(A teaching presented by Michael Wilkerson March 23, 2025)
In Romans 12:1 (NIV) the holy apostle Paul said, "I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship."
What do you think the Bible means when it says “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God?”
When I think about how to answer that question, the statement Jesus made in Matthew 25:21 comes to mind which reads: “21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
This is what we want Jesus to say to us when we meet Him: “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”
Of course, if we are not living good - if we are not living faithful - and if we are not serving, we have no reason to expect Jesus to say this to us.
According to the Bible, what God wants is for us to act good while serving Him. And to live that way faithfully every day. Live good and serve God every day.
Can you tell me what it means to be good according to the Bible?
Micah 6:8 says: “He hath shown thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
In the Bible, being "good" signifies moral excellence, righteousness, and acting in a way that reflects God's character, encompassing both actions and the heart's motivations, ultimately aiming to benefit others and align with God's will.
Psalm 34:14-16 says: “Depart from evil and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.”
The Bible tells us to be good and depart from evil. But wait a minute. The holy apostle Paul said in Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
And Jeremiah 17:9 says: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
So, If there is nothing good in us, where is this goodness going to come from? Jesus said in Luke 18:19 “No one is good—except God alone.
If only God is good and if in us there is nothing good, according to the Bible, then goodness or the ability to act good is a gift from God, wouldn't you say?
James 1:17 says: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
According to scripture, God gave dominion of the earth to man and He limited himself to intervene in the earth without man giving him permission. This is why Jesus taught us how to grant God permission to intervene in our lives by praying “Thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”
Peter was able to walk on the water as long as he focused on Jesus (Matthew 14). But the moment he diverted his attention onto the circumstances surrounding him, he began to sink. If Peter had not called out to Jesus for help, Jesus would have let him drown according to James 1:6-8.
In Matthew chapter 14 when the disciples were in distress in the boat on the raging sea, the scripture says that Jesus "would have passed them by" while walking on the water. The only reason Jesus helped them was because they cried out.
The same goes for us today: God will let us drown in our circumstances if we fail to give Him permission to intervene by asking for His help. This is why Jesus said: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
The writers of the Old Testament understood this and prayed to permit God to intervene in their lives. Psalm 80:19 says: “Restore us, LORD God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.” Psalm 119:35 says: “Make me go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.” Psalm 119:107 says: “I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.”
The Bible says that it is God that works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. In other words, God will give us the desire and the power to do his will. But he will not automatically do it without our permission. Because God has given us free will. He didn’t make us robots. He is not going to force us to be good and live right.
So, how do we get God to intervene? We don’t have the passion Jesus had - the passion to pray like he did, the passion to fast like he did, the passion to live holy like he did, the passion to serve God and humanity like he did, the passion to think like him, to talk like him, to look like him.
Jesus said: “No man comes to the Father unless the Spirit draws him.” So after the Spirit draws us to Christ and we get a taste of who he is, we want to fellowship with him and we want to be like Him. But how do we become like Him? How is that going to happen?
Here it is. Isaiah 66:8 says: “When Zion travailed she brought forth her children.” Zion represents Israel and/or the Church as a whole. Travailing is the effort one exerts to bring forth fruit.
For example: If we want God to move and birth something from us, we have to groan. We must push with prayer and fasting. We need to lift up our voices and cry out to God.
You have to remember: Scripture says that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. That means God wants to see passion in your heart and fire in your eyes! In Revelation God said: “I would rather you be hot but since you are lukewarm I’m about to spit you out of my mouth.”
He wants to see your determination to know him and to be close to him. He will not reveal himself to just anybody half-hearted. God said: “If you seek for me with all of your heart, I will allow myself to be found by you.” What do you think he means by saying: “I will allow myself to be found by you?”
Jesus said: “He that has my commandments and keeps them is the same that loves me and he that loves me shall be loved by my father. I also will love him and will manifest myself to him.”
But when he said "keep the commandments," he meant every day. And the only way anyone can do that is by diligently seeking God making every effort to guard one’s heart from all evil influences.
This is the secret behind every effective ministry and why only a few people are known for great faith and favor with God whose prayers are consistently answered.
1 John 3:22 says "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."
We should only feed our hearts good things and avoid feeding on evil things. The Bible says: As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. In other words, you are what you think on. If you read, listen to, or watch evil things it will reflect in your character.
Likewise, if you read, listen to, and watch good things, it will reflect in your character. Jesus said: “My words are spirit and they are life. That is why the Bible says: Thy Word has quickened me or made me alive. So, we should be feasting on the Word of God daily. The Bible says that it is our daily bread.
And be careful to avoid feeding your heart on worldly things. Even if it doesn’t appear to be evil, worldly things should be avoided. Because the Bible says: “That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God. And the Bible says: “He that is a friend of this world is an enemy of God.”
This means, that if you admire, honor, and befriend an ungodly person who is famous for their worldly influence on the culture, chances are, you are an enemy of God. What do I mean by using the term worldly?
A worldly mindset is concerned with material values or ordinary life rather than a spiritual existence.
1 John 2:16-17 says: “For 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. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”
Jesus said: “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”
Jesus said: “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” Knowing this should keep us humble for the rest of our lives. Philippians 4:13 says: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
1 John 4:4 says: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Romans 8:11 says: “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”
Therefore, we saints of God, are without excuse. Because we have the Spirit of God living on the inside of us who, if we trust him, can add the super to our natural to help us live a good Christian life faithfully.
All we have to do is read the manual called God’s holy Word and trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to obey it. It may not be easy but it is pure and simple. In fact, the Bible says, it is going to require a lot of work.
The Bible says: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Psalm 4:5 says: “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.” We must continually trust the LORD to help us to live righteous. The Bible says: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” That means put on His righteousness by trusting Him to help us live righteous.
Because our righteousness or self-effort, the Bible says, is as filthy rags. The Bible says: “If you through the spirit mortify the deeds of the flesh you shall live.”
And when we trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to live righteous that results in a white robe and not filthy garments resulting from our self-effort like our first parents Adam and Eve who tried to cover their shame in fig leaves.
And God expects us to be faithful to live righteous. Not up and down. Not in and out. But steady on the Rock. He has commanded us to keep his precepts diligently daily. As it is written: “The Just shall live by his faith.”
We must stay mindful of the fact that after Israel was delivered out of Egypt which spiritually speaking represents salvation, some did not obey and consequently, their hearts were hardened, and losing faith died in the wilderness.
So too, we must stay vigilant to avoid sin which the bible says will harden our hearts causing us to lose faith and die like some of them did. The Bible says we are to learn from their mistakes to avoid them.
Scripture says: Our true and proper worship is to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice. So, let’s talk about ways we can do this.
One way we can offer up the sacrifice of righteousness is by avoiding ways and means that make us vulnerable to temptation. Because we need to remember what Jesus said: “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
This may require us to inconvenience ourselves to go out of our way even to extreme measures to avoid an opportunity for temptation. The holy apostle Peter said: “Make every effort to be found of him without spot and blameless.”
Avoiding sin requires work, a lot of work. It's a fight every day. A never-ending battle. Thus, the Bible says: “Fight the good fight of faith.” Jesus said: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
This is not the game of life. This is the real thing with real and eternal consequences. If you lose the game of life, you don’t get to start all over. It’s one and done. When you’re out you’re out. You’re finished.
As it is written: “It’s appointed for man once to die but after this the judgment.”
This life compared to eternity is like a drop in an endless ocean, yet our eternal rank will be based on how we live in this one drop of time. Thus, it behooves us to make the most of our time on earth.
Jesus said the rich man told Father Abraham to send a poor beggar named Lazarus from the dead back to earth to warn his 5 other brothers about hell - “lest they come into this place of torment,” he said.
And Father Abraham replied, they have Moses and the prophets, if they won't listen to them they won't listen even if a man rose from the dead.
Well, Jesus rose another Lazarus from the dead and they wanted to put him back to death to prevent more people from believing in Jesus which proves what Father Abraham said that if people won't listen to Moses and the prophets or the scriptures they wrote, they won’t listen even if a man rose from the dead to warn them.
Family, we don’t only have what Moses and the prophets wrote, we have the entire New Testament too. And the Bible says: “To whom much is given from him shall much be required." Thus, God will hold us more accountable than those who did not have all the Bible.
To offer up the sacrifice of righteousness, we might have to cut off certain relationships. We might have to drive out of our way to avoid coming near a certain place, person, or thing or delete certain apps from our phones.
The Bible says: “Guard your heart with all diligence for out it are the issues of life.” Thus, to offer up the sacrifice of righteousness, it will be imperative for us to avoid reading, listening to, or watching certain types of media.
The Bible says: “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” You are what you eat. Trash in trash out. Jesus said: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness/lies, blasphemies. Where does our heart get all those evil thoughts? From what we willfully feed on.
That is why Philippians 4:8 says: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Therefore, if what we feed our hearts gets past the filter of that scripture, we are sinning.
In Luke 6:45 Jesus said: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
Ephesians 5:3 says: “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” The King James Version says: “Let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.”
Not one time people. Why? Because Jesus said: “This is love for God to keep the commandments.” And keep means: Don’t stop. Don’t quit. Don’t even hit the pause button. Jesus said: “Go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you.” No more means no more, zero, nada, zippo.
The Bible says: “Lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset you and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” What is that one sin that so easily trips you up? We must by the grace of God overcome that sin. It is a mandate of scripture.
No problem. Because Jesus is the strength of our life who supplies everything we need to overcome the flesh, the world, and the devil.
Jesus said: “Be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Be holy even as I am holy.” Galatians 6:7, 8 says: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
This is serious. Jesus is going to say to many people who prophesied and cast out devils, “I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of iniquity.”
And since Jesus is going to say to many people who thought they were going to heaven: “I never knew you.”
Then, the eternal question is: “Does God know me?” How can you know if God knows you?
1 Corinthians 8:3 says: “If any man loves God, the same is known of him.”
And Jesus said: “This is love for God to keep his commandments.” Again, in order for us to keep the commandments, we are going to have to trust the Holy Spirit to help us. And that is why Nahum 1:7 says: “He knows those who trust in him.”
Again, the Bible says: “Make every effort to be found of him blameless. John said: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin (ever).” And he said: “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”
This means it is necessary for us to avoid people who feed themselves on evil. The Bible says: “The companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Paul wrote to the Corinthians “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Paul wrote: “Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
Another way to offer up the sacrifice of righteousness is by staying alert and ready to comply with the scripture that says: “Bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Because the Bible says: “The thought of foolishness is sin.”
Sin starts with a thought. If we refuse to dwell on sinful thoughts we can avoid acting them out. Romans 13:14 says: "Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."
An evil thought does not become a sin until we entertain the evil thought. The reason I say that is that the Bible says Jesus was tempted in all points such as we are, yet He was without sin. That means Jesus experienced sinful thoughts like us but He refused to entertain any of them.
Jesus said: "Follow Me." And He meant what He said. Jesus said: "Go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you." If it was not possible to always do what is right by faith in God to strengthen us, then Jesus never would have commanded us to live as He did.
The Psalmist wrote: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
That is all the time we have for today. Again the title of our lesson today is Worship before the Throne. This is our destiny family. One day we are going to join the heavenly beings and worship God before the throne.
So, let us stay vigilant and continue to make every effort to obtain a crown of righteousness so we too will have an offering to lay at his feet to the glory of God who deserves all the praise. Amen
Church, it is time to lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us. We don't have time to keep starting all over to prove ourselves faithful. Because that is what happens when we violate our conscience. We have to start all over.
Because, the holy apostle Paul said: "He enabled me, proving me faithful putting me into the ministry." First, Jesus has to enable us, then He has to prove us faithful, afterward, He will put us into the ministry.
But, if we keep stumbling in sin, we have to go back to zero and start all over again to prove ourselves faithful to God. We don't have time for that. The world is waiting. Billions of people who do not know God need us to live faithfully, so God can put His words in our mouths, lead us, and demonstrate His power through us giving them a reason to believe in our God.
Jesus commanded us to go and preach the gospel to every creature and make disciples of all nations. And He didn't say just go preach the gospel. He said prove it, prove what you are preaching is the truth by keeping the commandments, raising the dead, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, casting out devils, making disciples, and telling every new disciple to do the same thing by faith in the power of Jesus' name.
Jesus taught His disciples the most efficient way to spread the gospel. And that is with the demonstration of the power of God through miracles which draw large crowds.
Mark 16:20 says: "And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs."
Jesus said in John 15:4-5 NKJV: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in
To abide in Jesus, one must keep the commands of God. 1 John 2:6 says: "Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked."
Again, 1 John 3:22 (KJV) says: "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."
In the Bible, the Lord's disciples by faith in God kept God's commands which proves that we can too. Hebrews 6:12 (NIV) says: "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
The Lord give you grace to walk as Jesus did. "Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."
Keeping the commands of God is like walking on water. Jesus did and so did Peter as long as he kept his focus on Jesus.
May we learn to keep our focus on Jesus as He calls us deeper. As it is written: "Watch and pray least you enter into temptation."
No comments:
Post a Comment