The Gospel’s Counsel is Sufficient

Transcript

GRM 848
05/04/2003
The Gospel’s Counsel Is Sufficient
Romans 12:1-2
Gil Rugh

I’d like to read a couple of comments from an article that appeared in yesterday’s Omaha World Herald in their Saturday religious sections. They had two articles, one called “God on the Couch” and talking about more and more therapists are encouraging patients to talk about faith and spirituality. That was a general article and not necessarily talking about Christians, where just generally more of those involved in therapy, psychotherapy, are open to have people bring in religious thoughts. This person being interviewed made the point that they don’t try to steer them any particular way, wherever they want to go with their religious thoughts is up to them. They did make an interesting comment in here about Sigmund Freud and that Freud taught that spirituality was for the weak and that healthy people shouldn’t need God. Isn’t it interesting that the man who develops psychotherapy is a man who develops it on the basis of healthy people should not need God in their lives. Over time that is developed and evolves to the church had adopted the thinking and practices of this man, even if they don’t follow him in every detail.

The other article under this is the one that I want to read you a couple of comments from, “Churches Fill Need for Counselors.” They are filling the need for counselors. Mental health ministries are growing. Their view of staff people from a couple of evangelical churches, and I want to note some comments. Each Monday night a group of about 100 people gathers in a large classroom at the church that they mention. Some come because they are struggling with relationships, others are fighting depression, still others are trying to root out roadblocks to spiritual growth. Then it goes on to say, now there are about 100 people gathered on this evening, this is one of the 20 or so counseling services the church offers. As the demand for mental health services is growing around the country, churches like this one are filling the need. This church, and I’m skipping the names—I’m growing in my discretion, this church offers counseling for depression and anxiety, grief, relationship problems and addictions. Their counseling ministry has grown so large that the church has trained about 100 lay volunteers to deal with the “hundreds and hundreds” of people who come to the center each.

They interview another pastor on the staff of another evangelical church. He has a staff and last year he and his staff conducted 2000 counseling sessions. This is one church—2000 counseling sessions. Then this pastor says the only limitation of our ministry is time. So, they could do a lot more if they had time to do it. They plan to continue training people to keep up with the demand, and notes that none of us have PhDs in psychology or psychotherapy, but if there are cases that come up, we’re not equipped to handle we’re comfortable referring them to psychiatrists or someone else. I mention that because sometimes some of these subjects it seems like perhaps, we’re beating a dead horse. But I want you to be aware we don’t hear as much about counseling as we once did because the church has just come to accept it. When one church can speak confidently that they had over 2000 counseling sessions last year, we’re not talking about number of Bible studies we had, number of people taught the scriptures. We’re talking about counseling; we’re talking about people who need special training. It’s not enough to know and master the Word of God, not enough to sit in a class and be taught the Word of God or be in a Bible study where someone teaches you the Word of God. We need trained counselors and we have developed the Freudian approach. We’ve just added the scripture to it. But there is something lacking in just the scripture. As one of the Christian counselors has said, those who are the “nothing buterists,” the nothing but the scripture are part of the problem, not the solution.

I think I would like to show you a more excellent way. We have something that God has provided that is so wonderful and so powerful and so effective that it means we do not need to try to go down the road the world travels so that we can cope with life, experience joy and happiness and peace and live as God intends us to live. I want to direct your attention to the book of Romans and the first chapter. We’re gong to highlight several matters through the book of Romans and then settle down for a more extensive look at a couple of verses. We’re going to start in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16, “for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it,” the gospel, “is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.” The gospel is God’s power for salvation, and most of those in evangelical churches would say amen to that, we believe it, we preach it. My concern is, do we live it? First, we have to understand what we’re talking about when we talk about the gospel and God’s power accomplishing salvation. Really the rest of the book of Romans is a development and a detailed explanation of the gospel and the salvation that is accomplished in the life by the power of God through the gospel. The gospel is the good news concerning Jesus Christ, the message that the Son of God has died to pay the penalty for sin, has been raised from the dead. If you believe in Him alone as your savior from sin, you will experience salvation; now you know what salvation is.

If we would go through the book of Romans. Salvation is not just forgiveness of sins, not just settling the issue now I’m going to heaven and not to hell, wonderful as those truths are, and they are true. But the gospel includes justification, the work of God in declaring the believing sinner righteous. That’s one part of our salvation, justification, we are declared righteous by God as a result of being forgiven our sins. The second is sanctification. Sanctification is being set apart by God for Himself to live lives that are pleasing to Him. Then glorification is the ultimate completion of God’s work of salvation when we are glorified in His presence. You understand when we say the gospel is the power of God for salvation, we are talking about justification, sanctification and glorification, and unless you have all three of those you do not have God’s salvation. When God’s power works for salvation it accomplishes salvation in its completeness in a life.

We get into problems because some people, in regard to their spiritual life, are like a person who receives a box in the mail—it’s a gift. They open it up and, in that box, there are six packages or four packages, whatever. They take out one package, open it up and spend the rest of their life trying to put this gift together. They can’t understand what’s wrong—you know, I’ve been working on this for a long time. So, they get a friend to come, and the friend plays with the pieces, too. But you know what? They can never put the gift together. You know why? They haven’t opened the whole thing. Some Christians are like that. They trust Christ and oh they’re on cloud nine and they’re rejoicing, my sins are forgiven, I’m going to heaven. Down the road their life gets turned upside down and they’re in confusion. They can’t figure out what’s wrong. You know you have to look at the whole gift. God not only provided for your forgiveness, not only provided for your glorification, He provided that you would live a life that He desires you to live, that you could confront life and live life in a way that is pleasing to Him.

In Romans chapter 1 and note these things because they are foundational to what we’re going to focus on, we begin by talking about the issue of sin and condemnation. In chapter 1 verse 18 through chapter 3 verse 20 of Romans the issue is man’s sinful condition, men and women under condemnation because of their sin. They refuse to acknowledge God,” they reject God. Romans 1:21, “though they knew God, they did not honor them as God.” God has revealed Himself, He revealed Himself through creation. Man rejects Him. You’ll note the last part of verse 21, “they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened.” Note that emphasis on the inner part of a person. They became futile in their speculations, their reasonings. They became empty, vain, purposeless in the way they reasoned and thought things out. On the inside, in their heart, they were in darkness. “God gave them over in judgment,” verse 24, “to lust and impurity.” Didn’t cause them to do it, He just turned them free to do what they wanted to do with their empty reasonings and darkened thinking.

Look at verse 28, “as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind.” Remember that expression, a depraved mind. We’re going to talk about as a result of the power of God in salvation we get a new mind. But apart from the power of God’s salvation in life a person works under the influence and direction of a depraved mind. So, “you see some of the sinful activity and destructive behavior that is dealt with in the last part of Romans chapter 1, all kinds of sexual immorality. The Bible doesn’t talk about sexual addiction, as something now we have to help somebody deal with. You are sexually addicted, perhaps, the Biblical word is slave. You are the slave of sexual sin. But you could be the slave of greed, the slave of lying, the slave of slandering, the slave of disobedient to parents, and so on, as chapter 1 talks about the variety of sins. All kinds of sins that ruin our lives and bring conflict and confusion and misery, depression and discouragement into our lives. Our result of a rejection of a living God and His judgment. We live in the emptiness of our thinking, darkened on the inside, controlled by depravity in our depraved minds. The solution to this, remember, was what chapter 1 verse 16 said, “the gospel which is the power of God for salvation.”

Turn over to chapter 3 of Romans, where in verse 21 of chapter 3 Paul moves into a new section talking about receiving the righteousness of God through faith in Christ. In chapter 3 verse 21, “but now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested.” He’s just made clear you cannot become righteous before God by keeping the Law, by trying to keep the Ten Commandments and so on. But a righteousness of God has been manifested. Verse 22, “even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” This is a universal provision made available to any and all who will believe. Everyone needs it because “all have sinned,” verse 23 says, “and fall short of the glory of God.” In verse 24, “being justified, being declared righteous as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” That’s the transformation, justification. Wonderful, I’ve been forgiven my sins, I’ve been declared righteous by the living God. Now I can get on with my life. No. Now you can get on with His life. Because a radical transformation occurred when you believed in Jesus Christ. Not only were you forgiven your sins, not only did you become a child of God destined for heaven, but Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said you are no longer your own, you have been bought with a price.

Turn over to Romans chapter 6, “therefore glorify God in your bodies.” Romans chapter 6 moves us to another major emphasis in the book of Romans, talking about the doctrine of sanctification. Sanctification is a theological word that simply means living a life separated from sin for God. Romans chapter 6 we are told the way God accomplished our forgiveness and cleansing is, remember the wages of sin is death. Romans chapter 6 verse 6, “knowing this that our old self,” our old man,” what I was as a sinful being, was crucified with Him, with Christ, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died is free,” literally is justified, from sin. You understand part of our salvation, part of our being justified is our being set free from sin, its control, its domination, its power in our lives. You’ll note he doesn’t say in verse 7 some of those who die with Christ are freed from sin. This is true of each and everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as their savior and thus is joined with Christ in His death, in His burial and His resurrection to new life. The end of verse 5, verse 5 says” if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” It was so, at the end of verse 4, “we might walk in newness of life,” with a new life.

What are we to do? Verse 11, “consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts.” See what God expects now of His people, those that He has redeemed, justified? They will now exercise their will to do what God wants. Very simple. Don’t let sin rule in your body. Oh, you know, I’ve been doing this for a long time, this has become the pattern. I just can’t quit overnight. Oh yes you can. Some of you have been here a while, you know how you can. If you die this afternoon you’ll quit all activities in this life, they’ll be done. Some of them you’ve been doing your whole life, but when you die a radical change occurs, right? This is one of the most wonderful chapters in all the Bible and it’s not even where we’re going, we’re not where we’re going yet. But I’m free from sin, therefore, don’t let sin reign in your body. So, I say I struggle with sin, I have sin that I practice. Well, the first thing we have to settle is do you know the living God? Have you experienced the power of His salvation? If you have then the issue is not you can’t stop sinning, the issue is you don’t want to. I had a theological professor in seminary who made a profound theological point for us Greek and Hebrew exegetes. He said when God saves you, He saves your “wanter” too. Now you want to do what He wants you to do. It doesn’t mean there’s not a battle, but there’s a new me.

So that verse, you ought to mark it, verse 12, don’t let sin reign. What and say I’m struggling with sin. Are you a believer? Yes. Don’t do it anymore. Oh, you’re a big help. Well, it’s what it says, isn’t it? Therefore, seek all the counselors you can who will help you develop techniques and overcome………. I don’t find that here. I might find it in reading Sigmund Freud, but I find God’s power is sufficient in salvation to set me free. Don’t let sin reign. You didn’t get the point? Read verse 13, and this will connect to where we are going, same words are used. “Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under Law but under grace.” The authority, power, rule of sin has been broken in the life of the one who believes in Jesus Christ. Verse 17 says you were slaves of sin, verse 18 says you became slaves of righteousness. There is a radical change that has taken place. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away, behold new things have come, II Corinthians 5 says.

Turn over to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 carries us to another emphasis in the book. You know Romans chapter 12 verse 1 begins, “I urge you therefore brethren by the mercies of God,” therefore by the mercies of God. Therefore, therefore connects it to all that’s gone on in the first 11 chapters. You know some people get into trouble because they don’t want to deal with Bible doctrine. I don’t want to get into the deep and heavy things, the doctrinal things, I’m not interested in all the details. I want to learn how to live. Well then you have to saturate yourself with the first 11 chapters of the book of Romans, because what he does with chapter 12 is begin to show then how you live your life in light of the mercies of God you receive. The mercies of God are a reference to God’s salvation. Back up to the end of chapter 11 verse 30, “for just as you once were disobedient to God but now have been shown mercy, so these also now have been disobedient in order that because of the mercy shown to you they also may be shown mercy.” Talking about God’s work with Jews and Gentiles. Both Jews and Gentiles are sinners, both Jews and Gentiles need the mercy of God in His salvation. For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, a God who in mercy has provided us with His salvation.

“I beseech you therefore,” I urge you on the basis of God’s mercy, the mercy of His salvation and all that it includes, “to present your bodies to God.” What he says in the beginning of chapter 12 here is based on the first 11 chapters of Romans, particularly in chapter 1. Especially, then, there’s a connection to chapter 6. We saw in chapter 6, what did he urge? Don’t present the members of your body to unrighteousness, present the members of your body to righteousness. Now I urge you in light of all these mercies of God that I’ve developed here. Remember we started out with you a sinner in rebellion against God, under the judgment of God, consumed and controlled by your sin, empty in your reasonings and ability to think, darkened in your soul, led by a depraved mind. But through the mercies of God, you experienced His power in salvation. That meant you died to sin and were totally set free, and now you are to present your body, your life, all that you are to Him. Don’t serve sin, don’t commit sin, don’t let sin rule in your life. The only freedom from the power and control of sin is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our society has come to talk about addictions, and it sounds like something you’re not responsible for. I understand alcoholism, which used to be known as drunkenness, is now protected by the disabilities act. Well, that’s wonderful to know. Go get smashed, you can’t get fired because you have a disability. I’m not making light of what sin does to a life. We ought to understand, sin takes hold of you, it wraps its coils around and it strangles you. It dominates and controls your life. Sin is so powerful, its hold is so complete, there is absolutely no hope for deliverance of any kind apart from the mighty power of God in salvation in a life. We ought not to pretend to people that we put a band-aid on, we made them feel better about something, therefore we have done something. I want them to know your situation is as hopeless as can be, and apart from the power of God in salvation I’d say go out and get drunk and forget it. You know you give strong drinks to someone who is perishing, don’t you? I use that just as an example. Any other sin, sexual addictions, you name it. Only the power of God sets free. But let me tell you something just as real. That power sets each and every person free, that experiences God’s salvation. It is a rejection of the truth of God to act like well, I trusted Christ, I know my sins are forgiven, I know I’m going to heaven, I just can’t live for Him, I just can’t give up my sin, I just can’t treat my husband like I should, I just can’t treat my wife like I should, I just can’t face my job. Oh, what am I going to do? Shut up and get out of bed. You’re a liar, we just have to decide what kind. You’re either lying in that you claim you know the living God and you don’t, or you haven’t experienced His salvation and you’re lying implying that you can’t do what He says you ought to do. You say oh that’s awfully hard. I find it awfully liberating, don’t you? Wonderful to know I don’t have to live in sin, I don’t have to be controlled by sin. In fact, as God’s child, I am not, unless I choose to indulge.

So, what am I to do? Present my body, all that I am, turn it over to Him, all I am, my life, my thoughts, my actions now are His. I present my body a sacrifice to God. That’s a basic statement. Present your body a sacrifice to God. It’s turned over to Him, it’s not mine anymore, it’s what I give to Him. Another way of putting it is what Paul said to the Corinthians, you are not your own, you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. Same thing he said in Romans chapter 6, don’t present the parts of your body to unrighteousness, present it to God and to do righteousness. It’s a sacrifice to God. What is this sacrifice like? There are three words that modify the word sacrifice, some of our translations have confused it a little bit. It’s present your bodies a sacrifice. These sacrifices are living, holy, and acceptable. All right. A living sacrifice, well that’s different than you often think of a sacrifice in the Old Testament system, they had to be slaughtered. But here it’s a living sacrifice, a sacrifice that yes has been offered, but is alive. The paradox, I died when Christ died, but I was made alive when Christ was made alive. In one sense I’m a living dead man, I’m dead to sin but alive to God. Now I live totally different. This is a living sacrifice, what He wants is my life. I say we don’t understand the gospel when we imply that we believed in Christ, but we can’t live life pleasing to Him. It’s a living sacrifice, it’s the way I live my life day by day, it’s what I do with my life, it’s the way I face life. That includes the unpleasant, unlikable situations I face. I conduct my life. I’m living now, but I’m living for Him. That’s what Romans 6 said, we have newness of life. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, a new creature. Old things have passed away, new things have come.

It’s a holy sacrifice, it’s one set apart to God. The word sanctification, the word saint, the word holy all come from the same basic Greek word, hagios, different forms. It means to be separate. God is totally holy because He is totally separate from sin. We are sanctified because we have been separated from sin for God. We live holy lives, so I’m separated from sin to God. We are saints, we are the separated ones, so we live holy lives, lives separated from sin, lives lived for God. They are acceptable, these sacrifices, to God, well-pleasing to Him. Now this is very important and gets into where he is going in the next verse. You know part of the problem we have as believers, a major part of it, is where he’s going in verse 2 when he talks about don’t allow yourself to be conformed to the world. You’ll note what this life now given to God as a redeemed person, I give it to Him willingly because He purchased it for Himself. I’m giving Him what is His. You are not your own, you’ve been bought with a price. Now present your body. Lord, I am thrilled to give this body, this life to you. It’s yours by purchase price, it’s my honor to give it to you. Now I am to live for Him, separated from sin, pleasing to Him. You know the world presses in on us and the world tells us, you know, you have to be happy, you have to please yourself, and you know it comes in everything. You know if you’re not happy with your job something is wrong, if you’re not happy in marriage, if you don’t have good feelings about your husband or wife something is wrong. People want to know how do you feel? What do you mean how do I feel? How do you feel about your wife? I don’t know how I feel about my wife. Well, I mean how do you feel, do you feel close to her, do you feel like you love her, do you feel like you want to……… You know those are the first things that come. How do I feel about my job? Oh, I don’t know, I don’t like going there. My intention is to please me. A life that is presented to God is pleasing to who? To Him. Am I doing what is pleasing to Him? Am I living a separated life that is pleasing to Him? If I am called to provide for my wife and my family and I have a job, but you know I have several choices. My first choice in life would have been to inherit a lot of money and not have to work and had it over with. God didn’t see fit to do that. Second would have been to give me the job of my desires, that paid a lot and required little. Most of us didn’t get that either. We start going down and we get down somewhere along the line and we find well we got a job that enables us to pay the bills and put food on the table, and some days I’d rather do anything else than go to it. But I have to stop and say what is pleasing to God? God, this is the job you’ve given me. The issue in this life is not how do I feel, how happy I am, what I am enjoying on the human level and the human way of speaking. But what is pleasing to you? That comes to everything. Marriages fall apart because oh I don’t love them like I used to, I don’t have any feelings for them anymore. Yes, I’ve heard all about you now do you belong to God? Whose life is this you’re living? Well then how are you going to live it? Is it presented to Him a living, holy, well-pleasing sacrifice? What would He have me do? Well, I think Ephesians 5 says love your wife as Christ loved the church. But that’s awfully hard to do, you don’t know my wife. And you know there are a lot of things that have gone one, it just killed the feelings, and we go on. But as soon as I turn it back to me, you see the problem? We read Romans 12:1,2 and we think good verses, I’m going to commit them to memory. You don’t need to commit them to memory, you need to commit them to life.

You know James warns strongly about those who are hearers of the word but not doers, and they just delude themselves into thinking they are godly people. Then he exhorts, don’t be hearers of the word only, be doers. My life is to be lived pleasing to Him, it is His life. First question is not how I feel, what do I want. The first question is, is this pleasing to Him, is this what He wants. This is your spiritual service of worship. You know we say we have come together for worship, and we have. The Bible provides for corporate worship, as we talk about it. We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. But you know this is just to be a gathering together of a worshipping people. You know what your spiritual service of worship is? It’s giving your life over to God every day in all of your activities, living for Him, being holy for Him, being well-pleasing to Him. That means in my responsibilities at work, in my relationships in my family, in my fellowship in the church, in whatever I’m doing. That’s my spiritual service of worship. You know what begins to break down when I’m not living my life that way? Pretty soon I don’t enjoy going to church, pretty soon it’s drudgery, and I’m just not meeting my needs. You know what I need to back up. We have a marathon; I don’t know if they’re running it today or not. You know if I went out and said I’m going to run the marathon today. Haven’t run anywhere but the grocery store for 25 years, but I’m going to do it, going to do the whole thing. Some of you would say yeah sure you are, you’re going to probably make half a block and then need resuscitation. You know we come and face the corporate worship of God that way. We think we live our lives as we will and we tolerate, well not major disobediences, but little disobediences that have a way of growing. Then we come for corporate worship, and we wonder why it just doesn’t grip my heart any longer, why I don’t have the same sense of belonging to God and desire to worship Him. Because this is a culmination, it’s an expression together of a worship that is to be going on. If I’m not living for Him on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, that’s my spiritual service of worship. How can we claim to be worshipping the living God and living our lives not in obedience. We forfeit the blessings, the joy.

This is a responsibility. You’ll note the commands and instructions are given to us to present our bodies. Then on to verse 2, don’t be conformed to this world. You know, don’t be shaped by the world’s plans. We talk about drawings for a building, the schematics. The word scheme comes from this Greek word, we’ve just carried it over into English. We’re not to be shaped, molded by the world. It’s not the world’s plans, the world’s thinking that’s to shape us. Do not be conformed to this world. The world tells me I have to learn to think about myself, I have to learn to do something for myself, I need time for myself, and I begin to think that way. Then I am unhappy, then pretty soon I’m unhappy with those around me. I’m unhappy in my church because they don’t do enough for me. I’m unhappy with my spouse because of course she doesn’t do enough for me, she could never do enough for me. On it goes, and my life gets all turbulent. Why? The thinking of the world and the world what? Is it the place to go for happiness, joy, peace? No. Getting to be a badge of honor. They interview celebrities and so on and they talk about what care they drive; they talk about when they went to their counselor. I saw my therapist this week. Like I mean, how did people get by without a therapist. That’s part of life. And pretty soon our thinking comes, how do I cope? I can’t cope with these things. Well, if I’m trying to live like the world is living, they are living under the control of a depraved mind, in the emptiness of their reasoning, darkened in their souls. Any wonder they are miserable? God has provided for us happiness, joy, peace, freedom. We’re plugging along, I don’t know if I can face today.

Don’t be conformed to this world. Be transformed by the making new of your mind. Transformed. You undergo a metamorphosis, there is a change that takes place. It’s a present tense, being transformed. We’re made new. That doesn’t mean it’s done and over. Now the process I continue to grow. I’m not saying you never sit down with anyone, give help, I’m struggling with something, what’s the Word of God say? See that’s not counseling in the sense it’s used as a broad term today. That’s just giving people instructions from the Word of God. You know my marriage is not going right. I keep using marriage because it’s close enough to home, we can all identify with it. You know somebody sits down I say let’s look at it. You’re having trouble. Well, husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church. Have you been doing everything for your wife you should? No, but you know what she did? No, I don’t need to hear about her. It says husbands love your wives. He sacrificed Himself, gave His life. You’re still sitting here breathing. You still stopped short of the standard God set down, so don’t act to me like you’re some pious, godly person who has done everything that could be done with that wretch you live with. You haven’t. Sit down with a wife. Oh, I don’t have any feelings. You know as a woman I have to have…….. That’s what it says. Yeah, but you know my husband? I don’t care about your husband. I’m a husband, I know how bad we can be. Your husband sounds better than me, don’t let Marilyn know what he’s like. But let’s talk about what you have to do. You know everybody wants; I want my wife to present her life to the Lord to live for me. Wives want their husbands to present their life to the Lord to live ……… Wait a minute, let’s back up here. Be transformed, not conformed, by the making new of your mind, the ongoing process. I’ve been made a new creature in Christ, now live in light of that. Not in light of what you were, in light of what you are in Christ. Changes the way I think. I take in the Word of God, but I act on it. You know every time I hear the Word of God, every time I’m taught the Word of God and there’s an area of my life I refuse to submit you know I’ve opened the door a crack to sin. You let the devil put his fingers in, pretty soon he puts the arm in. I know I should do this, but……… Let’s get the “buts” out of our lives. What I’m really saying is I haven’t done everything I should, but they’ve been a lot worse. Well let the Lord deal with them. If I concentrate on I’ve done everything I can, I live as godly a life, I …….. Transformed mind—how do I think? I take in the Word of God, and I respond to it. II Corinthians 3:18, “as we are beholding in the mirror of the Word of God the glory of Christ, we are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory by the Spirit.” See the process is simple. I take in the Word of God, I read it, I’m taught it, I’m exhorted to obey it and I do. I see areas of my life that need adjustment, Lord by your grace I will submit to this. I will do it not because of my strength, but because you have made me new. I grow and become more and more the person God wants me to be, doing more and more what God wants me to do. We get the idea we can dabble with the things of God, be somewhat obedient, live somewhat for Him. Then troubles develop and problems come and all of a sudden, our life is confused and I can’t put it together. And pretty soon I’m looking for the world’s solutions. I need a different church, I need a different husband, I need a different job, I need a different situation, I want to go someplace and sit on the beach and stare at the sunset, and……….you know pretty soon we develop problems like the world has and then we are doubly frustrated because we think I’m saved, I’ve trusted the Lord, my life ought to be different. I wish I wasn’t saved, then I could get saved and I’d have hope. But now I’m saved and I’m in a mess, what will I do? I can’t get resaved. Sometimes I just have to say Lord I’m just going to read your Word; Lord I need to let you do the talking and I’ll shut up. I’m going to read the Word and Lord I’m going to do it. If no one who has any part in my life ever does anything you want, by your grace, God, I will do it.

You know we forfeit the things we want because we make that the ultimate goal. I want to be happy; I want to have good feelings; I want to have right relationships. The more we pursue those things the emptier our life becomes and it’s doubly frustrating. Just back up and say Lord I want to be pleasing to you. My body, my life is a sacrifice, it’s a living one, I’m living for you. It’s holy, it’s well-pleasing to you. That’s what matters to me. Forgive me Lord for concentrating on my feelings, forgive me Lord for taking this life and trying to do with it what I like. You know if I’m pleasing to the Lord how do men like the Apostle Paul face execution with confidence. I can’t even face living with a person I don’t like very well now; I don’t have feelings for. I mean I’ve done everything that could be expected and on it goes, all of our life. We end up living lives, pretty soon we’re depressed, we’re discouraged, life’s down. I’m not anything God made me to be, it doesn’t seem. All you can do is back up and say Lord let’s start here. I know I’m your child, you’ve made me new, you’ve set me free, I can do everything you have called me to do as your child and it won’t be easy, but it is simple. I’ll do it. That’s it. Just like it says, don’t let sin rule in your life. Present your bodies. All right, I will. I don’t feel like it. Doesn’t matter. I don’t think I like it. Doesn’t matter. Simple, isn’t it? Not easy, but simple.

By the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is. You put the will of God to work. Something that is a result of having been tested is proved. We implement the Word of God in our lives, we experience living His will. It’s that which is good and acceptable and perfect. God intends for His children to be blessed; He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. He has provided everything necessary for life and godliness. We talked about the happiness, oh the happiness’s of the one who belongs to God and lives for Him. Jesus talked about blessed is the man. The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace. Oh, the blessings we forfeit because we allow ourselves to be shaped in our thinking by the world, and we decided we want what we want, we deserve, we’re worth it. I back up and say Lord this is not my life. The crucial thing in life is not that I be pleased, that I be satisfied, that I be happy. The crucial thing is that you be pleased, you be satisfied. When all is said and done you say well done good and faithful servant. You know the amazing thing. Out of a life lived that way comes joy and peace and happiness.

I believe the gospel is the solution. I believe the gospel is so powerful that there is no one sitting here, whatever your situation, whatever your problem, whatever your misery, whatever your dislike or like, that the gospel is not the answer. I believe some of you are here who have trusted Christ but have wandered from the path. And the solution isn’t difficult, what you’re struggling with is your “wanter.” You just don’t know whether you want to. It would be easier if the feeling were there, would be easier if the desire were there. But you know some things I do because they’re right. I do it because it’s right, I do it because God says do it, I do it because it is pleasing to Him. It’s amazing how we can talk about suffering and death. Our savior would die for us, but I don't know that I want to go on anymore and live like this for Him. I want to live for Him. People have died for Him, I want to live for Him until it’s time for me to die for Him, if necessary.

That’s liberation of the gospel. I don’t want to be hard-hearted. People say oh you can’t go ask him if you’re having a problem, he won’t help you. If you’re having a problem, I’d love to help you. No, I don’t want to spend the next 32 weeks counseling you because that would just make us both miserable. Let’s get to the solution. If you’re doing something you shouldn’t do or not doing something you should, the scripture addresses it. If you don’t know what it says I would like to point you to it. But you know that’s all I can do. You will either bow before the living God, submit your will to His, or you will continue to fight Him. But let me tell you it looks like well if I do this then I’ll feel better. We add misery to misery to misery to misery. Number 1, do you know the living God? His power, His gospel can make you a new creature. You believe in Jesus Christ and something so miraculous will take place that you can hardly understand it. He’ll make you a new person, He’ll set you free from your addictions, the sin that controls you, set you free from the misery and depression and discouragement of life and He’ll make you a new person. As a new person then He commands you to submit your life to Him, let Him do with that life what pleases Him, let Him do with that life what accomplishes His purpose and His work. Even in misery, even in difficulty, even in unpleasantness you will find a joy and a peace and a satisfaction that goes beyond human comprehension.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Father, for your greatness and your power. Thank you, Lord, that our salvation is a complete salvation, not only a salvation from the penalty of sin, but it’s also a salvation from the power of sin. It’s a salvation that sets us free to live for you, sets us free to enjoy the fullness of blessings in a life lived for you, gives us joy, peace, genuine happiness in the most difficult and unpleasant situations, jobs that we don’t like, family relationships that are so difficult, personal conflicts, personal temptations. Lord, in all things your gospel sets us free, free from the power of sin, free to serve you. True liberty. You know us as we are. Some are here, perhaps quite comfortable and yet without you. Lord, I pray that you will convict their heart of their need of the one who can bring forgiveness to their lives. Some are enslaved by sin because they belong to sin as a master. Freedom for them is found in Christ. Lord, some of these precious people are experiencing difficulty, pain, misery, they’re struggling with doing the right thing in their own lives. They’ve placed their faith in you, but they’ve found discouragements and disappointments in their life. Now they struggle. Lord I pray that they might find your sufficiency again in their lives, that they might commit themselves to present themselves, their lives, all that they are to you to live for you, separated to you, pleasing to you and know that in that there is true contentment, true satisfaction, true joy in life and an anticipation of an eternity with greater blessing than we can imagine. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen