The Apostle Paul urged Christians in the church at Rome to present their bodies as a living sacrifice. What does that actually mean? What does it look like? We'll hear answers today on Truth for Life as we continue a series called Lessons For Life. Here's Alistair Begg with Part 1 of a message titled, All In. While we have sung our prayer to God, we've asked for him to speak to us beyond the voice of a mere man, for the Holy Spirit to conduct that divine dialogue that is mysterious and yet actual when we suddenly realize that we're not simply listening to somebody who has shown up with some information to provide, but somehow or another in the mysterious purposes of God, that God has engineered this moment and brought us to this place in order that we might hear from him, the one who is the author of this book. I haven't come to tell you things that you are unaware of. I've come simply to remind you of something that you must never forget.
And in a phrase it is this, the immense privilege and the essential prerogative of being sold out for God. That really is the emphasis of the call that is here in these opening two verses, and it is what is on my mind as I come to this august student body, representative of so much potential, not only now in the immediate future, but also as you think of your life's unfolding for you. And I've had in my mind the poem by Oxenham, which I won't quote in its entirety, lest I forget it, but for those of you who are English majors, you will know Oxenham's poem, To everyone there openeth a way and a ways and a way, And the high soul treads the high road, And the low soul gropes the low, And in between, on the misty flats, The rest drift to and fro.
And essentially I'm here to say to you, don't waste your life. It'd be a dreadful shame to have had such a wonderful start in this place. And then for people to find you, when you become those who are walking under the banner of the alumni that welcomed me here this morning, and you find yourself saying to one another 10, 20 years on, well, I guess we were brim full of so many expectations and so much opportunity, such potential.
How sad that we find ourselves greeting one another on the misty flats. Those who have made an impact for God have always been sold out for him. On one occasion, General Booth of the Salvation Army was asked, how do you think it is that God has made such use of you since you are a fairly insignificant figure? And he replied in this way, Jesus Christ has all of me. Jesus Christ has all of me. When J.B. Phillips paraphrased this opening section of Romans 12, he did so in this way, with eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers and sisters, as an act of intelligent worship to give him your bodies.
Now he's not issuing a generic call to anybody who happens to be within earshot of the letter. Anybody who wants to try and do their best for God, as it were. Nor is he issuing a call to individuals who are interested, if you like, in going to a higher level or a deeper level of consideration of the things of Jesus.
No, this is basic Christianity. And those to whom he writes, living in the Rome of Ignatius, although prior to the time of Ignatius, an empire that stretched at that time from Britain all the way to Arabia, but never managed to capture Scotland. It is to people living in that empire, he said with a measure of smugness, I forgive me for that, and it is to people living in that environment that he issues this call. He's addressed them at the beginning of the letter.
You can check this on your own. He addresses them in chapter one as saints, to the saints in Rome, those who've been set apart from sin to God. He addresses them in chapter six, not only as those who are saints, but those who are slaves. No longer, he says, slaves anymore to what you once were, but now you have become slaves to righteousness.
You have discovered that the greatest freedom you will ever know is in being a bond slave of Jesus Christ. That it is when we lay down the arms of our rebellion that we discover genuine freedom. So the recipients are those, and the tone with which he writes, you will notice, is a pastoral tone. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters. He's not giving a suggestion, nor is he actually issuing a command, but his tone is one of entreaty. It's one of urgency. It's the kind of pastoral arm around the shoulder from which each of us have benefited.
When folks have come around us and said, come on now, let's make sure that we're not missing out on this wonderful opportunity. And the basis of his appeal is the mercy of God, or the mercies of God. I appeal to you, therefore, brother, by the mercies of God. And when you think about all of that, and you track back through Romans, you realize just what a comprehensive understanding the apostle Paul had of the mercies of God.
And of course, if you think about it, it makes sense, doesn't it? I was reading this morning, and part of my reading this morning was in Acts, in Acts chapter eight. And there, of course, Luke is recording for us the persecution that emerged at the front of which was Saul of Tarsus, beating people and imprisoning them and chasing them down, all because they named the name of Christ, so that by time, he's beginning to write his letters. He's prepared to identify himself as the one who was the chief of sinners, as a most untimely addition to the apostolic band, and as someone who understood the mercy of God. So he says, I appeal to you, therefore, on the basis of God's mercy, the mercy that finds its absolute apex in the work of Jesus upon the cross. Now, it's very important that we notice his approach. And it is an approach that is not unique to Romans, but it runs really through the entirety of the way in which he writes letters.
And again, for those of you who are English majors or wish you were, a little grammar helps. What he does here is, in the imperative, he is now in the realm of saying, come on, let's go. But you will notice that he never issues the imperative, that is, if you like, moral, without, first of all, having provided the indicative, which is theological. So that, for example, before in Colossians 3, he says, now you must seek those seek those things which are above. He precedes that by saying, since then, you have been raised with Christ. That's the doctrinal indicative.
Seek those things which are above. That is the moral, if you like, imperative. And so what he's done here is he's written all of these chapters, as we have them in English, as he's laid out the nature of the redeeming work of Jesus.
And now he says to them, this is what you need to do. This is how you need to walk and appeal on the basis of God's mercy. And appeal to those who've come to believe that on the cross, Jesus took the punishment that we deserve, that on the cross he provided the forgiveness that we don't deserve. So that we are marked by a genuine selflessness and a humility. That the Christian living in Rome was to be marked by these evidences of the work of God within their lives, which turned them into individuals who went about their daily routine, the everyday events of life, living under the sunshine of the Father's love displayed in his mercy in the work of Christ upon the cross.
I know that the Heidelberg Catechism gets a fair amount of mention here. And therefore, let me simply join the pilgrim band in reminding you of question two and the answer to question two. Question two of the Heidelberg, what must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort? That is the comfort provided in the answer to Heidelberg number one. What do you need to know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?
How do you die like Ignatius, in other words? Answer number one, how great my sin and misery are. Two, how I am set free from my sin and misery. And three, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.
Okay? So the recipients are saints and slaves. The tone is not that of suggestion or command, but is of entreaty and urgency. And the appeal is on the basis of the mercy of God. The nature of the appeal itself is to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship or which is your reasonable spiritual service.
It's translated differently in a variety of our versions. What Paul is actually doing here is a form of recapitulation. He is coming back to themes that have already been present in this wonderful symphony of God's grace. And in chapter six, as we have it in our English version at least, he has reminded those who are his readers not to let sin reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. In other words, here again is what is true of you.
This is the indicative. You have been brought from death to life. If you are in Christ, you are a new creation. Therefore, present your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Now, in a sense, this is no further than most of us have experienced when we went to Sunday school as tiny children. And the simplicity of it, the reality of it, the necessity of it, I confess to you, is as real if not more real than it was when I used to sing it at five or nine. Remember the song.
Perhaps you sang it too. Oh, be careful little feet where you go. Oh, be careful little feet where you go.
Because there's a father up above and he's looking down in love, so be careful little feet where you go. You see how practical this is? This is going to take the mercies of God. This is going to take the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.
This is not a call to externalism. Paul, before he came to Christ, said that he was a master of legalistic righteousness. He said, I was faultless when it came to dotting the i's and crossing the t's. But then he said, I discovered, I discovered in myself a covetous heart. I've often wondered, a covetous heart of all things? He had a covetous heart? I wonder if he didn't covet. I wonder if he didn't covet the man at whose martyrdom he stood, Stephen. And he said with his bravado, throw your coats down here. And he saw this man lift his face as up to heaven and to declare in all of his great affirmation of faith what that great white martyrdom crew was to declare after him. I wonder, did Paul find covetousness in his heart there?
Doesn't really matter. But by now, he says, it is the mercy of God that has brought me here and it is God's mercy that will take you there. You see, without your body, you've got no way of relating to anybody else. This morning, it's your body that's done it all, whether it's your mouth or your ears, your eyes, whatever it is. Without our bodies, there's no way to relate to each other. It is by our bodies that we give ourselves, that we give ourselves everything we are, all that we have, all that we think or feel, all the influence that we can exert on others, all the differences that we can make in the world, all of it, all of it. Every dunk to the glory of God, every behind the back pass to the glory of God, every hundred meters dash to the glory of God, every scientific experiment to the glory of God, every business plan written to the glory of God, every embrace, every reception of an embrace, all the use of my hands, all of me, all the time, always. For God, that's what he's saying.
He's saying, guys, I want you to be all in, all in. When I come to Southern California, it makes me think of all kinds of things, and especially down in canyon country. I think I can see places where they shot some of those Western movies that I was watching before you were even conceived of in your parents' heads. Sometimes I watch them now, I make a mistake and buy DVDs thinking, oh, Rawhide, I bet that's really good, or The Virginian, and then it's some of the worst stuff you've ever seen in your life.
You can actually see some of the microphones hanging down on the set and everything, and people blowing the wind. But the one thing I still love, the one thing I still love are the gambling scenes. Not because I'm a gambler, I actually don't really understand how to do any of that stuff. I have been to Las Vegas and I did gamble. I went there with a friend, I got a quarter, I put it in, I pulled the thing, nothing happened, and then I left. So that if anybody ever said, have you ever been gambling in Vegas? I'd have to say, yes, I have. Yes, I was there, and I did.
I gambled extensively at 25 cents worth, and it's gone. No, but I love the gambling scenes when the guy with the sawn off the thing and the little bit of drool, the stogie, he sits and then it's all gets kind of sweaty in the room and the people are perspiring and it gets very quiet and somebody's got a big wad of chips and apparently they're all waiting to see what he's going to do. And then it's just builds.
Can you feel it building right now? And then it builds and then he pushes him into the center. He goes, I'm all in. And you're like, whoa, this is a play. Then that's when the guy, you hear that, that's when the guy cocks his gun, you know, it's like, and it's just fantastic. You say, you need to get a life, man.
If you're watching this stuff at your age, it's too bad. But no, you've got the picture, haven't you? All in. You got all the chips in for God?
You got any holdout areas? What he's calling for is actually a commitment of life that is a living commitment that is a lasting commitment and that is a logical commitment. Actually the word in Greek is logikos, which gives us our word logos, logical. But let me finish in this way. 43 years ago today, I was in London. Ooh, whoopee-doo, you know, but I was. I was in London and I remember it perfectly. I was in London. I was in Carnaby Street and I bought a postcard and I bought a postcard to send to a girl, a girl that I had met 43 years ago yesterday.
And if you're nice, I'll introduce you to her on Wednesday when she comes with me. But I decided to write a letter to this girl, send her a postcard in case somebody else jumped in ahead of me. And I figured that there's no, if you're going to invest, you might as well invest when the stock is low. And so that's a buy low and sell high.
In this case, buy low and don't ever sell. But the fact of the matter is we began a fledgling correspondence with one another that we wrote letters to one another separated by 300 miles. And then after a few years separated by 3000 miles as we were separated by the Atlantic ocean. And we used to write ridiculous Valentine's cards to each other and you put rhymes on them in those days. It's also playful now, but I came up with a wonderful one.
It went like this. My love is like a cabbage, which is immediately endearing. I mean, you can see my love is like a cabbage, which divided into two. The leaves I'll give to others, but the heart I'll give to you. To which the reply should be not jolly likely.
Not jolly likely. For the last 36 years of marriage, I have been fiercely concerned to ensure that I don't share any of the leaves with anyone else other than her. And that she herself is sharing none of those leaves with anyone other than me. I think it's legitimate. I think it's legitimate for her to ask me to be all in and vice versa.
And after all, when Paul writes of marriage in Ephesians five, he says, and what I'm actually talking about is the great mystery of Christ and the church. Jesus, all in for you on the cross. Now, how about you? All in for him with the rest of your life? What an immense thought. What a wonderful privilege.
How unattractive the misty flats sound in that kind of context. So are you all in? You're listening to Truth for Life. That's Alistair Begg challenging us to be totally sold out for God. Devotion to God can be a real challenge in an age of social media. If you're the parent of a teenager, you know just how vulnerable they are to having their faith tested.
These challenges only intensify as they enter college. And that's why we highly recommend a book called Surviving Religion 101, Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College. This book was written for college age kids and each chapter of Surviving Religion 101 reinforces what Christians believe and why we believe it.
The book anticipates the kinds of questions your son or daughter will be asked while at school or at work. The book offers biblical and intelligent advice on how to respond to non-Christian thinking. For example, one chapter explains why the gospels are trustworthy, even though some details seem contradictory. Another chapter explains why science and Christianity are not mutually exclusive.
And there's another chapter that covers why we can be completely confident that the Bible is God's word. If you have children who are still in high school, the book Surviving Religion 101 provides terrific conversation starters for you and your teenager, so you can advise them on how to stand firm on their beliefs before those beliefs are put to the test. You can request your copy of Surviving Religion 101 with a donation today. Simply click the image on the app or visit us online at truthforlife.org slash donate.
If you'd prefer, you can call us at 888-588-7884. And if you have a college age son or daughter, let me encourage you to suggest they follow Truth for Life on Instagram. They'll receive daily Bible quotes from Alistair, links to sermons. It's a great way for them to be in God's word every day while at school.
They can find us by searching for Truth for Life on their Instagram app. Now, here's Alistair with a closing prayer. Father, thank you that we have a Bible to which we can turn. Thank you that we can examine the Bible to see if what has been said is actually in it. And I pray that you will accomplish your purposes in each of our lives. Help us never to be a hindrance to each other, but a help as we seek to follow Christ. As we step out in the pathway of obedience, linking hands throughout the centuries with Paul himself, with Ignatius, and all the others. And we commend each other in this day to you in Christ's name. Amen.
I'm Bob Lapine. Blending in is how some animals and insects survive, but it's not what Christians are called to do. Be sure to listen tomorrow as we hear part two of today's message, including an urgent warning against conforming to the ways of the world. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.
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