Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000041
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00:22 Hello, friends.
00:24 Welcome to another Wednesday night Bible study 00:26 here in Thompsonville, Illinois. 00:29 We want to thank you for tuning in tonight 00:30 and for joining us for the continued study 00:33 on how to live a spiritual life in a natural body, 00:35 and we are continuing 00:37 on the topic of the transformed life. 00:40 If you like to join us 00:41 by following us with the lesson, 00:43 go to this following website, asf.3abn.org, 00:47 and download a copy of the lesson, 00:50 and it's lesson number 13, so you can follow along. 00:54 We began this lesson last week and we are continuing tonight. 00:58 Hopefully we'll cover the rest of the lesson, 01:00 but if not, 01:01 we have another broadcast coming up on next week. 01:03 Invite your friends 01:05 and also family members to join you, 01:06 and if you are joining us from a church 01:07 somewhere maybe on a Wednesday night, 01:09 we'd like to welcome all of you to this very important topic. 01:12 And now before we do anything, 01:14 before we even sing our opening song, 01:15 we always like to begin with prayer. 01:17 So bow your heads with us 01:19 as we go before the Lord in prayer. 01:22 Heavenly Father, we thank You for the opportunity 01:24 of studying Your Word tonight. 01:26 We pray that You'll give us wisdom and understanding, 01:29 that You will direct our thoughts, 01:32 that You will direct our minds, that You will help us to see 01:35 and understand in a way that we do not presently see 01:39 and understand. 01:41 So come into our midst, Lord, and strengthen us 01:44 to not only receive Your Word, but give us strength to walk in 01:48 and according to Your Word. 01:50 We pray in Jesus' name. 01:52 Amen. 01:53 Amen. 01:55 Good evening, everybody. Good evening. 01:57 We are going to sing our theme song tonight 01:58 which is Victory in Jesus. 02:00 If you'd like to join us, you'll hear us singing 02:02 but the words will be on our screen, 02:03 you won't have it with you, but if you like the song, 02:06 join us as we go before the Lord in song. 02:18 I heard an old, old story 02:22 How the Savior came from glory 02:25 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:29 To save a wretch like me 02:33 I heard about His groaning 02:37 Of His precious blood's atoning 02:40 Then I repented of my sins 02:44 And won the victory 02:48 O victory in Jesus My Savior, forever 02:56 He sought me and bought me 02:59 With His redeeming blood 03:03 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:07 And all my love is due Him 03:11 He plunged me to victory 03:14 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:18 I heard about a mansion 03:22 He has built for me in glory 03:26 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:29 Beyond the crystal sea 03:33 About the angels singing 03:37 And the old redemption story 03:41 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 03:45 The song of victory 03:46 Key change. 03:48 O victory in Jesus 03:52 My Savior, forever 03:56 He sought me and bought me 04:00 With His redeeming blood 04:04 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:07 And all my love is due Him 04:11 He plunged me to victory 04:15 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:19 He plunged me to victory 04:22 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:29 Can you say amen to that? Amen. 04:31 Last week, by the way, let me reiterate. 04:33 Our topic tonight is "How to live," 04:37 say that with me, "a transformed life." 04:41 Now some people are joining us for the first time tonight 04:44 in the middle of our topic and did not get a chance 04:47 to see the beginning of the topic. 04:48 So I want to begin again 04:49 with a few pictures that I shared last week 04:52 that somewhat links the mind of many into the things 04:55 that are happening in our modern generation. 04:58 Few years ago, I'd say more than a few years ago, 05:01 I think it's may be about 15 years or so now, 05:04 a toy came out, 05:05 this toy was called, "Transformers," 05:08 and not having seen one, 05:11 prior to me seeing a little kid with one in his hands, 05:14 I was really taken back 05:15 when I saw what he did with this particular toy, 05:17 and here is a picture of it, this is a picture of a truck, 05:21 that's how this toy began, didn't know very much about it, 05:24 but then he sat there and he manipulated this truck 05:28 and it turned from a truck into a robot, 05:32 and I thought to myself, 05:34 "How do you get a robot out of a truck?" 05:38 It didn't even look the same. 05:40 And when I thought about that, 05:41 and I was putting this topic together, 05:43 I thought, "Who we are now and who we are going to be, 05:49 it doesn't always appear to be 05:50 exactly how we are going to end up." 05:53 And the Bible does say, "It does not yet appear 05:55 what we shall be." 05:56 But I want you to know that all the components, 05:58 the Lord can look at our lives in this way 06:01 and transform our lives, 06:03 I wouldn't just say to be a robot, 06:06 really wouldn't want to be a robot, 06:09 but the whole point of the matter 06:12 is we go through a transformation. 06:14 The Christian life is one of transformation. 06:16 Another picture that illustrates it 06:18 even more delightful way 06:19 is the picture of these butterflies. 06:22 The metamorphosis of a butterfly 06:24 begins as a caterpillar as it were 06:27 and goes through a stage called, 06:29 does anybody know? 06:31 I just said it. 06:33 Metamorphosis, goes inside, 06:36 begins to transform from something that crawled 06:39 on the ground to a beautiful, delicate butterfly 06:43 that flies in the air. 06:45 Now I want to just tell you in a very real way, 06:47 right now, we are, don't rush my thought here, 06:52 we are locked to the ground. 06:57 We are stuck to the earth, but one day, 06:59 by the transforming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 07:02 we are going to spread our wings 07:04 and fly to glory, what do you say? 07:05 Amen. 07:06 So in some degree, 07:08 this is somewhat of an illustration, 07:10 the Lord said that of man, he is from the dust 07:13 and he is going to return to the dust. 07:15 But also the Lord makes it very, very clear 07:18 that this mortal body one day will put on an immortal body 07:22 and then we will begin our flight to a place 07:24 that we've never been before. 07:25 So when you think about the transformed life, 07:27 I want to ask a question 07:28 before I go to the first question 07:30 on the screen tonight. 07:31 The question is, 07:33 as you look at these illustrations I gave to you, 07:36 where did the transformation begin 07:40 in the mind of the person 07:42 who designed that very interesting toy? 07:46 Where did the transformation begin? 07:50 I gave you the answer. I tried to be nice. 07:53 I said, 07:54 where did the transformation begin in the mind. 07:57 I gave you the answer. 07:59 Want to be very, very easy on the first question. 08:02 Before this toy was designed, the person who designed it, 08:05 the concept began in his mind or her, 08:09 I don't know if a woman did this. 08:12 So before something happens in the physical sense, 08:15 it often begins in our mind. 08:18 Now I want you to walk with that thought 08:20 through the Bible with me. 08:21 Go with me to the Book of Philippians. 08:24 Go to the Book of Philippians, because for the Christian, 08:27 the transformation, 08:28 before we see the outward change, 08:30 it has to begin internally. 08:33 And as we are, when we come to the Lord, 08:36 there is quite a difference between... 08:41 Okay, don't go to Philippians, go to Isaiah, go to Isaiah. 08:44 I know you know your Bible. 08:46 Go with me to Isaiah 55, want to first start there, 08:49 Isaiah 55, then we will go to Philippians. 08:54 All right? 08:55 Okay, I am in Isaiah, I am almost to, 09:00 here we are, okay, chapter 55, all right? 09:04 And I think some of you know where I am headed. 09:08 Okay. 09:09 Remember I said the transformation begins 09:11 in the mind. 09:12 But when the natural person comes in contact with Christ, 09:15 there is a great disparity 09:16 between how we think and how God thinks. 09:20 Notice what the Bible says in verse 8 and verse 9. 09:26 "For My," what are the next words? 09:29 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, 09:34 Nor are your ways" what? 09:37 "My ways," says the Lord. 09:40 Verse 9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 09:45 So are My ways higher than your ways, 09:49 And My thoughts than your thoughts." 09:52 So let's go and put that together. 09:54 God, as high as the heavens are above the earth, 09:56 His thoughts are what? 09:59 Our thoughts are therefore what? 10:00 Low. 10:02 You will begin to see that trend 10:03 talked about in the Bible. 10:05 Our thoughts are down here, earthly, earthy. 10:08 Our thoughts are carnal. 10:11 So if we try to use the thoughts that we had 10:13 before we came to the Lord. 10:16 After we came to the Lord, 10:18 if we did not replace the way we thought, 10:22 then we would be a person that says we are transformed 10:25 but in fact we are really not, 10:27 or the transformation is not taking place. 10:29 One of the challenges that a Christian has 10:32 is that he or she has to continue day by day 10:36 to find a way to affect the way we think. 10:41 If we are not changing the way we think, 10:43 then the thoughts of God and our thoughts will always, 10:47 there will always be a great distance. 10:50 Now I don't want you to come up with the idea 10:51 or come to the conclusion 10:53 that you are going to be able to figure God out 10:55 because that's not what I am talking about. 10:57 I am not saying that, 10:58 "One day, you will think just like God." 11:00 In fact, one day, 11:01 the mind of Christ will be transformed in us. 11:04 I am not saying that we are so deep that one day 11:06 we will be as deep as God, 11:08 but what I am saying is that God wants our thoughts, 11:12 our earthly thoughts to be replaced with divine thoughts. 11:16 He wants our carnal thoughts 11:18 to be replaced with spiritual thoughts. 11:21 That's why the Bible says spiritual things are what? 11:24 Spiritually discerned. 11:25 In other words, you really can't learn spiritual things 11:27 if your mind remains carnal. 11:30 So a person may get baptized and join a church 11:32 or join a fellowship, 11:33 but they don't do anything beyond that day to grow, 11:36 and they find a year, two years, 11:37 five years down the road, they say, 11:39 "Well, man, this is a frustrating battle. 11:42 This is a frustrating life because I say I am a Christian, 11:44 but I don't think any differently." 11:46 And you will find that the Christian life, 11:49 in order for the Christian to be able to be like Christ, 11:51 we've got to day by day plant new thoughts 11:54 because it is not natural for us to think spiritual. 11:59 It is not natural to think spiritual. 12:04 When you think about the condition of the world 12:06 in the days before the flood, 12:10 they thought carnal all the time. 12:11 The Bible says the thoughts 12:13 and the intents of their hearts were only, what? 12:15 Evil. How often? 12:17 Continually. So let's ask the question. 12:19 The world in which we live 12:21 with all this media bombardment, 12:22 is the world trying to make our thoughts pure or corrupt? 12:26 Corrupt. 12:27 Right? 12:28 There's nothing that's coming in all around us, 12:31 what do we call that? 12:34 I'll just call it media bombardment. 12:37 The media is not really saying, "You know what, Larry? 12:39 I am really concerned about your thoughts 12:41 and I want to make your thoughts 12:42 really, really pure." 12:43 So you cannot rely on the world to give us pure thoughts 12:47 because the Lord just made it very clear, 12:49 "My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. 12:52 My ways are higher than your ways." 12:55 Now go with me to Philippians 2:5. 12:59 Philippians 2:5, to my transformation. 13:04 Okay? 13:09 Okay, here we are. 13:12 And the Bible says very, very, simply, 13:16 I could actually quote a verbatim, here it is, 13:19 Philippians 2:5. 13:24 What is the first word in that verse? 13:27 Say it together. 13:28 Let. Let. 13:30 So let, 13:31 "Let this mind be in you 13:35 which was also in Christ Jesus." 13:38 Now having just read Isaiah 55, 13:40 "His ways are higher than our ways. 13:41 His thoughts are higher than our thoughts." 13:44 So in essence, the Bible is saying here, 13:45 Paul is saying to us that we could have higher thoughts 13:49 than we used to have, and we can have higher ways 13:53 than we used to have. 13:55 We can have higher standards than we used to have. 13:58 But notice it says, "Let this mind be in you 14:01 which was also in Christ Jesus." 14:03 So what in essence is being done here 14:05 is the Spirit of God is molding and designing 14:07 and fashioning our mind 14:09 according to the pattern of Christ, 14:12 but he is in essence saying to us, 14:13 "Don't resist the change. Let it happen." 14:16 And the change would take place 14:17 on a spiritual basis continually 14:20 if every day we expose ourselves 14:22 to those things that are spiritual. 14:24 So let's look at question number one 14:26 and see how this happens. 14:27 Question number 10 actually 14:29 which is our first question for tonight. 14:32 Question number 10. 14:34 All right? And here it is. 14:36 "How does the transformed life 14:39 differ from the conformed life?" 14:42 We're going to go to Matthew 16:25. 14:46 "How does the transformed life differ 14:50 from the conformed life?" 14:52 In other words, the life that Christ 14:54 is creating within us, 14:57 how does that differ from the world around us? 15:00 All right? 15:02 This is how the transformation... 15:03 Well, just read the text. 15:05 Matthew 16:25, and it reads as follows. 15:08 "For whoever desires to" do what? 15:11 "Save his life will lose it, 15:13 but whoever loses his life for My sake will" what? 15:16 "Find it." 15:17 So now let's go ahead and put this together. 15:19 What is text in essence saying is when you come to Christ, 15:21 if you want to maintain the way you used to live 15:23 when you came to Christ, well, it's not going to work, 15:26 because that life which is carnal 15:28 will ultimately be destroyed. 15:31 That's what in essence being said. 15:32 If we try to save or maintain the life that we had 15:37 when we came to Christ, 15:38 that life is going to be destroyed. 15:40 Nothing carnal is going to survive 15:43 the destruction of the world. 15:44 So you can't even maintain it. 15:46 We were talking about that just last night 15:49 and I showed a picture 15:51 of one of the pictures that motivate me, 15:53 I was thinking ahead of time, put up my thoughts here. 15:56 If I was thinking ahead of time I showed you tonight, 15:58 and I was saying everything on earth 15:59 that we see is temporary, 16:02 but those things that we do not see are eternal. 16:05 It hasn't even entered our thoughts 16:07 what God is preparing for those that love Him. 16:10 So in order for us to prepare for that, 16:11 we have to be willing to lose 16:13 what we bring to the table to receive 16:15 what is at the table. 16:17 In other words, we have to be willing to give up 16:18 what we bring when we meet Christ 16:20 to what He is going to give to us 16:22 after we meet Him. 16:23 So it means that we have to lose our lives, 16:26 lose the way we used to be in order for us to gain 16:30 the way that God wants us to be 16:31 or that Christ wants to transform us to be. 16:34 So can you sustain your old life 16:37 and still have eternal life, yes or no? 16:39 No. 16:41 So can you sustain the way that you used to live 16:43 and claim to be a Christian, yes or no? 16:44 No. You can't. 16:46 That's what it's saying. 16:47 If you seek to save that kind of life... 16:48 So people have questions like this is how you know 16:51 that the battle is going on, people say things like this. 16:55 Okay, to join your church, what do I have to give up? 16:59 That's when you know they are in trouble 17:01 'cause they are more concerned about 17:03 what they are going to give up 17:04 than what they are going to gain. 17:06 If I am standing before God and I am saying, "Okay, God. 17:08 What do I have to give up?" 17:10 He says, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. 17:11 That's the wrong question. 17:13 What do you have to gain?" 17:14 You want to settle 17:16 for this singular little tiny dot 17:18 called planet earth 17:19 and I have got hundreds of billions of galaxies 17:22 that I want to give to you. 17:23 So let's talk about trading here. 17:25 If that were baseball cards, I give you one baseball card, 17:28 you give me hundreds of billions, 17:29 come on. 17:31 I give you one dollar, how many do you give me? 17:32 Hundreds of billions. 17:34 So it's not about giving up anything. 17:35 It's all about gain. 17:37 It's all about what? Gain. 17:39 And so the Lord is in essence saying, 17:40 the carnal mind is so messed up that it cannot glimpse 17:44 that what you already have is of no value. 17:49 And so often people come to be a Christian and they say, 17:52 "Well, does that mean that I can't do that anymore? 17:58 Does that mean I have to give up that too?" 18:02 And it's really strange. 18:03 That shows you that there is a battle going on. 18:05 That shows you that the old man, 18:07 that life of sin is saying 18:09 "Come on. Don't kill me now." 18:12 I did a sermon years ago 18:14 and 3ABN made me change the title. 18:15 It was titled, "Kill your husband." 18:18 And I started up by saying this is not a suggestion. 18:23 So they said, "Could you give it a new title?" 18:25 So I changed it to, "Till death do us part," 18:29 which means when you come to Christ, 18:31 that old man has to die. 18:33 And growing up in the 80s and 90s and the 70s, 18:35 as back then girls used to call their boyfriends, 18:38 "My old man," you know? 18:39 So in order to come to Christ that old man has to die. 18:42 That old man of sin has to be put to death in order for us 18:45 to marry the new man which is Christ. 18:48 So you can't say when you get to the altar, 18:50 "Can you imagine in the natural world, 18:52 the guy turns to his wife and says, 18:54 'Honey, do I really have to give all my girlfriends 18:58 before I get married to you? 18:59 I mean, like, every one of them?' 19:03 And she will look at him like, "He is out of his mind." 19:05 Or vice versa. 19:07 Do I have to get rid of my boyfriends, all of them? 19:12 And it sounds unusual, 19:14 but that's what sometimes people ask, 19:15 those are the questions they ask. 19:16 "Do I need to give up this or that?" 19:19 My good pastor C.D. Brooks says, 19:21 "When your life is," and I am paraphrasing, 19:23 but he says, "When you are converted, 19:26 you don't ask those kinds of questions." 19:29 But when the conversion is in a battle moment, 19:31 you are wondering, 19:33 "Do I really have to give that up?" 19:34 Look at the next one. So here's the point. 19:36 The answer to question number 10, 19:37 "How does the transformed life 19:39 differ from the conformed life?" 19:43 The transformed life is your willing to give it up. 19:48 The transformed life, you are willing. 19:50 There's a show now. 19:52 Oh, it just came... 19:53 Called, "The biggest loser." 19:55 People losing a whole lot of weight. 19:57 Well, in this case, you could say, 20:01 "I am a biggest loser. 20:02 I am willing to lose the world to gain Christ." 20:06 There is a lot to give up, but does it compare 20:08 to what we gain? 20:10 Absolutely not. 20:11 We are gaining much more than we lose. 20:14 All right? 20:15 Look at number 11. 20:17 Question number 11. 20:18 "In light of the new life, 20:20 what are we commissioned to do?" 20:24 "What are we commissioned to do?" 20:26 "In light of the new life, 20:28 what are we commissioned to do?" 20:31 Isaiah 1:16. 20:34 Isaiah 1:16 is where we are turning. 20:39 I just like the fact that we open our Bibles 20:42 on Wednesday night. 20:44 We should open it every day 20:46 but this is what we do it as a family together. 20:47 Wonderful. Wonderful. 20:51 Okay, Isaiah 1:16 read as follow. 20:53 Here it is. 20:55 Together, "Wash yourselves, 20:59 make yourselves" what? 21:01 "Clean. 21:02 Put away the evil of your doings 21:04 from before My eyes." 21:06 And what is the next phrase? 21:08 "Cease to do evil." 21:10 But if you have your Bibles open, 21:12 I want to read the continuing verses. 21:14 Verse 17, "Learn to do good." 21:17 So you don't just cease to do evil, 21:19 but you learn to do good. 21:21 Lot of times people say, "Do I have to stop that?" 21:25 Well, you know, to begin something good, 21:27 you got to stop something bad. 21:28 But oftentimes, 21:30 we put so much emphasis on to things we give up, 21:32 that we fail to put emphasis on the good things 21:34 that are coming after that. 21:36 And that's why people sometimes want to hold on with dear life 21:41 to the things that have brought them 21:42 temporary pleasures. 21:43 But I like the way that Moses says, 21:45 "I choose rather to suffer affliction 21:48 with the people of God 21:49 than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a" what? 21:52 "Season." 21:54 Some people think that they are going to be 21:55 gambling all their lives. 21:56 They are not going to be gambling throughout eternity. 21:59 There are not going to be any casinos in heaven. 22:01 There are not going to be any liquor stores, 22:02 any drug stores, none of that smut stuff, 22:05 all that stuff is going to be destroyed 22:07 on the fires of destruction. 22:09 So if you think of holding on to that, 22:10 the text perfectly fits, Mathews 16:25, 22:13 "We will lose all that." 22:15 So the Lord is saying, "I have got so much more." 22:17 But he is in essence saying, "When we come to Christ, 22:19 the desire has to be cease to do evil," 22:22 and learn to do what? 22:23 Learn to do good. 22:25 That's why the Lord says in verse 18, look at that, 22:27 Isaiah 1:18, He wants to have a conversation with us. 22:33 "Come now, and let us reason together," 22:35 says the Lord, 22:37 "though your sins are like scarlet, 22:39 they shall be as white as snow. 22:43 Though they are red like crimson, 22:45 they shall be as wool.'" 22:47 And what kind of heart is he asking us to have? 22:49 Verse 19. 22:51 "If you are," what's the next word? 22:53 "Willing and obedient, 22:57 you shall eat the good of the land. 22:59 But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be what? 23:04 "Devoured by the sword, 23:06 for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." 23:09 Don't want to lose it all but when the children of Israel 23:13 were in the wilderness, they didn't remember, 23:16 well, I could tell why, 23:18 and that's why it's so important 23:20 when you are a person 23:21 that's called to preach the gospel, 23:22 that's why it's vitally important 23:24 that you give a good report. 23:26 See, when Lord sent the 12 spies 23:28 who were the leaders of the children of Israel, 23:30 when he sent them to spy out the Promised Land, 23:32 they brought back what kind of report? 23:36 A false report. 23:37 A bad report. 23:39 They said, "The land truly flows with milk and honey 23:42 and here are the fruit of it." 23:43 But they minimized the blessings 23:46 and maximized the challenges. 23:48 And what they failed to realize is, 23:50 here's one of the things you have to keep in mind. 23:52 If the Lord promises to bless you, 23:55 He will remove all the obstacles 23:56 so that the blessings will come. 23:58 They thought that they had to win the battle 23:59 against the Canaanites in order for the blessings to come. 24:02 So what does that mean? 24:04 That means if you give your life to the Lord, 24:06 the battle belongs to the Lord. 24:08 Some people say, "I have been fighting with this habit. 24:11 I have been fighting with this addiction. 24:14 I have been fighting with this..." 24:16 That's the problem. You have been fighting. 24:19 When the Lord says the battle belongs to who? 24:23 The Lord, you got to surrender. 24:24 The Christian life is not a life of battle, 24:26 it's a life of surrender. 24:29 Okay. 24:31 Let's look at question number 12. 24:32 Question number 12. 24:35 So in light of the new life, what are we commissioned to do? 24:38 Cease to do evil. 24:40 Cease to do evil. 24:43 And number 12, here it is. 24:45 "What did the apostle Paul 24:46 testify concerning his transformed life?" 24:51 Ooh. This is quite a revealing text. 24:54 1 Corinthians 13:11. 24:57 Quite a revealing text. 24:58 Really getting down to the crux of the issues. 25:00 Matter of fact, this actually breaks it down 25:02 to the three areas. 25:03 It talks about the three challenges 25:05 that many people face. 25:07 Let me replace the word many with all. 25:14 Here it is. 25:16 1 Corinthians 13:11. 25:18 Paul says, "When I was a child, I" did what? 25:22 "Spoke as a child, I also understood as a child, 25:26 I also thought as a child, but when I became a man, 25:30 I put away" what? 25:32 "Childish things." 25:33 Now notice the three things he put away. 25:36 These are the three challenges. 25:38 He put away the way he spoke, 25:42 he put away the way he thought, 25:45 and he put away the way he understood. 25:49 Those three things, I want you to get underlined 25:51 that if you get a chance or even write that down. 25:52 He put away three, the way he thought, 25:55 the way he understood, and the way he spoke. 26:01 As a pastor, when we have new members 26:03 that come from other churches, 26:05 we have got to give them time to think other ways. 26:08 I have a lot of people say, "See you next Sunday." 26:13 Because they thought one way for so long 26:16 that you can't always be correcting them 26:18 because see you next Sunday, 26:19 I know exactly what they mean, but what happened? 26:22 The transformation, 26:23 it even changes the way you think. 26:26 And then there's some people say, 26:28 "I'll never ever be a vegetarian. 26:30 Me give up steak?" 26:33 'Cause they can't think beyond steak. 26:36 But all of a sudden, 26:38 one day the Lord gets hold of that heart and they say, 26:39 "I can't believe I used to eat that." 26:43 And not that steak is unclean food 26:45 but you know, nowadays, 26:48 if it has a face, it ain't clean. 26:50 But the point of the matter is, 26:52 the thought pattern has changed. 26:54 He says, "I had to change the way I thought." 26:56 Now do Christians have to change 26:59 the way they speak? 27:00 Yes. 27:02 Or spoke? Yes. 27:03 I should say. 27:04 You know those examples in the Bible. 27:06 Isaiah, what did he say about his lips? 27:08 They were what kind of lips? 27:09 Unclean. 27:11 He couldn't speak the same way after he became a Christian. 27:14 The challenges are there. 27:15 And here is the... 27:17 The old man, 27:18 he likes to hang around and every now and then, 27:19 he will knock on your head and say, 27:21 "Remember what we used to do together?" 27:24 And all of a sudden, we go back to those days 27:26 and even the things that we did in the past 27:28 and we say sometimes, 27:31 we remember the good old days. 27:35 The good old days? 27:36 You mean, the bad old days. 27:38 The days are good now. 27:40 See, these are the good days. 27:42 When you are walking with the Lord, good days. 27:45 When you are keeping the commandments of God, 27:46 the commandments are holy and just and good. 27:48 These are the good days. 27:49 We go by, "Man, those were the good old days." 27:52 We kind of lean into it, 27:54 "Those were the good old days, man. 27:55 We'd hanging out." 27:57 We get so far in that and deep in that, 27:59 and we fail to realize 28:00 the old man wants us to think that what we used to do 28:03 was better than what we do now. 28:06 So we spoke differently. 28:08 And then things that did not make sense to us. 28:10 Some people say, 28:12 "You will never ever get me to accept the Sabbath." 28:16 And I say, "I don't want to get you 28:18 to accept the Sabbath. 28:19 I will turn the Holy Spirit to loose on you, 28:21 let him do it." See? 28:23 I don't want to take anything from you, 28:24 but when the Lord takes it, it's gone. 28:29 So our thoughts, our speech, and our understanding. 28:35 Certain things make sense to you now. 28:37 Some people say, 28:38 "I never understood it 28:39 and I have been reading the Bible for 28 years." 28:43 Because you have been reading it 28:44 through a different window of understanding. 28:47 That's why Paul says, 28:49 and so he is not just talking about, 28:50 you know, playing marbles and flying little kites, 28:53 he is talking about the fact that, 28:55 here the things that did not make sense, 28:56 they now make sense to me, why? 28:58 Because he allowed it... 28:59 The mind of Christ led this mind being you 29:02 which was also in Christ Jesus. 29:03 So here is the point. 29:05 The transformed life affects the way you speak, 29:09 affects the way you understand, and affects the way you think. 29:12 Amen? Amen. 29:14 If you are not noticing the differences 29:16 in the way you speak and in your understanding 29:21 and also in your thoughts, 29:25 then we know that the battle 29:28 is the one that it's not being fought by the Lord 29:30 but by us. 29:32 Even sometimes when you pray. 29:34 Somebody said to me, they said, 29:36 "You know, I am kneeling down and praying 29:38 and my thoughts are somewhere else 29:40 and I'm having to rebuke thoughts 29:41 that are in my head while I am praying." 29:43 That's what happens. 29:45 We are battling with that old man 29:46 that wants to come back in. 29:47 But I suggest to you, the way that you get rid of that 29:50 is as you study God's Word more, think of it as a tube, 29:55 think of it as a long plastic PVC tube, 29:58 it it's filled with gunk, 30:00 how many of you had to clear a drain before? 30:02 Okay. 30:04 I mean, drain clearing is an awful thing 30:05 because you don't see it getting clogged up. 30:08 But all of a sudden, one day, 30:09 "Man, the water wouldn't go down." 30:11 And you realize, 30:13 "I know exactly what the problem is." 30:15 And so what happens is the natural mind is clogged up, 30:19 and I never knew this term until years ago. 30:23 The man who raised me, papa, he introduced me to this word 30:26 and I initially was afraid. 30:28 He said, "Go downstairs and get the snake." 30:32 We have a snake? 30:35 And you know what? 30:36 I have brought this long steel thing, 30:39 looks like a big old spring. 30:40 I said, "That's a snake?" 30:42 He said, "That's what we call it." 30:43 And old-fashioned way, get it? 30:45 And we threaded that thing down the drain 30:47 and wound it, wound it, wound it, so where is it going? 30:49 He says, "It is going away deeper than you can," 30:51 and that's how God is. 30:53 God's got to sound strange 30:54 but He has got a spiritual snake. 30:56 He has got to burrow way down deep in our thoughts 30:59 and go deeper than we can, am I right? 31:01 And unclog our thoughts. 31:03 Well, I want to say you how He does it, 31:05 and I want you to go with me very quickly. 31:06 I am jumping ahead of myself, but this is how God 31:08 get way down deep in your mind and unclog those things 31:12 that are clogging up the way that you should think. 31:15 Hebrews 4:12. 31:17 This is how God gets way down in your mind. 31:19 If you are wondering 31:20 how you could change the way you think, 31:21 this is how God does it. 31:23 He has got a... 31:24 You got to understand the illustration to say 31:26 that God has a spiritual snake. 31:30 Hebrews 4:12. 31:31 God's got a way of getting way down deep, 31:33 and if you ignore this part, if you ignore this, 31:37 it's not going to happen. 31:39 The thoughts are going to stay there. 31:43 I mean, you could listen to music 31:44 but the thoughts are going to stay there. 31:46 You could jump up and down, 31:47 the thoughts are going to stay there. 31:48 Unless this part is included in your transformation, 31:52 then, your mind is going to remain clogged. 31:56 Let's go this verse. Hebrews 4:12. 31:59 "For the word of God is, what? 32:01 "Quick and powerful or living and powerful, 32:05 and sharper than any two-edged sword," 32:09 get his, now this is where we are going deep now, 32:11 "piercing even to the division of" what? 32:14 "Soul and spirit," 32:15 that is your thoughts and your actions, 32:18 that's what that is meaning in the Greek, 32:19 not did you have two parts to you. 32:21 "Even to the division of your thoughts and actions 32:25 are soul and spirit and of the joints and marrows," 32:29 and get this, 32:30 "and is a discerner of the" what? 32:33 "Thoughts and intents of the heart." 32:37 The Word of God is like an X-ray machine. 32:40 God is deep. 32:42 For me to say that is not even, 32:45 I mean, it's shallow to say that God is the... 32:48 You know what this is in essence saying? 32:49 It says, "The Word of God will reveal the way you think 32:53 and it will amaze you that God is speaking to you 32:56 from His Word and saying, 32:58 'I know exactly what you are thinking.'" 33:02 And sometimes, when a person is going through battles, 33:04 and you pray a simple player, "Lord, speak to me today," 33:07 and you do something as simple. 33:08 It has happened to me many times, 33:10 and I have gone like this, "Okay, I need an answer." 33:13 And I go right through it, 33:15 it's like the Lord guided my fingers to that. 33:19 The study of God's Word 33:20 would change the way you understand, 33:22 change the way you speak, and change the way you think 33:26 because it goes way down deep into the soul. 33:29 Amen for that? Amen. 33:31 You got to include the Word of God. 33:32 If you don't have that in there, 33:34 no amount of anything else is going to make a difference 33:36 in the transformation process of your life. 33:38 The devil is not afraid of good Bibles 33:40 that are without any creases in the page. 33:45 If your Bible is falling apart, chances are your life is not. 33:49 Number 14, is that correct? 33:53 Thirteen, man, we are moving slow tonight. 33:55 What's going on? 33:57 Number 13. 34:00 "What must we do to sever 34:02 our connection to the old life?" 34:04 "What must we do to sever 34:05 our connection to the old life?" 34:08 So if you are answering number 12, 34:09 "What did the Apostle Paul testified 34:11 concerning his transformed life?" 34:12 He spoke, thought, and understood differently. 34:15 That was the answer to number 12. 34:16 He spoke, thought, and understood differently. 34:18 I think you got that point. 34:20 Number 13, "What must we do to sever 34:22 our connection to the old life?" 34:24 Go with me to Ephesians 4:22. 34:28 Ephesians 4:22. 34:32 This topic above the others is a topic 34:36 that talks about action. 34:38 What word did I just use? 34:39 Action. Action. 34:40 The Christian life is a life that has to have action. 34:43 Some people expect there to be changes in our lives 34:46 without any actions at all. 34:49 It's like, somebody says, 34:50 "You know, I want to paint the house." 34:52 Long as you want to paint this, 34:53 it's not going to get painted, right? 34:55 I want to clean out the garage. 34:57 Long as you want, this is not going to get cleaned out. 34:59 What do you have to do? 35:00 Get the word, "Want to," out of the way. 35:03 Clean out the garage. 35:05 See? I want to go on vacation. 35:07 Long as you want it, you are not going anywhere. 35:09 You got to do what? 35:11 Go on vacation. 35:12 See? That's the key. 35:13 This is an action topic. 35:15 It is saying to the Christians, and a lot of times, 35:16 people takes the actions out of our lives 35:18 because sometimes they think, 35:19 "Well, you know, am I saved by my works?" 35:22 No, you are saved by the work that Christ performed 35:26 that you could not perform, you could not pay for your sin. 35:29 But as a person who is now been employed 35:32 to be in the family of Christ, 35:34 you've got to make decisions about how you live. 35:37 That's what the action is all about. 35:38 Here is the answer. 35:40 Ephesians 4:22. 35:42 "What must we do to sever our connection?" 35:44 Here, he says, "That you" do what? 35:47 "Put off, concerning your former conduct, 35:52 the old man which" does what? 35:55 "Grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts." 35:59 You know what that word, 36:00 that phrase deceitful lust is all about? 36:02 Deceitful means you think that by going down that path, 36:07 you're going to find satisfaction, 36:10 but in essence, you are being deceived. 36:13 I think it was years ago, there was a lady 36:15 by the name of Susan Powter, 36:16 does that name ring a bell to anybody? 36:19 There was a lady who had, her husband left her, 36:22 she was way overweight, 36:24 and she had a phrase that was coined, 36:27 "Stop the insanity." 36:28 Does anybody remember that? 36:31 And her phrase meant, she says, 36:34 I don't know if she is a first one, 36:36 but when she said it, it stuck. 36:37 She says, 36:39 "Here is the definition of insanity." 36:40 What am I going to say? 36:42 "Doing the same thing expecting" what? 36:45 "Different results." 36:47 So some people say, 36:51 "I want to quit drinking." 36:55 So they drive physically 36:58 to the store that sells alcohol. 36:59 I don't even know what they call it. 37:01 They drive to the liquor store. 37:03 "I don't want to drink anymore." 37:05 So they are driving to the liquor store. 37:06 Decision, stop driving to the liquor store. 37:10 That simple. 37:12 You got to make a decision. 37:13 It has to be an action. 37:15 With every action, 37:16 there is an equal and opposite reaction. 37:18 As we decide not to light our houses on fire. 37:21 I have never heard anybody say, "You know, I am having trouble. 37:24 I want to light my house on fire." 37:28 They could do it. 37:29 Just strike a match and drop it. 37:31 And you say, "Well, you know, how simple that is." 37:34 They say, "Why would I want to do that? 37:35 That's insane." 37:36 Well, many things that happen in our lives 37:38 come down to something as simple as the word choice. 37:40 What word did I use? 37:42 Choice. Choice. 37:43 You got to choose, the Lord said, 37:45 "Choose you this day whom you will serve." 37:49 So when you read the text, it says, "Put off, 37:51 concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt 37:55 according to the deceitful lusts." 37:56 So the world got us locked into this pattern, 37:59 I call it, this merry-go-round, 38:02 a horse you are sitting on that's going nowhere 38:05 but it is moving. 38:08 Say it again. 38:09 It is going up and down and circle 38:11 and you have music and devil's put us, 38:12 so many of us, I don't want to do this too much 38:14 because I am getting dizzy on just the first try, 38:16 but the devil has got some people 38:17 on this merry-go-round, 38:18 it is just going round and round, 38:20 and he is playing music and they are having a good time 38:21 and the colored horses and hey, 38:24 and we act like the scenery is changing often, 38:26 hey, haven't seen that before, 38:29 haven't seen that before. 38:32 You are seeing the same thing over and over and over again. 38:35 And somebody want to yell, 'cause someone pull the plug 38:37 on this non-productive life? 38:41 And that's what the devil does. 38:42 He puts the world on a merry-go-round. 38:44 And the scene changes once in a while and they say, 38:47 "I have seen that before," and after a while they realize, 38:50 after rounds and rounds. 38:51 My good friend... 38:53 Not my good friend but a singer that I really enjoy his music. 38:56 He was married to Amy Grant years ago. 38:59 A guy by the name of Gary Chapman. 39:01 He says, "I wish my mind wouldn't argue with my heart. 39:06 It splits my day apart into time well spent 39:09 and time just thrown away." 39:12 Then he says, "I wish my heart would please make up my mind. 39:16 So I'm wasting so much time, I got to catch a glimpse 39:20 of how it is going to be." 39:21 And that's the battle. 39:23 But you have to make a decision. 39:24 You got to say in your mind, 39:25 "Today, I am putting off 39:27 concerning your former conduct." 39:28 And when you make that decision moment by moment, 39:30 day by day, by the power of the indwelling Christ, 39:32 you will be amazed 39:34 how easy it gets for the former conduct 39:37 not even to even appeal to you any longer. 39:39 So what's the answer? 39:41 "What must we do to sever our connection?" 39:43 Put off. 39:45 Put off the former conduct. 39:47 Put it off. 39:49 Put it off. 39:53 Somebody says, "Is that easy?" 39:55 "Yeah. Yeah." 39:57 Turn the stove off. 39:58 Is that easy? Yeah. 40:00 Just make an action. 40:01 The Lord will give you the desire 40:04 and that's what often we have to pray for 40:06 because you know, the action is simple 40:07 but where the battle comes in is the desire 40:11 because sometimes when a person wants to give us something, 40:15 I remember praying for a guy, 40:16 he wanted to be delivered from alcohol and cigarettes. 40:19 Did I tell you the story? 40:20 I may not have. 40:22 Different audience. 40:23 But prayed for him to be 40:25 delivered from alcohol and cigarettes. 40:26 We anointed a guy and had prayer with him 40:27 and after the prayer was done, 40:29 I said, "Do you have any more cigarettes left?' 40:30 He said, "Got a pack in the truck." 40:33 I said, "Go, get it." 40:35 He said, "That's my last pack." 40:38 I said, "You just had us pray and claimed the victory." 40:42 "But that's my last pack." 40:43 I said, "Do you have any cigarettes right here?" 40:45 "Yeah, about three of them." 40:46 Go, get them and give it to me." 40:48 He wanted to finish that last pack 40:49 after the prayer to be delivered. 40:52 It's amazing. It's amazing. 40:55 'Cause the deceitful lust is what was driving him. 40:58 He felt that somehow that next puff 41:00 would bring satisfaction and only to realize 41:04 that he hasn't to this point gotten any satisfaction at all. 41:07 God can take away that desire to even go back 41:11 to where we were before. 41:13 I know that to be a fact. 41:14 God has done so many transformations 41:17 in our lives personally. 41:19 I could say, "Praise God. 41:20 He is a transforming God." 41:21 Amen? Amen. 41:23 Go with me to Proverbs 12:5. 41:25 Proverbs 12:5. 41:27 This is a text that goes well with this verse we just read. 41:30 Proverbs 12:5. 41:37 This is what you can expect when God transforms 41:40 the way you think. 41:42 Proverbs 12:5. 41:48 This is powerful. 41:50 A wicked guy... 41:51 You know, there's so many battles 41:53 we have in our world on so many issues 41:54 and I was saying to myself the other day, 41:56 "Right now there is a big old issue in America 41:57 about gun violence," 41:59 and it's terrible all these tragedies happening 42:00 and people getting senselessly killed 42:02 and some people say, 42:04 "Well, if you pass another law, this will happen. 42:05 If you pass another law, that will happen." 42:07 Now I am thinking to myself, "Why don't we pass laws 42:09 to stop selling alcohol? 42:11 Why don't we pass laws to stop selling cigarettes? 42:14 Why don't we pass laws to stop selling pornography? 42:18 Why don't we pass laws to close down smut shops? 42:21 And things that destroy life 42:23 by the millions on a day by day. 42:25 Why don't we stop gambling casinos 42:27 that destroy lives senselessly? 42:29 But you know what's driving it? Come on, what's driving it? 42:33 Money. Money. 42:35 That's why this text is so powerful. 42:37 When the Lord is working in your life 42:38 and transforming your thoughts, 42:40 notice what the wise man Solomon says. 42:42 He says, "The thoughts of the righteous are" what? 42:46 "Right. 42:47 But the counsels of the wicked are" what? 42:49 "Deceitful." 42:52 Somebody told me a story about some guys 42:55 that church members that would go to Las Vegas. 42:59 They didn't go to Las Vegas to witness. 43:01 They went to gamble. 43:07 They went to Las Vegas to gamble, 43:09 and according to this, 43:10 the counsels of the wicked are what? 43:12 Deceitful. 43:14 A wicked person who is driven by the world 43:15 will never tell you the truth. 43:20 So you have phrases like this. 43:22 Here is an evidence of it. You ready? Listen to it. 43:25 You have phrases like this. 43:26 This is a deceitful counsel of the world. 43:28 "Drink responsibly." 43:34 Like my dad, when I met him years ago, he said, 43:36 "Now don't take cocaine but you can smoke marijuana." 43:39 And I am thinking, "Thank you, Dad." 43:42 I didn't take his advice. 43:43 I just want to let you know, right? 43:45 The counsels of the wicked are what? 43:47 Deceitful. 43:49 New Year's Eve. 43:51 Friends don't let friends drive drunk. 43:54 No, friends don't let friends drink 43:57 because once it comes in, you cannot control the action. 44:01 For every action, 44:02 there is an equal and opposite reaction. 44:04 And too often, we want to get a different reaction 44:06 out of something that's designed 44:08 to take away our ability to think clearly. 44:13 So drink responsibly. 44:16 Counsels of the wicked are deceitful. 44:18 Okay, number 15, is that where we are? 44:20 Number 14. 44:21 I am going ahead of myself. 44:24 Don't get the world give you false counsel. 44:28 Number 14. 44:29 "How do we begin to strengthen our character in the new life?" 44:33 How do we begin to do that? 44:34 Ephesians 4:23, 24. 44:38 We went to 22 earlier. 44:40 Now we are going to 23, 24. 44:41 I don't want to give you the whole thing right away. 44:43 It fits them 44:45 but I want to break it down to a second question. 44:47 "How do we begin to strengthen our character in the new life?" 44:51 Ephesians 4:23. 44:53 Let's look at it on the screen. 44:54 Here it is. 44:57 "And be" what? 44:59 "Renewed 45:02 in the spirit of your mind, 45:06 and that you put on the new man 45:09 which was created according to God, in" what? 45:15 "True righteousness and" what else? 45:18 "Holiness." 45:19 Now if you put it all together, first you have verse 22 saying, 45:21 "Put off," and verse 23 saying, "Put on." 45:25 So if you change one garment, you put on another garment. 45:30 If you take off dirty clothes, 45:31 you put on what kind of clothes? 45:33 Clean clothes. 45:34 If you take a dirty socks, you put on what? 45:37 Hopefully clean socks. 45:39 I said hopefully because some people don't. 45:42 But the point of the matter is you've taken off 45:45 what you used to wear, you got to put on 45:46 what God wants you to wear. 45:48 True righteousness and holiness. 45:52 One is taken off, 45:54 and the other one is putting on. 45:57 So here's the answer. 45:59 "How do we begin to strengthen our character in the new life?" 46:03 Be renewed. 46:05 Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. 46:08 We got to pray for the Lord 46:09 to renew our minds in the spirit 46:12 because spiritually when we think differently, 46:15 it is not us that's in-charge, 46:17 it's the Holy Spirit that's in-charge. 46:19 What does he promise to do? 46:21 According to John 16:13, 46:23 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, 46:26 He will lead you and guide you into all truth." 46:29 So the spiritual mind that we get 46:31 is not because we came up with this great plan. 46:34 Some people have a Bible reading plan. 46:35 They want to read the Bible through in a year. 46:37 That's a good desire but you know what? 46:39 That's too fast. 46:43 I mean, really it is when you think about it. 46:45 Some people say, "I read the Bible through in a year." 46:47 Well, how much did you glean? 46:48 Like a guy I met on the train in New York City, 46:50 on the A train. 46:51 I asked him, I said, 46:53 "Have you read Revelation before?" 46:54 He said, "I did yesterday on my way to work." 46:57 "Well, how much did you glean?" 47:01 "What do you mean?" That's the point. 47:03 You cannot just want to read the Bible 47:05 as a daily exercise. 47:07 You have to take this thing down. 47:08 I tell you the Word of God is like 47:11 the richest most divinely... 47:15 I am trying to put some words together here 47:17 to make this sound sensible. 47:18 It's like the best dessert you have ever had. 47:21 And the only way to benefit from that, 47:23 we have to taste and see that the Lord is good. 47:25 The Word of God, bread of life, right? 47:28 Best bread you will ever have. 47:31 But you've got to taste it in order. 47:33 And how that happens? 47:34 I want to go back to this text here. 47:36 We have to pray for our minds to be renewed how? 47:39 "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind." 47:43 Now let me tell you why. 47:44 When Jesus came, He did not just say, 47:47 "Thou shall not kill." 47:50 That was the law but He amplified it. 47:52 If you hate your brother, you are a murderer already. 47:55 He says, now this is profound. 48:00 Christians cannot just say, 48:02 "I want to kill you but I can't." 48:06 Did you just get that? 48:07 'Cause there's too much. 48:09 There are Christian churches where there is infighting 48:12 but they will never kill each other. 48:13 But if they could, they would. 48:17 I have had those instances in my church. 48:18 Once at Sabbath, a member came to church 48:20 with a baseball bat. 48:22 Remember that, Brother Dick? 48:23 Not here, by the way. 48:24 I just want to make sure that wasn't down in Thompsonville, 48:26 came in to the church with a baseball bat 48:27 and told me she was going to beat up the deacon, 48:30 her mind needs to be... 48:32 She wasn't going to kill him. 48:33 She is just going to beat him up. 48:35 "I am not going to kill him but I am going to beat him up." 48:38 So here's the point. 48:40 She was already at the point of murder 48:42 before the act was even carried out. 48:43 Thank God we didn't pray, we prayed, Lord, 48:47 chase the devil out of here. 48:48 We didn't say chase the member out of here. 48:49 We said, chase the devil out of here. 48:51 And the member went home, left her bat, 48:53 and came back to church sane, praise God for that, right? 48:57 So if you see the person, they are not the enemy. 48:59 But the issue is the mind, the mind it is. 49:02 So here's... 49:03 Let's keep going to the next level. 49:05 You may not steal somebody's stuff 49:07 but if the spirit in your mind is saying, 49:09 "Oh, I want that. 49:10 if I could take that, I would like to take that." 49:12 Whether it is a person's talent, 49:14 or whether it is their possessions. 49:16 You got to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 49:18 not just the letter, but also in the spirit. 49:22 So that's a higher level than just the letter. 49:24 Some people might say, 49:26 "I never stole, didn't commit adultery, 49:27 never killed, 49:29 never anything." 49:35 But have you done so in your mind? 49:37 That's what the Lord is in essence, 49:39 "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind." 49:41 When the mind is renewed, then the conduct, 49:44 the change in conduct is going to happen 49:46 when the spirit has control of the mind. 49:49 Remember, that's where the transformation begins. 49:52 Be transformed by the, come on, renewing of your mind. 49:58 Romans 12:1, 1. 50:00 Be nor conformed but be transformed 50:02 by the renewing of your, 50:06 say it, renewing of your mind. 50:09 And how do you renew that mind? 50:11 You got to put some divine words in there. 50:13 Guys, you got to think of God's Word 50:14 as the best email you ever got. 50:17 You got to think of God's Word 50:19 as the best text message you ever got. 50:24 People texting all day 50:26 but not reading any text in the Bible. 50:28 Isn't that sad? 50:30 Kids text, 20 words in a minute, they say. 50:33 How many Bible texts do they read every minute? 50:36 And that's free, 50:38 ain't that right pastor, ain't that right? 50:41 Texting but not reading any text. 50:43 That's the problem in the world today. 50:44 The devil got us on the wrong text 50:47 and we want to be transformed. 50:48 Kids in church texting, not reading their Bible. 50:51 Come to the church with their, they don't miss their phones, 50:53 but they forget their Bibles, 50:55 and they want to be like Christians. 50:57 They spend all week at home texting, 50:59 won't even pick up the Bible, come to church 51:01 has no desire for spiritual things, why? 51:03 Because they mess with the wrong text. 51:05 This is the text that will transform you, 51:06 what do you say? 51:08 Amen. 51:09 Renewing the mind. 51:11 Okay. 51:12 Proverbs 16:3 goes with this. 51:14 I want to add another text to this. 51:15 Proverbs 16:3. 51:17 This fits along the very same way. 51:19 "How do we begin to strengthen our character 51:21 in the new life?" 51:22 We just put the answer down there. 51:23 And the answer by the way, 51:25 "How do we strengthen our character?" 51:26 Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 51:27 not just the letter. 51:29 Don't talk about the things that people can see. 51:32 The challenge often is where the people can't see 51:34 what's going on in your mind. 51:37 Proverbs 16:3. 51:39 Notice this. 51:41 "Commit your works to the Lord," 51:44 and what did he say? 51:46 "Your thoughts will be established." 51:48 Okay. 51:50 If the Lord can approve of your works, 51:52 if you commit, "Lord, is it okay for me to do this?" 51:56 "No." 51:58 "Well, I won't do it." 51:59 And when he says no, what He is in essence doing. 52:03 He is not just trying to change the action. 52:05 He is trying to establish your thoughts. 52:07 He is trying to give you a thought pattern 52:08 that you did not naturally have. 52:10 Just like parents. 52:11 What do parents do with their children? 52:13 Don't touch that. 52:15 And the kid... 52:17 What are you trying to do? Tell me somebody. 52:19 What are you trying to do? 52:22 You are trying to get them to establish a thought pattern 52:24 so that when they get up, they don' walk around the world 52:26 touching everything that 52:27 is in somebody else's house. 52:29 Isn't that true? 52:30 That's why people say... 52:32 What's that phrase, it begins at home? 52:36 Come on, help me up, parents. 52:38 Anyway. 52:39 Nobody remembers it. 52:41 Forgive us all. 52:42 Charity begins at home, 52:43 but good manners begins at home too. 52:45 Am I telling the truth? 52:46 What you practice at home 52:47 is what you're going to do abroad. 52:49 The Lord sometimes has to slap us on our hands 52:51 to establish our thoughts in the right direction. 52:53 Isn't that true? 52:54 So when he says, 52:55 "When you commit your ways to the Lord, 52:57 your thoughts will be established." 52:58 So a child comes to somebody's house. 53:00 And you know people that are hosting your family, 53:03 they will say, 53:05 "Wow, your children are so well behaved." 53:07 What they hadn't seen 53:08 is the hours of spanking and punishment. 53:12 See, they hadn't seen that. 53:14 So when the Lord chastises us, when he punishes us, He says, 53:18 "I only do that because I deal with you 53:20 as a faithful father and a faithful son. 53:23 If you are my son and my daughter, 53:24 I've got to do something so that you can be in honor 53:28 and glory to my kingdom." 53:30 But people are not willing to submit their works to God 53:33 and therefore what happens 53:34 is their thoughts are never established. 53:36 They don't have new habits. 53:38 When a person's mind is molded, you can tell 53:40 when a person comes from a family 53:42 where there really are spiritual. 53:44 Sometimes you see children sit down, 53:46 you know, like Hannah. 53:47 I can use Hannah as an example. 53:49 Hannah would pray for me when our elders forget to pray. 53:52 And I told my elder, one day I said, 53:54 "You forgot to pray for me but Hannah didn't." 53:56 See? 53:57 You can tell, thoughts established. 53:59 Why? 54:00 Out of the works of the family, thoughts established. 54:03 In the very same way, and that's how children 54:05 become developed. 54:07 Look at number 15. 54:08 Number 15, very quickly. 54:10 Number 15. 54:14 "Where do we find the power to live the transformed life?" 54:18 See this is practical. 54:19 This is not about what happens when you die. 54:21 This is really where the challenge is. 54:23 Isn't that right? 54:25 "Where do we find the power to live the transformed life?" 54:29 Go to John 15:5. 54:30 I think you all know this one very well. 54:33 But let us not run past like we know it. 54:35 Let's turn to it. John 15:5. 54:38 All right? 54:40 Man, this is beautiful text. 54:43 If you like grapes, you will love this text. 54:46 Here we are. 54:48 Let's read it together. 54:49 On the screen. 54:50 "I am the vine, you are the branches. 54:54 He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears" what? 54:59 "Much fruit, together, 55:01 for without Me you can do nothing." 55:06 So during the week, some people say, 55:07 "I have been trying so hard, it just doesn't work." 55:11 Have you been given Jesus a chance? 55:14 Have you honestly at that moment 55:15 when the temptation comes, 55:17 have you called on the name of the Lord? 55:19 That's in essence what this text is saying. 55:21 If you abide in Me. 55:22 You know what abide means? 55:24 It's like sitting in the back seat of a car. 55:25 You got to abide in the car to get somewhere. 55:27 It's like sitting in the driver's seat. 55:28 If you abide in the vehicle and the vehicle is moving, 55:30 you are moving. 55:31 If you are abiding in Christ, 55:32 there is progress in your Christian walk. 55:35 If you are abiding in Christ, 55:38 you don't have to search for Him when the trials come. 55:41 You don't have to search for Him 55:42 when the temptations come. 55:44 You just call on the Lord. 55:46 And then He says, 55:47 "If you abide in Me, and I abide in you," 55:50 what happens? 55:51 "You bear much fruit, 55:53 for without me you can do" how much? 55:54 "Nothing." Absolutely nothing. 55:57 So when the challenges come this week, 56:00 or even after this program or if you face challenges today 56:04 and you are wondering, how I am going to do that, 56:06 this is the text of reciprocal blessings. 56:09 If you abide in Christ, the blessings will come. 56:12 If he abides in you, the blessings will come. 56:16 The temptations will not be successful 56:17 against the attacks that come your way. 56:20 And it's not scientists, it's not science. 56:23 Some people say, 56:24 "Now what else do I need to do to be successful?" 56:26 Just abide in Christ. 56:30 And oftentimes, we don't consider 56:31 very, very deeply what abiding in Christ means. 56:34 Very quickly with me go to Isaiah 55. 56:36 We are going to begin on question 16, 56:38 but Isaiah 55, I want you see this one 56:40 before we close tonight. 56:42 Isaiah 55, I gave you verse 8 and 9, 56:46 I left verse 7 for this portion of the program. 56:51 Isaiah 55:7 56:56 talking about abiding in divine. 56:59 Here it is. 57:01 Okay? You ready? 57:03 "Let the wicked" do what? 57:05 "Forsake his way, 57:07 and the unrighteous man his" what? 57:09 "Thoughts. 57:10 Let him return to the Lord, and He will have" what? 57:13 "Mercy on him. 57:15 And to our God, for He will" what? 57:18 "Abundantly pardon." 57:20 The Lord is not saying, 57:22 "Oh, you really messed up this time." 57:23 No, he says, whatever the challenge, 57:25 whatever the transgression, wherever you stumble, 57:28 wherever you tend to fail, He says, look to Me, 57:32 come to Me, return to Me, 57:35 I will not only abundantly pardon, 57:37 but I will restore you. 57:39 And so tonight, friends, 57:40 as you are thinking about the challenges 57:42 that come to you, and you are going to live 57:43 the spiritual life in this natural body that you have, 57:46 remember, day by day, 57:47 Christ will give you victory 57:49 over the natural tendencies of your life. 57:52 Don't think about how difficult it is 57:54 but think of how victorious abiding in Christ really is 57:57 and one day it will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:01 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-11-12