the Lord will reward those who would give themselves to Him. Let us read in Romans chapter twelve. I have well taken what our dear brother McGee has mentioned concerning translations of the Scripture. I do not accept many of these translations as being that which I would care to read from publicly. at all. However, in what I have read so far of the new American Standard Bible, I have found that this, at least in my limited understanding, to be very faithful to the original text and to the truths that are clear in the King James, but the wording I think is somewhat more up to date than for the younger folks among us in any event. May I have the of reading from the New American Standard Version. Thank you, Brother McGee. Thank you. There are many, many different versions, and there are some also that I disturbed me very greatly, but I think that this is, as far as I know, quite reliable, and that we would like to read from it this afternoon. Romans chapter twelve. I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove that the will of God is that which is good and acceptable. and perfect. For through the grace given to me, I say to every man among you, not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body, and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ. and individually members one of another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly. If prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith. If service, in his serving. Or he who teaches, in his teaching. Or he who exhorts, in his exhortations. He who gives, with liberality. He who leads, with diligence. He who shows mercy. with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Pleave to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor. Not lagging behind in diligence. Pervant in spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope. Persevering in tribulation. Devoted to prayer. Contributing to the needs of the saints. Practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and curse not. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge. beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Gracious God, our Father, the words we have just heard are of far greater value than any words that will follow. And we ask indeed that thou will take thy word and make it valuable, make it good to each of our understandings. We ask that thou will cause us to face up to our responsibilities as those who have been brought by the precious blood of Christ, because of which we are no longer our own. And grant that we may seek to dedicate our lives in a new way, in service to that one who is with us. Bless our thoughts together, we ask, in Christ's worthy name. Amen. Worship the highest occupation of a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is centered, of course, in the table of our Lord as we gather together in remembrance of him. But from this there is an outscope, and I believe here we find that the Apostle Paul would exhort us to put to use that which we know, to use what God has given to us. He beseeches us by the mercies of God. We have, in this chapter, enough for many, many hours of consideration together, and we must hurry and he can pass over some. But for those of you who may be taking notes and would like to check into it again, I have, you know, some people have sermons with seven points. As A.P. Gibbs, we've heard since we were just children, you always had a seven point messy. Others have three points, and this is homiletically more correct, possibly. But now I have a message here. I'd like to have three times seven. Three groups of seven will never get to them. However, we do want to mention just briefly, we'll skim over them, some of the mercies of God. Seven mercies of God. that we find in the earlier part of the book of Romans. Last night our brother Don mentioned that in the first chapters there we see the revelation of God. Well this is a mercy. That God has revealed himself to us. We who are undeserving yet God has chosen to reveal himself to us. He has revealed himself to us in creation. He has revealed himself to us through conscience. He has revealed himself to us in the written word through the prophet. And finally he has revealed himself to us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have references that we could mention on this, but we will not take the time for that. However, in the first couple of chapters of Romans, we see the revelation of God to us, the gospel of God, and this is a mercy that He has revealed Himself to us. And then in the third chapter, particularly beginning in the twenty-first verse of the twenty-six, we see the righteousness before God, revelation and righteousness. How that God's righteousness is made good to us through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a wonderful fact this is. that we are justified, just as if I'd never sinned because of the work of Christ, made good to us through simple faith. What a mercy this is. And we are beneficiaries of this if we have cursed it in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. But then it goes on. In the fifth chapter, we have the reconciliation with God. This is the atonement being made one with God, which goes beyond the justification. Justification makes us as if we had never sinned, but reconciliation brings us now right into a oneness of a relationship with God. We're made one with Him in the person of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Reconciliation with God. Reconciliation, or revelation, righteousness, reconciliation, and then righteousness. Or we might say sanctification. These are righteous practices that our mercies also. By God's grace, we can live lives of practical righteousness. Lives of sanctification, if you will. Lives that are set apart for Him. Lives that through the enabling of God's spirit dwelling within us can be more than conquerors in this present evil world. That we can manifest the Lord Jesus Christ through our lives. And so we have... Now, the sanctification or righteousness is another one of His mercies, again by His works. Then in chapter eight we come to the adoption, which is the redemption by God. Mention there the redemption. How our bodies will someday be made like His very own body. And so this is something that we have yet to look forward to, a certainty for us, one of the mercies of God that we will be made like Him. Then we have the, can we say, a reformation, not a reformation, as we might say, but a reformation, how that God would work in our lives to transform us. In the first part of our chapter we have that we be not conformed to this world, but that we be transformed. We see this also in the eighth chapter, in the twenty-nineth verse, how that God is at work in us to conform us into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is his work. It's one of his mercies, one of those things for which we can be grateful. And then finally, at the seventh point, we have a restoration of the Jewish people in chapters nine through eleven, how that God will again show his mercy toward these Jewish people who have been set aside because they also did not like to retain God in their knowledge. We remember that the heathen nations to begin with, they knew God, but they didn't want to retain him in their knowledge. They deliberately turned their back on God, and so God had to give them up, and they went their way. God then chose out a people who responded in faith and sought to give them blessing. But it wasn't too long until they again turned their back on God. And so God now went back to that first group that had deserted him and in a new way and in a fresh way sent the gospel into all the world that all might be saved. And the majority of us are here because this message has been gone out. And so has been given to us. We have the reconciliation of the Gentiles and the Jews set aside for a time. But Paul shows us again that in the future time, again the Jews will be brought back. The Gentile nations very largely now are turning their back again on the Lord Jesus Christ. that Lord will again give their Jewish people another special time when His object and purpose is directed more specifically for them. And so we have righteousness or we have revelation righteousness, reconciliation, the righteousnesses and redemption, reformation and the reconciliation of others. All God's mercies which we are benefiting by. If you'd like to help in your memory for the... Tying in the last syllable instead of the first letter, we have justification, we have reconciliation, we have sanctification, we have adoption, redemption, transformation, and again reconciliation. Mercy of God. See, I don't expect you to remember too many of these, but maybe as you look through and read through the early part of Romans again, you'll see how God has shown his mercy to us and to what a wonderful extent. Mercy, do you all have your definitions of that? Could we maybe say it's undeserved benefit granted freely? Something that we don't deserve, and yet God has benefited by that and without reserve. And so we have benefited by God's mercy. He has revealed himself to us, and in that revelation we are blessed indeed. But now, Paul says, because we are beneficiaries of these mercies, we have a responsibility. There should be a response of our own heart to what God has said to us and what He has done for us. And so we have, I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies. That God wants this result of His mercy shown to us to be manifested in our body. The bodies are the means of our communication to others. Without bodies we couldn't communicate to one another whatsoever. And our bodies are to show indeed that God has had this impact upon our lives. And so we are to present our bodies. We are to dedicate ourselves. God is the one who would consecrate. but God would consecrate that which is dedicated to Him. We are the ones that have the privilege, the wonderful privilege of saying before the Almighty God, yes, I am yours, to take me and to use me as you see fit, not to follow my own will and ambition, but to allow your will to be worked out in my body. Of course, for it to be worked out in our body, it has to be, first of all, through our wills that we would yield ourselves to Him. And so we have now seven exhortations in this early part of Romans twelve. In the first verse we have to present your bodies. And this is as a living sacrifice. A sacrifice we recognize as something that has been slain. And indeed because we know that we are now vitally linked with the one who died for us, that we and that we were dead, that we who now live should not live henceforth unto ourselves, but unto him who died and rose for us. And so we recognize that we are dead to our old nature, dead to our human ambitions, dead to all those things that on the human level we might aspire to. But now we have a new life. And because one died for us, that now we who live should live unto this one. And so Paul would exhort us to present our bodies, to offer them to God and say, God, here I am. You know my abilities. You know my limitations. You know my fears, my witnesses. You know my sin, my failure. And yet if you can use me, God, I want to be yours. And as God's mercies would be made meaningful in our hearts and lives, the only logical, reasonable response would be to say, yes, Lord, I am, Lord. I want to be yours in you. So we could present our bodies. But again, hurry on. In the second verse we have more than just presenting our bodies. Let's not leave it there. We need to renew our mind. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove that the will of God is that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Yes, do not be conformed to this world. And I fear that this is a great danger that all of us face. In our twentieth century, and particularly in affluent North America, we have the pressures of society bearing in upon us on every angle, through all means of advertising and communications, through competition in schools, through competition in business. We have the pressures of this world bearing in on us. What are these pressures? I'll run down through several of them. Remember what you can of them. There's the pressure of materialism by the society of the around us. This is roughly the lust of the eyes. There's the pressure of sensualism by the economy in which we live, the lust of the flesh. All that would be leading to hedonism and to enjoy ourselves, to take advantage of and to honor thyself. I saw an advertisement of whiskey, a black page just in the center, three little words, or two little words, honor thyself. And how typical that is of the forces upon us to date. We are told to honor ourselves. And God's word tells us to honor thy God. And how contrary they are. But we see that the pressures upon us are sensualism. Pressure of competition by man-made standards. This would be the pride of the flesh. There's the pressure of complacency by others. There's the pressure of tradition by the religious world around us. There's the pressure of spiritual mediocrity by fellow Christians. There's the pressure of time by the pace of the twentieth century. There's the pressure of fear by man's inhumanity to man. There's the pressure of immorality by practices of others. There's the pressure of strife by inner complexes. There's the pressure of living habits in our culture. There's the pressure of the done things by most. All outside influence as well as our inner compulsions to belong. We want to be part of the group. And we say everybody is doing it. Well, we can be pretty sure, as we heard this past week, that if everybody's doing it, it's not what is pleasing to the Lord. For the many know not the Lord. The many are on their way to destruction. The many are seeking to please themselves. And we who are the Lord are called upon not to please ourselves, but to please him who gave himself for us. And so we are to renew our mind. And it requires a transformation. And this transformation can come about, as we have heard, by being constantly in God's word. By taking to heart what it says. By obeying this word. Oh, that we may allow God again to do His work of changing our minds that we may not want to fit into conform into the way everybody else is going, but that we may look to Him to enable us to be peculiar people. Not unusual in the sense that we cause people just to laugh at us, but they recognize that there is a difference, that our affections, our ambitions are set upon things that are above and not upon things that are on the earth. And so we are to present our bodies. We are to renew our mind. And in verse two again, to replace our wills. Our wills are so strong that we have our mindsets. We want to accomplish this. We want to do that. And we have these wills fostered and nurtured by our parents and by our companions. They want us to assert ourselves. And in this world, a self-will and a strong self-confidence is what... is just normally accepted as the thing that everyone should desire. But here we have a call upon, or called upon by God Himself to allow our own will to be replaced by His will. That you may, that the will, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Okay, let's hurry on. And down in verse six and eight. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, that each exercise them accordingly, if properly according to the proportion of his faith. In the third verse, we read that I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think. But also, contrary to this, don't think less of yourself than you ought to think. God has given each of us gifts, as we see down below. And each member of the body of Christ has a gift that should be operating in exercise if the whole body is to be healthy. And I fear that our weakness and our sickness in among the assemblies of God, and there should be less here than anywhere else, because there is more opportunity for the body to function in accordance with God's work, gathering a new testament principles than anywhere else. But I fear that there is a lack of exercising of the gifts. We might particularly exhort our young men. Not to hesitate to exercise the gift that God has given us. Maybe they're not just sure what they are, but as God would constrain your heart to participate in one manner or another, do so. And so we are to evaluate, to find out what our gifts are, not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, not to think that someone who is not gifted for public speaking in that, that he should take the platform and bore everyone else and keep them... We'll put them to sleep in their seats. No, this is not just to have everyone taking part on the platform of that, but to correctly evaluate our gifts. And very often our brethren can be very helpful in helping us assess what our gifts and responsibilities would be that way. But we are called upon to use them. And this is what we need to do. Now that we know Christ, here we have a spiritual service of worship. We would show our worship for the Lord Jesus Christ by allowing him to work out in our lives. and using the gifts for the edifying, the building up of the body of Christ. We have first in the sixth verse, let each exercise them accordingly. A prophecy according to the proportion of his faith. If we would take it would be preaching, public ministry of God's word. That in accordance with the faith that God has given an individual, he should use that gift. If God has given you a gift to express yourself to others, use that gift, my friend. Find opportunity. There are plenty of people in need, in great need, And if we are willing to go and take a humble place, if we're willing to go to those who are poor and down and out, we'll find those who are willing to listen. We don't have to just wait until they offer us a place on the platform on the Sunday morning or Sunday night or something like that. Here I fear that there's too much of a desire to find, get a place in the eyes of people. But know if God has given you a gift for preaching God and use that gift. And God will use it for blessings. And we're in verse... Seven, if service, in His serving. To many of us, I think God has given a gift of service, and this is to recognize those who are in need, those whom we can help in practical ways, in the assembly and in other places as well. Yes, there's a great ministry in the gift of service, and if that is your gift, to use that for Him. Hurry on. In Prophets, no, in verse... Seven also, he who teaches in his teaching, to some God has given the ability to understand God's word and to make it understandable to others. And if your ability is in teaching, use this gift for furthering the growth of the body of Christ, for bringing honor to the name of Christ. Verse eight, he or he who exhort in his exhortation. Exhortation, this is stimulating faith. And there are those who know how it is to give a word of encouragement, to say, Father, I appreciated what you were doing, what you had to say, what your prayer was, or some activity that you're doing for Christ, and how we need to encourage one another. I fear that too often there is too much discouragement. I know in my own experience, those who have sought to discourage and to, well, rather turn us aside, have been more than those that have sought to encourage. and to help us on in the things of the Lord. And so those that have a word of exhortation to stimulate one's faith, let us use that gift for the honor of Christ. Then down in verse eight again, He who gives with liberality. Now many of us have the privilege and the gift of giving. Most of us here, I would say that practically none of us here are really truly poor people. And as we have heard, that there is a very definite need for giving. And in liberality, The Church of Christ can be aided and it can be strengthened. And we need to use our gift of giving, if that is our gift. He who leads with diligence or he who rules, there is a definite place in the assemblies of God for elders. Those who would lead the children of God. Those who with a loving concern would be willing to take responsibility to make decisions that are possibly not very popular decisions, but to take the discipline that is necessary. Because God desires that His house be holy. And there has to be a leadership. There has to be a willingness to say, well, now this is wrong and that is right. And that we do not want this wrong. And if someone persists in that wrong, there has to be discipline. And the correct discipline needs to be administered. If we overlook sin, if we make light of sin, God cannot bless. And we will find that the testimony soon will have no effect as far as the kingdom of God is concerned. And so He who lead with diligence, let us use that gift. And may the Lord raise up others who are willing to take the unpopular place of being elders, to take decisions for the health and welfare of God's church in order that there might be growth and health there. And then he who shows mercy with cheerfulness, this is showing sympathy. And there are many of those who need sympathy, many who are bereaved, many who are discouraged, who are downhearted. And a word of sympathy, a visit. I notice among us there are a number who are quite elderly. We praise the Lord for him. We pop just down there as a brother here this morning, ninety-eight years old, who faithfully is traveled by my brother Briggs over here. I understand that every Lord's day he goes thirty miles by taxi to remember the Lord at the breaking of bread, paying out seven and a half dollars in order that he might meet there with God's people. Well, there are those who are elderly who would value a sympathetic visit. to go and visit to and give a word of encouragement. Now these are gifts that can be used for the benefiting and the building up of the body of Christ. Because of God's mercy to us, let us use these gifts for him. We could go in from... Okay, that's the seven gifts under our seven exhortations. In the ninth verse, let love be without hypocrisy. Okay, practice love. Here's our next exhortation to practice love. Not in hypocrisy, not in just words. But in reality, love is seeking the good of the other one, even no matter how much it might cost you. And so let us really seek the good of others who are in Christ. Abhor that which is evil. Leave to that which is good. In verse eighteen we have... As possible, as far as it depends upon you, be at peace with all men. We're to follow peace. And then in verse twenty-one, we're to be good. Okay, seven exhortations. But now with seven characteristics, in the ninth verse we're to be sincere in that. In the tenth verse, we're to be humble. In the eleventh verse, we're to be fervent. Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Seven characteristics. We're to be fervent. We're to be enthusiastic. I fear too often that the enemy can come when we get discouraged. We see that there are difficulties. Someone falls in sin. He is tempted of the evil one and turns away from following the Lord and we become discouraged. Now, is it worthwhile? But the Lord would have us to take courage in him and to be enthusiastic to know that this one whom we serve is on the throne and that someday he will appear. Someday we shall see him and then it will be worth it all when we see Jesus. And fervent and spirit enthusiastic. Then in verse twelve we're to be happy, rejoicing in the Lord. There is no excuse for one who is redeemed on his way to heaven ever to be sad. Oh, there are those things that sadness is true, and we are to sympathize with those who sorrow, and yet underneath it all there is to be that joy that the world can't take away, because we know him and that we know that he knows us. Verse twelve we're to be patient, and again we're to be prayerful and to be liberal. Okay, lots of points there. But this chapter is full with so much. I am not here this afternoon to think that I can teach you anything new. There are those learned in the word far, far more than I am. And nor am I here. I had thought of speaking on Second Corinthians chapter six there where we are called to be separated unto the Lord Jesus Christ, separate from the world. But I believe that in most of your lives you know what that separation is, that you seek that your lives will be lived as unto him. And so it's not to present something new, but rather just to encourage you, my brothers, because of the mercies that we enjoy that have come from God Himself, that we might use the gifts that He has given us, that we might preach to practice, that we might allow our, present our body, that we might renew our mind, that we might allow Him to work in us in order that the Lord Jesus Christ might be manifested to us. Let us do with diligence what our hands find to do. A couple of weeks ago, a very, very dear brother who was very influential in my life, Robert J. Little, went to be with the Lord. I can remember him speaking to me on more than one occasion, saying that that which he found to be most effective in making his life count for Christ was to do with diligence. what his hands find to do at that time. Not to worry about tomorrow, not to think about big plans and great things ahead, but now with what ability I have, in the sphere in which I am, Lord, I want to dedicate myself unreservedly to serve you here and now. The Lord knows about tomorrow. The Lord can make new opportunities and so forth. But now let us be faithful in serving Him. I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice. acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.