p. 171 | The Living Sacrifice

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 16, 1871

The Living Sacrifice.

“I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Rom. 12 : 1.

The idea brought to view in this passage is of making a present to the Lord. The present embraces the entire person, which includes each member of the body—the ears, the eyes, the tongue, the hands, the feet, &c. Henceforth after having given ourselves to the Lord, we are to follow the directions laid down in his word for the use of each member. For instance, the eyes are to be turned away from beholding vanity, Ps. 119 : 37, and from seeing evil, Isa. 33 : 15; the ears are for the hearing of the truth, and are to be stopped from the hearing of blood. Isa. 33 : 15.

The tongue is to be used to speak words of soberness and truth, to speak words of comfort to the afflicted, to warn the ungodly, to pray for those who persecute us, and to speak forth the praises of God. Great is the work of the tongue, and if used according to the directions given in the holy word, great good may be accomplished; but if, on the other hand, it is not bridled and controlled, what a vast amount of evil will be accomplished by it.

The hands, those useful members which have been given to man, what says the word of God concerning them? See 1 Tim. 2 : 8. I will, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands. Again, hear the answer of the psalmist to the question, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” Ps. 24 : 4. Is it not a sign that our souls are lifted up to vanity, if our hands are allowed to adorn these decaying bodies of ours? Will not our hands be considered unclean if allowed to prepare for our adornment those things which are forbidden in God’s word? How much precious time is wasted while the hands are allowed, day after day, to be used in that which is worse than useless. How few Dorcases in this generation, who with their hands are ready for every good work, and whose time is not occupied in trimming, ruffling, and flouncing, but in making garments for the poor and needy. Says the apostle Paul: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Rom. 6 : 12, 13.

Are we the Lord’s? Have we yielded ourselves to him to work the works of righteousness? God wants nothing short of the whole man. If we give ourselves to him, eternal life will be bestowed upon us in the end. Says the Saviour: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I will give unto them eternal life.” John 10 : 27, 28.—Woman and Her Work.