March 26, 2025 • 26 mins
Pastor Ken Davis explores the transformative power of Romans 12, showing how presenting ourselves as living sacrifices makes every aspect of life an act of worship to God.
• God demonstrated His love by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners
• Receiving what we don't deserve is the definition of grace
• As Christians, our priorities should be heavenly rather than earthly
• Setting our minds on things above transforms how we handle resources and blessings
• Forgiveness isn't optional for believers—it's a requirement that God enables us to fulfill
• Whatever we do—from household chores to our jobs—should be done heartily as unto the Lord
• Even mundane activities like tipping at restaurants can reflect Christ's character
• Every aspect of life becomes holy when we approach it as worship
For a free copy of this teaching, visit heedtheword.org where you can request the full, unedited message on CD.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor
and teacher, Ken Davis.
Pastor Ken is the senior pastorof Calvary Chapel, Southwest
Metro.
Please join us as we study ourseries entitled Lessons in
Christian Living.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
The Bible tells us that God loves us, and not only
does he love us, but he showedus that he loved us.
It says that God demonstratedHis love for us in this that
while we were yet sinners,before we stopped drinking,
before we stopped sleepingaround, before we stopped
cursing and swearing and hatingpeople, before we stopped
(00:38):
beating people up with our wordsor with our fists, whatever the
case might be, while we werestill sinners even in the midst
of all of that wickedness in ourlives, christ the case might be
.
While we were still sinners,even in the midst of all of that
wickedness in our lives, christJesus died for us.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
There's no shortage of self-help books, motivational
speakers and opinions out thereabout how we're supposed to
live on this earth, but asChristians, we need to take our
direction in this area from theWord of God.
So we're bringing you ourseries entitled Lessons in
Christian Living, taken from the12th and 13th chapters of
Paul's letter to the church inRome.
(01:10):
There are many people today whobelieve the old saying Jesus
only helps those who helpthemselves.
They think that in order toapproach the Father, that we
have to fix ourselves first.
This is a lie.
Jesus wants to come to him aswe are, with a heart of
repentance.
It is then that he begins hiswork of grace that changes us.
(01:30):
Don't forget to stay with usafter today's message to hear
more information about Heed theWord, specifically how you can
get a free copy of this teaching.
But for now, please open yourBibles to the book of Psalms,
chapter 29, verse 1, as we joinPastor Ken with the beginning of
part three in our seriesentitled Lessons in Christian
Living.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Psalm 29, verses 1 and 2, say this Give unto the
Lord, o, you mighty ones.
Give unto the Lord glory andstrength.
Give unto the Lord the glory.
Do His name.
Worship the Lord in the beautyof holiness.
The phrase there that stood outto me was give unto the Lord the
(02:11):
glory that is due his name.
You know, we owe God asacrifice of praise, do we not?
We owe God the glorificationthat is rightly his, that we
would honor him, that we wouldglorify him, that we would speak
the truth about him and abouthis goodness.
When I think of giving the Lordthe glory that is due his name,
(02:35):
I am reminded yet again ofRomans, chapter 12, verses 1 and
2, where we find ourselvesbeginning this morning, in which
Paul writes I beseech youtherefore, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that youpresent your bodies a living
sacrifice holy, acceptable toGod, which is your reasonable
service, and do not be conformedto this world, but be
(02:58):
transformed by the renewing ofyour mind that you may prove
what is that good and acceptableand perfect will of God, the
glory due his name, that whichis your reasonable service.
Amen.
It is reasonable that we shouldglorify God because of all that
he has done for us and becauseof all that he is.
(03:22):
You know, today we're going tobe moving on into verses three
through eight, but before we dothat, I need to speak for a
moment to those who are not bornagain.
I need to talk to you thismorning If you have not come to
that place in your life whereyou have confessed to Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior,where you have not come to that
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point where you have confessedyour sins before God and
repented of them.
Repenting from your sins meansto be sorry for your sins, but
it also means to be sorry enoughthat you don't want to commit
them anymore, that you want toturn away from your sins in
order to follow God.
If you are here this morningand you have not confessed Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior,if you have not repented of
(04:05):
your sins, if you have notsought God for the forgiveness
of your sins and asked him tocome and live in your heart and
to be your Lord, you are the onethat I want to talk to for just
a minute or two Now.
The reason I want to talk toyou specifically for just a
minute or two is because therest of the time, I'm going to
be talking to people who arealready Christians, and so,
before I get to all of that, Ineed to talk to you for a moment
(04:25):
, you who are not believers inJesus Christ.
We stand here today together, achurch, a fellowship of people
who once were just like you.
There was a time in each of ourlives when we did not believe
in Jesus Christ.
We might have acknowledged thathe existed, but we hadn't put
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our faith or our hope or ourtrust in him, and we certainly
didn't acknowledge him as ourLord.
You see, that word Lord meansmaster and owner, and if I am
born again, if I am a Christian,that means that Jesus is my
master and owner.
And you know what?
That's actually a really goodthing.
We were all once just like you.
(05:08):
Maybe you're skeptical.
This morning, some of us wereskeptical.
Maybe you just have never heardbefore about Jesus Christ and
all that he has done for you.
Some of us had never heardbefore.
Or maybe you are so wrapped upin your own thing, in doing what
you want to do, that you're notwilling to let go of that in
order to follow Jesus.
Some of us here this morningwere once, just like you.
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But you see, something happenedto us.
We began to realize that therewas an emptiness in our hearts,
that, no matter what we did tosatisfy ourselves ourselves were
never satisfied.
No matter what we got, wewanted more.
No matter what we did, we foundthat, even though it might
distract us for a little while,in the end we were alone again
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and we were lost in our sin.
And one day someone shared withus the truth of what Jesus
Christ has done and we believedwhat we were told and, as a
result of that, we confessed oursin.
In other words, we admittedthat we had done wrong and that
God was right and that we neededto turn from following
ourselves and going and doingthe things that we wanted to do,
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to turn and follow him, that wemight do the things that he
wanted us to do.
And we came to the cross.
You know, you hear that phrasewe came to the cross.
Well, what does that mean?
Does that mean I have to go toa couple of two-by-fours?
No, we came to the cross.
What that means is this thecross is the place where Jesus
died.
It's the place where the onewho knew no sin he'd never done
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anything wrong became sin for us, you see, that we might be
declared righteous by God.
You see, here's the problem.
The Bible tells us thateveryone has sinned.
It says all have sinned andfallen short of the glory of God
.
Let me back up for a second.
All have sinned and fallenshort of the glory of God.
That means that if you are notsaved, if you are not born again
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this morning, then you are justlike we all were at one time.
You're a sinner.
Okay, now, when I say you're asinner, don't be offended by
that, because I'm the sinner too.
We were all sinners, we wereall lost.
But the problem is, the Bibletells us that the wages of sin
is death, and that means that ifyou have ever sinned in your
life, you deserve to be punishedfor that sin.
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The wages of sin is death.
But you see, the Bible tells usthat God loves us, and not only
does he love us, but he showedus that he loved us.
It says that God demonstratedhis love for us in this that
while we were yet sinners,before we stopped drinking,
before we stopped sleepingaround, before we stopped
cursing and swearing and hatingpeople, before we stopped
(07:39):
beating people up with our wordsor with our fists, whatever the
case might be, while we werestill sinners, even in the midst
of all of that wicked, or withour fists, whatever the case
might be, while we were stillsinners, even in the midst of
all of that wickedness in ourlives, christ Jesus died for us.
So, as rotten as we were, godstill loved us enough to send
his son to die for us.
That's a lot of love, isn't it?
That is a love that we don'tdeserve.
And when you receive somethingthat you don't deserve, the word
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for that in the Bible is grace.
Grace is when God gives youwhat you don't deserve.
The word for that in the Bibleis grace.
Grace is when God gives youwhat you don't deserve, you see,
and it says that the thief orthe enemy comes but to steal and
to kill and to destroy.
But Jesus came that we mighthave life and that we might have
it more abundantly.
So God loved us so much that hesent his son to die for us, to
(08:23):
die in our place, so that wecould be forgiven of our sins
and have eternal life in JesusChrist.
Now, the rest of us, who werejust like you, who did not
believe when we came to believe,when we believed in our hearts
that Jesus Christ was the son ofGod and we confessed him as
Lord.
When we believed in our heartsand confessed with our mouth,
something happened we were saved, we were born again, we were
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cleansed from all of our sinsand we were given eternal life,
so that when we die, we knowthat we will be in heaven with
God.
Now, if you are not a Christianthis morning, I want you to
know this.
Just like it happened to us, itcan happen to you.
Just as we heard the truth.
You have now heard the truthand you can be forgiven today.
If you want to be born again, ifyou want to be forgiven for
(09:16):
your sins, if you want to havethat hole that is in your heart,
that big emptiness, if you wantto have that filled up with the
spirit of God, and if you wantto know that you can go to
heaven when you die, that'savailable for you this morning.
All you have to do is believein your heart and confess or
admit with your mouth that JesusChrist is Lord and that God has
(09:37):
raised him from the dead.
That's all.
So that's what I have to say toyou this morning who are not
believers?
You can do that right now.
You don't have to wait for methis morning.
Who are not believers?
You can do that right now.
You don't have to wait for meto say a prayer with you.
You don't have to come forwardfor a prayer service, although
I'm gonna give you theopportunity to do those things
but you can make that decisionin your heart right now, and I
(09:59):
invite you to do so Now for therest of you, for those of you
who are Christians, who are bornagain, who have been forgiven
for your sins, who have receivedthe gift of the Holy Spirit and
eternal life, or for those ofyou who've just made that
commitment just now.
The rest of what I have to saythis morning is for you.
So in Romans, chapter 12, verseone, paul wrote I beseech you
(10:22):
therefore.
Wherefore?
Why is he saying?
He beseeches us?
Because of the gospel that I'vejust shared with you.
I beseech you therefore,brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies aliving sacrifice.
That means, very simply Jesusdied for you, so now you go and
live for him A living sacrifice,holy and acceptable to God,
(10:49):
which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformedby the renewing of your mind
that you may prove what is thatgood and acceptable and perfect
will of God.
You see, when Jesus Christ isour Lord, we submit ourselves to
his will.
And as we submit ourselves tohis will and as we live our
(11:10):
lives for him, then we discoverthat God's will is good, that
God's will is acceptable andthat God's will is perfect.
You see, we have a plan for ourown lives.
We think we know what we wantand how we want to live, but God
has a plan that is so muchbetter than ours that once we
walk into it and once we realizewhat he's doing, we're blown
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away by it.
We're amazed by it.
We're thrilled by therevelation of God's will in our
life because we realize howperfect it is.
Now, before we move forward intoRomans 12, I want you to turn
to Colossians, chapter 3.
Colossians is sort of aroundthe middle of the New Testament.
(11:54):
I like to think of go eatpopcorn.
Galatians, ephesians,philippians, colossians it's an
easy way to remember where thatis If you get into the T's which
are first and secondThessalonians, timothy and Titus
and all those.
You went too far.
So Colossians, chapter three, inverse one, paul writes if then
you were raised with Christ.
(12:15):
In other words, okay, if youactually have been born again,
if you really are a believer,seek those things which are
above, where Christ is sittingat the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above,not on things on the earth, for
you died and your life is hiddenwith Christ in God.
So, in other words, if youprofess that Jesus Christ is
(12:38):
Lord, then you should be moreconcerned with seeing his
kingdom come than seeing yourkingdom on earth established.
You understand, our eyes needto be on Jesus Christ and on his
kingdom and on what he wants usto do for his glory, rather
than on what we want him to dofor our pleasure and benefit.
(12:58):
Keep your eyes on heavenlythings, not on earthly things.
In other words, your prioritiesneed to be godly priorities,
divine priorities, heavenlypriorities rather than earthly
priorities.
Let me give you an example welive in a world where a whole
lot of people don't know JesusChrist.
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A whole lot of people don'tknow Jesus Christ.
Millions of people today havenot heard the gospel, and that
is hard for us to comprehend.
Why?
Because we live in a countrywhere the gospel permeates
everything.
I mean, the gospel goes outover the radio waves as we know,
we're a part of that.
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The gospel goes out over thetelevision waves.
The gospel is posted onbillboards, right?
The gospel is available inevery bookstore, and there's a
church on so many corners today.
Now, are they all preaching thegospel?
No, a lot of them are preachinga lot of false doctrine, and
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that has happened because peopledon't have a love for the truth
.
People rather love other things.
Right?
But comparatively speaking, wehave, in the United States,
access to the gospel If we wantit, if we seek it.
It's not that hard for us tofind, is it?
But there are parts of thisworld where people can't get
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their hands on a Bible.
There are parts of this worldwhere a little fellowship of
believers finally gets a hold ofa Bible in their own language,
and so that they can all have atleast a little bit of it, they
will tear it into pieces,sections at a time, and each
family will take a littlesection of it home with them and
they will read it and they willpour over it and they will
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memorize chapters, if not books,of the Bible that they might
have it for themselves and thenthey'll come back to the little
house church that they're a partof and they'll trade copies so
that eventually, that wholeBible works its way all around
that little church and, comparedto to some people, they're
blessed, because there are someplaces on this earth where
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people don't even have a copy ofGod's word in their own
language.
Now, here we sit, in ouropulence, here we sit in all of
our blessing, all of our comfort, and we complain.
You see, when we complain, Idon't like the fact that I drive
a 10-year-old car Praise theLord, you have a 10-year-old car
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.
Oh, I don't like the fact thatI had to buy my clothes at
Goodwill.
Thank God there's a Goodwillyou could go to to buy your
clothes.
By the way, if anybody I've hadconversations with a couple of
you.
I'm not aiming at anybody,that's just an example.
Okay, now if I have my eyes onworldly things and let's say I
come into $25,000, $30,000, justboom, wow, there it is, it
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would be really easy for me tospend all of that on myself,
right, and no one would fault mefor it.
Or if I have my eyes onheavenly things, then I could go
to God and I could say Lord,what do you want me to do with
this?
And he might say I want you tospend it on a house, or I want
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you to spend it on a car.
I'm not going to say that Godwould never say that.
He might say that, but I atleast need to give him the
option, don't I?
And what he might say is I wantyou to invest that so that
someone in a third world countrycan get a translation of the
Bible in their own language.
So a good portion of what you'vereceived needs to go to
Wycliffe Bible translators,right, or some other missionary
venture in which the gospel ofJesus Christ will be promoted
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throughout the world.
You see, that is having youreye on heavenly things.
It's not to say, well, I needto do this with it or I need to
do that with it, but to haveyour eye on heavenly things is
to go to your father and say,lord, what do you want me to do
with it?
And acknowledge the fact thathe may tell you to do any number
of things with it, but seek hiswill for what he wants you to
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do with the things and theblessings that you've received.
I hate talking about money.
People get the wrong impression.
So please don't misunderstandme, I don't want your money, as
far as that goes.
You understand.
If you are sitting here todayand you think, oh that pastor,
you know he's just talking aboutmoney today, please don't give
a penny to us.
Give it somewhere else.
You understand what I'm saying.
(17:11):
If that's your heart, we don'twant it.
You do what the Lord commandsyou to do.
Why?
Because he's your Lord, he'syour master, he's your owner,
he's your boss, he's the one whodirects you, he's the one who
leads you.
Set your mind on things above,not on things on the earth, for
you died and your life is hiddenwith Christ in God.
(17:32):
When Christ, who is our life,appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory.
Therefore, then you also willappear with him in glory.
Therefore, put to death yourmembers which are on the earth.
Fornication, uncleanness,passion, evil, desire and
covetousness, which is idolatry.
Because of these things, thewrath of God is coming upon the
sons of disobedience in whichyou also once walked when you
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lived in them.
But now you must also put offall these things anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthylanguage out of your mouth.
Do not lie to one another,since you have put off the old
man with his deeds and have puton the new man, who is renewed
in knowledge according to theimage of him who created him,
where there is neither Greek norJew, circumcised nor
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uncircumcised.
Barbarian, scythian slave, norfree, but Christ is all and in
all.
Barren, scythian slave, norfree, but Christ is all and in
all.
Verse 12,.
Therefore, as the elect of God,holy and beloved, put on tender
mercies, kindness, humblenessof mind, meekness, long
suffering, bearing with oneanother and forgiving one
another If anyone has acomplaint against another.
(18:35):
Even as Christ forgave you, soyou also must do Christian, for
you.
As a Christian, forgivingsomebody else is not an option,
it's a requirement.
Do you understand that?
God commands you to forgive,doesn't command you to be able
to forgive?
Only he is able to forgive.
But you purpose in your heartto forgive that person and God
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gives you the ability to do that.
But above all these things, puton love, which is the bond of
perfection, and let the peace ofGod rule in your hearts, to
which also you were called inone body, and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell inyou richly in all wisdom,
(19:16):
teaching and admonishing oneanother in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing withgrace in your hearts to the Lord
.
And here's really the verse Iwant to get to today.
And whatever you do in word ordeed, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus, the name of the LordJesus, giving thanks to God,
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the Father, through him.
And verse 23 is like it, whichsays and whatever you do, do it
heartily as to the Lord and notto men.
You see, whatever we do in life, if we belong to Jesus Christ,
then whatever we do in life isan act of worship to God.
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If I can't do it as an act ofworship, then I ought not be
doing it as a Christian.
Do you understand?
Whatever you do, if you vacuumthe floor, that vacuuming of the
floor should be done with allyour might Do it heartily as
unto the Lord.
If you get up and go to work inthe morning, you should go to
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work in the morning not toplease your boss, but to please
God.
If you're washing dishes athome, kids, you're not washing
dishes to please your parents.
You're washing dishes to pleasethe Lord and you should do it
heartily as unto him.
Do you hear what I'm saying?
Whatever you do, do it heartily.
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In other words, put all of youinto it.
Do your best, because when youdo your best you're bringing
glory to your Father in heaven.
Do it heartily, as unto theLord.
Romans chapter 12 makes all oflife holy.
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It makes all of life a worshipservice.
You see, we worship God onSunday mornings when we come in
here and we sing songs to him.
But you should also worship Godon Sunday nights when you go
home and cook dinner for yourfamily.
You should also worship Godwhen you tip the waitress at the
restaurant this afternoon forlunch, and you should tip that
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waitress to the glory of God.
You know, even when I get badservice, I find it almost
impossible not to tip because Ithink of how gracious God was to
me, you know, especially ifthat person saw me praying over
my meal.
Guys, if you're not gonna tip,please don't give thanks in
public.
You understand what I'm saying.
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My pastor back in Bakersfieldused to say if you can't afford
to leave a tip, go to McDonald's.
People used to call it church30, when all of the churches
would come into the restaurantafter lunch.
Right, notoriously one of theworst times for waitresses and
waiters, because a lot of thosefolks don't tip, don't bring a
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bad report upon the Lord, don'treflect badly upon him.
Be generous as God prospers youand understand those poor folks
only make about $2.11 an hour.
I wouldn't want to have that onmy heart, you know.
So, whatever you do, do it asunto the Lord.
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Verse 1 of chapter 12, again,paul urges you.
He says I urge you or I beseechyou.
Therefore, brethren, by themercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice,holy, acceptable to God, which
is your reasonable service, anddo not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed ormetamorphosized or completely
changed by the renewing of yourmind, that you may prove what is
(22:53):
that good and acceptable andperfect will of God.
Moving into verse 3, paul iswriting For I say, through the
grace given to me, to everyonewho is among you, not to think
of himself more that has beengiven to him or a certain
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something that he did notdeserve that has been given to
him, and it is through thatwhich has been given to him that
he is speaking.
Well, what Paul has received,among many other things, is
apostolic authority.
God ordained Paul as theapostle to the Gentiles.
In other words, he was one whowas the messenger of God to them
.
And so Paul is saying, throughthe grace given to me, in
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essence, as the messenger of Goddo these things.
So in essence, what he's sayingis I'm not speaking here in my
own authority, but I'm speakingin the authority of God.
So Paul writes again, for I say, through the grace given to me,
to everyone who is among youNow, of course he's speaking to
the church in Rome, but he'salso speaking to the church in
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Burleson today.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Well, that's all the time we have for today.
You've been listening to Heedthe Word, the radio ministry of
Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro,located in Burleson, Texas.
With so many ideas out thereabout the Christian life, we
thought it necessary to sharewith you a series entitled
Lessons for Christian Living, ateaching through the 12th and
(24:32):
13th chapters of the Book ofRomans that tackles the issues
of Christian life.
If you were with us at thebeginning of today's broadcast,
you know we mentioned that we'dbe giving additional information
about Heed the Word and how toget a free copy of this message.
For more information about Heedthe Word, log on to
heedthewordorg.
That's heedthewordorg.
(24:55):
At the website, you'll findeverything you need our contact
information and a link to ouronline order form, which will
allow you to place an order fora CD of today's message in its
unedited form.
Since all of our materials arefree of charge, supplies are
limited, so log on toheedthewordorg and place your
(25:15):
order today.
As we close today, we want toencourage you to not just listen
to Heed the Word, but to trulyapply what you're learning.
Take the Word of God and beginapplying it to your life every
day.
Well, that's all the time wehave for this edition of Heed
the Word with Pastor Ken Davis.
Place a marker in your Biblesand join us next time as Pastor
(25:37):
Ken continues with our seriesentitled Lessons for Christian
Living ¶¶.
You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor
and teacher, Ken Davis.
Pastor Ken is the senior pastorof Calvary Chapel, Southwest
Metro.
Please join us as we study ourseries entitled Lessons in
Christian Living.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
The Bible tells us that God loves us, and not only
does he love us, but he showedus that he loved us.
It says that God demonstratedHis love for us in this that
while we were yet sinners,before we stopped drinking,
before we stopped sleepingaround, before we stopped
cursing and swearing and hatingpeople, before we stopped
(00:38):
beating people up with our wordsor with our fists, whatever the
case might be, while we werestill sinners even in the midst
of all of that wickedness in ourlives, christ the case might be
.
While we were still sinners,even in the midst of all of that
wickedness in our lives, christJesus died for us.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
There's no shortage of self-help books, motivational
speakers and opinions out thereabout how we're supposed to
live on this earth, but asChristians, we need to take our
direction in this area from theWord of God.
So we're bringing you ourseries entitled Lessons in
Christian Living, taken from the12th and 13th chapters of
Paul's letter to the church inRome.
(01:10):
There are many people today whobelieve the old saying Jesus
only helps those who helpthemselves.
They think that in order toapproach the Father, that we
have to fix ourselves first.
This is a lie.
Jesus wants to come to him aswe are, with a heart of
repentance.
It is then that he begins hiswork of grace that changes us.
(01:30):
Don't forget to stay with usafter today's message to hear
more information about Heed theWord, specifically how you can
get a free copy of this teaching.
But for now, please open yourBibles to the book of Psalms,
chapter 29, verse 1, as we joinPastor Ken with the beginning of
part three in our seriesentitled Lessons in Christian
Living.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Psalm 29, verses 1 and 2, say this Give unto the
Lord, o, you mighty ones.
Give unto the Lord glory andstrength.
Give unto the Lord the glory.
Do His name.
Worship the Lord in the beautyof holiness.
The phrase there that stood outto me was give unto the Lord the
(02:11):
glory that is due his name.
You know, we owe God asacrifice of praise, do we not?
We owe God the glorificationthat is rightly his, that we
would honor him, that we wouldglorify him, that we would speak
the truth about him and abouthis goodness.
When I think of giving the Lordthe glory that is due his name,
(02:35):
I am reminded yet again ofRomans, chapter 12, verses 1 and
2, where we find ourselvesbeginning this morning, in which
Paul writes I beseech youtherefore, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that youpresent your bodies a living
sacrifice holy, acceptable toGod, which is your reasonable
service, and do not be conformedto this world, but be
(02:58):
transformed by the renewing ofyour mind that you may prove
what is that good and acceptableand perfect will of God, the
glory due his name, that whichis your reasonable service.
Amen.
It is reasonable that we shouldglorify God because of all that
he has done for us and becauseof all that he is.
(03:22):
You know, today we're going tobe moving on into verses three
through eight, but before we dothat, I need to speak for a
moment to those who are not bornagain.
I need to talk to you thismorning If you have not come to
that place in your life whereyou have confessed to Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior,where you have not come to that
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point where you have confessedyour sins before God and
repented of them.
Repenting from your sins meansto be sorry for your sins, but
it also means to be sorry enoughthat you don't want to commit
them anymore, that you want toturn away from your sins in
order to follow God.
If you are here this morningand you have not confessed Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior,if you have not repented of
(04:05):
your sins, if you have notsought God for the forgiveness
of your sins and asked him tocome and live in your heart and
to be your Lord, you are the onethat I want to talk to for just
a minute or two Now.
The reason I want to talk toyou specifically for just a
minute or two is because therest of the time, I'm going to
be talking to people who arealready Christians, and so,
before I get to all of that, Ineed to talk to you for a moment
(04:25):
, you who are not believers inJesus Christ.
We stand here today together, achurch, a fellowship of people
who once were just like you.
There was a time in each of ourlives when we did not believe
in Jesus Christ.
We might have acknowledged thathe existed, but we hadn't put
(04:48):
our faith or our hope or ourtrust in him, and we certainly
didn't acknowledge him as ourLord.
You see, that word Lord meansmaster and owner, and if I am
born again, if I am a Christian,that means that Jesus is my
master and owner.
And you know what?
That's actually a really goodthing.
We were all once just like you.
(05:08):
Maybe you're skeptical.
This morning, some of us wereskeptical.
Maybe you just have never heardbefore about Jesus Christ and
all that he has done for you.
Some of us had never heardbefore.
Or maybe you are so wrapped upin your own thing, in doing what
you want to do, that you're notwilling to let go of that in
order to follow Jesus.
Some of us here this morningwere once, just like you.
(05:30):
But you see, something happenedto us.
We began to realize that therewas an emptiness in our hearts,
that, no matter what we did tosatisfy ourselves ourselves were
never satisfied.
No matter what we got, wewanted more.
No matter what we did, we foundthat, even though it might
distract us for a little while,in the end we were alone again
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and we were lost in our sin.
And one day someone shared withus the truth of what Jesus
Christ has done and we believedwhat we were told and, as a
result of that, we confessed oursin.
In other words, we admittedthat we had done wrong and that
God was right and that we neededto turn from following
ourselves and going and doingthe things that we wanted to do,
(06:12):
to turn and follow him, that wemight do the things that he
wanted us to do.
And we came to the cross.
You know, you hear that phrasewe came to the cross.
Well, what does that mean?
Does that mean I have to go toa couple of two-by-fours?
No, we came to the cross.
What that means is this thecross is the place where Jesus
died.
It's the place where the onewho knew no sin he'd never done
(06:33):
anything wrong became sin for us, you see, that we might be
declared righteous by God.
You see, here's the problem.
The Bible tells us thateveryone has sinned.
It says all have sinned andfallen short of the glory of God
.
Let me back up for a second.
All have sinned and fallenshort of the glory of God.
That means that if you are notsaved, if you are not born again
(06:55):
this morning, then you are justlike we all were at one time.
You're a sinner.
Okay, now, when I say you're asinner, don't be offended by
that, because I'm the sinner too.
We were all sinners, we wereall lost.
But the problem is, the Bibletells us that the wages of sin
is death, and that means that ifyou have ever sinned in your
life, you deserve to be punishedfor that sin.
(07:15):
The wages of sin is death.
But you see, the Bible tells usthat God loves us, and not only
does he love us, but he showedus that he loved us.
It says that God demonstratedhis love for us in this that
while we were yet sinners,before we stopped drinking,
before we stopped sleepingaround, before we stopped
cursing and swearing and hatingpeople, before we stopped
(07:39):
beating people up with our wordsor with our fists, whatever the
case might be, while we werestill sinners, even in the midst
of all of that wicked, or withour fists, whatever the case
might be, while we were stillsinners, even in the midst of
all of that wickedness in ourlives, christ Jesus died for us.
So, as rotten as we were, godstill loved us enough to send
his son to die for us.
That's a lot of love, isn't it?
That is a love that we don'tdeserve.
And when you receive somethingthat you don't deserve, the word
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for that in the Bible is grace.
Grace is when God gives youwhat you don't deserve.
The word for that in the Bibleis grace.
Grace is when God gives youwhat you don't deserve, you see,
and it says that the thief orthe enemy comes but to steal and
to kill and to destroy.
But Jesus came that we mighthave life and that we might have
it more abundantly.
So God loved us so much that hesent his son to die for us, to
(08:23):
die in our place, so that wecould be forgiven of our sins
and have eternal life in JesusChrist.
Now, the rest of us, who werejust like you, who did not
believe when we came to believe,when we believed in our hearts
that Jesus Christ was the son ofGod and we confessed him as
Lord.
When we believed in our heartsand confessed with our mouth,
something happened we were saved, we were born again, we were
(08:52):
cleansed from all of our sinsand we were given eternal life,
so that when we die, we knowthat we will be in heaven with
God.
Now, if you are not a Christianthis morning, I want you to
know this.
Just like it happened to us, itcan happen to you.
Just as we heard the truth.
You have now heard the truthand you can be forgiven today.
If you want to be born again, ifyou want to be forgiven for
(09:16):
your sins, if you want to havethat hole that is in your heart,
that big emptiness, if you wantto have that filled up with the
spirit of God, and if you wantto know that you can go to
heaven when you die, that'savailable for you this morning.
All you have to do is believein your heart and confess or
admit with your mouth that JesusChrist is Lord and that God has
(09:37):
raised him from the dead.
That's all.
So that's what I have to say toyou this morning who are not
believers?
You can do that right now.
You don't have to wait for methis morning.
Who are not believers?
You can do that right now.
You don't have to wait for meto say a prayer with you.
You don't have to come forwardfor a prayer service, although
I'm gonna give you theopportunity to do those things
but you can make that decisionin your heart right now, and I
(09:59):
invite you to do so Now for therest of you, for those of you
who are Christians, who are bornagain, who have been forgiven
for your sins, who have receivedthe gift of the Holy Spirit and
eternal life, or for those ofyou who've just made that
commitment just now.
The rest of what I have to saythis morning is for you.
So in Romans, chapter 12, verseone, paul wrote I beseech you
(10:22):
therefore.
Wherefore?
Why is he saying?
He beseeches us?
Because of the gospel that I'vejust shared with you.
I beseech you therefore,brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies aliving sacrifice.
That means, very simply Jesusdied for you, so now you go and
live for him A living sacrifice,holy and acceptable to God,
(10:49):
which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformedby the renewing of your mind
that you may prove what is thatgood and acceptable and perfect
will of God.
You see, when Jesus Christ isour Lord, we submit ourselves to
his will.
And as we submit ourselves tohis will and as we live our
(11:10):
lives for him, then we discoverthat God's will is good, that
God's will is acceptable andthat God's will is perfect.
You see, we have a plan for ourown lives.
We think we know what we wantand how we want to live, but God
has a plan that is so muchbetter than ours that once we
walk into it and once we realizewhat he's doing, we're blown
(11:33):
away by it.
We're amazed by it.
We're thrilled by therevelation of God's will in our
life because we realize howperfect it is.
Now, before we move forward intoRomans 12, I want you to turn
to Colossians, chapter 3.
Colossians is sort of aroundthe middle of the New Testament.
(11:54):
I like to think of go eatpopcorn.
Galatians, ephesians,philippians, colossians it's an
easy way to remember where thatis If you get into the T's which
are first and secondThessalonians, timothy and Titus
and all those.
You went too far.
So Colossians, chapter three, inverse one, paul writes if then
you were raised with Christ.
(12:15):
In other words, okay, if youactually have been born again,
if you really are a believer,seek those things which are
above, where Christ is sittingat the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above,not on things on the earth, for
you died and your life is hiddenwith Christ in God.
So, in other words, if youprofess that Jesus Christ is
(12:38):
Lord, then you should be moreconcerned with seeing his
kingdom come than seeing yourkingdom on earth established.
You understand, our eyes needto be on Jesus Christ and on his
kingdom and on what he wants usto do for his glory, rather
than on what we want him to dofor our pleasure and benefit.
(12:58):
Keep your eyes on heavenlythings, not on earthly things.
In other words, your prioritiesneed to be godly priorities,
divine priorities, heavenlypriorities rather than earthly
priorities.
Let me give you an example welive in a world where a whole
lot of people don't know JesusChrist.
(13:20):
A whole lot of people don'tknow Jesus Christ.
Millions of people today havenot heard the gospel, and that
is hard for us to comprehend.
Why?
Because we live in a countrywhere the gospel permeates
everything.
I mean, the gospel goes outover the radio waves as we know,
we're a part of that.
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The gospel goes out over thetelevision waves.
The gospel is posted onbillboards, right?
The gospel is available inevery bookstore, and there's a
church on so many corners today.
Now, are they all preaching thegospel?
No, a lot of them are preachinga lot of false doctrine, and
(14:00):
that has happened because peopledon't have a love for the truth
.
People rather love other things.
Right?
But comparatively speaking, wehave, in the United States,
access to the gospel If we wantit, if we seek it.
It's not that hard for us tofind, is it?
But there are parts of thisworld where people can't get
(14:21):
their hands on a Bible.
There are parts of this worldwhere a little fellowship of
believers finally gets a hold ofa Bible in their own language,
and so that they can all have atleast a little bit of it, they
will tear it into pieces,sections at a time, and each
family will take a littlesection of it home with them and
they will read it and they willpour over it and they will
(14:42):
memorize chapters, if not books,of the Bible that they might
have it for themselves and thenthey'll come back to the little
house church that they're a partof and they'll trade copies so
that eventually, that wholeBible works its way all around
that little church and, comparedto to some people, they're
blessed, because there are someplaces on this earth where
(15:03):
people don't even have a copy ofGod's word in their own
language.
Now, here we sit, in ouropulence, here we sit in all of
our blessing, all of our comfort, and we complain.
You see, when we complain, Idon't like the fact that I drive
a 10-year-old car Praise theLord, you have a 10-year-old car
(15:24):
.
Oh, I don't like the fact thatI had to buy my clothes at
Goodwill.
Thank God there's a Goodwillyou could go to to buy your
clothes.
By the way, if anybody I've hadconversations with a couple of
you.
I'm not aiming at anybody,that's just an example.
Okay, now if I have my eyes onworldly things and let's say I
come into $25,000, $30,000, justboom, wow, there it is, it
(15:48):
would be really easy for me tospend all of that on myself,
right, and no one would fault mefor it.
Or if I have my eyes onheavenly things, then I could go
to God and I could say Lord,what do you want me to do with
this?
And he might say I want you tospend it on a house, or I want
(16:08):
you to spend it on a car.
I'm not going to say that Godwould never say that.
He might say that, but I atleast need to give him the
option, don't I?
And what he might say is I wantyou to invest that so that
someone in a third world countrycan get a translation of the
Bible in their own language.
So a good portion of what you'vereceived needs to go to
Wycliffe Bible translators,right, or some other missionary
venture in which the gospel ofJesus Christ will be promoted
(16:29):
throughout the world.
You see, that is having youreye on heavenly things.
It's not to say, well, I needto do this with it or I need to
do that with it, but to haveyour eye on heavenly things is
to go to your father and say,lord, what do you want me to do
with it?
And acknowledge the fact thathe may tell you to do any number
of things with it, but seek hiswill for what he wants you to
(16:50):
do with the things and theblessings that you've received.
I hate talking about money.
People get the wrong impression.
So please don't misunderstandme, I don't want your money, as
far as that goes.
You understand.
If you are sitting here todayand you think, oh that pastor,
you know he's just talking aboutmoney today, please don't give
a penny to us.
Give it somewhere else.
You understand what I'm saying.
(17:11):
If that's your heart, we don'twant it.
You do what the Lord commandsyou to do.
Why?
Because he's your Lord, he'syour master, he's your owner,
he's your boss, he's the one whodirects you, he's the one who
leads you.
Set your mind on things above,not on things on the earth, for
you died and your life is hiddenwith Christ in God.
(17:32):
When Christ, who is our life,appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory.
Therefore, then you also willappear with him in glory.
Therefore, put to death yourmembers which are on the earth.
Fornication, uncleanness,passion, evil, desire and
covetousness, which is idolatry.
Because of these things, thewrath of God is coming upon the
sons of disobedience in whichyou also once walked when you
(17:53):
lived in them.
But now you must also put offall these things anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthylanguage out of your mouth.
Do not lie to one another,since you have put off the old
man with his deeds and have puton the new man, who is renewed
in knowledge according to theimage of him who created him,
where there is neither Greek norJew, circumcised nor
(18:13):
uncircumcised.
Barbarian, scythian slave, norfree, but Christ is all and in
all.
Barren, scythian slave, norfree, but Christ is all and in
all.
Verse 12,.
Therefore, as the elect of God,holy and beloved, put on tender
mercies, kindness, humblenessof mind, meekness, long
suffering, bearing with oneanother and forgiving one
another If anyone has acomplaint against another.
(18:35):
Even as Christ forgave you, soyou also must do Christian, for
you.
As a Christian, forgivingsomebody else is not an option,
it's a requirement.
Do you understand that?
God commands you to forgive,doesn't command you to be able
to forgive?
Only he is able to forgive.
But you purpose in your heartto forgive that person and God
(18:55):
gives you the ability to do that.
But above all these things, puton love, which is the bond of
perfection, and let the peace ofGod rule in your hearts, to
which also you were called inone body, and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell inyou richly in all wisdom,
(19:16):
teaching and admonishing oneanother in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing withgrace in your hearts to the Lord
.
And here's really the verse Iwant to get to today.
And whatever you do in word ordeed, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus, the name of the LordJesus, giving thanks to God,
(19:41):
the Father, through him.
And verse 23 is like it, whichsays and whatever you do, do it
heartily as to the Lord and notto men.
You see, whatever we do in life, if we belong to Jesus Christ,
then whatever we do in life isan act of worship to God.
(20:02):
If I can't do it as an act ofworship, then I ought not be
doing it as a Christian.
Do you understand?
Whatever you do, if you vacuumthe floor, that vacuuming of the
floor should be done with allyour might Do it heartily as
unto the Lord.
If you get up and go to work inthe morning, you should go to
(20:23):
work in the morning not toplease your boss, but to please
God.
If you're washing dishes athome, kids, you're not washing
dishes to please your parents.
You're washing dishes to pleasethe Lord and you should do it
heartily as unto him.
Do you hear what I'm saying?
Whatever you do, do it heartily.
(20:46):
In other words, put all of youinto it.
Do your best, because when youdo your best you're bringing
glory to your Father in heaven.
Do it heartily, as unto theLord.
Romans chapter 12 makes all oflife holy.
(21:08):
It makes all of life a worshipservice.
You see, we worship God onSunday mornings when we come in
here and we sing songs to him.
But you should also worship Godon Sunday nights when you go
home and cook dinner for yourfamily.
You should also worship Godwhen you tip the waitress at the
restaurant this afternoon forlunch, and you should tip that
(21:29):
waitress to the glory of God.
You know, even when I get badservice, I find it almost
impossible not to tip because Ithink of how gracious God was to
me, you know, especially ifthat person saw me praying over
my meal.
Guys, if you're not gonna tip,please don't give thanks in
public.
You understand what I'm saying.
(21:50):
My pastor back in Bakersfieldused to say if you can't afford
to leave a tip, go to McDonald's.
People used to call it church30, when all of the churches
would come into the restaurantafter lunch.
Right, notoriously one of theworst times for waitresses and
waiters, because a lot of thosefolks don't tip, don't bring a
(22:11):
bad report upon the Lord, don'treflect badly upon him.
Be generous as God prospers youand understand those poor folks
only make about $2.11 an hour.
I wouldn't want to have that onmy heart, you know.
So, whatever you do, do it asunto the Lord.
(22:31):
Verse 1 of chapter 12, again,paul urges you.
He says I urge you or I beseechyou.
Therefore, brethren, by themercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice,holy, acceptable to God, which
is your reasonable service, anddo not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed ormetamorphosized or completely
changed by the renewing of yourmind, that you may prove what is
(22:53):
that good and acceptable andperfect will of God.
Moving into verse 3, paul iswriting For I say, through the
grace given to me, to everyonewho is among you, not to think
of himself more that has beengiven to him or a certain
(23:23):
something that he did notdeserve that has been given to
him, and it is through thatwhich has been given to him that
he is speaking.
Well, what Paul has received,among many other things, is
apostolic authority.
God ordained Paul as theapostle to the Gentiles.
In other words, he was one whowas the messenger of God to them
.
And so Paul is saying, throughthe grace given to me, in
(23:46):
essence, as the messenger of Goddo these things.
So in essence, what he's sayingis I'm not speaking here in my
own authority, but I'm speakingin the authority of God.
So Paul writes again, for I say, through the grace given to me,
to everyone who is among youNow, of course he's speaking to
the church in Rome, but he'salso speaking to the church in
(24:08):
Burleson today.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Well, that's all the time we have for today.
You've been listening to Heedthe Word, the radio ministry of
Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro,located in Burleson, Texas.
With so many ideas out thereabout the Christian life, we
thought it necessary to sharewith you a series entitled
Lessons for Christian Living, ateaching through the 12th and
(24:32):
13th chapters of the Book ofRomans that tackles the issues
of Christian life.
If you were with us at thebeginning of today's broadcast,
you know we mentioned that we'dbe giving additional information
about Heed the Word and how toget a free copy of this message.
For more information about Heedthe Word, log on to
heedthewordorg.
That's heedthewordorg.
(24:55):
At the website, you'll findeverything you need our contact
information and a link to ouronline order form, which will
allow you to place an order fora CD of today's message in its
unedited form.
Since all of our materials arefree of charge, supplies are
limited, so log on toheedthewordorg and place your
(25:15):
order today.
As we close today, we want toencourage you to not just listen
to Heed the Word, but to trulyapply what you're learning.
Take the Word of God and beginapplying it to your life every
day.
Well, that's all the time wehave for this edition of Heed
the Word with Pastor Ken Davis.
Place a marker in your Biblesand join us next time as Pastor
(25:37):
Ken continues with our seriesentitled Lessons for Christian
Living ¶¶.
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