Romans
85
A Living Sacrifice
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
This evening I would like to continue in our study of the Book of Romans and specifically chapter 12 and verse 1. Let’s read as we honor God by standing.
ROMANS 12:1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3 For I
say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to
think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according
as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Now, there are 10 things which the apostle Paul mentions here in these first 2 verses of chapter 12.
ROMANS 12:1 ¶ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye #1-present
your bodies
#2- a living sacrifice,
#3- holy,
#4- acceptable unto God,
#5- which is your reasonable service.
#7- And be not conformed to this world:
#8- but be ye transformed
#9- by the renewing of your mind,
#10- that ye may prove what [is] that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Now, a couple weeks ago we spoke on the presentation of our Bodies. And more specifically we spoke on the importance of presenting the gift. We examined the importance of how we present anything, and especially a gift.
Then last week we examine the Greek word Paul used when he said, to present your body as a living sacrifice and we found it means to be immovable and firm, ready and prepared, unwavering and of a steadfast mind.
This is the condition of the mind God is expecting when we present our bodies as a living sacrifice. And that is what we will speak on this evening. Our Bodies as a Living Sacrifice.
Now, it would seem that this is a somewhat kind of a paradox. Because usually the sacrifice is killed before it is offered. But in our case, God does not want a dead sacrifice, but a living one.
Now, in the Old Testament, the lamb was brought before the priest and it represented innocence, and yet the priest would hold a bowl under the neck of the lamb, and then take a very sharp knife, and cut the throat of that little lamb, and the blood of the innocent one would fill that bowl and then the blood would be taken and placed into the fire, and the smoke that would raise up represented the sacrifice ascending up to heaven.
This was all very symbolic of the blood of The Innocent Lamb of God which would one day take away the sin of the world.
But here the Apostle
Paul is speaking not of blood any longer, but of a living sacrifice. one which
is not dead, but rather one which has been made alive. HEBREWS 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and
the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth
to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
So we see by this
that it s not the works but rather our consciousness of God that that counts.
Paul is telling us here to purge our conscience fro dead works, in order to
serve the Living God.
Notice thast is
exactly what he is saying in ROMANS 12:1-1 ¶ I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
(That means , which is your spiritual act or worship, it is your reasonable
service. It’s reasonable. God is not asking you to perform some great feat, or
some great monumental thing for him. He is simply telling you that if you are
to serve Him, If you are to present your bodies as a LIVING sacrifice to Him,
then there is but one thing you must do, and it is not an irrational thing to
do. It is not an unreasonable thing, but it is a reasonable thing, and that he
tells us in the next verse. )
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed (How are we
to be transformed? ) by the renewing of your mind,(And
what will that do for us? He says,) that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God. (It’s
all about the Will of God. Jesus said, It is written in the volume of the Book,
I have come to do thy will O God. Jesus, said Father, not my will but thy will
be done. And Paul said in Colossians “Let this mind (this attitude) which was
in Christ be in You.) Notice here, as he continues 3 For I say,
through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think
[of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
As brother Branham
said, “if you want to know how much God needs you,
just put your hand into a bucket of water and the hole you leave is how much he
needs you.
So we are talking about a transformation taking place by the renewing of your mind. On the day of Pentecost, when they asked Peter how they could be saved, Peter said, REPENT everyone of you in the name of the Jesus Christ, and you and your house will be saved. Notice the key then is repentance. You’ve got to repent first. And that is the key which brings forth new birth.
EPHESIANS 2:1 ¶ And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Now, notice, he tells us that we were dead in sin which is unbelief, and in trespasses which is the falling short of the mark. When we were in that condition we were dead to God. And therefore, no matter what we would do for him, in that condition, it would not be a living sacrifice but a dead one, or just works.
HEBREWS 6:1 ¶
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on
unto perfection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
So we see that our works are considered dead before God. Now, this is not all works, but he is speaking here of our dead works. Those are works without Faith. For Works that express Faith which is a Revelation, those works which express the Revelation have been anointed by that Revelation and become life expressed.
Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised [us] up
together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: 7
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches
of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of
God: 9 Not of works, lest any man
should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
COLOSSIANS 2:1 ¶ For I would that ye knew what great conflict I
have for you, and [for] them at Laodicea, and [for]
as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; 2 That their hearts might be
comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full
assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and
of the Father, and of Christ; 3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. 4 ¶ And this I say, lest any man should beguile
you with enticing words. 5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with
you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order,
and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. 6 As ye
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him: 7 Rooted
and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as
ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest any man
spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all
principality and power: 11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the
flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead. 13 ¶ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of
the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 [And] having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing
over them in it.
Therefore, it is important for us to see that unless you have been made alive to this Life Paul is talking about, your sacrifice can not be acceptable to God.
I CORINTHIANS
HEBREWS CHAPTER 5 AND 6 57-0908M
184-106 We could take it
verse by verse, each one of those things. Baptism, we believe it. "There's
one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism." We believe that there's a
baptism. We believe in the resurrection of the dead: absolutely. We believe
Jesus died and rose again. We believe that. Laying on the hands for the sick,
that's what it said: "These signs shall follow them that believe. If they
lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." We believe that. But
what is that? Paul said, "It's all
dead works." It's something
that you do. Now let's go on to perfection. Oh, my.
Notice brother Branham is telling us here that the things that we can do for God is all dead works. There is nothing we can do that will merit anything, for if we can do anything then Christ died in vain. God does not want a dead sacrifice, he wants a living one. Br. Branham continues by saying, …
“We're coming into the Tabernacle, not the
foundation, the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle Itself. That's the foundation: the
law, and the righteousness, and joining church, and being baptized, and laying
on of hands. Them's all orders of the church, but now
let's go into perfection. And there's
only One that is perfected; that's Jesus. How do we get into Him? Through
the Methodists? No. Pentecostal? No. Baptist? No. Through any church? No. Roman
Catholic? No.
184-109 How do we get into It? Romans 8:1:
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ...
that walk not after the things of this world (the flesh,), but after the
things of the Spirit (that pay no attention to what the world's got to
say)." Even if you're sick, and the doctor says you're going to die, you
pay no attention to it, don't bother you a bit. If they say, "You have to
become a Catholic before you're saved, or a Presbyterian, or have to do
this," you pay no attention to it. Therefore, no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, the things that they see.
Everything you see with your eyes is earthly. But it's the things you see in
your spirit through the Word. The Word
is God's looking Glass that reflects what He is and what you are.
Hallelujah. Oh, my. It tells you... This is the only Book in the world that
tells you where you come from, who you are, and where you're going. Show me any
page of literature anywhere of all the science or anything else, every good
book that's been written; none of it can tell you that. This is God's looking
Glass that shows what He is and what you are. Then in between there's a blood
line that shows what you can be if you want to make the choice. There you are,
"By One Spirit..."
185-113 Now, I Corinthians 12. How do we get
into that Body? "By shaking hands?" No, sir. "By joining the
church?" No, sir. "By being baptized backward, forward? In the name
of the Father, Son, Holy Ghost? the Name of Jesus Christ? the name of Rose of
Sharon, the Lily of the Valley, Morning Star? anything that you want? That has
nothing to do with it, just a answer of a good conscience towards God. And yet
we fuss, and stew, and argue, and split, and make differences. That's right.
But all those are dead works. We're going to perfection. That's things that I
done. A minister baptized you. Whether he baptized you face forward, backward,
or three times, four times, or one time, or how he did it, that has nothing to
do with it. You're just baptized into the fellowship of that church anyhow,
proving to that church, you believe the death, burial, and resurrection of
Christ. Laying on of hands to heal the sick, that's wonderful. But it's all
natural, and that body will die again just as certain as you're living. It'll
die again. Now, let's lay aside all those things and go on to perfection.
185-115 How do we get to perfection? That's
what we want to know. Christ is perfected, "God laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace upon Him; with His stripes we were healed."
That's the Body we want to get to. That's the Body. Why? If you're in that
Body, you'll never see judgment; you'll never taste of death. You're free from
all of death, judgment, sin, and everything else, when you're in that Body.
"How do you get into it, preacher? By
joining this tabernacle?" You're lost yet. Couldn't join it anyhow; we
don't have any book. "How do we get into it? By joining some church?"
No, sir. "How do you get into It?" You're born in It: I Corinthians
12.
For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one
body,...
186-118 By the Holy Spirit baptism, we
are baptized into that Body and are free from sin. God don't see you no more;
He only sees Christ. And when you're in that Body, God can't judge that
Body. He's already judged it. He took our judgment and invited us in. And by
faith, through grace, we walk and accept our pardoning. And the Holy Spirit
brings us into this fellowship with Him. And we walk no more after the things
of the world, but we walk in the Spirit. Quickened, the Word came to us. He
died in my stead. I'm made alive. Here I am, who was once dead in sin and
trespasses, been made alive. All my desires is to serve Him. All my love is to
Him. All my walks wants to be in His Name that wherever I go, whatever I do, I
glorify Him. If I'm a-hunting, if I'm a-fishing, if I'm playing ball, if--if
I'm... Whatever I'm doing, I must be "Christ in me" in such a life
that'll make men long to be that way: not tattling, backbiting, and fussing
about your churches. You get it? "By One Spirit we're baptized into that
Body, 'and when I see the Blood I'll pass over you.'"
186-119 Listen. Let's read
just a little further here, please. ... what could never... make the comer unto
perfect. For... (2nd verse, the 10th chapter)... For then they would not have
ceased to be offered? If that could make the person perfect, and God requires
perfection... If keeping the laws and doing all the commandments would make you
perfect, then there's no--there--there's no need of having anything else;
you're already made perfect. 'Cause when you're perfect, you're eternal; 'cause
God's the only One that's eternal, and God's the only One perfect. And the only
way you can be eternal, is become part of God. ... once purged should have no
more conscience of sin. (What?)... the worshipper once purged... to have no
more conscience,... (If you write the translation of that, it's
"desire")... the worshipper once purged... has no more desire of sin.
If the worshipper was once purged... You go up
now and say, "Oh, hallelujah, I got saved last night, but I... Well, bless
God, she made me backslide. Hallelujah, someday I'll get saved again." You
poor untrained illiterate. That's not the way it is. "The worshipper once purged
has no more conscience of sin." The Bible said...
186-122 Listen, as we read on in just a minute. But
of those sacrifices... there's remembered against sin yearly. Now, we're going
to drop down to hit the 8th verse, to save time where I want to get to: Above
then when he said, Sacrifice and offerings and burnt-offering... for sin thou wouldest not, neither has Thou pleasure therein; which are
offered by the law; Ninth verse: Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O
God. He taketh away the... take... He taketh away the first,... (the law)... that he may
establish the second.
Wish we had time to stay on that. As long as
you're Presbyterian, or a Pentecostal, or Baptist, or Methodist, He can never
do nothing with you. He has to take that all away first (See?) so He can
establish the second. Long as you say, "Well, I'm a Methodist." I'm
nothing against the Methodists, or Baptists, or Pentecostal. But, brother, that
don't--that don't spell it. You got to go on to perfection; that's into Christ.
187-126 Watch this now, just a minute. By the
which... we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all. (Huh?) Let's just read just a little further. And hold that, let
that soak in while we're reading: "once for all." And every priest
standing daily ministering the offering oft time the same sacrifice, which can
never take away sin: But this man,... (Are you ready? You got your vest open
now so it won't dodge, it'll go right to the heart?)... But this man,... (What
man? not the pope of
188-128 Now, you holiness people say, "Oh, yes,
we believe in holiness. Hallelujah, we believe in sanctification." But
you're taking your own. You just quit this and quit that; you know you
shouldn't do it. Unless Christ has opened the door, and quickened it to your
heart, and you become a place where sin is dead, and desire, it's all gone...
Then He taketh away your own self-righteous, He may
establish Himself in you. And it's Christ, the Son of God in you, the hope of
glory. "Let us go on to perfection." How can we be perfect? Through
the death of Christ, not through joining church, not through our good works,
what we do (That's all all right.), not because we
were baptized this a-way or that way, not because that we been healed by laying
on of hands, not because of any of these other things, "we believe in the
death, burial, and resurrection."
188-130 Paul said, "I
could speak with tongue like men and Angels (That's both the tongues that is
understood and the tongues that cannot be understood, has to be interpreted.),
I am nothing. Though I have the gift of knowledge and understand all the wisdom
of God (to explain the Bible from... tie her together), I am nothing."
Don't do much good to go to school then, does it? to learn the Bible?
"Though I have faith that I can move mountains..." Healing campaigns
don't mean very much then, does it? "I'm nothing, though I give my body to
be burned as a sacrifice." "Oh," they say, "that man's
religious." "But he's nothing," Paul said, "never become
nothing." "For where there's tongues, they shall cease; where's
prophecies, it shall fail; where there's all these other things, will fail. But
when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part will be done away
with." See, that's perfect. What is perfect? Love. What is love? God. Let
us lay aside all these little dead works and ordinance and go on to perfection.
You see it? We're perfected through Christ. How do we get into It? By Holy
Spirit baptism. "All right, what happened?" You've passed from death unto Life. "Well, do I shake? Jump?
Do..." You--you don't have to do nothing. You've already done it. God
brought you from death unto Life, and you're alive. Then your fruits of your
life show it.
189-136 A lot
of you Methodists and Nazarenes shouted just as hard as you could shout, steal
corn out of a man's patch (That's right.), and do everything that could be. A
lot of you Pentecostals spoke in tongues like pouring peas on a cowhide, sure,
went right out and run away with the next man's wife, done all kinds of things.
That's not it, brother.
Don't try to have any sensation, anything to
take the place of the Holy Spirit. When the new birth is come, you are changed.
You don't have to do anything to prove it; your life proves it. As you walk,
your love, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, patience, that's what
you are. And the whole world sees the reflection of Jesus Christ in you.
189-139 Now, speaking in
tongues, shouting there, that's just attributes that follow this kind of a
life. And you can take and impersonate those attributes and never have that
Life. We see it. How many knows that that's true? Sure you do; certainly you
do. Why you can see it all around you. So there's nothing you say that's the
evidence of the Holy Ghost, unless it's your life that you live. Now, if you
want to speak with tongues, that's perfectly all right if you live the life to
back it up. That's right. And if you want to shout, fine, that's good. I shout
too, get so happy sometimes I can't hardly wear a pair of shoes; I like to jump
out of them. And that's wonderful. I believe it. And I've seen visions, and the
sick healed, the dead raised. When they laying out there and the doctors walk
away and say they're finished and gone, lay there a couple hours; and the Holy
Spirit come right down and show a vision, go down there and raise that person
up. I've seen those who are deaf, dumb, and blind, and crippled, walk. That
doesn't... That was just attributes.
189-142 Brother, long time ago
before the world was ever--had a foundation to it, God through His eternal
grace, He looked down, and by foreknowledge He seen you and I. He knew what age
we'd live in; He knew what we would be. Therefore, by election He chose us
before the foundation of the world to be with Him without spot. Now, if He
chose us before the foundation of the world to be in Him without spot, and
we're borned all spotted and nothing else
can--nothing can cleanse us, how we going to be without--how we going to be
without spot? He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not have an end of life, but have Eternal Life, should never perish, but
have Eternal Life. Then when we come into Him, by faith, through grace are we
saved, by the Holy Spirit calling to us.
190-144 Before there was a
body on this earth, your bodies were laying here. It's made out of calcium,
potash, moisture, cosmo--cosmic light, and petroleums, and so forth, sixteen elements. And the Holy
Spirit begin to brood over the earth, wooing. And as It did, first thing you
know, up come a little Easter flower. Then He brood out some grass, and some
birds, and after while a man come forth. Now, He never made a woman out of the
dust of the earth. She's alway a man to begin with,
the man and woman are one. So He took from the side of Adam, a rib, and made a
woman a helpmate to him, and then sin come in.
190-146 Then after sin came
in... God will not be defeated no matter what takes place. He'll never be
defeated. Then women begin to bring men on the earth. And God through eternal
grace seen who would be saved, and He called you, "No man can come to Me,
except My Father calls him first. Not him that willeth,
or him that runneth, but God that showeth
mercy." You say, "Well, I sought God. I sought God." No, you
never. God sought you. That's the way it was in the beginning. It wasn't Adam
saying, "O Father, Father, I've sinned. Where are You?" It was Father
saying, "O Adam, Adam, where are you?" That's the nature of man.
That's the strain of men. That's what he's made of. "And no man can come
to Me, except the Father draws him. And all that the Father gives Me...
(Hallelujah.) All that come, I'll give them Eternal Life, and I'll raise him up
at the last day." What a blessed... What a blessed promise of a God of
heaven. Where we get to tonight, where He swore by Himself, there's none
greater. You take an oath by someone greater than you. There's no one greater,
so God took an oath to Himself. We're getting into it: how He did it and when
He did it, and took an oath to Himself that He would raise us up and make us
His own heritage.
191-151 Oh, how perfect
and solid we can stand this morning. How you can look at death staring you
right in the face, you could say like Paul, "Death, where is your sting?
Grave, where is your victory? But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ." There you are. Why? "Oh, you did
so-and-so." "I know it, but I'm covered by His Blood."
Hallelujah. "By One Spirit we were all baptized into one Body." You
Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, whatever you are, we were baptized into
one Body. And we have fellowship, and we're citizens of the
191-159 The Bible said: "Come out of them; be ye
separated," saith God. See, you're not of that. And when that new nature
comes into you, you don't have to be pulled out; you don't want to go back like
192-161 Look over here at
Jimmy Osborne in
192-167 If you're a
Christian this morning 'cause you belong to church, you're lost. If you're a
Christian because you've passed from death unto Life, you're free from
judgment; into Christ, you're becoming into perfection all the time. God cannot
see one thing... You say, "Well, will I ever make a mistake?" Sure,
but you don't do it willfully. Now we're getting into that just in a few
minutes, "For he that sins willfully after he received the knowledge of
the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
sin." We get into that tonight, because it's a little too late now.
193-169 Let's read just a
couple more verses of this, so we can feel better about getting down a little
more. All right. Well, we start right in on that tonight, the 4th verse, listen
at this. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and made...
and have been... and have tasted of the power... the heavenly gift, and were
made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And... tasted the good word of God, and the
power of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew
themselves... unto repentance;... See, and we take that into Hebrews 10, and
back and forth, to show what this is.
193-170 Friends, let us go
on to perfection. We have... We're not... We're without excuse today. We have
no excuse at all. The God of heaven has appeared in these last days and is
doing the very same things that He did then when He was here before, when He
was on earth. He's proved. As we're coming through this Bible, and you've...
You, class, know this; that we have taken miracle by miracle, and sign by sign,
and wonder by wonder, that He did with the children in the wilderness, the
things and signs that He did. The things that He done when He was here on
earth, manifest in the flesh, and the very same things are taking place today
right here among us. Here's the Word to vindicate it. Here's the thing to say
it's right, to make it right. Here's the Spirit of God to do the same thing, so
we're without an excuse. Let us pray.
193-171 Heavenly Father, seeing that we are
compassed about by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
word, every thing, every wrong, every evil word, every bad-spoken word, every
thought, and let us run with patience the race that's set before us, looking to
the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. O blessed be His
most matchless and holy Name. How that He came to earth to redeem fallen man,
and to bring them back into the fellowship of the Lord God. And we thank Thee
for this. And now by His grace... We never chose Him, but He chose us. He said,
"You have not chosen Me, but I chose you." When? "Before the
foundation of the world."
194-172 And,
dear God, if there be some setting here this morning, maybe, who's put this off
for years and years, but constantly, there's a little knocking at the heart...
Maybe they joined church, thinking, "Well, it'll be all right."
Father, surely the Scriptures has explained it this morning, that you cannot
hide behind a church and be righteous; neither can you be good, not lie and
steal and do anything bad, and still be righteous. There's only one
righteousness we have, not of our own, but His righteousness. He has perfected
our salvation. Therefore, being in Him, God does not see our mistakes. When we
do anything wrong, there's a spirit in us screams out, "O Father, forgive
me." Then God does not see it. And it's... We are brought into fellowship
and grace with Him. Grant it, Lord, while we close this service, in Christ's
Name. Amen.