Sermon -- A Living Sacrifice - Part 2

Pastor Rogers

Last week we looked at Paul as he explained to the Christians at Rome the meaning and importance of being a living sacrifice unto God.  We also concluded that, just as it was with the Romans, people in today’s society do not understand that their lives are not their own to do with as they please.  For further discussion, we’re considering both Romans 12:1-5 and First Corinthians 6:12, 19 and 20.

In 1st Corinthians 6 we find Paul giving some principles on what a sacrificial life looks like.  Paul’s principles on Christian conduct begin in 1st Corinthians 6:12, which says,

 “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.” And in  verses 19 and 20, he says,

“19 What?  Know ye not that that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit which are God’s.”

He applies the principles of Christian conduct, the avoidance of becoming a stumbling block, and the fallacy of thinking that everything is character building, as he ministers to the Christian believers.

When Paul said that “everything which God has made is good!”  He added a proviso!  -- “Everything which God has made is good – PROVIDED THAT WE USE IT THE RIGHT WAY.

Genesis 1:25 bears the truth of Paul’s statement because it tells us,

“When God looked out upon his whole creation, he said that it was good.”

Everything started out good – in other words – everything started out right, but wrong evolved because man not only misused his own life, but he also misused the things which God had made.

Think about Adam and Eve in the garden.  They were good, the garden was good, and the fruit was good.   God had left them with the right instructions – “not to eat of the fruit.”  But because Adam and Eve ignored their knowledge of right and wrong and ate the fruit, every person since that time has been faced with the dilemma of distinguishing between right and wrong.   

Because Paul knew living a sacrificial life required the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and the fact that there was a human tendency to do the wrong thing, the Christians at Corinth would have a problem, so Paul cautioned them that,

          “All things are not expedient,”

What he means here is that all things in God’s good creation can be used in ways that are bad and destructive.  First Church, you need to know that God’s creation is right -- but something is terribly wrong when you misuse and corrupt God’s gifts.

 In the last part of 1st Corinthians 6, verses 19 through 20, Paul drives home this basic principle by saying, and I’m paraphrasing.,

“All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.  Anything which enslaves me, anything which gets a dominating control over my mind, my body, or my will is wrong.  My body belongs to God.  It is the temple of His Holy Spirit.”

 As we go on, we see Paul emphasizing that “anything which defiles the Temple of the Spirit is a sin against God.”  In short, it is WRONG.    

Now that Paul had addressed “self,” I believe that he knew that it was important for the people to know how their actions influenced others.  Listen to what he said,

 “But, take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to them that are weak.”

The avoidance of becoming a stumbling block

 There is no question as to the meaning of this message.  Christians must not do anything which causes those who are weaker to stumble or take a step back in their fight to overcome their weakness.  In this passage, Paul reminds us that we are responsible for our brothers, especially the younger or the weaker ones.  They are looking to us for an example.

Let’s look at it this way.  There’s a sister in the Church who needs a job.  This sister has had a problem with alcohol.  But, she needs a job and because I work at a temp agency, I can get her a job as a clerk in a liquor store.  I’m going to get a bonus if I place her in the liquor store position this week, rather than wait a couple of weeks until Macy’s is hiring in the cosmetic department.

Because we are self-serving people, we ignore the fact that she is an alcoholic and encourage her to take the liquor store job – where all she does is sell liquor – 8 hours a day – 5 days a week.

Well, nine times out of 10, no matter how well-intended we are, putting her in a place that will tempt her in her struggle with alcohol, will cause her to stumble in her Christian journey.  When we do this, we are sinning against God and against our sister.  And that is WRONG.

As Christians we need to realize that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God and not everything that we do builds us up!

The Fallacy of Thinking that Everything is Character Building

In Chapter 10, verse 23, a third principle is underlined.  Paul strips away the mask which covers so many of our moral decisions.  He uses these sharp words as a knife to cut away at our hearts:

“All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.”

In other words, “Not everything builds me up – not everything builds character and there is a fallacy in thinking that it does.”  Now, my brothers and sisters, here is a principle to live by.

Listen Church, life is short, and time is precious. CORVID-19 is teaching us that this is true!  We simply do not have time to waste our minds and energy on things which tear others and ourselves down. 

• I don’t care how much you like it – gossiping about your brothers and sisters in Christ tears you down.

• No matter what you think and no matter what you said and why you said it, when you talk about people it is wrong and it tears down.  AND Christians ought to be about building up.

Christians do not have the right to read or indulge in anything which does not build them up and make them stronger and better-informed servants of God.

People of God, if we are going to know the difference between right and wrong, we’ve got to be about building up!

• We ought to measure everything we read,

• Everything we see,

• Everything we say, and

• Everything we do by this standard: 

Does it build me up in body, mind, and spirit?  Does it make my life purer and nobler? 

• If it builds you and the body of Christ up in body, mind, and spirit –

• If it makes your life purer and nobler and is an example of Christ in your life, then it is RIGHT AND GOOD.

Church, I’ll close with these thoughts: 

• Never forget that we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  It is not about our outward appearance or the impressions we make. 

• Knowing the difference between right and wrong is life changing.

• The only mind that brings peace is the mind of Christ.  Until we have the same mind in us, as the mind of Christ, we will never really be able to make our lives the living sacrifice that God would have us to make.

Amen.