Christian Nonconformity (Part B)

He may ask some of us to The Lord of the Hell you're going to.

Just come see me. Oh man, that'd be... Man, Satan will have you and your testimony for lunch very quickly. Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the Book of Romans. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now let's join Pastor Rick as he continues teaching through the Book of Romans chapter 12 on this edition of Cross Reference Radio.

How are you gonna find out what talents you have if you never use them? You've got to get in it. You've got to, you know, coach put me in the game. You've got to serve and the church is the best. You know witnessing is a form of serving but that's not really serving. That's who we are. We are witnesses. Serving takes it to another level in the context of what we're talking about here and I have to say that because some some think well you know I hand out tracts. Well that's great. You know nobody's knocking you for that but is that all you got?

Is that it? Does that define your walk with Christ? We're all eager to share Christ with the lost souls of the world but there's a lot more work that's got to be done. What happens if you just save people but you never strengthen them?

And where do those people get strengthened most? In the body of Christ and that's why it was bought with the body of Christ, the church, bought with the blood of Christ. Now what's the value of the church?

The assembly I'm talking about. So no one wiggles out of this. Well you know we're all the church. That's the universal church. Yeah yeah we get that but there is the local church and she should pack a punch. She should be a fortress of defiance and nonconformity and so when the world starts doling out their pride over sodomy and marching down the street with it we say not for me in my house and that house extends not only my house that I live in but the house of God.

This is what the church should be and this is why Satan targets the church so much from the inside out. Serving positions us. It puts us in a place where we can strike back. What uses it if you're armed and you're ready but you're not in the position to strike? You can't see the bad guys.

You can't see the enemy. Yeah how do you get in position to do that? Well serving does that. Serving puts you in a serving puts us in a position to strike back at the work of the devil in people and don't don't dare undermine undervalue any service in the house of God. It's too bad that has to be said. Is serving in church a small thing to you? Is it now well you know I had to go down there and make the coffee like it's you know I've got to go check the mailbox.

It's a big deal. Satan can get hold of that too. It has been that way for too many people. So I'm not trying to recruit anyone to serve. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. I'm not trying to build the church though I want to be fruitful. That's the role of the Holy Spirit to grow the church. Otherwise if people do it you just you might just grow a mob.

Just a you know a community center in Jesus name. The work of the Holy Spirit is to add to the church and the work of the Holy Spirit is to raise up servants to give fruit. Pray to the Lord of the harvest. The harvest is plentiful.

The laborers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest. That's his role.

I can't do it. I am to preach the word in season out of season. When there are too many servants when there aren't enough servants I'm still to preach the word.

That you may present your bodies. Now this is free will in action. One of the worst examples in scripture of someone exercising free will and paying for it on the spot is Lot's wife. Jesus thought it was important to say remember Lot's wife?

You see what happened to her? That was free will going the wrong way. We are to present our bodies the right way. It's a problem if you just go to church and serve but that's all you're doing. It's the problem with that.

It's a big problem. There's a statement being made with that and after a while that will not bear fruit. You've got to be part of the body in every way and you know that you present your body. Even Christ was as a baby was taken to the temple and presented by Joseph and Mary and what happened?

What happened? Okay they presented him to the Lord. No Simeon stepped up. Anna stepped up. It created it was a playmaking move you know from sports.

Nothing's happened. Well let's make something happen and then made something happen just by Mary and Joseph being compliant to the scripture not conformed to the world doing what they were supposed to do and look what we have. Just read the testimony of Simeon there in the temple and Anna and you will be blessed. Well this present your bodies the body is a vehicle of the soul that for the Christian is energized by the Spirit of God. Romans 6 verse 13 do not present your limbs as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead as your members your limbs as instruments of righteousness to God. Because the alternative we don't have to guess about that. We know what the alternative is to not present ourselves our bodies to Christ. Behavior flows from belief. This explains the behavior of Islam. You know you so don't say that.

Why? You know if you're in a building and there's a fire and you you ignore it well the whole thing is gonna burn down for sure and then we see this in society we see things that are on fire but Christians are afraid to say anything. I don't know not all Christians but in the past it has been that way in many churches and thus we had seeker friendly movements which really did nothing but suppress the truth. Every preacher is a sinner who preaches to sinners in no way around it but there's something that can happen because of it and that's what we are discussing here that we present our bodies to the Lord on his behalf a living sacrifice. Now under Old Testament law worshipers brought an animal to be sacrificed and that animal was slain it was now a dead sacrifice. Under New Testament grace we are living sacrifices able to serve. Now the Lord he may ask some of us to die for him but he asked all of us to live for him. That means out loud not you know taking it and hiding it under a bushel you know or you know you have to serve you have to be a Christian out loud.

I mean doesn't mean obnoxious go to get a new job Walton you slam open the door I'm here I'm a Christian any of you foul sinners need help getting out of the hell you're going to just come see me oh man happy man Satan will have you and your testimony for lunch very quickly. We are all expected to serve the Lord with our lives but again some serve with death through death. Serving is not necessarily miserable in the context of sacrifice we associate sacrifice with misery that's not the whole story. There are unwelcomed episodes in serving the Lord there are unwelcome seasons not because of anything you're doing wrong because doing things right but you endure. There are times when being a sacrifice to the Lord just brings fruit that's all for that season. Enduring is a sacrificial element of serving hanging in there some of you might like that phrase I don't particularly care for it I don't want to hang in there I want to go and clobber something well who doesn't show of hands who just wants to hang there I want to be useful serve hand in my armor dented and smoking now that's so easy to say from up here but it's already been happening so I'm gonna stop it by suppressing it. Jesus has always been frank about this very thing has he not go your way as he sent out his disciples behold I send you out as lambs among wolves that behold when the Bible says behold it's sort of like hey pay attention this is it's a it's emphatic behold I send you we don't talk that way right we know behold what's for dinner you know we but but the Bible does and for a reason and I'm glad we don't talk that way now Paul will teach all about this living sacrifice as I mentioned in chapters the preceding verses of chapter 12 from verse 3 through chapter 15 what it means to present our bodies a living sacrifice and transformed well the world can produce people who are living sacrifices the beaches of Normandy had loads of people who were living sacrifices but not transformed necessarily I mean I wouldn't doubt there were some born-again believers that died in that number but so we just so we can be clear about what is going on here in our scripture in its relationship to our lives because this is very important this rules out self affliction flogging oneself cutting oneself or any concoction of self-inflicted pain try to demonstrate your faith this is being ruled out when he says let me show you what a living sacrifice is from 12 verse 3 through 15 he's showing us and it all requires doing something for Christ and not harming oneself first Corinthians 6 verse 19 or do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God and you are not your own you have surrendered the rights to yourself that's what that means so willfully harming oneself is equal to vandalizing God's property God's dwelling God's tabernacle second Corinthians 10 for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds it's a spiritual war your physical elements to the war of course carnality is the opposite of spirituality God categorizes it as sin now there are carnal things about us that aren't sinful but carnality is Romans 8 because the carnal mind is at war against God for it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be it requires spirit of God to be involved with a life person's faculties to be able to determine what's true and false we have enough of that doesn't require God to influence that on everything in life you can tell when somebody's lying to you or not lying to you or you can someone can be telling you the truth but you classify it as a lie I'm not talking about Christians talking about people but when it comes to spiritual things well to know the truth you're going to need God no man comes to the Father except through the Son he is if he if I be lifted up I will draw all men to me and there are many other verses and so for someone to come to Christ Christ the Holy through the Holy Spirit is already working in them hopefully using us part of the process but with these verses about carnality and not vandalizing the temple of God you would think in Roman ism Roman Catholicism that somebody at least one of the leaders somewhere in their history would stand up and say stop it with climbing up steps with this penance stuff it's not what the scriptures talking about presenting yourself a living sacrifice it's talking about being transformed into the image of Christ Christ did not go to the cross for penance he went for sinners didn't even go for himself Jesus is God's sacrificial lamb and has been presented for our sin God no longer receives sacrificial blood offerings of animals or grain offerings instead we present ourselves taking up our own cross notice the insertion our own cross I just saw a picture of somebody dragging across around us you know I don't know four by four blocks look the crosses that were hung that they hung these villains on or the Lord even they were used as little wood as they could use they just needed enough to support the body and again they did it at eye level so the person crucified was I to I with the witnesses because Rome wanted to make the statement you can do you we can do you too if you don't behave yourself this is exalted crucifix and stuff like that we're not well yeah that too well that's that's not what's going on and so the point of saying when when we talk about taking up our own cross it's an ugly deal it's not this you know chiseled event that is so it's a it's it's a wild thing it's it's not I if we don't understand that then when trouble comes out our way we're bewildered when trouble comes our way and we've not done nothing wrong it's a it could be a cross this is part of serving the Lord presenting your body as a living sacrifice otherwise you get disillusioned we can become disillusioned I had such high I had very high hopes for my Christianity when I gave my life to Christ I thought things would fall in place if you preach it they will come I have learned so many painful lessons but here I still am and when the dust settles I plan to still be held by the mighty hand of God as it was with Joseph anyway coming back to this King David when he was going to make an offering to the Lord and he purchased he wanted to purchase the field of a man named Aruna and Arunas wanted to just give it to him but David and talk about lessons from Bible characters King David said I will not offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing if it does not cost something then how is it still a sacrifice it may cost your time yeah you know serving is a competitor just like kids we know your husband and wife get married and they have no kids when the when they have kids they they quickly find out there's a competitor now in the home for attention for sleep but for food it's just a competitor and it doesn't stop well serving Christ you know now you compete I look I've got to go down to the church and do this I've signed on well that's gonna be time you know the spouses are both sacrificing to some degree if you can both serve at the same time that's great but that's not always how it works out holy and acceptable raise your hand if you prefer to serve God with the unacceptable and we'll write your name down and have a little talk with you I mean how else should it be we serve God with that which is holy and acceptable to him that's the story of Leviticus 10 3 nadab and Abihu they brought to the altar of Christ that which was not holy nor was it acceptable and they died on the spot and Moses said to Aaron their father by all who come near me I must be regarded as holy but what is the alternative just to sashay up to God and treat him like the man upstairs hope none of you use that phrase the man upstairs it's an indication of how incredibly ignorant of the holiness of God you probably are and if you have been okay just stop and if we catch you doing no just stop which is your reasonable service the word reasonable in the Greek there is where we get our English word logic from this is logical it makes perfect sense that's what Paul is saying there has been a lot of illogical service in Christ's name hopefully I'm not too guilty of that it is again not my intention to guilt anyone into doing their duty but it is my intention to preach the word and to preach it as it is given to us after all God is done to bring us into heaven it's only proper that we make sacrifices on earth 1st John 3 16 it won't take the time but John says the same thing there you know study of the Bible should teach us to endure hardship for Christ 1st Peter chapter 4 and again 1st Peter he's writing to Christians who were persecuted he couldn't stop their persecution and he didn't fluff them up now now it'll be okay I don't know what it's gonna be but I know you better hang in there so anyway he says therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh arm yourselves also with the same mind and so there's Peter not not trying to simplify well he's just telling it like it is arm yourself Christ went through this imitate him it's not being forsaken if being abandoned by God is for the glory of God without sin in your life in other words if you feel God's walked away in serving God without sin in that service and God has sort of left you to the circumstances the piranha the hyenas of life it doesn't mean he's abandoned you Jesus Christ of course is the consummate example job job was persecuted by Satan he didn't die because of that person you but he's there suffered would have been better he asked for death John the Baptist chopped off his head Steven one of the servants in the church they stoned him they killed him in public with rocks James the Apostle likely cut his head off too he was killed with the sword Antipas God's faithful witness doesn't say how he says he was a martyr these were sacrifices so when Jesus cried Eli Eli lama sabachthani from the cross my God my God why have you forsaken me he's fulfilling the scapegoat of the atonement and that scapegoat was sent out of Israel's camp it was forsaken all alone to die for the sins of the people so it's not being forsaken if being abandoned by God is for God's glory and apart from sin and those are some of the examples and so again Hebrews 13 for we for here we have no continuing city but we will seek the one to come because we don't like this one else we wouldn't be seeking the next one verse 2 and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God do not be conformed to this world well that's pretty much self-explanatory we're non conformist on spiritual and moral matters you know we see people who try to take every moral thing and spin it into a political thing it's moral it's sin and we're supposed to not back down and find a way to accommodate them in their sin if they want to be received they got to do it like everybody else repent and be born again and Christians have died upholding these facts now the word here for world is a on in the Greek will we get our English word eons as opposed to other places the word for world is cosmos where we get our Cosmo cosmos were word from when Jesus said God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son he's using cosmos is the planets the people on the planet then they're connected but but they they sort of zoom in on other facets of what we're up against and what God is doing so there's no contradiction the word a on in the Greek means this age well the age of the people in this world and it has been this way and will be this way until Christ comes back we are presently in this age of darkness so the world is not the planet but the times we live in and the ways of the people who live on the planet without Christ that's this darkness that's the world we live in Galatians chapter 1 verse 4 speaking of Christ who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of God of our God and father and don't forget what's God like he's like a father what else we'll look at the life of Jesus and you'll find out he who has seen me has seen the father Philip these are vital lessons for us everything we believe in hold dearest Christians is based on scripture scripture is the filter it is that's what the Reformers meant when they said solo script or a scripture alone defines how we're going to behave and believe and live the world in this context is humanity and darkness outside of the light of Christ spiritually speaking you know you you see a good painting one of those classics light is a lot to do with making that picture a classic over the ages light is a big deal for us as Christians and so when we hear about light and darkness in Scripture we're not to just pass over those things they merit our consideration that's what David said blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly sits in the path of sinner stands and he goes on and he says but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he shall meditate day and night hard times in good times that's who I want to be and that's what Satan does not want me to be and that goes for you equally thanks for joining us for today's teaching on cross-reference radio this is the daily radio ministry of pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel mechanics fell in Virginia we're currently going through the book of Romans if you're in need of hearing this message again or want to listen to others like it head over to cross-reference radio.com we encourage you to subscribe to our podcast too so you'll never miss another edition just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe on our website you'll be able to learn a little more about the ministry of cross-reference radio so make a note of it cross reference radio.com that's all we have time for today but thanks so much for listening pastor Rick will be back next time in the book of Romans here on cross-reference radio