Ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God

 

Ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God

(Romans 12:1-2)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.  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.

This passage will be one of the passages recited in the church. But before discerning the will of God, there is a phrase that reads, "be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." You cannot discern the will of the Lord without being changed. No matter how much you memorize the phrase, it doesn't mean that you can. Also, before being transformed, it is said, ``Ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God''.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came as if the tongue of fire was cracked. The disciples became one, fear disappeared, and boldly preached the gospel. New believers want to receive the Holy Spirit and receive tongues. The reason why the Holy Spirit comes strongly in the Bible is because of the preaching of the Gospel. But no one said anything, but they laid out all their property at the apostle's feet. It is because God's holy Spirit came upon us to do this. It was because the Saints wanted each other's needs to be filled with each other. Today, however, we find that this is almost as heresy, and most of us are bound by capitalist thinking. Reading and paying attention to the Bible is a reality that interests me, but does not pay attention to areas I am not interested in.

The will of God is revealed to the present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. This is what Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father in heaven, your name is sanctified, your kingdom comes upon this earth, and your will is done on earth as it is in heaven." After that, he says, "Give me bread for my daily use." Before praying for daily bread, we must seek the will of the Lord. The will of the Lord must first be sought before praying for the provision of food because of the loss of wealth and poor health. If we pray for daily food, the will of the Lord cannot be revealed.

The Lord wants what is done in heaven to be done on earth as well. But before this, the name of the Lord is sanctified. To do that, it is ``Ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God''. At the time of the Exodus of the Old Testament, Israel was a small nation. So, the will of the Lord was to rely on the Lord, to enter Canaan, to drive out the Canaanites, and to create the Lord's kingdom. However, they were protected under the pillar of cloud and fire every day, and they ate Mana every day, but they were separated from each other in front of the land of Canaan. Not all those who followed the twelve tribes entered Canaan. When new people born in the wilderness lived after entering Canaan, many tribes could not drive out the Canaanites. The Lord's will was to drive out and destroy the Canaanites.

Some tribes say, "The Canaanites had iron chariots, so they could not be driven out." The moment we see an iron chariot that cannot be overcome with my own strength today, the words of the Bible can disappear. Only those who desire to have the Lord's name sanctified will fulfill that promise. Those who fulfill that promise offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Sacrifice means to die. However, even though he is alive, he said to be a sacrifice. The flesh is alive, but it denies itself and becomes a bearer of its cross, bringing the lost soul to the Lord. The Lord is the one who leaves the ninety-nine sheep and goes to the one lost.

In the Old Testament times, the Lord's will is to destroy the Canaanites, but in the New Testament times, it is the Lord's will to save lost souls. When you go to find the lost Lamb, the Holy Spirit is with you. The Holy Spirit empowers you and makes you testify. In the Old Testament, God's will was to destroy Satan. He made him do it as David killed Goliath. Israel destroyed Amalek. But in the New Testament, he not only wants to destroy Satan, but also wants people's names to be recorded in the book of life. In Acts 1:8, 『But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 』

There is only one reason we live in this world. It is to seize the opportunity to accomplish the will of the Lord. It is to seize the opportunity for the will of the Lord to be done through me. Physical death means the end of this opportunity. No one knows where we will end our lives. Until the end, we must seize the opportunity to fulfill the will of the Lord. It is to lead the lost soul. The apostle Paul expressed that the spiritual sacrifice to God was evangelism. True worship cannot be achieved without preaching the Gospel to lost souls. In our lives we come to realize that we can discern what the will of the Lord is, but we cannot.