“PRESENT YOUR BODIES”
Romans 12: 1-11; 14: 19; 15: 5-7, 14; 16: 16
It might be thought by some that what has engaged us during these two days has been on a somewhat high level, and beyond them. Therefore I have read from the epistle to the Romans, because the very holy matters we were speaking about have their elements in this epistle. Romans is the basic epistle. It sets out the gospel according to Paul, the gospel of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The epistle begins with men, just as they are in this world, in dark heathendom, the moralists and philosophers, and the favoured Jewish nation, and condemns them all—“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”, Rom 3: 23. According to Romans every man, no matter what his upbringing, or his natural ability, has sinned, and the gospel introduces one Man, Jesus Christ. Chapter 5 speaks of “the one Man, Jesus Christ” (Rom 5: 15), and God in the gospel would attract every one of us to Him. This epistle is meant to set every believer in relation to the one Man, Jesus Christ. This is basic, and very important. This is where we start. Is every one here related to the one Man, Jesus Christ? How important this is! If we are going to understand anything of God’s things, we have to be related in faith and affection to the one Man, Jesus Christ.
Romans tells us how we arrive at it, “through faith in his blood” (Rom 3: 25); faith in the blood of Jesus; how simple it is! It speaks of “him that is of the faith of Jesus” (Rom 3: 26), very simple, very attractive: I trust everyone here has faith in the blood, and that everyone is of the faith of Jesus. It speaks about “believing on Him who has raised from among the dead Jesus our Lord, who has been delivered for our offences and has been raised for our justification”, Rom 4: 24–25. It is good to begin at the beginning, so that we are not talking over the heads of anyone, and Romans deals with all this.
Then it speaks about the believer being justified by faith—“Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith”, Rom 5: 1. We are not justified publicly. You cannot prove to any man in the world that you are a forgiven sinner. He would not require proof that you are a sinner, but you could not prove to anyone you are a forgiven sinner. The proof will come in the world to come; there will be ample evidence then. Meantime, we are justified by faith. It is a kind of secret we have, because of being related to the one Man, Jesus Christ; we are justified on the principle of faith, and have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ. These are wonderful statements, but these blessings come to us as we are in relation to the one Man, Jesus Christ.
Then it speaks in chapter 6, about freedom from sin. Twice it says, “having got your freedom from sin”, Rom 6: 18, 22. What does that mean? It means that sin is no longer your master. You have changed your master; you have changed from sin to the one Man, Jesus Christ. We were speaking about the young man of Egypt whom David’s men found in the field, 1 Sam 30: 13. He had served his Amalekite master, and he fell sick and his master cast him aside; he had no more use for him. David’s men found him and brought him to David, and he is fed, refreshed, and revived. He made one stipulation—‘Do not send me back to my master’. He is typical of one who is related to the one Man, Jesus Christ, and who has found all he needs in Him, and who finds fellowship and life among those who are committed to the one Man, Jesus Christ. He has got his freedom from sin, freedom from the Amalekite master, and has committed himself to another Master. Sin is for him no longer the master. Have we all got as far as this in our souls? Sin in Romans 6 is a system of things; it is all around us in the world, and Satan would have us serving sin; but let us change our master for the one Man, Jesus Christ.
In chapter 7 we read that we are “to be to another”. This involves affection, a link in affection. It has in mind not only service, but supply. It involves being nourished in affection by another. You now have another Husband: You have another Master in chapter 6, you have another Husband in chapter 7.
Chapter 8 depicts the wealth that comes to the believer in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. Romans goes over this ground, and I am going over it briefly to indicate what is available to the believer down here. It speaks about the Spirit of God dwelling in us. What do we know about this? Have you received the Spirit? Is the Spirit of God dwelling in you? We can make no progress in the things of God until we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. Then it speaks of having the Spirit of Christ. That involves some formation; it means that the Spirit of God finds suitable dwelling conditions in the believer so that there is a formation in the Spirit of Christ.
It goes on to say that “we more than conquer through Him that has loved us”, Rom 8: 37. Think of that—not only conquer but more than conquer. Now, is that your experience? We may not be able to say much about this, but we are to know a little about it. I trust everyone here knows a little about these things. Then, just in case anyone wonders about God’s committal to the nation of Israel, Paul gives us three chapters to set every mind at rest as to God’s dealing with the nation, so that up to the end of chapter 11 every matter is set out plainly, every problem is solved as far as God is concerned and as far as the believer is concerned.
Then we have chapter 12, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice”. Now this is something that happens from our side. The “compassions of God” is the unfolding of God’s mercy, God’s provision. How ample, how magnanimous, it is! And then Paul exhorts them “to present your bodies …” Would you like to know anything about forming part of the one body? Would you like to know what it is to be in the family of God in reality, to form part of that divine family? Would you like to know what it is to come under divine teaching, and have a part in the care of God’s interests down here? How do you start? You begin by presenting your body a living sacrifice. There is no other way, dear brethren. Have we all done that?
Somebody here might say, ‘I do not get all the help from the Spirit that I would like to get’. Have you ever presented your body a living sacrifice? Maybe the Spirit is waiting for you until this presentation comes from your side. The Spirit will not present your body for you; it is what you do, what each one of us does; “… present your bodies a living sacrifice”. This means that your body, the members of your body, the faculties you have, you commit, you hand over, to God without recall. Have you ever done that? Dear brother or sister, you can do it now. Do not wait until you get home; do it now! You can confirm it when you get home, but do it now. If you feel any urge, if you have any sense of God’s compassions and God’s provision, if you feel any desires within you to come into the good of what we have been speaking about these two days, then, I would say to you, ‘Present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God’. You say, ‘Will God accept my body?’ Yes, it is acceptable to God. It may be that the Spirit is waiting until someone here presents his body, or her body, and then He will say, ‘Now I can help you; now I can provide you far more supply than ever you have known in the past’. Any deficiency with us in knowing the help of the Spirit and the wealth of divine provision could be traced to a lack of committal of this kind.
This is the beginning of discipleship. This is how the believer becomes a disciple. The moment comes when he presents his body a living sacrifice. He may not always live up to it; maybe no one here could say that he has always lived up to his committal, but do not let us be shaken in our committal; let any failure we have had reconfirm our committal that our body is presented “holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service”. This word for “service” is priestly service, it is a priestly action; it is presenting to God something acceptable. Think of that! This is possible for every one of us. This is how we begin to come into the wealth of the things of God, and there is no means of coming into the wealth of what God has for us apart from the presentation of our bodies. Thus we become disciples. We become committed to the will of God, as it says, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God”.
Think of persons down here whose bodies are committed to the will of God: What a privilege we have, what a privilege everyone here has! Would someone say, ‘I would rather have my own way; I would rather have things as I want them; I would rather have my own natural inclinations satisfied; I would rather be in a circle where things are according to what pleases me’? That is not presenting your body a living sacrifice, and that is not proving what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The gospel tells you the will of God is good. There is nothing better for you than to commit yourself to the will of God. It is acceptable. As you accept the glad tidings as to the goodness of the will of God, you find it acceptable; then you prove it to be perfect. It is far better than your own way, or your own natural inclinations or your own natural tastes. It is the perfect will of God.
It goes on, “For I say, through the grace which has been given to me, to every one that is among you, not to have high thoughts above what he should think; but to think so as to be wise, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith”. Have you a measure of faith? Has each one here found what his measure of faith is? I believe you will never know what your measure of faith is until you present your body a living sacrifice. You have a measure, a part to fill, according to the will of God. So you do not have high thoughts above what you should think, but you have something. I remember Mr E T Maynard saying, to illustrate what we are speaking about: ‘If I have a pound and I say I have two pounds, I am not right; but if I have a pound and say I have nothing, I am not right either’. If I have a pound I have something. Thus you find you have a measure of faith and you function according to the measure of faith God has sovereignly given.
Paul then goes on to speak about the one body as “one body in Christ”; not in Adam, not in human organisation, but “one body in Christ”. By presenting your body a living sacrifice to God, and by being with persons locally, you find what your measure of faith is, and then you begin to find your place in the body. Mr Stoney used to emphasise the importance of finding our place in the body. There is a place and function in this wonderful organism down here. It speaks of “a measure of faith” in verse 3, and in verse 6 of “the proportion of faith”, and “the grace which has been given to us”. There is a measure and proportion of faith and grace to fill out our place in the body. This is not difficult to understand. You present your body a living sacrifice, you think of yourself soberly, locally, and you find you have a measure of faith, and grace which has been given, and you thus function in the one body in Christ.
The one body in Christ is universal; it is the one body down here at any given moment. There was one body in Christ on the earth when Paul wrote this, and there is one body in Christ on the earth at this moment; and by presenting my body a living sacrifice I find, in some sense, what it is to have a measure and proportion, and the gift of grace, that help me to function in the one body in Christ. It is a wonderful order of things. This shows the way into it simply, not beyond the reach of any believer.
It goes on, “Thus we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one members one of the other”; it is an organism down here where believers belong to one another, and form one body in Christ—that is its status and it is animated by the Spirit of Christ. It is a wonderful order of things down here into which believers are called by the gospel to have part in functionally at this moment. Although there is public breakdown and public confusion, this is meant actually to function down here.
So Paul goes on to speak about “members one of the other”. You will notice in the scriptures read that this expression “one another” comes in. The one body in Christ is universal; it is the one body down here; yet things are meant to function locally, and we have regard to one another; we are members one of another. According to 1 Corinthians 6, our bodies are members of Christ. “Do ye not know that your bodies are members of Christ?”, 1 Cor 6: 15. Think of that! Your body, presented to God a living sacrifice, becomes a member of Christ, a member for the expression of Christ. It is a wonderful possibility for each one of us to enter into by way of committal.
It speaks about various services, different gifts; there is great variety, but as we function according to our measure of faith, according to the proportion we have, there is no collision, the variety all fits in. It speaks in Peter about “the various grace of God” (1 Pet 4: 10), something given to one, something else to another, and all functions normally and smoothly; that is the divine idea. You come into it by presenting your body a living sacrifice, and there is no other way. Paul says, “as to brotherly love, kindly affectioned towards one another—as to honour, each taking the lead in paying it to the other”. It comes down to two persons, the one to the other; and no matter how many more there are, this principle operates, it is one another. It is the family also; it is one another as belonging to that family.
Chapter 14 says, “So then let us pursue the things which tend to peace”. We were speaking about using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. You find the element of that here—“Let us pursue the things which tend to peace”. Can we all commit ourselves to that, as having presented our bodies a living sacrifice, in order to fulfil the will of God? Then let us pursue the things which tend to peace. Then it says, “And things whereby one shall build up another”. There are the things of peace and the things of mutual edification. So there is an order of things that is being built up. We touched in Ephesians on the body in its fulness, in its self-building up in love (Eph 4: 16); here; each one has a part in that building up and mutual edification.
In chapter 15 we have, “The God of endurance and of encouragement give to you to be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus”. This does not mean that all the brethren have to come round to what I think! Someone said, ‘It would save an awful lot of trouble if everybody just thought the way I think’; but it says here, “according to Christ Jesus”. It is a local setting, it says, “that ye may”; “… give to you”; and “… that ye may with one accord, with one mouth, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”; it is one answer locally to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a possibility! It is more than a possibility, it is working; but it is a possibility for each one here to function in this one thing for the pleasure and glory of God. “Wherefore receive ye one another, according as the Christ also has received you to the glory of God”.
Then Paul says, “I am persuaded, my brethren, I myself also, concerning you, that yourselves also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another”. This would involve taking on care for one another, taking on responsibility for one another. “Able also to admonish one another”; there is such a family atmosphere, and such a mutuality, that there is the admonishing of one another. There is not an official admonisher in the locality; it is admonishing one another. It is how we practically help one another.
Then, finally, “Salute one another with a holy kiss”. Paul has been presenting his salutations to individuals who were in Rome. It is one thing to salute somebody at a distance, but we are sometimes tested as to whether we always salute one another with a holy kiss. We read about Joseph that the first indication of something wrong in the family was that his brethren could not greet him with friendliness. We have known something of that. Let us continue to salute one another with a holy kiss.
I remember Mr Taylor coming to Edinburgh and giving an address on ‘A holy kiss’, and the next night he had a reading on ‘Local assembly administration’. You will find in the volume (NS vol 43) that the reading comes before the address, but actually the address came first on the need for the maintenance of brotherly and sisterly relations locally, which would provide conditions for good administration. There is something instructive and important in that. Let us continue, dear brethren, to salute one another with a holy kiss. May it be so.
SANDWELL
13th April 1974
GOING ON TO FULL GROWTH
In the readings we have had there has been an appeal to persons who would be expected to continue the testimony, if the Lord does not come for us soon. In this second chapter of John’s first epistle he addresses the saints as his own children, not exactly as children of God, which chapter 3 presents. He begins the chapter by saying, “My children”, and he continues the subject of his family in verse 12, “I write to you, children”, that is, all who belong to his family. There are three stages of growth in that family—the fathers, the young men, and the little children. John has a right, because of his apostleship, to take the place of being a father and having children. In a sense they are the children of the testimony. To apply it to our own day, without going too far, it would be like the children of the ministry of the revival. There are those who have gone before us who have taught, based on what is in the Scriptures, and on what was set up from the beginning, and we are meant to be persons who are thus instructed. We were speaking of the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, Acts 2: 42. Not only did they listen to the teaching of the apostles, but they had their fellowship, their practical fellowship. Any one of the apostles would be approachable about any matter of soul history that anyone might have, or any individual difficulty. So we are meant to be of the family of the testimony which has been brought to bear upon us in the revival.
The young men of John’s family represent the intermediate stage of growth. There has been an appeal to young men in these meetings, and this scripture would apply, of course, to them. But it would apply to more than literal young men, because the next stage which John refers to is the fathers. John has no instruction, and no exhortation, to give to the fathers, because they had reached stability. They “have known him that is from the beginning”. I do not know how many of us would take the place of being fathers in this sense, therefore the idea of young men might be more embracing than just literal young men. “I have written to you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one”. Reference has been made to energy. We need to apply our energies in a right direction. How important this is! The little children are in danger of the attacks of the wicked one by false teaching, and that kind of thing. Now the unction, which John points out later in this chapter, would protect them, and keep them right as they are true to it.
The young men have overcome the wicked one. There has been a certain development and growth. They know what is right and what is wrong, “Because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one”. The word is, “Love not the world, nor the things in the world”. If there is to be further growth, and formation, we need to protect ourselves from being diverted by the world and the things of the world. This would not only apply to younger persons, but to all of us, because we can all be diverted, unless we have “known him that is from the beginning”, which would be fulness of growth in John’s family. Such were at a stage where John addresses them as fathers, “Ye have known him that is from the beginning”. There is a certain stability reached, but I do not know how many of us would have reached that. Therefore this intermediate stage is so important, that we should persevere. “They persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers”, Acts 2: 42. John continues, “Love not the world, nor the things in the world. If any one love the world, the love of the Father is not in him; because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world”. How near these things are to us! We do not need to take a journey to come under the influence of these things. They are in every one of us, in the flesh in us. The safeguard is the love of the Father.
Now I would like to refer to three young men in the Old Testament who would be examples for us. They had come to an intermediate stage of growth, and they go on to become fathers. The first is Joseph who at seventeen years of age was feeding the flock with his brethren. He had found a circle of interest according to the will of God, according to what the Lord would have him do. He had found sufficient scope for his energies. He was strong, he was feeding the flock with his brethren. He had overcome the wicked one. He had no fellowship with the evil discourse of his brethren, who had the same father. He had overcome the wicked one. He had a judgment and could confide in his father Jacob as to his judgment of the evil discourse of his brethren. He kept himself, and he was loved by his father. “If any one love the world, the love of the Father is not in him”. Joseph had the love of his father in him. He found this circle of interests and he was in the enjoyment of the love of his father. What a protective circle this is! What salvation it was for Joseph to find an environment in which he could breathe freely! In the strength of the love of his father, he went through the sufferings which his brethren subjected him to, being sold into Egypt. He had thirteen years of suffering in Egypt. What sustained him? It was on the one hand the enjoyment of his father’s love, and on the other hand the light imparted to him by God in the dreams he had. See what a privileged area this is to be in, to find in the Christian circle a circle of interests to which we can direct our energies and apply ourselves.
The next one I would speak about is David. He began as a young man. He fed his father’s flock at Bethlehem. He overcame the wicked one. As a very young man he slew the lion and the bear. He knew what it was to overcome. He knew what it was to be in victory, according to his measure. We might never have known that, because it was his own secret history, had it not been that Saul tried to dissuade him from meeting Goliath. David tells him the secret, that he knew a better armour than Saul’s; he had proved it. He had devoted his energies to feeding his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. It would be like the local company; we are to devote our energies to promoting the Lord’s interests in the places in which we are. We find that Saul sends for him to come into his court and play with the harp to remove the evil spirit, but David went back to feed his father’s flock at Bethlehem. He knew what it was to find locally a circle of interests for his energies, to which he committed himself. He found salvation and he was able to grow according to God in that environment. Also, David got light early as to the ark, which would be Christ typically.
The third one is Daniel, who was also young. He had light as to Jerusalem, and although he was carried captive and put in very trying circumstances, he was able to overcome the wicked one. He reached this intermediate stage of growth that John would, refer to as his young men, and he goes on to fatherhood. He becomes an old man, and what a father he became among the captives! He prayed, and what light God was able to impart to Daniel! He as a young man refused the king’s delicate food, and the wine which he drank, which would be so attractive to youth. Not only did he refuse the king’s delicate food and the wine that he drank, but he told the man who was set over them what to give them. He said, ‘Give us pulse and water’, which would be most unattractive to the natural mind. He developed a taste for the truth, for the Scriptures, for accredited ministry. He preferred it. Think of that!—He preferred it! He chose it, rather than what was so attractive to the flesh. “Love not the world, nor the things in the world”; that was Daniel. He became an overcomer.
These young men in the Old Testament would encourage us to commit ourselves, encourage us to persevere, to go on to full growth. We were reminded in Edinburgh recently that the divine objective for us all is full growth, “until we all arrive ... at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ”, Eph 4: 13. That calls for perseverance. May the Lord encourage us, so that this work of formation may go on with every one of us. It means that we commit ourselves and persevere, the Spirit helping us. May it be so for His Name’s sake.
DUNDEE
27th September 1974
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