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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/don-wardell/living-for-god-2/
I want to follow in on just even the hymn that our brother has given out. Love so amazing, so divine, demands, that's the word, my heart, my life, my all. The subject to which I like to speak, and it takes me quite a while sometimes to get a theme on, but this is what it would be, living for God, and we're going to come to just a few Bible characters that I'll list, and we won't be able to detail their lives, but you'll have them, and they'll all fit together very simply, and some of these lived in very dark and difficult days, and hard days, and as others have said, and I believe it myself, they have experienced it, and they have searched the scriptures, and we know it's true, that we believe it takes more of God to live in dark, difficult days of departure than in days of blessing and revival, but listen, I think it is a great joy to be living today, just prior to the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ, so we take courage, and just a little while that remains, that we will live for God.
Somebody said this, and I heard it somewhere, and I'm sure there's someone could be credited with the originality of it, but this is what I'm thinking, today, you know, we have failures, and I don't know where you are in your Christian life just at this moment, but maybe we should do, like the apostle said, forgetting the things that are behind, alright, but this is what someone said, well, this is the first day of the rest of your life, so here we are today, and before I start to speak, I'm interested, and there's young people today, of where you're going, do you know where you are today?
We want, we covet your life for God, so maybe today we can help you, now I'm going to come, and I will be telling you, I told you this morning, I've rarely ever done that, my home assembly knows me personally at Dunkerton, and I let them know my little secrets, they know my favorite hymns, I told you the first one, that leads me to the second one, and I'll have to quit, I can't have too many favorite hymns, but I have a third one, and I think I'm going to be at that one today, and we'll give you that one, you just, hopefully, I can remember, to tell you about it, the third one, it's in my message, but we're going to come to this verse, Romans chapter 1, and verse, Romans chapter 12, verse 1, we'll get it right here now, I'm going to read these verses right on through, and then you'll have them, and we'll line them out for you, very quickly, this afternoon is shorter time for ministry, they're still brethren, even though we've heard them before, they are gifted to speak again too, Romans chapter 12, verse 1, I beseech you, that's the way the Apostle preached, take note, the law says do it or else, but grace says I beseech you, and you can look in your Bible, your own study, there's something very significant in it, I haven't ministered on it, but I've thought about it, how that comes out in different verses, and what's the setting, and how the teaching comes, but he says I beseech you, therefore, brethren, now, 11 chapters past, and in light of all the blessings God has given to you, now there are men that are Bible teachers, and they have given to me, I've looked at myself, they could tell you of all the blessings, justification, and salvation, and all those great truths, he's laid them all before, now in light of all that, I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that's what he's talking about, the mercies of God, those things that have been stowed upon us, and that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable in God, which is your reasonable service, now come with me in your Bible to Acts chapter 9, now keep right on my heels quickly, because a sister at Dunkerdon, it is actually Elaine Nordman, the one who has her son lost in the accident, she come to me, said Don, don't read all your verses, you're not going to speak on them anyway, but we're going to get them out there to you, where you just keep on my heels, and we'll come in rapid fire here, these Bible characters, I love to study Bible characters, but we're just going to highlight one word in their life, and this is Acts chapter 9, Paul, it says in verse number 6, and he trembling, and as Donnie said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
I'll fill you in when we come back here, what the Lord answered, come with me now to Genesis chapter 21, 22 it is, Genesis chapter 22, this is Abraham, Abraham at the beginning of our Bible, the heart of my message, for the most part, are individuals, is young men, young men that lived in very difficult and dark days, but we have Abraham in here too, because he's a hundred years old, so if you're old, don't think you're past today, this is for you, don't think you're finished, because you're not, you're right in there, this is for young and old, and it says here, that it came to pass that after these things, what about all these things that have come in Abraham's life, and it's referring to crisis, after crisis, after crisis, any crisis in your life?
That's what we want, we want crisis in your life, I hope, when it comes to living for God, you can't just let your life happen, I'll tell you one thing about living for God, it will cost you, here is Abraham, and after these things, God did tempt Abraham, the better and best word would be, he tried him, Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham, he said, behold, here am I, he's going to take up to Mount Moriah, and you know how it is, take now thy son, thine only son, verse 5, Abraham comes to the point, and he said unto the young men, abide ye here at the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
Just that brief reading, he's going to go to Mount Moriah, if you like to study mountains in the Bible, this is the mountain of testing, in Sunday school I learned about Mount Ararat, the ark is a picture of salvation, so that's the mount of salvation, and then there's Moses on Sinai, that's the mount of communion, and then there is Pisgah, that's Joshua, the mount of vision, you ever been on the mountain of vision?
See the tremendous possibilities for God? There is Caleb, and he is on Mount Horeb, the older brethren, I have it in my notes, they said that Mount Horeb, that is fellowship, and so that's the mountain of fellowship.
But there is David, and he relates to Mount Olive, which is Mount Hope, but here, we're going to come to this mountain here of Abraham. Now, chapter 37, chapter 37, and let me just take the time here, I'll have to read this to you, maybe I'll just cut my reading off short, but this is chapter 37, and it is Joseph.
Now, we're not going to read the dreams he had, I just want to give you the point, because I can follow in, you're familiar, it's verse 5, And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.
And you can read the details, how his father and mother understood this too, his parents were enlightened to this, this had taken place in Joseph's life, he dreamed a dream, and his brother hated him, and it talks about the sheaves and so forth, and we used to study that down through in Sunday school, about what all happened in Joseph's life.
Now, we'll come on further to 2 Kings, chapter 22, Paul, Abraham, Joseph, this next one is Josiah, 2 Kings, chapter 22. I hope Josiah isn't hid away in your Bible, you better, if it is, you come to Josiah, I've actually ministered on this chapter, and there's a lot in there, and what's so interesting about Josiah is, I'm not going to be there, but verse 5, he talks to the doers of the work that have the oversight of the house of God.
It seems like his exercise in zeal, it started with the house of God, the assembly, and what he saw was that there is a need for repair, you know, there's a need for correction, that's the thought of it, and the word of God was lost there.
But here's Josiah, we'll say a couple of things about when we come to him, verse 1, Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Jedidiah, the daughter of Adidiah of Bosca, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, now just notice, and he walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not the sight to the right hand, or to the left.
Now just an overview, a conclusion to this chapter, that I find in my reading, Josiah was characterized by an individual that tested everything by the word of God, and he wanted to get back to first principles, first principles, that's what I'm going to give you today now, is some principles that will help you to live for God.
We're still speeding on, I think we have one more, and that's where we'll stop, and that is Daniel, Daniel chapter 1, Daniel chapter 1, I don't need to read verse 8, you know that Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile, that's a very outstanding, interesting thing about Daniel, but I'm going to come to verse 12, he says, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee ten days, and so forth, now what happened, well verse 22, as we conclude our reading here about Daniel, and the king is communing with them now, and he's looking them over, and what has happened, and in all manner of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found that they were ten times better than all the musicians and the scholars, they were in all his realm, what does that tell you?
He was ten times better off. We heard about separation, and I think I'll probably mention that here today, by our brother, the first time I've heard him speak, he's from the Maritimes, so I was able to converse with him, and I've been up that way too myself, but Daniel was separate from it all.
Did he lose out by being separate? Will we lose out for living for God? No. They were ten times better off. Ten times better off. I don't know about the economy, and I'm not into politics and that, but I don't think they get that kind of return on a lot of things they do with their investments.
But if you invest in living for God, Daniel was the one that come out on the side that pleased the Lord. You don't need to turn to this, but I will. I need to take a moment and come to the beginning of the conference.
This is Psalm 61. Most of this ministry that I've given, and I couldn't tell you all of them, I won't title on them. All like spiritual growth, spiritual giving, spiritual so forth. Since the conference has started, I've come to a title now, and this is spiritual vows.
Spiritual vows. We read with our brother, he concluded as he come to Psalm 61, the last part of verse 8 says, that I may daily perform my vows. Vows. He spoke about vows. Making vows to the Lord. Now when I come to Romans chapter 12, I want to give you principles.
Some principles that will help you to carry out those vows. Now I need to give you a little contrast to help you on the other side. When we speak about being born again, it is easier to tell you what it is not, than tell you what it is.
Being born again, not by the will of man, but of God. There's answers that come there. It's not by generation, it's not by so forth. There's a lot of things that tell us what a new birth is not. There's a man in the Bibles whose principles was all wrong.
Do you know his name? I could give some of those wrong principles, it was locked. He had wrong principles. His life was a tragedy. That I may daily perform my vows. I think we're probably doing pretty good at this conference, right?
I do. I feel, I don't know, I feel a little more spiritual. I'm happier in my soul. But how about the daily thing? I think that's where we're losing out. Daily. It says that I may daily perform my vows.
I just, there's a lot of days where I just don't live for the Lord. I just can't come to the end of the day and say I have been a lot like the Lord Jesus today. The daily thing. I don't believe we're experiencing that enabling overcoming power in our lives day by day.
But that's what we'll find there in our verse in Romans chapter 12 as I give that to you and then I'll probably just be giving you these words and their principles. Let me come to verse 1 where our conference opened.
Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. I pondered that a little bit. And hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. Is that the way you pray? I don't pray all that often like that. But I have read through in the Psalms and I've discovered that before this conference.
Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. When my heart's overwhelmed. The psalmist's heart was overwhelmed, but you know what? He could still pray. Do you ever hear of anybody that was at a point where they're so overwhelmed they couldn't even pray?
Ah, very rarely. I don't think I've been there, but I know a man that I heard about that was. Now I need to get my message, but there's a brother that visited Newfoundland. The Saints are still talking about him up there.
His name was Theodore William. Here's a black brother. Very interesting. And he said this, if you can't strike all in 20 minutes, stop boring. So I hope we can strike. If we strike all in 20 minutes, we'll give you those, my sermon, a little message here.
Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. The man I'm thinking of that I heard about, Mervyn Paul, wrote about it. Mervyn Paul, not Mervyn Paul, but Vern Markle wrote about Mervyn Paul. His books were on the shelf back there.
Vern Markle writes in the Newfoundland little focus, it's called. It's a believers edited magazine that they put together, and I'm supposed to be writing in it, too. I'm not very good at it. But we put in ministry there and so forth, and it's passed to all the Saints around.
He wrote about Vern Markle. I can't tell you details, I don't have time, but he told about his life. He lost his wife at a young age, and a young family. And he talked about the time where he come to the point where, talk about being overwhelmed.
I don't think he could pray. But you know what? As he come through that trial, are you in a trial today? God will not tempt us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear, but with the temptation may a way of escape.
You're in a trial. Do you want to know the way out? Do you? I can tell you the way out. You know the way out of a trial? It's through it. Through it. That's right. The way out is true. Right through the trial, and the Lord will bury you through it.
Vern Markle wrote and said that there's a day come when Mervyn Paul was a man that was much sought after for funerals. You know why? Because nobody understood like Mervyn Paul. So maybe today I trust that God will touch the heart of some young one here today, and that your life from this moment on, you will have a determination to live for God.
Hear my cry, O God. Now, I can soften this down for you a little bit, so some of you younger ones can pray this. But do you ever pray like that, attending to my prayer? It's almost so bold that it's like we hear coming boldly to the throne of grace.
It's almost like so bold that I am praying to you, Lord. Hear me. Listen to me, Lord. I am talking to you. Do you pray like that? Listen to me. It's a lot I heard when I was younger. They used to say, storming the gates of heaven, and I've come to realize that's what this psalmist is doing.
He is coming to God, and he is supplicating to God. And now, here today, maybe you're not praying in that manner, but could you come to God and say, O God, I am not going anywhere in my Christian life.
God will be right there. He wants you to be serious. Now, here is Romans chapter 12. Let me just tell you one thing about this verse. I believe it is a crisis and a process involving the Lordship of Christ.
I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. My favorite hymn that comes to number three is this one. I am thine, O Lord.
I have heard thy voice, and it told thy love to me. I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee. The little secret of my life is the hymn I pray. Draw me nearer and nearer, blessed Lord, nearer to thy precious wounded side.
Consecrate me, Lord, to thy service now by the power of grace divine, and my soul will look up with a steadfast eye, and I will be lost in thine. We heard about sanctification yesterday, that's separation.
And in the Old Testament, we read about the priest, sanctification, and we read about consecration. Sanctification is simply this, set apart for God. Consecration is hands full. In the Bible, they're closely linked, because a man that is going to be busy for God is a man that will be set apart for God.
So that brings me to Romans chapter 12 and its consecration. There is a crisis. Ideally, it happens when you get saved. That would be the Apostle Paul. Probably rarely. It happened on Damascus Road. He said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
I surrender, I surrender, overcome by love divine. The crisis, when you consciously and deliberately bow and acknowledge the Lordship of Christ, and you present your body to him, and own the claims of God upon you.
God is actually demanding my life. Consecration. The word body there, I think you would discover it has the meaning of body, soul, and spirit. The whole person. So where in our Bible does God speak to us personally?
He says, my son, give me thy heart. What's he saying? I want your affection. He wants you. The whole person. He gets your heart, he gets your all. Now, that's a crisis. But then there's a process. That is a day by day, carrying out those vows.
That I am going to live for God. Consecration is this. I am yours. I'm all yours. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. I would say in my life, spiritually, I owe my most to a woman, Frances Havergale, because I picked up her book on hymns when I was a young believer.
And on the front page of that book is her hymn, Take My Life and Let It Be. I've read her life in detail. I've heard some of the brief ministry about her. I tell you, she has influenced my life. Consecration.
Now, what are some principles that I can give you quickly? Time is near to over for me. Half an hour, they tell us, is conference time for you up here. We'll come quickly now on these words that I will give to you that will help you carry out your vows.
Paul the Apostle, on the Damascus Road, the first word he said is Lord. The Lordship of Christ. It's been ministered on. And what is that all about? I can give you just a couple things because that's not my subject today.
The Lordship of Christ demands obedience. Lord, what will thou have me to do? The Lord said, arise and go into the city. First of all, a step in the right direction. Then I'll tell you what to do. So the Lordship of Christ in your life is simply a step by step obedience to his will.
You obey the first, I'll give you the second. The Apostle Paul, the word I'll have to leave with you and move on, is ambition. Do you have any ambitions for God? He said, Lord, what will thou have me to do?
The very question indicates his desire to know the will of God. What will thou have me to do? He says, Lord. That's good. Because a man that's moving under the Lordship of Christ is sure to know his guidance.
Apostle Paul, on the Damascus Road, it was dramatic, his conversion. He saw the resurrected Christ and glorified. Nail pierced hands and feet inside. He did all that for me. What can I do for him? That's the response.
Yesterday we heard about slaves. The owner comes in and says, do this, do that, do the other thing. But it's different with believers, right? We come to the Lord and says, Lord, what will thou have me to do?
It's out of love that we serve him. You show me a man or woman who has their affection on the Lord Jesus, I'll show you somebody that we use for God. That's ambition. Ambition. Do you have any ambition for God?
I used to see a sign when we went to a meeting. The man that was the agent of that insurance company, his name must have been George. He said, let George do it. That's not too much ambition, is it? No.
Me. I'm here, I'm available for you to use. Then we have Abraham. As I tell you about Abraham, the word there, the principle is evaluation. Evaluation. The Lord says, take your son, that which is very dear to him, offer him on the altar.
He's evaluating the cost in the sanctuary of God. He evaluates the cost. He says, here am I. I'm available for God to you. I look back into a young day and my experience, as I said, in conference meetings, just like you are today, and I bowed my heart before God, and I said, oh God, here I am.
Abraham was like that, and he evaluates the cost. Is it worth it, living for God? Is it? You evaluate the cost, it'll help you carry out the value. Anything you do for the Lord Jesus is of great value.
There is the other one here, and that is Joseph. And very quickly, Joseph, the word there is appreciation. Appreciation. That will help you carry out your vow to live for God and present your body, soul, and spirit.
Appreciation. What about Joseph, did we read? He dreamed dreams. He realized that there is a day coming, and God is going to raise me to a place of exaltation and honor. God chose Joseph. He did. God chose Israel, we heard yesterday from my brother Perkins.
He chose Joseph. On the principle of grace it is. Why did he choose him? Just because he chose. He chose to choose him. That's God. Grace. He appreciated that. Do you appreciate that God chose you? In my Bible, there is one thing in all my Bible that touches my heart the most of all, and it's this, and it moves me to appreciation.
It is the thought that comes to the word election, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, for reasons that I will never understand. God chose me, and I only have to stop, as I do at this moment, and think about that, and it has a tremendous effect upon me.
Why me? God has chosen you. He has purposes for you. Do you appreciate it? It will help you carry out your vow. Then there is, we only have two more to go here, and this would be Josiah. He started out young.
I started out young when I was 12 years old. I come to the seminary when I was 13, and I've been there ever since. I'm thankful for that, like Timothy. Here's Josiah, and the word is emulation. Now that is not imitation.
Emulation, and I have these written down, I looked them up in the dictionary myself, is evaluation is a careful appraisal to determine the significance or worth. You evaluate this that God has put before you, that it is going to please him.
You evaluate the cost. And then there is emulation, that is ambition. Ambition. That is ambition, as we thought about Apostle Paul. Emulation is really admiring a person. Like Josiah, he did that. He followed in the footsteps of his father, David.
It's seeking to emulate someone else. It's like having an idol, in a good sense. It's seeking to live like them. That's emulation. Seeking to be like the Lord Jesus. Brother, I heard something when I was young, and it's kind of scary to me.
And I suppose if you're not married here today, it will probably be scary to you when I tell you. A brother told about a sister, and she was married. And she said, you know, since I have been married, I have come to know so much about the Lord Jesus.
I have learned so much about him, because she said, my husband, he is so much like the Lord Jesus. I don't think I can pull it off on a daily basis. I don't think so. How about you, brother? Emulation.
The last one, as we quit. Appreciation, that word was a sensitive awareness, gratitude, evaluation, a favorable, critical estimation. To grasp the nature, the worth, the quality, the significance, the value.
To highly judge with heightened perception. Appreciation, that's a great word. But the last one is association. Association, as I stop quickly. Association, that is defined as to keep company with, to have common interests or ideas.
Now that is a good principle. That comes into separation. Carry out your vow, the principle of association. That's seen in Daniel. His association. Separate. Didn't defile himself. God blessed him. May God bless his word for his namesake.
I hope you have these little words. We won't review them.