Not Conformed But Transformed: Romans Series #22

Mary of Bethany anointed the feet of Jesus with some perfume. She had an alabaster box and she broke it and anointed the feet of Jesus. Now, I don’t know whether you remember that story in the Word of God or not, but there were some who criticized her, and Jesus defended her. Here’s what He said, “You let her alone. She has done what she could.”

What does Jesus expect out of you? The same thing He expected out of Mary. He didn’t say, “She has done what she couldn’t do,” or, “She’s done what somebody else can do.” He said, “She has done what she can do.” God’s not going to ask anymore; He’s not going to ask any less.

What is ministry to you? One of these days we’re going to meet the Lord, and the Lord is going to ask us about our service. The Bible says all of us are going to come to the judgment seat of Christ. Those of us who are saved are going to stand before the Lord.

In Guinness World Records you will find people who do various things to get their name in Guinness World Records. Do you know what some people do? They grind up things that are not meant to be food and ingest them to see what they can eat just to get in Guinness World Records. I mean, grind metal and glass and mix it with their food and eat it. 

For example, one man ate a bicycle, seriously. Another ate a chandelier. But the guy who won the prize, he was from Caracas, Venezuela; he ate an airplane. He ate an airplane, a Cessna light aircraft. He ground it up and over a long period of time, he ingested an entire airplane. Now, can you imagine that man dying and coming before the Lord, and the Lord asks, “Hey, what did you do with your life?” “Lord, I ate an airplane.”

When God asks you what you did with your life, what are you going to say besides taking up space and consuming food? What on earth do you do for heaven’s sake? What kind of a ministry do you have?

Everybody is motivated by something. Everybody is giving his life to something. You may be giving your life to making money, or you may be giving your life to a hobby. You may be giving your life to a family or sports. But everybody is giving his or her life to something. One of these days, we are going to report in.

I. We Need a Sacrificial Presentation

In Romans 12:1, we read, “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.”

We must present ourselves today and make a sacrificial presentation. You just present yourself to God. This passage begins with, “I beseech you therefore, brethren.” God is beseeching you. Many times, we beseech God. What does the word “beseech” mean? It means to make a request, a strong request.

May I ask you a question? Are you willing to answer God’s prayer to you? Do you want God to do something for you? It’s almost as if God is down on His knees in front of you, saying, “My friend, I beseech you. I request you.”

If you’re not interested in hearing God’s Word, why should God be interested in hearing your word to Him? “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.”

The Lord asks us for a reasonable service. It’s not unreasonable for you to serve the Lord. He’s the One who sought us. He’s the One who bought us. He’s the One who saved us. He’s the One who secured us.

In the first portion of the book of Romans, the apostle Paul shared with us all of the incredible mercies of God. In chapter 12 he says, “I beseech you, therefore.” Therefore what? Because of what God has done for you, because of the mercies of God, “that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice.” You present yourself to Him. You do it voluntarily. 

God won’t force you. He is the Lord of the Church; He has never made me do anything. And if you don’t present yourself, it is your fault, but He’s not going to force you. If you’re waiting on God to force you to do something, forget it. He says, “I beseech you that you present your body a living sacrifice.” Have you ever done it? It’s voluntary. You have to volunteer. You have to say, “Here, Lord, I present myself to You.” 

Have you done that? I pray that you will. It has to be completely voluntarily. Consecration really is not giving God anything. It is taking your hands off what is already His. You are not your own. You are bought with a price. You were redeemed at Calvary. What God is saying is, “Now, look what I’ve done for you. It’s not unreasonable that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service.”

Our sacrifice is not a dead sacrifice. You may say, “Oh, I hope I love Jesus enough that I would die for Him.” May I ask you a question? Do you love Him enough to live for Him? I mean, if you’re not living for Him, you’re not going to die for Him.

We are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice. Now, what is a sacrifice? A sacrifice is something that is slain. Are you willing to be crucified with Christ, to say, “It’s not my life, not my wife, not my car, not my business, not my ambition. Lord, I belong to You. No longer I, but Christ that lives in me”?

In the Old Testament, they would take those animal sacrifices and put them on that brazen altar, a piece of meat. And you know how slippery meat is, bloody meat. It would be put on the altar, and sometimes it would have a tendency to slide off the altar. Do you know how they kept it on the altar? They had two things called flesh hooks. It held it right there on the altar. 

Do you know what the two flesh hooks are that will keep you on the altar? Discipline and devotion. When you keep your discipline and your quiet time, the walk with the Lord, and you keep your heart aflame with love for the Lord Jesus Christ, you will see that you are there as a voluntary, sacrificial, irrevocable offering unto the Lord.

II. We Need a Spiritual Transformation

In Romans 12:2, we read, “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.”

Do you want to know God’s will? Well, Paul says here if you’ll present yourself, you’ll be transformed. You will experience a, a spiritual transformation. The word “transformation” here is the key word. It’s the word we get our modern word “metamorphosis” from. It’s made up of two Greek words: meta, which means a change, and morphosis, which means a form.

What is a metamorphosis? When the caterpillar goes into the cocoon and comes out a butterfly. It has gone through a metamorphosis. For us a metamorphosis is where the inner nature comes to the surface. The inner nature of a caterpillar is the butterfly. This same word is used in the Gospels of Jesus Christ when He was transfigured.

When Jesus went up to an exceedingly high mountain with Peter, James, and John, He was transfigured and His face shone like the sun; His clothing became as white as the light. The word “transfigured” used there and the word “transformed” used in Romans 12 are the same word. Jesus went through a metamorphosis. He was changed. There was a transformation.

And what was the transformation? The inner nature came to the surface. What is the inner nature of Jesus? It’s glory. And there, for a moment, that inner nature, that glory shone out, and His face was dazzling like the sun, and the disciples saw it and heard it.

Jesus was transformed before their eyes. If we will make ourselves a living sacrifice, we will be transformed. Our inner nature will come to the surface. What is our inner nature? Our inner nature is Jesus.

Therefore, when we present ourselves to Him, we will not be squeezed in by this world. We are to “be not conformed to this world.” Don’t let the world take you and squeeze you into its mold and camouflage and hide your inner nature and dampen it down. When you present yourself to the Lord, you are transformed and Jesus is made manifest. Wouldn’t you like for your inner nature to come to the surface and people could see and know and understand your inner nature, which is Jesus Christ?

Jesus gives you a new mind. He renews your mind. And when your mind is renewed, then you are transformed. And when you are transformed, your mind is renewed. It doesn’t say He gives you a new brain. Some of us would like it if He would. But He doesn’t give us a new brain. I’ve got news for you. Getting saved is not going to increase your IQ.

What’s the difference between your mind and your brain? It’s analogous to the difference between a piano and a piano player. Your brain is what you think with; your mind does the thinking. Just like a piano is what the pianist plays.

Some of us have a better piano to play on than others do. Yet, we have the mind of Christ when we present ourselves to Him. Therefore, we come at life from a completely different viewpoint. We have a different motivation. We have a different value system. 

We think differently because we have been transformed. We’ve gone through a metamorphosis. The inner glory, or the inner nature, which is Jesus, has come to the surface. We now have the mind of Christ. We will experience a transformation.

III. We Need a Sober Evaluation

Would you like to know what your ministry is? In Romans 12:3–4, we read, “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.”

What happened in verse 2? Our minds are renewed, right? Our minds are renewed, right? Right, right, okay. Now, look in verse 3 following right after verse 2. Isn’t this amazing? “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [underscore the word think] of himself more highly than he ought to think [underscore the word think], but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

Did you see it? With a renewed mind, then what does he say? Think. Why would God renew your mind if He doesn’t expect you to think with it? You need a renewed mind. And with your renewed mind you think with your renewed mind. How are you going to know the will of God? Think. Use your renewed mind.

Paul says, “So I say to every man among you, according to the grace that is given to him, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.” Now, don’t strut and pretend that you have gifts or a different shape than you have. Not to think more highly than you ought to think, in a sinful exaggeration, but not in false humiliation.

Don’t say, “I don’t have any gifts,” because he said, “I say by the grace given to me.” Don’t, don’t say that, that God can’t use you. Remember the question I asked you, is there anybody who can’t do what he can do? Everybody has a spiritual gift. Everybody has a heart motivation. Everybody has some abilities. Every person has a personality, and everybody has had an experience in life. And so you say, “Lord, who am I? Where am I? What am I? Why am I?”

You begin to think not more highly than you ought to think, but to think soberly, “according as God hath dealt to every man a measure of faith.” God has blessed you. You were not behind the door. God has made you. You are special to God. God has a special shape for you and God has a special service for you to go with that shape. God wants you to serve Him, and you need to discover your gift.

How are you going to discover your gift? First there’s spiritual enlightenment. The Holy Spirit of God is going to speak to your inner nature. Additionally, there’s going to be not only the principle of enlightenment; there’s going to be the principle of enjoyment.

If you know that you’re doing what God has appointed you to do, there is great fulfillment and great joy in doing it. If we are not careful, we try to force people into a mold, into a shape that is not who they really are in life.

All the animals were going to have a school because the goal was for they wanted all the animals to be just alike. They were going to teach all the animals to run, to swim, to climb, and to fly, so they could all be alike. 

First, they took the duck. He was great at swimming but he was terrible at running. Thus, they wouldn’t let the duck swim anymore because he made everybody else look bad. So they put the duck in school and they made him run and run and run and run. Poor duck. He almost forgot how to swim. Yet, that didn’t bother the other animals because the duck intimidated them by his swimming anyway, and they all felt a little better because he wasn’t swimming as well as he used to. Everybody felt better but the duck.

Then there was the eagle. They were going to have a climbing contest, and they said, “Everybody go to the top of the tree.” The eagle, he just flew to the top of the tree. They said, “No, that’s not the way you get to the top of the tree. You’re supposed to climb up the tree.” The eagle said, “No, this is the best way to go to the top of the tree.” They said, “Hey, you’re a bad eagle. You’re going up the wrong way.”

Now, they said to the eagle, “It’s time for your swimming lessons.” The eagle said, “I don’t want to swim.” You know what they did? They expelled him and kicked him out of school because he was a rebel.

Then, it came time for the running, and of course, the rabbit. He loved to run. Yet, they said to the rabbit, “You must learn how to swim. He said, “What?” They said, “You’ve got to swim and you’ve got to climb.” He said, “I can’t do it.” “Yes, you can. Now, you’ve got to do it, you’ve got to do it.”

The poor rabbit worked and worked. They kept him after school, in swimming lessons and climbing lessons. They never even got to flying lessons. You know what happened to the poor rabbit? He had a nervous breakdown, had a neurosis, had to quit school.

Next, they turned to the turtle. They said to the turtle, “You have to learn how to run, climb, swim, and fly. So they concluded, “There’s something wrong with this turtle. We’ve got to fix him. It must be his shell.” And they took the shell off the turtle. He ran just a little faster, but then a horse stepped on him. It’s sad. That was the end of the turtle. Why? Because they were trying to make him into something he was not!

Why is it that we can’t let people be what God made them to be? You can’t do what I can do. I can’t do what you can do. God made us different so that He might make us one. We need enlightenment, enjoyment, and encouragement. When we have a gift, other people need to encourage us in our gift and say, “You know, I see God working in your life.”

With encouragement comes enablement. Anything God wants you to do, He enables you to do. In 1 Timothy 1:12, we read, “And I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.” The God who called me to preach has enabled me to preach.

IV. We Need a Shared Participation

We read in Romans 12:4–5, “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”

At this point, Paul is writing about our service. God put us in the Church and we need one another. We are all members of one body. We’re not individual individuals as such, but we’re part of the body of Christ. The Church is not a business with Jesus Christ as the corporate president. The Church is a body with Jesus Christ as the head, and we’re members one of another.

We’re in the body. Your gift becomes significant in the body of Christ. We are members one of another. The Bible does not teach a lone ranger Christianity. God made us different that He might make us one. I need you, and you need me. God made us to serve, and God made us to serve together.

Sometimes those who do the most service are not the most obvious. We discover our gift in this shared participation as we work together. We need to be a part of the body of Christ. Nobody has all of the gifts; everybody has some.

V. We Need a Specific Activation

Do you want to know your gift? We read in Romans 12:6–8, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; or he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; and he that rulest, with diligence; and he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Paul highlights different kinds of gifts and different kinds of abilities. “Prophecy.” What is that? That’s speaking for God. “Ministry.” That’s serving and practical needs like church work, activities programs, typing, ushering, coaching, nursery, driving buses, the church grounds, maintenance.

“Teaching,” what is that? People who care and share the Word of God. “Exhortation” is the ministry of encouragement counseling, the music ministry, visitation, and soul winning. “Giving” is the ability to make and give monies. Next is “Ruling.” This is the ability to coordinate activities at the church and outside, to preside, to lead, to stand before others. “Mercy” is a gift. That’s hospital visitation and caring for people.

Beginning is half done. Get started today seeking what gifts God has placed in your life. As you try this or that you will discover your gift. You will find out what you are good at and the gifts the Lord has placed in your life.

Here are some steps to help you get started in the right direction. First, accept yourself. I am what I am by the grace of God. Second, Be yourself. You don’t have to be somebody else. The question is not, what will God have someone else to do? The question is, what will God have me to do? The question is also not, what will somebody else have me to do? The question is, “Lord, what will You have me to do?”

Third, give of yourself. You want joy? You want fulfillment? Find a meaningful ministry and apply yourself to it. God has given us special talents and gifts, and we need to use those to glorify and worship Him. Ministry isn’t like one particular thing. Ministry is more than something you do; it is an overflow of your life.