DISCOURSE: 1904
DEVOTEDNESS TO GOD RECOMMENDED
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.
THE end of all true religion is, to bring men to God. From him they have fallen, and to him must they be restored. Whatever instructions have not this object in view, are of small value. The Gospel itself would be an empty speculation, if it did not teach us to hope for some practical effects. There are some who would separate principle from practice: but not so the Apostle Paul: he expected not fruit indeed without a root; nor hoped to raise an edifice, without laying a foundation: but, when his foundation was firmly laid, he deferred not to build upon it. In all the preceding part of this epistle he has shewn how sinners are to find acceptance with God; and has proved the sovereignty of God in the disposal of his blessings. But, having finished his argument, he does not leave us there; he goes on to shew the practical effects of his principles; and urges us, from the consideration of all God’s mercies, to devote ourselves unreservedly to his service.
That we may enter fully into the exhortation before us, we shall consider,
I. The duty to which we are exhorted—
There is in the words before us an evident allusion to the sacrifices that were offered under the law. The victims were brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and were there slain; and their bodies were disposed of according to the particular directions given in the law, as suited to the occasions on which the offerings were made; some being wholly burnt upon the altar, and others partly burnt, and partly eaten by those who ministered before the Lord. In reference to these, we are required to “present our bodies (which is here put for our whole selves) a living sacrifice unto the Lord;” that is, we should, with the full concurrence of our inmost souls, devote ourselves to God,
1. To fulfil his will—
[We must not strain a metaphor too far. The sacrifices under the law were intended to make atonement for sin: but this is no part of our office; Christ, our great sacrifice, having, by his own body once offered, made a full, perfect, and sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. It is only as far as the victim was surrendered entirely to God, that the metaphor is applicable to us: and in this view it is frequently used; the whole body of believers being themselves an offering to the Lord [Note: Romans 15:16.], and “a spiritual priesthood also, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ [Note: 1 Peter 2:5.].”
Hear then to what an extent we are to be given up to God: May “the very God of peace,” says the Apostle, “sanctify you wholly: and I pray God, your whole spirit, and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [Note: 1 Thessalonians 5:23.].” No part of us should be under the dominion of any other lord: but “as we have formerly yielded both the members of our bodies and the faculties of our souls, as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, we must henceforth yield them wholly unto God, as those that are alive unto God [Note: Romans 6:12-13; Romans 6:19.].” Every sin, of whatever kind, must be mortified; and every grace, however difficult and self-denying, be brought into habitual exercise — — —]
2. To be disposed of for his glory—
[If God call for our whole persons, as it were, to be consumed by fire upon his altar, we must not draw back; but must say with the Apostle, “I am ready, not only to be bound, but also to die, for the Lord’s sake.” So far from regarding such an event with dread, we should rather consider it as our highest honour. Thus it was that Paul viewed it: “If,” says he, “I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all: do ye also joy and rejoice with me [Note: Philippians 2:17-18.];” for, so far am I from regarding such an event as a matter of condolence, that I look upon it as a fit subject for mutual congratulations. I mean not that such an end is to be sought for by us; but it is cheerfully to be submitted to, if God in his providence should call us to it. We should regard sufferings for Christ’s sake with a holy indifference, “desiring only that Christ should be magnified in our bodies, whether by life or death [Note: Philippians 1:20.].” Of course, all minor sacrifices of property, or reputation, or liberty, are to be welcomed by us, and gloried in, as means of honouring and glorifying our incarnate God [Note: 1 Peter 4:12-14.]. In a word, “we should neither live unto ourselves, nor die unto ourselves; but live and die unto God only; so that, both living and dying, we may be the Lord’s [Note: Romans 14:7-8.].”]
But let us mark more particularly the beauty and emphasis of,
II.
The exhortation itself—
St. Paul presses upon us the performance of this duty,
1. From the obligations we owe to God—
[In all the preceding part of this epistle, St. Paul has been unfolding the great mystery of redemption as wrought out for us by the Lord Jesus Christ, and as applied to us by the Spirit, according to the eternal counsels of the Father. By the consideration of these “mercies” he urges us to give up ourselves to God. It was for this very end that these mercies were vouchsafed to us. Wherefore did our blessed Saviour “give himself for us?” Was it not “to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works?” And to what did the Father predestinate us, but to be conformed to the image of his Son?” Let these ends then be answered in us: and let us remember, that, “having been bought with a price, we are not our own; but are bound to glorify God with our bodies and our spirits, which are his [Note: 1 Corinthians 6:20.].”]
2. From the nature of the service itself—
[It is good in itself.—“God calls us not unto uncleanness, but to holiness.” He says, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” The sacrifices under the law were to be without spot or blemish: and such also are we to be: “We should present ourselves a living sacrifice, holy.” True it is, that till we are renewed by the Holy Spirit we cannot be holy: but it is equally true, that, when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ aright, he will give us his Holy Spirit, by whom we shall be “created after God in righteousness and true holiness,” and “be changed into Christ’s image, from glory to glory.”
It is also “acceptable to God.”—Nothing in the universe is so pleasing to him as a broken and contrite heart. As for all the legal sacrifices, he had no delight in them, any farther than they typified the Lord Jesus, and were offered with a reference to him. They were even odious to him, when presented by ungodly worshippers, who relied on them for acceptance, whilst they lived in wilful sin [Note: Isaiah 1:11-14.]. A heart filled with gratitude to him, and devoted to his service, was “more than thousands of rams or ten thousands of rivers of oil [Note: Micah 6:6-8.]: and every act of obedience proceeding from faith and love, is in his sight the most acceptable tribute that can possibly be offered [Note: Psalms 50:9-14.Hebrews 13:15-16.].”
It is also most worthy of a rational being. Any service short of an entire surrender of the soul to God is irrational and absurd. How can it possibly be, that the heart-searching God should approve of formal and hypocritical services! If he had no delight in the blood of bulls and of goats, how can we suppose that he should have pleasure in lying words, and hypocritical professions? But in the surrender of the soul to him, there is something that commends itself to the judgment of every considerate mind. True, we cannot add to his glory or happiness by any thing that we can do: but still we may employ for him the bodies he has created, and the souls he has redeemed: and in so doing, we render him the best service of which our nature is capable; and shall asuredly receive from him at last that token of his approbation, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”]
Application—
[Let me now, brethren, after the Apostle’s example, address you in the language of entreaty. We might, as standing in the place of Almighty God, command you: but for love sake we rather “beseech you.” O consider what mercies you have received at God’s hand, and are yet hoping to receive, through the sacrifice of his only dear Son — — — Think too how reasonable is the service to which we call you; how profitable to you, and how pleasing to God — — — We entreat you not to withhold it: we entreat you not to defer it another hour. If indeed you can prove it unreasonable, or unprofitable, or unacceptable to God, we are content that you shall reject it as folly, and decry it as enthusiasm: but if you cannot find one substantial objection against it, or one reasonable excuse for declining it, then, we beseech you, act as becomes persons already on the brink and precipice of eternity, and speedily to stand at the judgment-seat of Christ. Give yourselves up to Him who bought you with his blood: give yourselves to him, to be saved in his appointed way, and to glorify him in every situation which you may be called to fill. If he calls you to act for him, “whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with all your might:” and if to suffer for him, “rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer for his sake.” Thus shall the end of all God’s mercies to you be duly answered, and his glory be advanced in your everlasting salvation.]