Participants: Bill Liversidge
Series Code: VIJ
Program Code: VIJ000010
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00:22 Welcome back. Thank you.
00:26 To the continuing study of Victory in Jesus. 00:33 And this morning Ken has graciously volunteered 00:36 to lead us in prayer. 00:37 Thank you, Ken. 00:41 Father we come and kneel in front of Your cross again 00:45 and we look up at You knowing that we are sinners 00:48 and that we are undeserving of everything 00:49 You have done for us. 00:52 But we plead Your blood on our behalf. 00:56 Knowing that You will now take our sin as we were studying 01:00 before transform our minds into Your mind. 01:04 So there are thoughts in our feelings of yours. 01:08 Lord, we are excited by this and we look forward to being 01:14 able to know what You want us to do in any given moment 01:16 because that will be Your mind in us. 01:19 Thank you Lord and we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 01:21 Amen. 01:22 Amen Thank you, very much. 01:26 We've been speaking about putting on the mind of Jesus 01:31 in order that we may prove or know the will of God. 01:36 You never have to be in doubt about the will of God. 01:41 If you put on the mind of Jesus 01:43 and you've sought the will of God 01:45 and your mind is not clear, 01:47 God has constantly reminded me do not act, 01:52 until your mind is crystal clear. 01:55 Continue to seek my mind and when it becomes 02:00 crystal clear in your mind then you act upon it. 02:04 Amen. 02:05 So don't be like a gun that goes of half-cocked. 02:10 Your mind will be crystal clear when God's will 02:14 is being made clear in your thinking. 02:18 This is very important. 02:20 Secondly and very importantly 02:24 when God reveals His will to us, 02:27 He never gives us direction, contrary to the word of God. 02:34 Amen. 02:36 I know people who are constantly looking 02:39 to find a way around the word of God. 02:43 If you're seeking the mind of Jesus, 02:45 you are basically saying to God. 02:48 "Go ahead and convict my mind and I am confident 02:52 that it will not be contrary to Your written word." 02:56 Because God's spoken word 02:58 is always in harmony with His written word. 03:02 Amen. 03:03 Some of you know that my older son is a pastor. 03:08 I'm about to get a second pastor in my family 03:10 which is even more exciting now. 03:13 God is continuing to bless. 03:15 But my older son was an attorney 03:18 who finally responded to the call 03:20 that God had placed upon him. 03:22 I had anointed him as a baby for ministry 03:26 and he's known about it his whole life 03:27 but he had great joy in calling me up one day 03:31 and saying I am going to university to study law. 03:34 I said well enjoy the deviation. 03:37 He said, "Dad you are not hearing me, 03:39 I am goingto study law. 03:40 I am going to become attorney." 03:42 I said, "You heard me. Enjoy the deviation." 03:46 We all know where you are heading. 03:48 And if you want to do law I have no objections, 03:50 the education will be good for you. 03:54 And after 4 years of practicing law, 03:56 he called me up one day and said, 03:58 "You know, I hate what I am doing." 04:00 I said, "Don't ever call me again 04:02 and let me know that I have no wish to hear it." 04:06 He said, "Why not." 04:07 I said, "Well, I am the one who anointed you for ministry." 04:12 And so if I have raised such a wimp 04:15 that you want to spend your life doing what you hate 04:19 and getting highly overpaid for it, be my guest 04:24 but just don't tell me about it. 04:26 I don't want to hear it. 04:28 That was when he finally decided 04:30 to give God the opportunity. 04:33 He said, "What are you really suggesting." 04:35 I said, "I am suggesting of the word resignation 04:38 into your limited vocabulary. 04:42 And a month later he called me up and told me 04:44 that he put in a month's notice and two weeks later 04:48 he's picked up as a youth pastor 04:50 in the Southern California Conference. 04:52 Isn't God's gracious, huh? Amen. 04:55 And one day he called me up and he said, 04:57 "Dad, I have got a young friend of mine. 04:59 He is a fellow pastor, 05:00 single guy like myself and he needs counsel." 05:04 I said, "Well, give him my phone number." 05:07 I was living in Washington DC at the time. 05:09 I said, "When I'm out in LA next week 05:11 or couple of week's time I'll meet with him if he likes. 05:15 So this guy calls me up and he said, 05:17 "Can I take you out to dinner." 05:18 I said, "Off course as long as I get 05:20 to choose the restaurant." 05:23 And he took that seriously fortunately. 05:25 So there's a nice restaurant 05:27 out on the pier in Santa Monica. 05:30 8 o'clock on Saturday night we met up at this restaurant. 05:33 This young man, he's like 30. 05:37 I made a little bet with myself. 05:39 I said to myself, I bet he wants to talk 05:41 about a young lady. 05:43 What else is a young single 30 years old pastor 05:46 going to talk about? 05:48 So I made this little bet with my self. 05:52 Anyway we got to the restaurant, 05:53 we spend an hour just having chitchat. 05:56 And I said to him, "I hope you know 05:57 this restaurant closes at 10 o'clock, 05:59 it's now 9 o'clock." 06:01 I thought there was something to discuss 06:04 but apparently not at all, just having a great dinner. 06:06 This is fine you know. 06:08 And his head dropped a little bit 06:09 and he said well, there is. 06:14 I said, "Well, bring it up, we got one hour." 06:18 Well, he said it's hard for me to bring it up 06:20 so I said to myself, I think I am right. 06:24 He said, "I have just got engaged." 06:26 I said, "Well, congratulations." 06:28 He said, "Well, that's really the problem." 06:31 Well, I said, "Engagement 06:33 is supposed to be a very happy occasion." 06:37 He said, "Well, this not so happy for me." 06:40 I said, "Why not?" 06:42 He said well, and his head 06:44 dropped it almost hit the floor. 06:46 So I knew what was coming. 06:48 He said, "Well, 06:51 she's not the same faith as me." 06:58 I said, "Okay." 07:00 So we have a pastor of one denomination, 07:04 who has got himself engaged. 07:06 So when he said, "It's much worse than that." 07:08 He said, "She's not even a Protestant." 07:13 I said, "Okay, so if she's not a Protestant 07:16 that means she is a Catholic." 07:21 He said, "Well, yes, she is." 07:23 I said, "Okay." I said, "So." 07:27 Well, he said, "I know what to do. 07:29 I probably shouldn't even have had this dinner with you. 07:32 I'm gonna go around to her apartment tomorrow 07:34 and I'm gonna break up with her. 07:35 Is that what you want me to do?" 07:38 I said, "Listen buddy, 07:39 you are not a child, you are an adult. 07:42 I am not here to tell you what to do. 07:44 I can share the biblical principles with you. 07:49 Would you like to hear them?" 07:50 He said, "Yes." I said, "Well, okay." 07:54 First of all can two walk together, 07:57 unless they are agreed? 08:00 And I'm rattling of these principles. 08:03 And he's getting, 08:04 his head's getting lower and lower 08:08 and finally he says to me, 08:10 "Let me rephrase my question to you. 08:13 If I go around to her house tonight 08:17 and I break up with her, would you consider 08:19 that I have taken a positive step?" 08:21 I said, "Absolutely, but maybe not for the reasons 08:25 that you are thinking." 08:27 Well, he said, "The reasons are very clear to me. 08:29 I said, "Well, they are to me. I hope they are to you." 08:34 I said, "I have never met this girl. 08:37 For all I know she could be a God fearing, 08:42 practicing member of the Roman Catholic Church, 08:46 a true child of God." 08:49 Following God with every point of truth 08:52 that she understands and quiet frankly 08:58 she is in grave danger. 09:02 She is about to unite herself in marriage 09:04 with the most wimpish, 09:08 lacking in conviction pastor. 09:13 Break up with her please for her sake. 09:16 Amen. Amen. 09:19 He is stunned. 09:21 Well, I said, "By the way, 09:22 thanks for dinner it was great." 09:24 He is shaking. 09:26 He went around to her house and he broke up with her. 09:29 My son kept me informed. 09:35 A week later this girl called him up. 09:37 Just called up the young pastor 09:38 and she said, "What are these reasons? 09:42 Why we can't get married? 09:43 How come you have never shared them with me? 09:45 Never opened the Bible with her once, not once. 09:49 She said, "Get your Bible, bring it around here 09:52 and at least have the decency to explain to me, 09:56 why we can't biblically get married? 10:00 And he took his Bible around for the first time 10:03 and they had a Bible study together. 10:05 And he began to serene with her, 10:07 how important it was for them to walk together in faith, 10:10 if they gonna be unite their lives. 10:13 And they started weekly Bible studies together. 10:17 Three months later my son called me up 10:19 and he said, "Guess what?" 10:20 I said, "I can guess over there what's happened." 10:24 She's taken a beautiful stand for Christ. 10:28 She's being baptized. 10:31 I am back n Washington DC and my phone rings 10:34 and I looked around at the caller id 10:36 and I said oh, it's the wimp calling me. 10:40 Why would the wimp be calling me unless... 10:45 I know why he's calling me. 10:47 He doesn't know that I know already about her 10:49 but I pretended I didn't. 10:52 He said, "It's great news." I said, "Share it with me." 10:55 Oh, what a beautiful, he said yes, it's exciting 10:58 and I have got to special favor to ask you. 11:00 I said the answer is no. 11:03 He said, "I haven't asked you yet." 11:06 Oh, I said I have the prophetic gift. 11:09 I know exactly what you're going to ask me 11:11 and the answer is no, He said, 11:14 "I was kind of ask you to do my wedding? 11:16 I said I know. 11:18 And the answer is no. I will not do your wedding. 11:24 I said, "If you are still dating her in two years time, 11:26 call me and I'll do your wedding." 11:29 He said, "Why won't you do the wedding?" 11:31 I said, "Because I think she is still in danger." 11:34 She has done a lot of growing 11:36 in the last 3 months but what about you? 11:41 You need time to catch up with her now. 11:44 So that you can actually be united equally in marriage 11:50 because quite frankly she is ahead of you 11:52 at the moment in her convictions. 11:55 And so I said, "If you want to get married 11:57 find another pastor, there's plenty of them around. 11:59 Please don't ask my son to do the wedding. 12:02 That's all I am asking you." 12:04 Why try so hard for counseling 12:08 he actually asked me during the dinner. 12:10 He said, "Please pray with me 12:12 so that I can know the will of God. 12:13 I said, "I got bad news for you, 12:15 I can't pray with you." 12:18 Well, he said, "Your son said you would pray with me." 12:21 Oh, I said, "No, another classic example of a son 12:24 who doesn't know his own father." 12:28 But you are a pastor he says, why don't you pray with me? 12:32 I said, "Because I am not in the business of tempting God." 12:36 I know the will of God on these matters 12:39 it's in His word with absolute clarity. 12:42 I am not praying to God about something 12:45 that He has already made crystal clear." 12:47 Amen. 12:48 I could pray for the grace of God 12:50 to come upon you and you'll act upon it. 12:53 That would be a powerful prayer. 12:55 But I am not praying for the will of God to be revealed 12:58 when it's already been made crystal clear. 13:01 I hope your mind is clear on these matters. 13:04 So if you are seeking the mind of Jesus 13:06 and you are looking for the will of God. 13:09 Please don't use it as a means of trying 13:11 to get around the word of God 13:14 because God's will is in His word. 13:16 Is there a big amen to that? Amen 13:19 Any question on putting on the mind of Jesus. 13:21 This is such a serious subject. 13:25 And it's a test of fight to put on the mind of Jesus 13:27 and actually believe that you are hearing 13:30 His thoughts and His feelings are becoming a part of you. 13:35 Anyone questioning that? Such a serious subject. 13:39 All right we are moving on to step number three. 13:44 Number three. 13:54 So the three steps to victory. 13:56 Come daily to the cross 13:58 and claim the benefits of His atoning death. 14:02 Secondly and this is an automatic development. 14:05 Anyone who claims the benefits of the death of Jesus 14:08 will automatically receive the mind of Christ. 14:12 But I like to reinforce it by saying to God, 14:16 I give you permission to bring the mind of Jesus 14:20 into my mind right now, 14:23 so that for another day of my life 14:25 I can be thinking His thoughts, 14:27 I can be feeling His feelings. 14:29 By the way I am in a state of amazement myself 14:33 at how clearly Jesus thinks. 14:36 He shares that in the past I've kind of been grave with, 14:39 I've been unclear. 14:41 Now I am no longer in doubt, they are crystal clear. 14:44 Things that I have delayed 14:46 before, I now know that I can act 14:48 because it's crystal clear before me. 14:50 It's a beautiful thing to put on the mind of Jesus. 14:55 And thirdly and this is a very important step now 14:57 and I want you to read with me 14:59 in Romans Chapter 6, Romans Chapter 6. 15:09 I might need help here. 15:11 If you look at my Bible, you'll see why I might need. 15:13 This pages showing a little signs of wear here. 15:19 I think I can remember the wording 15:21 but we'll see how I do. 15:22 This happens to be one of those pages 15:23 where some verses are missing. 15:27 Romans 6:13, I want you to look at the tenses, 15:34 trying to pick out a version there 15:35 where the tenses are crystal clear. 15:37 Yeah. That was a quick yeah. 15:40 What verse have you got there? New American Standard. 15:42 Oh, hallelujah, he is such an advance thinker. 15:46 Let's have you read verse 13 for us, please. 15:49 "And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin 15:54 as instruments of unrighteousness, 15:56 but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, 16:00 and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." 16:05 And Grapp, would you also include verse 16 for us. 16:08 Thank you. 16:09 "Do you not know that when you present 16:11 yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, 16:14 you are slaves of the one whom you obey, 16:18 either of sin resulting in death, 16:20 or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" 16:23 Thank you very much. 16:25 Now every time you read the word 16:27 present here, in the Greek 16:29 it's in what the Greeks called the continuous tense. 16:34 In other words it's an action 16:36 that is continuously taking place. 16:40 Do not continually present the members of your body to sin 16:47 as instrument of unrighteousness 16:49 that's verse 13. 16:51 But continually presents yourselves to God 16:56 as those alive from the dead. 16:58 I hope you are hearing it. 17:01 Do not continually go on presenting 17:05 the members of your body 17:06 as instruments of unrighteousness, 17:09 but go on continually presenting yourselves 17:13 as instruments of righteousness to God. 17:16 That's a powerful statement 17:19 and I'm wanting to emphasize this morning 17:21 the continuous nature of this process. 17:25 It took me quite a while to hear 17:27 what Paul was saying here and to pick up 17:30 on the continuousness of the actions 17:33 because when you perform actions 17:36 like this on a continuing bases, 17:39 what are you actually engaging in? 17:44 Character development, 17:46 there is no question about that. 17:48 Habit formation. Thank you very much, Grapp. 17:51 You are moving into what we call habit formation, 17:57 the continuous doing of actions 18:02 creates habit formation. 18:05 I wish I'd known this when I first became a Christian 18:09 at the young age of 17, having no Christian background. 18:14 I wish somebody had sat down with me 18:17 because they were excited to lead me to faith 18:19 but nobody talk to me about the importance 18:24 of establishing habits in my life 18:27 that could replace some of the old habits 18:31 that was still present in me. 18:33 I don't know about you but I discovered 18:35 when I became a Christian, I had come out of the world, 18:39 but the world had not come out of me. 18:43 I still had some of these old habits in my mind. 18:49 So the third step is the crucial step, develop. 18:54 No, that's not a good word, establish is better. 18:58 I think I'll use black here, establish. 19:01 New habits to replace old, 19:06 so that your actions will glorify God. 19:11 Those who were having breakfast with me this morning, 19:14 I put on speaker over the call 19:16 that I was receiving from the young man, 19:18 the young homosexual man 19:20 that God has given me to work with. 19:22 He called me this morning just to praise God. 19:25 And those who were sitting over breakfast were thrilled 19:27 to hear his beautiful testimony of praise. 19:30 I've even taught him recently how to set boundaries, 19:36 so that he doesn't need to be drown back into the old habits 19:39 associated with this lifestyle. 19:42 I am so proud of him because last week 19:44 he was out of twelve step program meeting 19:48 and he looked across the room 19:50 and there was a young man sitting 19:51 on the other side of the room 19:53 who apparently was a very good looking young man. 19:57 And his mind kicked into gear and he said to himself, 20:00 I think I'll just go over and introduce myself 20:03 to this young man. 20:05 And immediately he thought back on our conversation 20:09 about replacing the old habits in your life 20:12 and he said, you know, I just looked up 20:15 and I gave Jesus permission to bring his mind into me 20:19 and I immediately determined I would not even go 20:22 and introduce myself to that young man. 20:25 So I would not set in motion a series of events 20:29 that could lead me back into my old behaviors. 20:32 And I thought wow, wow. 20:35 And those of you that heard him this morning, 20:37 you know what grace God is giving to this young man. 20:41 Powerful grace. 20:43 So this is a huge thing, we're reading in Romans. 20:46 "Go on continually 20:49 presenting the members of your bodies to God 20:52 as instruments of righteousness." 20:55 Now I want to tell you something 20:56 about the human mind here this morning. 21:04 When I was at seminary, 21:05 we had a professor who used to be a pastor 21:10 but became a psychologist, a very good psychologist 21:15 and he became a specialist in habit formation. 21:18 He has passed away now but he was a brilliant teacher, 21:22 was one of the best classes I have ever took at seminary. 21:25 And one day on the blackboard he drew the human mind. 21:32 He said, you know, our minds are rather interesting, 21:35 because every time you establish a habit, 21:39 he said it creates a physical pathway in the brain. 21:45 He said it's like this, 21:46 and he drew little thing as like this. 21:50 He said these are called boutons, 21:52 the French word for button. 21:56 And he said it begins back here 21:59 and he said we call this the trigger. 22:02 This is the point of temptation where you get triggered. 22:07 You say something, you watch something, 22:09 you hear something whatever it takes, 22:12 it triggers your mind and the pathway activates, 22:18 and you are actually kind at times 22:19 find yourself doing things 22:21 that you actually don't want to do. 22:23 You didn't plan it. 22:25 It was not even a deliberate action, 22:27 you did it automatically 22:28 because you have a pathway established in your brain. 22:33 I sat up higher when he started describing this, 22:37 I thought, wow, that's me. 22:39 I'm beginning to understand 22:41 why the Apostle Paul himself said 22:43 at times I do things that I hate 22:47 and things I want to do I find myself un to do them, 22:52 because these pathways are in the human mind. 22:56 And the professor said 22:58 you cannot erase these pathways, 23:03 but you can create new pathways 23:09 to replace the old pathways. 23:12 He said you can even begin up at the same point. 23:15 You can have the same trigger, the same point of temptation 23:20 and your mind will want to go into the old pathway, 23:23 but you could begin at this point 23:26 and you could create a new pathway 23:29 by getting into the habit of responding differently 23:35 to the same trigger point. 23:38 And he said if you repeat the new pathway often enough, 23:42 it will replace the old pathway. 23:47 And it will become the habit of your life 23:52 and the old pathway will lose its impact and power upon you. 23:58 Amen. 23:59 And all of a sudden the words of Roman 6 24:01 started to make sense to me. 24:04 "Do not continually go on presenting 24:08 the instruments of your bodies to sin 24:12 as instruments of unrighteousness 24:14 but go on continually presenting 24:17 the instruments of your body to God 24:20 as instruments of righteousness." 24:26 And in our next thrilling chapter, 24:29 we are going to pick this up 24:31 and see how this works out in a practical sense. 24:34 I'm wanting to tell you as we conclude 24:37 putting on the mind of Jesus is an incredible blessing. 24:40 Amen. 24:41 Because Jesus in you has a desire to do things 24:47 that are good and pure and holy and righteous 24:50 that are not naturally within you. 24:54 Let's bow our heads together as we conclude this morning. 24:58 Mike, would you close in prayer for us this morning? 25:00 Thank you. The mike will come to you. 25:09 Father in heaven, 25:11 we thank you so much for all Your blessings on us 25:15 and we thank You that You have provided us 25:17 solution to the sin problem. 25:19 Amen. 25:22 We just ask that Your spirit will continue 25:25 to guide us in the all truth 25:27 and just make crystal clear to us 25:30 how to establish these habits 25:34 and make these victories reality in our lives. 25:38 Thank you for Your grace and we thank You 25:40 for sending Your Son to die on the cross for us 25:43 because He sends the Jesus then. 25:44 Amen. Amen. 25:46 Thank you very much. 25:48 Creative Media Ministries is a faith based ministry 25:51 dedicated to the sharing of good news 25:53 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 25:55 We need your help to take this dynamic message 25:57 to the uttermost parts of the earth. 25:59 If God has touched your heart and the word of God 26:01 has come to life like never before, 26:03 contributions can be sent to Creative Media Ministries, 26:07 PO Box 9485, Bakersfield, California, 93389. 26:13 Or you can make your donation online 26:16 by visiting our website 26:17 at www.creative mediaministries.org. 26:22 To order the complete series of Victory of Jesus 26:25 and many other seminars in DVD or CD format, 26:28 contact us at www.creative mediaministries.org. 26:34 You can also call us at 888-744-0443. 26:39 That's 888-744-0443 26:44 or write to us at Creative Media Ministries, 26:47 PO Box 9485, Bakersfield, California, 93389. |
Revised 2015-01-01