TD Jakes - A Living Sacrifice
And he is bringing them together so that, when he gets to number 3, he now brings 'em down to chapter 3, to the same playing floor when he says, "All have sinned". See how he's bringin' 'em together? He's not bringin' 'em together through theology and doctrine. He's bringin' them together through the commonality of their own debauchery. "The one thing you both have in common is that you have all sinned and come short of the glory of God". He's bringing 'em down to his lowest common denominator.
I know it's old school, but when I came up, they taught you how to divide and multiply fractions by reducing it down to its lowest common denominator. So by chapter 3, we have reduced both the Jew and the Gentile. In chapter 3, they are reduced to their lowest common denominator when he says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God". And then in chapter 4, he reminds the Jews, "Father Abraham received the covenant before he was circumcised, so how dare you not eat with these people because they're not circumcised? Your father Abraham had the covenant before he had the sign of the covenant".
He's tearing down the walls of partition between them because real good leadership brings people together. I said, "Real good leadership brings people together", shows 'em what they have in common, not how different they are, but how alike they are. Real good leadership can take people who hate each other and make them join together, and stand together, and fight together, and live together. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Stop actin' funny toward her. You stop acting funny toward him. We're in the same boat. We might've come in on different ships, but we landed in the same boat.
In chapter 5, he says, "Therefore being justified by faith", therefore being justified by faith, "we have peace with God". Therefore being justified, since we have no righteousness now, the first four chapters have stripped me of all righteousness. Since I have no claim to God, based on my religious pedigree, you stripped me of all of that. Since I have no claim to God, based on my sexual integrity, you've stripped of all of that in the first four chapters and brought me down to my knees. Now he says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God". Not peace "in God", not peace "of God". We have peace "with God".
Do you know how important it is to have peace with God? You talk about havin' peace with China. You talkin' about havin' peace with Russia. You know who I really wanna have peace with? I wanna have peace with God. I don't wanna get on the bad side of God. Romans chapter 5 says, in order to have peace with God, I have to have faith. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace".
We've got Romans chapter 6, says, "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How can we, that are dead to sin, live any longer". Yes, I know my Bible. "How can we, that are dead to sin". Sin is not dead to me, but I am dead to it. "How can we that are dead to sin, live"? Didn't say we couldn't do it, but how can you live in it? Sheep can fall in the mud, but but only pigs can live in it. "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How can we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein"? And then, in 6, he says, "Therefore as many of us as have been baptized into Jesus Christ have been baptized into his death, that if we are planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection".
In other words, if you go down with Jesus, you come up with Jesus. Hey-hey, hey. If you go down with him, you come up with him. He won't get ya in nothing he won't get ya out of. If he takes it in the grave on the third day mornin', he gon' roll you up out of the grave. Somebody ought to shout right there. If God gets you in trouble, he's God enough to get ya out of trouble. If God puts you in a ditch, he'll pull you right back up out of the ditch again.
In chapter 7, he allows us to look inside of himself and said, "When I would do good, evil is present with me". "That which I would do, I do not. That which I would not do, I do. O wretched man that I am. Who". Somebody, shout, "who". "Who shall deliver me out of the body of this death"? See how he's weavin' it together? See, he brought 'em all into one place, and now he's lookin' for "somebody that could get me out of this mess, that my will is not enough, that my mind is not enough".
This is for all the Gnostics who were teaching the worship of knowing. He said, "You can't trust your will, for that which you will do, you do not, and that which you would not do, you will". He said, "You know you're crazy, O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me out of the body"? Somebody, shout, "Who"? How dare you trust your own mind, your own intellect. You still tryin' to figure yourself out with your confused self. How dare you argue with people as if you knew somethin', as if you understood somethin'? How dare you worship your own opinion?
"When I would do good, evil is present with me". "That which I would do, I do not. That which I would not do, I do". "O wretched man that I am, who". Who, who? I'm lookin' for "who". "Who should deliver me"? In the 7th chapter, I'm looking for "who". In the 8th chapter I'll find it: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk no longer after the flesh, but after the Spirit of God". Oh, y'all don't hear me talkin' to you. In 9, he weeps for his people Israel because they have rejected the answer and the solution. In chapter 10, he tells us that, if the removing of the Jews, it's only through their removal that I am grafted in their place. In chapter 11, he says, "If their removal created a place for you to be grafted in, how much more shall their return be, in turn".
"So you ain't gotta be jealous of me. You ain't gotta hate me. You ain't gotta hate me because, if God removing me opened up a door for you, that doesn't mean you have to hate me and lock me out because, when I return, it's just gon' make it better for you. Let me break this down: Killing me don't make you king".
So 9, 10, and 11, is almost like a pocket in the discussion where he digresses into an understanding that the place that we're in right now, you and me as Gentiles, Gentiles, Africans and Europeans as Gentiles, we're all in the same spot where the spot that we're in right now, neither one of our ancestors were worshipin' the true and living God.
We were Gentiles alienated from God, hallelujah, walking in the lusts of our flesh in states of idolatry. We have been grafted in to the royal family. We have been adopted into the royal family. Jesus gave me his name so that I could be adopted into the royal family, told me, "Whatsoever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus because you really weren't in the family. I reached out and brought you into the family by giving you my name".
When I met you, you were Serita Jamison. When I married you, you became Serita Jakes because, when I give you my name, I adopt you. Marriage is an adoption. That's why Romans said, "Through the Spirit, we cry, 'Abba, Father.'" We're adopted. We're adopted into the royal family. I've been grafted in. I wasn't even supposed to be here. I got grafted in. He just reached out and brought me in. He gave me the hookup. I'm connected. I'm connected by the blood of the Lamb. So, like me or not, I'm in the family. You gotta deal with me. I'm in it. Come on, and talk to me, somebody. I feel a praise about to hit the place.
Now I have been adopted positionally in the family but, conditionally, I've still got issues that are fighting me. Position and condition are all in my text. When he says, "I beseech ye, therefore, brethren", that's my position, but I'm not livin' right 'cause he told me to present my body a living sacrifice, but he didn't wait till I presented my body to call me "brethren". I thought y'all want to have some church this mornin'. He went ahead and called me "brethren". He didn't put me out the family just 'cause I'm the black sheep of the family. He didn't throw me out just 'cause I had some issues. He didn't throw me out just because I was wild. He didn't throw me out just because I was dysfunctional. He said, "I beseech ye, therefore, brethren". Brethren.
Now I know why he said, "By the mercies of God", because I'm a brother by mercy. I don't deserve to be in the family, but I'm a brother by mercy. Glory to God, I'm a brother by mercy. I'm an heir and a joint heir with Jesus Christ, by mercy. I'm an heir of God. The book said I'm a joint heir of Jesus Christ. A joint heir is Serita and I are brothers and sisters, and we are joint heirs. That means whatever is left to us, we gotta split it.
I'm a joint heir with Jesus Christ, so whatever he got... I said, I'm a joint heir with Jesus Christ, so whatever he got, we gotta split it. High-five somebody and say, "We gotta split it". We gotta split it. If he got healin', if he got peace, if he got deliverance, if he got power, if he got authority... slap somebody and say, "We gotta split it". Somebody who understands the words that are comin' out of my mouth, oughta help me praise.
Reach up and say, "Gimme my portion. Good God of mercy, good God of mercy, good God of mercy, gimme my portion, gimme my portion, gimme my portion. I'm a joint heir. I don't know whether he wants his or not, but gimme my portion. I don't know whether she want hers or not, but gimme my portion. I don't know whether you want yours or not". Somebody, holler, "Gimme my portion". You ought to praise him like you got a...
Yeah, ain't no need in hatin' on me 'cause I'm walkin' in my portion. Ain't no need in talkin' about me 'cause I'm walkin' in my portion. Ain't no need any in talking about me 'cause I'm walkin' in my portion. This is my portion. I'm supposed to be blessed. I'm supposed to be the head and not the tail. I'm supposed to be above and not beneath. I'm supposed to be more than a conquer.
Touch three people and say, "Get over it, get over it. Get over it. He left me the house. Get over it. He left me the car. Get over it. He left me the business. Get over it. He left me the company. Get over it. He left me the power. Get over it. He left me the talent. Get over it. He left me this mind. Get over it". Oh, I feel the power of the Holy Ghost... "I'm a brother. I'm a brother. I'm a brother. I'm a brother. I'm a joint heir. I'm in the hookup. I'm in the family. I'm in the royal family".
You better learn to stick your chest out and let the devil know who you are. Can I teach this thing? "I beseech ye therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies". Wait, wait, wait. "By the mercies of God". I got the "mercy" part, but I just ran into somethin': "That ye present your bodies". Oh, my God, I just went from the brotherhood to the priesthood 'cause when you start talkin' about presenting a sacrifice, now I find out not only am I a brother...
Oh, y'all can handle. I taught too long on the tabernacle for you not to understand the ramification of being a priest unto God. Because I'm a priest, I can intercede for you. I can stand in the gap for other people. So Romans 12 and 1, he starts off talkin' about the brotherhood, and then he slides, he slides, he slides us from brotherhood, understanding of relationship, into priesthood, and then he uses a word that is only used on one of the priest. He says, "That ye present", that's the priest, "your body", that's an offering.
He says I am the priest and the offering. Aaron was a priest, but he wasn't an offering. Nadab was a priest, but he wasn't a offering. Abihu was a priest, but he wasn't an offering. Abinadab was a priest, but he wasn't an offering. The only other person that was both the presenter and the presentee is Jesus Christ, and the Bible said he offered up himself. "No man's take my life".
That ye present. The ye are the priest and the lamb, that Jesus is the only one who entered in by himself. Abraham didn't do it. Him and the lad went up together. Jesus went up by himself because he was both the priest and the Lamb. He was the offeror and the offering. He didn't need nobody to help him. Salvation is of the Lord. He said, "I can do this all by myself. I'm God enough to offer it. I'm man enough to be the offering".
The ye present your body. That's what you came to church for this morning, to present your body, to present your body. A while ago, when they were worshipin' and you had your hands up and you had your mouth open and you were stompin' your feet and you were wavin' your hands, what you think you was doing?
Now, all of you who refuse to move, and you think it is beneath you to show any physical expression and that you have a relationship with God in your own way but you don't think that it is necessary to have any physical, outward demonstration of the joy and exuberance of the presence of the Lord because that is emotionalism and you are too couth to be emotional, you may be a priest, but you don't have an offering. Somebody, offer up an offering right now!