Beloved Lord, we are so thankful that we are gathered here in Your presence. We praise You and worship You that You have made full provision for our time together this evening.
Lord, we want by faith to stand into that provision. We want, Lord, by faith to take the anointing that is ours in the Lord Jesus: the anointing, grace, and power for the speaking of Your Word, for the translating of Your words, and for the hearing of Your Word.
Beloved Lord, let this time be filled just with Yourself. Revive us. Quicken us, Lord. In some way, meet with us.
Lord, see to it that this is not just a meeting where we take a few notes and take in some truths, but make this a meeting with Yourself. Challenge us in the deepest part of our being. Do not let us go out from this time the same as we came in.
Thank You, Lord, for all that You have done in the previous times. Lord, answer our prayer, and we shall be careful to give You the glory. We ask this in the name of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Well, I think all of you know that the theme of this conference is vision, worship, and service. These three matters are vitally connected. They are inseparable.
Vision must always result in worship, and vision and worship must always result in service.
So, when God reveals anything to us, we become responsible by that revelation. We are accountable for the understanding that the Lord has given us. It is not just for ourselves; it is for the fulfilment of His purpose, for the building up of the house of God, for the holding of the testimony of Jesus in this world, and for the reaching of the dying multitudes all around us.
My responsibility in this conference is to do with service.
I find it tremendous what the Spirit of God gave to us through the Apostle Paul, as recorded in Romans chapter 12.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice.
This is your spiritually intelligent worship. The old English rendering is “reasonable service,” but none of our versions, English or Chinese, that I know of fully render the Greek.
The service is not just doing anything. Paul is referring to the offering of sacrifices. Darby translates it, “which is your intelligent service.” It is a good translation, but it does not go far enough, in my estimation.
My old American Standard Version says, “which is your spiritual service,” and then there is a marginal note: “worship,” because it is divine service.
I think the best way to understand this is:
I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, which is your spiritually intelligent worship or service.
You see, this kind of service, this kind of worship, is not just coming from mere emotion. Actually, in my estimation, there is no need to be afraid of emotion. We are to be fervent in spirit.
Emotion is not merely saying, “Lord, thank You so much. You are very wonderful. We want to thank You for dying on the cross for us,” in an emotionless way. But this kind of service of which the Apostle Paul speaks is not just coming from emotion.
It begins in the spirit. Then your soul can magnify the Lord, and even your body—your whole being—can serve Him.
How can you serve the Lord if you do not have a body? How can you go if you do not have a body? How can you preach if you do not have a body? Of course, you must have a body, and a soul, and a spirit.
When the Lord is dwelling in your spirit, and your soul is under the government of the Lord in your spirit, then your body becomes the instrument of service.
But the kind of service the apostle is speaking about here, though it may seem as if I am contradicting myself, is a cold-blooded, intelligent decision. This is not something done in a sudden moment or in a flush of emotion. It is not merely, “It is a wonderful meeting.” This is a decision taken in a cold-blooded way.
The basis of our service is to be a living sacrifice. That kind of spiritually intelligent service is the only service acceptable to God.
All other service can be diverted by self, by spiritual forces, by feelings, by problems, and by circumstances.
Consider for a moment the position of this appeal of the apostle. Romans is the greatest exposition of the gospel in the Bible.
Paul has taken eight whole chapters to cover the glory of the gospel: whether Gentile or Jew, all are concluded under sin and can be saved through the finished work of Messiah Jesus.
So tremendous is this gospel that the apostle says there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God which is in Messiah Jesus Christ our Lord. It is tremendous.
Many people stop there and say that the Apostle Paul wandered for three chapters. They say that he followed a theme from chapter 1 through to the end of chapter 8, and then somehow got lost for three whole chapters.
You read many commentaries, and that is what they say. They say that in Romans 12:1 the Apostle Paul returns to his theme. Some of the liberals explain that he was a genius, had an incredibly energetic mind, and, being Jewish, got lost in ideas.
But when he comes to Romans 12:1, he returns to the first eight chapters. Yet, in my estimation, in chapters 9, 10, and 11 the Apostle Paul goes behind the whole history and deals with one of the most tremendous subjects in the universe: election.
I think that you cannot have the gospel without an understanding of those three chapters. Whether it is the church or whether it is Israel, it is a question of election. God will never let go of those whom He loves.
It is a wonderful thing to be loved by the Lord, and it is, at the same time, a most fearful thing to be loved by the Lord. You see, He never lets go. He will see that you move on.
Now the apostle says, by the Spirit of God, in the light of all this mercy of God revealed to us in this tremendous gospel—the gospel in which the most depraved sinner can be changed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus, and the most hopeless human being can be saved, redeemed, and made an inheritor of the glory of God—
—in the light of this love of God, this mysterious predestinating counsel and will of God, this mercy shown to vessels of mercy prepared for glory, he says, “I beseech you.”
By the mercies—not mercy, but mercies—of God, present your body; that is, your whole being: spirit, soul, and body.
Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritually intelligent service.
You will get nowhere in the Christian life until you are a living sacrifice. You will get nowhere in church life without living sacrifices. The house of God cannot be built without living sacrifices.
Have you ever thought about it? A living sacrifice. A living sacrifice—not a dead sacrifice, a living sacrifice: alive, breathing, a living sacrifice.
What was in the apostle’s mind? At that point, when he wrote this letter, the temple of God still stood, and every Jew knew something about the sacrifices.
Everyone knew that a sacrifice had to be one year old and without spot or blemish. Paul is not merely talking about sinners who are completely messed up.
Now, consecrate yourself. Can you sing? Sing for the Lord. Can you write? Write for the Lord. Can your feet speak for the Lord? Can you play? Play for the Lord. Can you organize? Organize for the Lord. Bring everything you are into the work of the Lord.
But this is a living sacrifice. It is what has been born of God in you—spotless and without blemish—which is God in you. The only thing that God can use as a living sacrifice is what He Himself has put within you.
What sacrifice was it? Well, it was not the sin offering or the trespass offering, because we could not do that. It was the burnt offering.
Here is the amazing thing: the first thing you saw when you went into the temple was a huge bronze burnt-offering altar.
The altar was a place of blood, a place of love, a place of death, and a place of fire. You could not get into the temple—neither the holy place nor the holy of holies—but by that great altar.
When you look at this whole matter, we have the idea, “Whatever natural talents I have, I will dedicate them to the Lord.” Do not get me wrong: if you have a gift, provided you let it go and it becomes a living sacrifice, it may be given back to you in resurrection.
It is given back under new management. It is no longer under your management, but under His.
You may read something written by somebody and think, “What a wonderful writer,” but you do not meet the Lord. You may hear a speaker who says absolute truth, but all you go away with is the memory of the speaker. You have not met the Lord.
The same is true with singing. Someone can sing, and it is the Lord. Another person sings, and you hear them. What is the difference? The difference is to be a living sacrifice.
What does the Lord do with this sacrifice? Of course, He burns it up. We think, “What a waste! I had a lot of gifts, and they are just going up in smoke.”
Did the Apostle Paul really mean that?
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice.
It is interesting that he says, “holy and acceptable.” You and I are not holy in ourselves. I know I am not holy; I do not know about you, but I imagine you are the same as me.
Who is holy? Only those who are justified by the finished work of our Lord Jesus. Then, by the Spirit of God, something is born within us: a longing to follow the Lord, a longing to experience the Lord.
This living sacrifice is holy and acceptable to God.
Well now, dear friends, think for a moment. Is this too much for all of you this evening? Let me try to draw a lesson from it.
God has a very simple solution to all our problems: to be a living sacrifice. There is no alternative and no substitute. There is no other way to serve the Lord acceptably except by being a living sacrifice.
If the purpose of God is going to be fulfilled in your life and in our life, there has to be living sacrifice.
Everywhere I go, I find the same thing amongst the people of God. It does not matter what label they go by. You find division, jealousy, rivalry, clashes, and a thousand and one things.
It is not just in denominational circles or charismatic circles. It is amongst those who are seeking that the house of God be built. It is amazing the things upon which we are divided.
They used to laugh at the Jews when, in the Middle Ages, whole synagogues were divided over the question, “How many angels can stand on a pinhead?” People would not speak to each other. Rabbis could not work together. It generated such fire, such anger, and such controversy.
We are no better. We argue about whether we should have the chairs this way, that way, or another way. Should the sisters meet on Tuesday or Thursday? Should there be a Bible study on Friday or Monday?
Then people get more and more heated, more and more angry. It is amazing to me. Yet the simple solution is to be a living sacrifice.
For a living sacrifice, it does not matter whether it is Monday or Thursday. You have no rights. When you come to the cross, you have lost your rights. You are a living sacrifice.
I know some people who come into a meeting and look to see where someone else is sitting. If they see them over here, they sit over there. Better still, if they see them downstairs, they go upstairs. This is amazing.
We are going to live together for eternity. You may find yourself sharing a bedroom with the person you cannot bear. Do you see what I am trying to say?
It is because we are very much alive in the wrong way. We say, “No one can tread on my rights. No one can use me as a doormat. I am alive. I am a human being.”
A living sacrifice is a life laid down—not just the old life, but the new life.
Sometimes we fight over different little interpretations. I knew one assembly where they had an enormous row over the question of the rapture.
One poor soul asked whether the saints might have to go through the tribulation. The whole place quaked with controversy. Then someone else said that only those who were ready would be raptured, and that was the end of it. The whole assembly split up.
The funny thing was that the name of the assembly was Tott erdown—Tott erdown Assembly. It certainly did totter down.
It is not only these matters that divide. In the Lord’s work at present, there are brothers who build their own empires, and many other things. Brothers and sisters, all this is solved by being a living sacrifice.
How interesting it is to look at this twelfth chapter of Romans.
Be not fashioned according to this world.
That is, do not be fashioned by the ideas and concepts of this world, the psychology of this world, or the whole view of life that this world has. Do not be molded by it. Do not be conformed to it.
We are born almost with fetters. Our whole educational system forms us according to something other than the Word of God. But it says, “Do not be fashioned or molded by this world.”
We often speak of common sense. I do not think there is very much common sense amongst the Lord’s people. I think generally that common sense is unbelief.
How can I put it? “Use your common sense.” If you are a child of God, if you have been saved by the grace of God, if you are joined to God in the Lord Jesus, common sense is to hear Him, trust Him, and obey Him. That is common sense.
Then it says:
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Everything begins in either the heart or the mind. We can have a mindset. It is only when we become a living sacrifice that we are released from that mindset and are transformed.
When you have a certain mindset, you do not grow spiritually. That mindset holds you; it dwarfs you. But when you are a living sacrifice, you are transformed by the renewing of your mind.
The Lord is able to work in your mind, and you can prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
When you are not a living sacrifice, somehow you can be very afraid of the will of God. We think, “Maybe His will is that I should have to go to the other side of the earth. Maybe His will is that I should remain unmarried. Maybe His will is that I should be married.”
We have a self-centeredness. As long as the will of God complies with our mindset, we will do it. But we are afraid that, once we surrender everything, He will expect much more of us.
Now you begin to understand what I mean when I say that this is a simple solution—a divine and simple solution: to be a living sacrifice. Then you can prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Further on, we are members of Christ: many members, one body. One Jesus, one Lord, one Christ; many members in Christ.
What has happened to us? We are in Christ. All of you who are born of God are in the same Christ. Now we are related. It is an amazing thing: one Christ, many members.
We are told here that we have to serve one another. Paul begins by saying, “Do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think.”
If you are a living sacrifice, you do not say, “I am a living sacrifice, and I am a better living sacrifice than you.” You do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but neither do you think more poorly of yourself than you ought to think.
If God has given someone a gift of speaking the Word of God, that is his gift. It is not pride to say, “God has given me this gift,” especially when the brothers and sisters confirm it and say, “We have met the Lord in what you have said.”
But because we are members one of another, we are meant to care for one another. We have gifts differing according to the grace given to us. The whole passage is amazing.
Our time has really gone, but this question is very, very simple. You present your body—not something merely invisible—you present yourself, your whole being, as a living sacrifice.
The Lord Jesus said:
If any man would come after Me,
Let him deny himself,
Take up his cross,
And follow Me.
Actually, in the old days, crucifixion was often by a stake. The person being crucified had to carry the crossbeam. The stake was either a tree trunk or an actual stake in the ground.
When the Lord said this, He was saying, “Here is the first thing: if you would come after Me, if you would follow Me, deny yourself. Give up all rights to yourself. Accept the death sentence.”
It has not yet taken place, but accept it. Take up the cross. Commit yourself, and God will take care of the crucifixion.
You cannot crucify yourself. It is impossible; you cannot do it. Every time you think you have crucified yourself, you find yourself very much alive.
People say, “I must reckon myself dead. I must reckon myself dead. I must reckon myself dead.” It becomes a kind of self-hypnosis. If you say, “I am dead, I am dead, I am dead,” perhaps you will be dead.
No, beloved brothers, first of all you have to see that when Jesus died two thousand years ago, you died with Him. It is a historic fact.
Did Jesus die? Did He die for your sin? Yes. Did He die as you? Yes. It is the same thing. Two things happened: He died for you, in your place, and He died as you.
Only the Holy Spirit can reveal that. When the Holy Spirit reveals it, you can reckon yourself dead. Why? Because Jesus died. Because He died, I know I died.
“But I do not feel dead. I feel many bad things. I am angry. I feel I have rights.” Deny yourself. Just simply say, “Lord, I am a living sacrifice.” Then commit yourself.
“But people will do the worst to me.” The soldiers will crucify you. No, I will tell you who will crucify you: your husband, your wife, your children, your parents, the elders of the church, the workers—someone else will crucify you. Do not worry.
Leave it to the church. If nobody else crucifies you, the church will. People always say, “Oh, if I could only be crucified.” You do not have to bother your head.
Once you see that when Jesus died, you died, then your part is to follow the Lord. Give up rights to yourself. Commit yourself by taking the cross, and you will come to the place of execution. Others will crucify you.
The Lord Jesus, in another place in Mark chapter 10, spoke of the Gentiles: they love to lord it over others. He said, “It shall not be so among you.”
Then He used two words: a servant and a bond-slave.
Whoever would be great among you, let him be a servant.
But whoever would be first, let him be the slave of all.
There was a great difference between the servant and the bond-slave. A servant was hired. He had hours. He had certain rights.
There is so much Christian service that has hours, that has rights, that has certain terms. A bond-slave has none. He has none of his own time. He belongs to the master. He is at the beck and call of the master. There is a great difference.
Well, dear friends, I think that is enough on what I am calling service. Paul said, “I beseech you, I appeal to you, by the mercies of God, that you become a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritually intelligent service.”
A thousand problems would be settled this evening, here in this hall, if we were to become living sacrifices. Someone might go to someone to whom they have not spoken for years and say something humble. It could be all kinds of things.
It would be solved by this one simple solution that God has: to be a living sacrifice. May God help us.
Lord, we sometimes think that to be a living sacrifice is only for special people. But it is for everyone who is in the gospel, everyone who is amongst the elect.
Beloved Lord, Your Word says, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.” Help us, Lord. Help us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow You.
We ask it in Your name. Amen.