I Beg You

Romans 12:1-4 "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 -> read only for context]  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. [4]  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office ..."

"I beseech" - Paul starts this discourse by literally BEGGING us to listen. He says, PARAKALEO, "I beg of you, please". What truth of Scripture could cause the great Apostle to beg us to listen on bended knee? Surely a great One like the Apostle has no need to beg - to demand, yes, but to beg? How ludicrous!

To understand why this statement is NOT ludicrous we need to look at the previous context of this writing. In Chapters 1-8 Paul explains the Biblical truths that we are all sinners, that we all need a Savior, that One came to be that Savior on our behalf. Paul explains that the first Adam came to the tree, ate the forbidden fruit, and in so doing plunged all of humanity into damnation. Paul explains that the second Adam, Jesus Christ, also came to a historical tree. When He approached this tree He, rather than eat that which was forbidden, allowed Himself to be cruelly nailed to that tree to pay for our sins.

This statement is not ludicrous because Jesus came to die, we are told, for Israel first. Israel was God's chosen, and Jesus walked the earth for three years preaching the Gospel that He had come to pay for the Chosen's sin. For three years the leaders of the Chosen race, the Pharisees and Sadducees, rejected Christ. For three years they tormented Christ until, through a series of illegal trials, they nailed Christ to the tree. Israel rejected Christ as a Body, and said "His blood be on our heads, and on our children (Matthew 27.25)".

In Chapters 9-11 Paul explains that bad decisions have bad ramifications. Israel rejected Christ, so Christ was offered to the Gentile. Israel would have nothing to do with the Messiah who was sent to bless them, so God rejected Israel, dispersed Israel under Rome, and offered the work of Christ to us who are Gentiles. The stewardship of the Gospel that was Israel's has now been passed to the Church. No, Israel is not utterly abandoned. There will come a day when Israel will be rescued by God, a day when Israel will take the blinders off and see Christ as their Messiah. But for now, Israel rejected Christ, so God rejected Israel.

Paul uses this same terminology, "I beg you, brothers", three times in the Book of Romans. He uses it in Romans 12.1. Then Paul uses it in:

Romans 15:30 "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me"

and finally in:

Romans 16:17  "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."

Paul, it is interesting, begged the Roman Christians to follow after the unity of the Body, to forsake anything that moved outside of that unity. Israel was given the stewardship of the Gospel, and the whole nation lost this stewardship when it separated, fragmented, and followed after other than God's Will.  Paul begs the Roman Christians, nay - every Christian, because what happened to Israel could happen to us. I do not say this to scare you, to try to frighten you into obedience, but I do say this, Paul says this, because it is Biblical truth. It is true that God is NO respecter of persons. What He has established as Law for one, He establishes as Law for another. What is true for one is equally true for another. What happened to cause Israel to fall? Let's look at the traps Israel fell into and make a Covenant with God today that we will prayerfully seek to avoid the same traps:

Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God ..."

Paul begs us "by the mercies of God" (DIA TON OIKTIRMON), or  "By means of the mercies of God". Israel had forgotten that, when she was called, she was called by the Father of Mercy. As we are told in:

2 Corinthians 1:3  "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort"

What Israel had, the place of prominence she possessed, she had not because of her own merit but because of the mercies of God. God looked down from Heaven and showed mercy to the Chaldean Abram. God looked at Abram, who had no merit within himself, and said, "Get up, move, and I will make you a mighty nation". Abram got up and moved, followed God, but this was without merit. While moving the Pharaoh of Egypt came upon Abram and saw his wife, but Abram, rather than declare her as his wife, lied and said she was his sister (Genesis 12.12). God saved Sarah while Abram hid himself. God next told Abram to wait on a son, but rather than wait for Isaac he went in to Hagar and had Ishmael. God refused to bless Abram through Ishmael, but still made Abram wait on the promised child Isaac.

No, Abram, later known as Abraham, the founder of Israel, was no jewel when God called him. No, he was a scoundrel. He was conniving, he was spineless, he was not a righteous person in his own right - but God called him anyway.

In the same way, God calls each and every one of us to Him, though we have nothing in ourselves that is beautiful. I have often said that God scraped the bottom of the barrel when He called me, and you have laughed and agreed. But I tell you, dear person, that He scraped the bottom of the barrel when He called you, too. Our worth is not in our own abilities or powers or beauty, but in the endowed power that God gave us when He called us. The Father of all mercy called us from nothing, then gave us the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. The Father of lights reached into the darkness and shined Jesus Christ into our miserable lives. He took us from a state of eternal damnation, and brought us into a state of GLORY! Israel forgot this, and began to forget who she was - a nation of sinners saved by Grace. Israel forgot this, and killed the Messiah when He came. Israel forgot this and taught hatred and unforgiveness.
 

In one of her books, Corrie Ten Boom tells of meeting the guard from the concentration camp where she and her family had been held by the Nazis. She had been speaking at a large church meeting, and after the meeting he had come forward. He put out his hand to her, and she instinctively pulled back, remembering the horrors to which that hand had been put or in which it had cooperated, but then, she testified, something came over her, she knew not what, and she reached out and grasped his hand and extended her forgive-ness as the tears rolled down his cheeks. There will be those who say this is merely sentimental and who grit their teeth as they demand more obvious vengeance; I cannot judge them. I only know that to forgive in such a manner is beyond human comprehension; it is the work of God and can only be done by us through the grace of God at work in us. Nor, is it an attitude we Christians carry around with us all the time, like little Mary Sunshines. Corrie Ten Boom received the grace to forgive in the moment the grace was needed, and not before. Our Lord, upon the cross, forgave his executioners while he was being nailed to it. (Kendall K. McCabe, The Path of the Phoenix: Sermons for Lent and Easter, 1986, p.67)

We must not allow ourselves to forget who we are, or who we came from. We are what we are because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are not what we are because "we're good people", or because "we deserve the best because we are the best". We deserved Hell, but Grace gave us Heaven.

Romans 12:1 " ... that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

I want you to focus on TWO words in this entire context: "present" and "sacrifice". "Present" is PARISTEMI, which means "to make a Levitical Sacrifice". When the High Priest took the animal offering and tied it to the altar, raised his knife high, then, in prayer, cut the animal's throat, he was making PARISTEMI or a Levitical Offering for the Israelite.

When the average Israelite brought the sin offering to the Temple for sacrifice, he felt that this was all that was required of him. "So I've sinned. Come on, Mary, let's go get a sheep and head to Temple. Let's get this over with so I can go about my business!" To Israel, service to God became mechanical because Israel had forgotten who God was.

God didn't want a mechanical offering. He didn't want the Israelite to offer the sheep "just because I told you to". No, God wanted the PARISTEMI, the Levitical offering, to come from the heart. Not too long ago I had a believer tell me that I, as Pastor, should demand certain things of the flock. That I should tell you what to do, assign you classrooms of children to teach, give you jobs throughout the building and grounds. Perhaps I should, but, dear believer, if you are not making the offering from the heart, then it is useless to God.

Israel forgot that God wanted both a private and a corporeal, a unified relationship, with the nation of Israel. God wants EACH ONE of US to PARISTEMI, make a Levitical offering of our own bodies. This offering is, before God, ONE SACRIFICE - look now, this word is not plural, but it's singular - what we do TOGETHER is the sacrifice that's pleasing to God. The Kingdom of God is not a one man show. No, the Father planned the Kingdom, the Son preached and died for the Kingdom, and the Holy Spirit lives on in us to help us promote that Kingdom by preaching Jesus. The vision that God had for Israel was that each member of that nation would seek a relationship with Him, and that the nation as a whole would, because of this relationship, be obedient to His will. Israel failed in the vision, so God called the Gentile Church.

If we forget Who God is, What God wants, we will be utterly abandoned as Israel was abandoned. But if we, in unison, commit ourselves to serving Christ both seperately and corporeally, then we will accomplish the Will of God in our neck of the woods!  Because God loves us our goal should be to please God. Listen - many want to push God as far as they can, stopping just short of making Him angry.  Pleasing God goes much farther than this. It avoids anything that might not please Him. It searches for ways to please Him.
 

More than 100 Chinese Christians received Bibles because of a child's faith. Six-year-old Sophie Dillard of Smyrna, Ga., heard a radio program about persecuted Christians in China and decided she wanted to help them. She told her mother she wanted to send 85 Bibles to the country through a program run by The Bible League (see link #2 below), an Illinois ministry. Her $5.16 in savings was enough for only one Bible, so she turned to her kindergarten class at Covenant Christian School. She stood in front of the class of 5- and 6-year-olds and told them about the persecution of Christians in the world's largest Communist country and asked them to help. "We could save our allowances and do extra jobs" to buy Bibles "so people can learn about God," she said. The children saved their dimes and nickels, filling in one square of a chart on the wall every time they raised enough to buy one Bible, the ministry said. Donations from outside the class began to come in, including a $100 check, and within a few weeks the class raised $509.40, enough to send 127 Bibles to China. (ReligionToday.com, May 23, 2000)

Romans 12:2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind ..."

"Conformed" is SUNSCHEMATIZO, which means "to improperly pattern yourself after". The third mistake that Israel made was in forgetting that actions always, ALWAYS, have ramifications. Just as the space shuttle flies to the outer atmosphere of our earth using the controlled explosion of its engines, Israel contributed to her own demise by making bad decisions that came back to haunt her.

Believers, actions cause reactions. Bad actions cause bad reactions, good actions cause good reactions. God told Israel, when they went into the land of Canaan, to cast out or kill all the inhabitants of that land. When Joshua went into Canaan, Joshua 11.22 tells us that he failed to destroy all of the inhabitants of the land. Joshua left the Anakims in the land.

Joshua 11.22 tells us that he left the Anakim in the city of Gath. This failure to completely obey God would come back to haunt Israel later, for the Philistines came out of Gath. Goliath and his four brothers were children of the city of Gath, and though David would kill Goliath, the Philistines would torment Israel for years to come.

Joshua 11.22 tells us that Joshua left the Anakim in the city of Gaza. Samson, one of the great and powerful judges of Israel, would later meet a prostitute called Delilah from Gaza, and she would cause Samson to lost his office and ultimately his life.

Joshua 11.22 tells us that Joshua left the Anakim in the city of Ashdod. In 1 Samuel 5 we see that Israel would be overrun by the Philistines, and that these people would steal the Ark of the Covenant and hide it in Ashdod. In Ashdod the men of Israel would meet idolatrous women and marry them (Nehemiah 13.23), and through these unequally yoked marriages come to know false gods rather than the True God. Ashdod would be known as "the pride of the Philistines" (Zechariah 9.6)

Yes, actions have reactions. What if Jesus had only died on the Cross just a little, or died for just a few? No, this isn't true, He died for all, and in so doing set and example for us. Though it was hard, a nearly impossible task, He obeyed to the uttermost to our benefit. God calls you to do the same. Halfhearted following of Christ brings only a halfhearted Christian walk. Going to Church without giving your heart to Him and BEING a part of the Church will only bring you a poor harvest.

Whatever part of you that is not wholly dedicated to God will be wholly utilized by Satan.

Are you wholly dedicated to God in your Christian walk? Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? If you do know Him as your Savior, are you LIVING your life as if He is?
 

On my way out of the church late one afternoon, I was chagrined to see, coming towards the church down the walkway, a rather forlorn looking man with a small bag, obviously a wanderer, a vagabond, a drifter, obviously coming toward the church seeking a handout. This is what you get for having a church situated near a busy highway. These drifters drift through about twice a week, seeking a tank of gas for their trip, a meal, a gift -- preferably in cash -- for their journey to who knows where. They always have some sad story of woe to tell but the end is always the same -- can you spare about $25.00 in cash. I sighed as I watched the man approach. It had been a long day. I had a meeting to return for that night and I was anxious to get home. I would meet him at the door, head him off, give him the only cash I had -- a mere $15.00 as I recall -- and then send him, and me, on our way. "What can I do for you?" I asked with some annoyance in my voice. "I wondered if you might be able to help a fella' on the way South," he said. "I was headed down to...." "Yes, yes," I said. "Well, I'm in a bit of a rush. So here is all I have. A five and a ten. That's all I've got." The man took the money as I offered it. Looked at it. And without a word, he turned, and headed out toward the street. Then he stopped, and turned toward me as I locked the church door. "I guess you think I'm supposed to thank you, to be grateful," he said with a surprising tone of defiance. "Well," I said, "now that you mention it, a little gratitude wouldn't hurt." "Well, I'm not going to thank you. You want to know why?" he sneered. "Why?" I asked. "Because you are a Christian. You don't help me because you want to. You have to help me because he [now thrusting his finger up into the air] told you to help me!" And then he left. I stood there, stunned, angry. The nerve of these people! On my drive home it finally hit me. He was right. Amen. (Professor William Willimon (Duke University), Sermons: "Commanded to Love," May 4, 1997, Sixth Sunday of Easter, John 15:9-17)