We are still considering, as most of you will recall, the first two verses in the 12th

chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans.

I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you 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. Now, I've reminded you many times already that this is the

most important and crucial statement. This is the point at which so many have in past

centuries broken down in the Christian life, the point at which so many still break down.

Here is one of those vital links, which we must always consider most carefully.

You'll find the same link in every epistle in the New Testament, and we ignore it only,

I say, at our gravest peril.

Now, I'm particularly anxious that we should all see that this is not only important in and of itself, but that it is particularly important

at the present time in the situation in which the Christian Church finds herself and all of us as members of the church.

I trust that week by week I am showing you the immediate practical relevance of this tremendous statement that the apostle makes here.

Here in two verses he really sums up the whole of the Christian gospel teaching with regard to conduct and behavior. It is the introduction to the whole of the remainder of the great epistle. Now, we've already considered the first verse. There we see the apostle gives us the motives, why we should live this Christian

life. Then having considered the motives to Christian living, we've gone on to consider the manner

or the practice of Christian living. And we've seen that his great emphasis there is upon the body, the actual, material, physical body.

And his teaching is that we should present that as an offering to God.

It must be holy, without blemish, without sin.

It must be truly acceptable to God like a sweet-smelling sever going up.

And above all, it must be intelligent, it must be spiritual, reasonable,

in the sense that it isn't something dead, not something that we do mechanically,

...