I want you to know that when the Bible talks about the will of God, it's making a distinction between those things that God allows And those things that God desires. God allows things that He doesn't desire, He allows things to happen that don't please Him. And be not conformed to the image of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Hello, and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard.
Well, there's no better place to be, no safer place to be, and no more joyful place to be than right in the middle of God's will. Today, we'll see what the book of Romans says about how we can discover God's perfect will for our lives. When you get a chance, we hope you'll visit us at pastorpaul.net, where you can listen to any of our recent messages on demand, including today's. That's pastorpaul.net. And if you haven't already, don't forget to download our free mobile app.
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Now, let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's message: The Center of God's Will. Romans chapter twelve, beginning with verse one. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy. To offer your bodies As living sacrifices, holy. and pleasing to God.
This is your spiritual Act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed. By the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve. What God's will is.
His good Pleasing. and perfect Will As we continue to study And explore Paul's letter to the church at Rome. We come to a section where he turns his attention back toward matters of practical Christian living. We have seen that over chapters 9 through 11, Paul took the time and addressed some questions regarding the makeup of the body of Christ, especially in light of God's covenant with Abraham. There were persons who said if God made a covenant with Abraham, that his seed would be blessed.
And would be chosen, why is it that some Gentiles are saved and some Israelites are lost? And so Paul took some time in what we call chapters 9 through 11 and answered those questions. And in the course of answering them, he taught us some important lessons about who God is. And having completed that discussion, Paul now turns his attention back to matters of practical Christian living. And he wants to make sure we understand that in light of God's mercy, in view of the fact that we are saved by grace, that none of us deserve to be his children, that we are his children, not because we are good, but because God is good.
And in view of God's mercy, see, always remember you're saved because of the grace and the mercy of God. Mercy means you don't get what you would have coming to you. In the way of punishment, the wages of sin is death. But God, who is rich in mercy, paid the price for our salvation. And Paul says in view of that mercy, Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
And he goes on and says that we are to no longer be conformed to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And he says, then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is.
So it's clear that he's gonna talk to us about how to live in the will of God. That's what I wanna talk to you about: living in the center of God's will. A lot of times people assume that everything that happens in the world, everything that happens in the universe, and everything that happens in our lives is somehow the will of God. But I want you to know that when the Bible talks about the will of God, it's making a distinction. Between those things that God allows.
And those things that God desires. God allows things that He doesn't desire. He allows things to happen that don't please Him. And so, those should not be considered things that are in his will. It is true that nothing escapes the purview of God.
There is nothing that happens that God doesn't have jurisdiction over. But that doesn't mean he wants it, that doesn't mean he desires it. That doesn't mean he pleases it. It pleases him. For instance, there are people who are living in sin.
God allows you to live in sin, but it does not please God that you live in sin. God allows you To be outside of his will, but it does not please him when you are outside of his will. And so you've got to understand when the Bible talks about the will of God. It's talking about those things that please God. And I don't know about you, but I want to live a life Not just one that God allows.
I want to live one that pleases Him. I want to live a life that makes my heavenly father smile. I want God to look at me and say, that's my boy there. I want God to say, That's my son, in whom I'm well. Please, you ought to want God to look at your life and say, I love what I see.
You're walking with me in a way that pleases me. Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 9, so we make it our aim to please God. Do you know that you're not going to please God unless you shoot for it? And unless you live according to his word, no one lucks up and pleases God. You're not going to accidentally.
Oh, I didn't know. Look at me. I'm in God's will. The only way You'll be in the center of God's will as if you make it your aim. To please God, and then you follow the prescription of His Word.
That teaches us how to live in his will.
Well, that's exactly what Paul does in this section of the letter. I want to look at with you. I want you to note that in Romans chapter 12, we're going to see. Paul discuss Three principles. Regarding living in the center of God's will.
Three principles. The first is the upward principle. The second Is the inward principle And the third is the outward. Principle. And in this message, I want to talk about just one, the upward principle.
Where Paul Teaches us that in order to be in the center of God's will, We must surrender to God. That's the point I want to make in this message. If you're going to live in the center of God's will, the upward principle for life in His will calls for us to surrender. to God. He says, in view of God's mercy, I want you to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.
The first aspect of this surrender, then, is to offer. Our bodies. to God in surrender. Paul says I want you to make a presentation of yourself. to God.
Notice That he says, I don't want you. Two respond to some sort of demand. He says, in view of God's mercy, I'm urging you. to present your body To God.
So, if you're going to surrender to God, if you want to live in a sin of His will, you've got to first surrender to God. How do I surrender to God? Paul says, offer your body.
Now, God being who He is, He could demand worship from us. But notice, he's giving us the opportunity to offer. Ourselves to God. You know why? Because God created us to have fellowship with Him.
He didn't want to be a God that dictated to us, and because we were scared of him, we did it. But he wanted there to be not a have-to relationship, but a want-to relationship. Your life will be blessed when you learn to love the Lord your God. With all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. That's the great commandment to love the Lord.
God wants us to have a love relationship. with him. Because when you have a love relationship, It is governed by a desire to please. And God says, I want you to offer your bodies. I couldn't make you do it.
But I want you to offer it. You know as well as I do that a relationship based on coercion. isn't a true relationship. Still ahead, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message, featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. If you enjoy listening to Pastor Paul, you might be glad to know that we archived all of our recent messages at pastorpaul.net.
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Now, let's get you back to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message: the center of God's will. When you coerce someone into doing what you want, you're not getting the joy of fellowship, of connectedness. Think about it in a marriage context. Over the years, as a pastor, I've counseled many couples about many different things. And there were some couples at times that were coming to the office and they were having difficulty in their intimate life.
And so I've heard some wives say, Pastor, you know, my husband is really pressuring me about our intimacy. And sometimes he pulls out the Bible and goes to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Goes to 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and reads those verses. If it's in King James, there's a verse in there that says, The wife is to render to her husband due benevolence. And you know what that means.
You get a modern translation, it'll help you understand what that means. And it goes on to say the husband is to render the same to the wife. But typically, in a counseling setting, more often than not, I've heard the wife complaining that this is her husband's way of manipulating her into more intimacy with him. And so, over the years, I've had to explain to some brothers: listen, my man, that's not exactly foreplay. Yeah.
You know, when you got to whip out your Bible. To get a little cooperation. That's not the way you want to go. Are you see what I'm saying? That's manipulation, and that's going to breed resentment, not openness.
And so you want to find out what will it take for me to open her heart to me more. Not the Bible says Now I'm in here waiting. Trust me, brother. That's not what you want. And it cuts both ways.
I'm an equal opportunity preacher. I've also counseled Men who say, my wife Keeps trying to get me to do things the way she wants them done and what she wants done, and she keeps nagging me. And nagging also is a form of coercion and manipulation. That's not what you want. You don't want Did you all hear that bass amen?
And so wives have to learn that that is not going to result in a relationship that is built on a desire to please one another. In fact, the Bible is real clear, just like it's real clear in every other aspect of practical living, the Bible is clear about the futility of nagging.
Now, some people, I've heard people say, some women say, yeah, but every now and then it works. But you got to understand, even if you get him to do what you want. What is being created actually alienates his heart. More from you, and so you might get what you want in the short run, but in the long run, you're doing damage. To the relationship.
Read the book of Proverbs. If you are a nagger, whether male or female, if you tend to be a nagger, read the book of Proverbs. And especially wives who tend to use nagging as manipulation. Read your Bible, it'll cure you of that. It'll show you how it's not working and how it's breeding alienation.
There's a proverb that says: a man would rather live. On the corner. Of a rooftop. Write in your Bible. The corner of a, I'm not talking about move up to the whole roof.
He would rather move to the corner. Just pick out a corner of the rooftop. Here's where he is. He'd rather live on the corner of a rooftop. than to live in a whole house With a nagging wife.
There's another proverb that says, a nagging wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day.
So, just like a husband doesn't want to try to get intimacy through reading the Bible. A wife shouldn't try to get action and get the man motivated to do what she wants through nagging. Those things alienate, they don't bring together. The best relationships are those which cultivate a love. that says, I want to make you happy.
I want to please you. And God wants that kind of relationship with us. God says, I couldn't make you. I'm God. But I want you.
To offer. Your body. to me. How do I surrender to God? I offer my body.
To God.
Now, if you recall, this is a theme that he's really picking up from earlier in the book. In Romans chapter 6, Paul talked extensively about how to live a life of righteousness. And he said, you do it by offering your body parts as members to righteousness. In other words, you get to decide what you offer your body parts for. He said, if you offer them to sin, that's what will dominate your life.
But if you offer them to righteousness, that's what will characterize your life. And so, If you want to surrender to God, the first step Paul suggests is to offer your body. In other words, and he calls it your spiritual act of worship. See, a lot of folks want to pretend that they have a relationship with God, but it never manifests in a changed life. And if somebody says they have a walk with God, but their life displeases God, they don't have a real relationship.
That's a spoken faith. It's not a real faith. When you see people saying, I'm a Christian, see, I might not be a Christian like you're a Christian. I don't go to church. I don't read my Bible.
I don't adhere to any particular set of rules. But in my heart, I worship God.
Well, Paul is suggesting that is not true spiritual worship. True spiritual worship is when I offer my body. You can tell I love God because of what I do. My eyes, my ears, my mouth, my body parts serve God's purposes for my life. And if you want to surrender to God, truly surrender to him, It begins with offering yourself.
Your body to him. As a living sacrifice, living denotes a difference between what happened in the Old Testament, where, as you recall, under the system of the law, in order to have sin temporarily atoned for, persons had to have the priest offer on their behalf some dead animal, and that was the sacrifice which allowed them to enjoy a temporary reprieve from the judgment of God.
Well, I want to let you know that in the New Testament dispensation, in the fullness of time, God sent His Son. And the reason why Jesus came is because all of us were sinners, all of us needed salvation, and none of us could save ourselves.
So one day, Jesus hung on a cross. Not because of anything he had done, but he hung there because you needed forgiveness and I needed forgiveness, and the only way we could get it. Is if one who had never sinned became sin for us. That's exactly what happened on the cross that day almost 2,000 years ago. One who had never sinned, one who was perfect in the sight of his heavenly father, died an excruciatingly painful death for you and for me.
The songwriter had it right, Living He loved me. Dying, he saved me. Buried, he carried my sins far away. Rising, he justified, freed me forever. One day, he's coming.
Oh, glorious day. I want to let you know. That you don't have to atone for your sins and good things because you couldn't anyway. But God's not looking for dead sacrifices these days. These days, He wants us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.
Since he's already paid the price, the only sacrifice left to give is to give my life to him. And we do that, Paul says first, by offering. Our bodies. God doesn't want to coerce us into giving ourselves to Him. He wants us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.
Holy And pleasing to God. I want to let you know: holiness is still God's plan for your life. I don't care how modern we get. We can't redefine what is right and wrong. I want to let you know if it was sin, it is sin.
And we live in a day where we have to remind ourselves that God calls for holy living. It's old-fashioned, you'll be laughed at, but it's still right. God wants you to live a holy life. God wants you to live a morally clean life. God wants you to stay away from sin.
And God wants you to live the life he designed for you to live. And so it's not about popularity. Because our aim is to please God. You know, God calls us to live holy lives, and He will equip us to live holy lives. He never asks us to do something that cannot be done, no matter how difficult the task may seem, because with God there is no such thing as impossible.
So glad you stopped by for today's Destined for Victory message, The Center of God's Will. If you joined us late, or if you want to hear the full message one more time, stop by pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net. When Jesus was here with us, His was a life of service to His Heavenly Father and also to us. He gave His life away long before He hung on that cross.
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Now if you want to change the way you live, you first have to change the way you think. Here again is Pastor Paul. If you want to prove what God's will is, if you want to live in the center of God's will, not only must you offer your body to Him, but then you must renew your mind. That's tomorrow in our continuing Destined for Victory message, the center of God's will. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
In Christ, you are destined for victory. Uh
