Renew Your Mind Part1

So we've been talking about the Kingdom of God and then about three weeks ago started on Kingdom Ethics

and we continue with that.

Here's what King Jesus is saying.

Here's what King Jesus is saying.

He's saying, and He is actually a King.

The whole idea of Messiah, Messiah means anointed one, as in the anointed King.

That's what it means.

There is actually just one King in the entire world.

And it's Him.

And so, here's what He's saying.

He's saying, I want my reign or my governing influence that is really present here in this world

to break through your life into other lives.

That's what He's saying.

That most people are waiting for a kingdom that they think will come in the future.

And yet Jesus is saying, I already came 2000 years ago.

I am alive. I'm here now.

And therefore my reign or my governing influence has already started.

Has already started.

This is why people get healed.

This is why demons get cast out.

This is why bodies, minds, emotions get healed.

This is why fish multiply.

This is why everything that Jesus did when He was on the earth still happens.

This is why Isaiah 61 is a reality.

To proclaim the good news to the poor.

To open blind eyes.

To set captives free.

All this happens because the governing influence of the King of the universe is present,

not in the future, nor in the past in the Bible, but presently.

And He says, I want this governing influence to break into other people's lives.

And I want to use you for that.

That's what He's saying.

But He says, if you want to be a good conductor of my reign through you,

then here is what you need to become.

I mean, stick a pencil into one of these sockets on the wall and nothing happens.

Stick a guitar string into it and something happens.

Why? Because one is a good conductor, one is not.

Don't try this at home.

But one is a good conductor, one is not.

And that's basically what God is saying.

Hey, if you want my governing influence to break through your life into other lives around you,

then here is how you can become a good conductor.

And then He starts with the Beatitude saying, blessed are the poor in spirit.

Blessed are the meek.

And it's basically a self-portrait that He's presenting saying, this is who I am.

Become this way and watch how my governing influence breaks through you into the world.

And so we've covered, I think, four or five of them.

And today we begin with blessed are the poor in spirit.

And today we begin with blessed are the pure for they shall see God.

Blessed are the pure for they shall see God.

Any questions on that before we go on?

He's basically saying, Jacob, become like me.

And then He's saying, oh, you don't know how.

Let me tell you how.

And then He begins to talk about blessed are those that are transparent, dependent, childlike in their helplessness,

for theirs is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are those that are not grabby, pushy, type A, manipulative, driven, but meek.

For they shall inherit everything.

But those that are pushy, grabby, manipulative, type A driven will inherit everything they strive for.

But the meek, the ones who have strength that is submitted to God,

are willing to take occasional abuse, will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness,

as in guys who are desperate for right relationship with God, with each other, with creation, and with themselves.

People who are in right relationship, at the end of the day, righteousness is simply one word, relationship.

That's it.

Christianity makes righteousness do's and don'ts, exactly like the Pharisees did.

God says righteousness is relationship.

Blessed are they who hunger after right relationship with God, right relationship with others,

right relationship with creation, and right relationship with themselves, for they shall be satisfied.

For they shall be satisfied, and they are.

And then what is the fourth one?

Someone help me?

Blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst, blessed are those that mourn.

As in the same kind of mourning that Jesus did when he stood on that hill and looked down on Jerusalem and said,

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, I wish I could gather you like a hen gathers its chicks.

Or like a lot sitting at the gates of Sodom, agonizing over the condition of Sodom, which was soon to be destroyed.

Blessed are those that lament.

Hey, some of you experience this, when you have a son or a daughter who knows what is right and walks wrong.

There is a lament in a parent's heart that is so intense that nobody else can feel it.

I've seen it in parents where you know that you've done everything you can and they begin to walk wayward.

And there is a cry that begins to rise because you're helpless and yet everything in you wants to do something to say,

Come back and you will be alright.

It's that kind of a cry, man.

And then we come to this part.

Right relationship is critical.

God is not too bothered when you break a law.

He is really bothered when you violate relationship.

And the crazy thing is if you don't violate relationship, you won't break the law.

If I will not violate my relationship with Mike, I will not do anything to harm him or break any of the Ten Commandments.

Like I said last time, look at the Ten Commandments.

It's only about relationship.

It starts with, I am your God.

And then it starts with, here's your relationship with God, the first four.

The next six are your relationship with people.

Get the relationship right.

You won't steal.

You won't covet someone else's wife or his donkey or his car.

You won't kill.

You won't be angry.

Right relationship.

Critical.

What happens with us is we are mildly dissatisfied with broken relationships.

The only relationship we like keeping intact is the one with God.

And we do that through repentance, forgiveness, cleansing and stuff like that.

But we don't care too much for the other three relationships.

With self, with friends, with creation.

We don't.

And all four are critical to God.

Today we start with blessed other...

What's the time?

We'll go by that clock.

For once, time is on my side.

Blessed are the pure, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the pure, Matthew 5, 8.

Blessed are the pure, for they shall see God.

And we'll only do part one of it, because there are two parts.

Today we only do one part.

Blessed are the pure, for they shall see God.

Guys, is it even possible?

I mean, is it even possible, one, to see God?

And what does God even mean by, you'll see me?

And then is it even possible to be pure?

What kind of standard is this, where God is calling me to be pure,

but is it even possible to be pure?

I mean, if you want to listen to the teaching on purity,

go to sentone.org, because we did this last year.

Sentone.org, and it's in the month of January,

you'll see the message of God.

And then you'll see the message of God.

And then you'll see the message of God.

Sentone.org, and it's in the month of January,

you'll find the teaching on purity.

So I won't be going in depth into that,

but you can always listen to it.

It's from January 2016.

Is it even possible to be pure?

1 Peter 1, 15, 16.

Hey, here's the thing, Jesus will never ask of me

anything that's not possible.

You've got to believe that.

Jesus will never ask of me anything that's not possible.

He never does that.

He is so real that there's nothing impractical,

super spiritual.

He's very real.

He'd never ask anything of me that's not possible.

And it says in 1 Peter 1, 15 and 16,

it actually says,

As he who called you is holy,

you also be holy in all your conduct.

As he who called you is holy,

you also be holy in all your conduct.

It's odd, eh?

He doesn't say you also be holy.

He says you also be holy in all your conduct.

Guys, here's the truth.

Like it or not,

if you're a Christian,

you have already been made holy.

There's nothing more you can do.

You didn't get holy because you prayed a prayer.

You didn't get holy because you got baptized.

You didn't get holy because you belong to this fine church.

You didn't get holy because you gave an offering.

You became holy because the Holy One of God now lives in you.

You cannot get holier.

But here's what he's saying.

Be holy in your conduct.

And therein lies our problem, eh?

How do you walk pure and maintain pure conduct?

It's almost impossible, it would look like.

And yet that's what God is asking.

So let's look at some verses.

You might have to flip your Bible or phone quite a lot today.

So the first one, guys, let's go to Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4.

Okay.

Here's what it says, Ephesians 4.

Verse 22.

Verse 22, where is it?

Yeah.

It says,

You were taught with regard to your former way of life

to put off your old self,

which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires,

to be made new in the attitude of your mind,

and to put on the new self,

created to be like God into righteousness and holiness.

Sounds terribly complicated.

So here's what Paul is saying.

Hey guys, put off your old self that is corrupted.

That's what he's saying.

Another word for old self is old self.

Some versions use old man.

So that's the first statement he makes.

Put off your old self,

or old man,

which is corrupted.

But here's the problem, guys.

Not problem. Look at this.

Go to Romans 6.6.

Romans 6.6.

Romans 6.6.

So Ephesians 4.22 says,

Put off your old self,

that is corrupted.

Put off your old self,

that is corrupted.

Now go to Romans 6.6.

Look at what it says there.

Romans 6.6 says,

For we know that our old self was crucified with him.

So, for we know that our old self was crucified with him.

So, for we know that our old self was crucified with him.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him.

So Paul in Ephesians says,

Put off your old self,

that is corrupted.

But he's already said in Romans,

For you know that your old self was crucified.

Here's the thing.

This is who I think I am.

Here's how I think of myself.

How you think of yourself.

You are continuously thinking that you have an old nature that is corrupted,

that keeps coming up again and again and again and again and again.

This is how we naturally think.

Every time you lie, you think to yourself,

There I go lying again.

Every time you look at porn,

you think to yourself,

There I go watching porn again.

Every time you violate something that you know is good and true,

you think to yourself,

There I go again.

And so this is where almost all Christians live.

Continuously putting off an old self that is corrupted.

But our problem is,

We don't know this bit.

That it has already been put to death.

It has already been put to death.

That this is not your true self.

Let's look at the other side and then it will begin to make more sense.

Go to Ephesians 4.24.

Here's what it says.

Put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Put on the new self.

Put on the new self created in the likeness of God in righteousness and holiness.

Crazier.

This is how we think.

This is what has happened.

And this is what God says we should now be.

Look at what it's saying.

Put on the new self created in the likeness of God.

Guys, if you've given your life to Jesus Christ,

Know without a shadow of a doubt,

and this is very hard for the mind to comprehend.

Know without a shadow of a doubt that the real you that God deals with is created in his likeness.

When God relates to you, he's not relating to this because he knows this happened.

When God deals with you, he's always dealing with you like this.

I know it's hard to actually believe this.

Go ahead.

I'll come to that.

Yeah.

You know, it's the Holy Spirit in us who practices God's truth, right?

Kind of. We'll get there.

Romans chapter 13 verse 14.

Romans 13:14

Romans 13, 14.

Romans 13, 14.

Says kind of the same thing.

Clothe yourself.

Or some versions like ESV say, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 13, 14.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Guys, I might have to go over this a few times.

We're not finished today, but that's no big deal.

It's best to not finish.

This is where all of us live.

I'm really struggling.

I have had this situation with lying, with cheating, with porn, with bad thoughts, with self-hatred, with fear.

This is where I continuously live.

I've been failing.

I'm inadequate.

This is where I live.

I've been struggling.

But I'm trying to put off my old self, my old nature, or my old man.

This is what we continuously say.

While Paul is actually saying, hey, by the way, while you're struggling with it, know that it's already dead.

Because it's crucified.

So that the body of sin may be destroyed.

That's what he's saying.

And on the other hand, here's what's actually our true condition.

Put on the new self created in the likeness of God in righteousness and holiness.

Put on the new self.

As in, what is the new self?

Clothe yourself.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

The new self is the Lord Jesus Christ.

What do you think happened when you got born again?

Christ came?

In.

So when God relates with you, he doesn't relate with you here.

He relates with...

This is why he literally wants to say to some of us today that, listen, let me read it out as I've written.

Listen, I do not regard your failures, sin and adequacy today as the truth about you.

I do not regard your failures, your sins as the truth about you.

I do not regard your failures, your sins as the truth about you.

I do not regard your failures, your failures, your sins and your inadequacies as the truth about you.

Because my son dealt with all those unloving things that you do on the cross.

I do not regard your failures, sin and inadequacy as the truth about you.

This is how we think God thinks of us.

This is how God really thinks of us.

When you begin to actually let this marinate and go in deeper and deeper and deeper, you'll begin to have a healthy appreciation for yourself.

Not an unhealthy appreciation, a healthy appreciation of yourself.

We'll talk about how to move from here to here.

Oh, like she was saying, we'll talk about how to work out your salvation.

But the first place you start with any working out your salvation is here, man.

That the real Jacob, the true Jacob, the Jacob that God relates with, the Jacob that God said Jacob is,

is a Jacob who is new and created in the likeness of God.

This is the true Jacob.

This is the true Jacob.

And when Jacob begins to think like this, he begins to act like this.

When you think like this, you're constantly struggling and the church has encouraged this.

Put off your old self, put off your old self, put off your old self, put off your old self.

We should come up with a new chorus calling, put off your old self.

With an extra trumpet piece and all that stuff.

Like really good sounding song.

This is who I think I am.

This is who I really am.

This is who I really am.

Just imagine it.

My new self is created in the likeness of God.

My new self is the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

Galatians 2.20.

I have been crucified with Christ.

I no longer live.

But the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave his life for me.

It's impossible to walk in purity if I don't come to the simple understanding that I am one who is created in the likeness of God.

My new self is that way.

That I do not relate with this.

If I live here, I'll struggle continuously.

You know when some guys here in the church gave me a treadmill and sent a message during Christmas.

Yeah, if you didn't know about that, some people in the church decided it was a bright idea to give me a treadmill as a gift.

So it was a Sunday morning and I think it was Finn and Aerie and Tate who came up to me and gave me a t-shirt.

And on the t-shirt it said, no more excuses.

And they said this is the first part of the gift.

And I'm looking at it saying no more excuses.

What in the world does that mean?

Are they trying to say that I've been doing something wrong and stuff like that?

I thought at the best the second part of the gift is the lower half of the t-shirt.

Maybe a pair of track pants or something.

So evening these four big burly guys are knocking at my door and there's a treadmill there.

Now you can provide me a treadmill.

You can provide me a t-shirt.

But after all that is done, I still have to do something with it.

Hanging my t-shirt on the treadmill doesn't do any good.

I've tried it. Nothing happened.

So you have to wear the t-shirt and then do something.

That's the work out the salvation bit.

And we'll talk about that because we have more than an hour and a half left before it turns four.

So the point is this guys, you must not think of yourself here.

You have to begin to think like this.

Today I got a call from someone who was just before coming here.

From who's messing up their lives and wants to continue living up living a messed life.

I'm talking to the person.

Part of me wants to get angry.

Part of me wants to react a certain way.

And where's my default?

The new self created in the likeness of God.

I'm thinking to myself, that's the real me.

So anger, fear, bitterness, self-hatred, these things that we Christians think are normal to our human experience is no longer normal to our experience.

They are alien.

We take them on and think it's part of our life.

My normal life is not an angry life.

Nor was this my normal life.

My normal life is not an angry life.

Nor was Jesus' life an angry life.

My normal life is not an anxious life.

Because I don't see Jesus getting anxious.

My normal life is not a lustful life.

Because I don't see Jesus getting lustful.

My normal life is not a life that is bitter or is consumed with self-hatred.

Because I don't see Jesus like that.

And trust me, Jesus is not a good looking guy.

Nobody gave him a second look, the Bible says.

It's absolutely scriptural.

He's not a good looking guy.

He's not a good looking guy.

The Bible says. It's absolutely scriptural.

He was average or a little worse than me.

Excuse me, you're laughing at the wrong time, Shireen.

The point is this.

So Mike and Karen and Shireen all lose their membership.

Just remember that.

Oh, you're not?

That's why you've been bold.

Okay.

Guys, please understand that this is not who Jesus, this is not who Jacob is.

It's not normal for Jacob to be a certain way.

It's just that we think it's part of normal human experience.

And it's a lie.

It's a lie.

Because it's a part of normal human experience.

We wrestle with these things just like the world.

The only difference is we say prayers before and after.

Can't live like this.

And so I'm on the phone and

anger wasn't suddenly natural.

It was abnormal.

Wasn't natural.

Wanting to say something to put the person in place.

But it was abnormal.

It was abnormal.

It was abnormal.

It was abnormal.

To put the person in place was not natural.

Dissing the person was not natural.

It was abnormal.

I can take it on.

This is what I mean.

When you begin to think like this, you become something else.

But Jacob, you don't know my situation.

Of course I don't.

But you don't know mine either.

And we have our own situations and we work through them.

We're in this place that God has said we are.

Not what has already been destroyed.

This is real guys.

I'm not saying it's not real.

But we'll move this way.

Any questions before we go on?

Any questions?

Do we accept it by faith?

Yeah.

Almost everything in Christianity is obtained through trusting that

when God says it, it actually is true.

And you don't have to go and figure out the Greek and Hebrew of it.

To believe it.

I mean, you think God didn't know that Greek and Hebrew are terribly tough languages?

That none of us will know?

I mean, I'm grateful for guys who know Greek and Hebrew.

But thank God there are none here.

So, everything in Christianity is obtained by trusting that what God says he really means?

Just imagine what will happen to you when you begin to think like this.

That I'm actually someone who has a new self created in the likeness of God.

And when I say the likeness of God, I mean put on the new self created in the likeness of God.

What I'm basically saying is, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he's not just a Christian.

He's a Christian.

And he's a Christian.

And he's a Christian.

And he's a Christian.

And when I say put on the new self created in the likeness of God, what I'm basically saying is, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And once I put him on, I don't need to be like normal humans are.

I'm in the world, but I'm really not off the world.

I have a different...

I mean, we sang that song, I have your blood running through my veins.

I've been born again into a family.

Your blood runs through my veins.

Sounds good on a song.

But you begin to behave differently.

Where laziness would be a very welcome thing.

And then I think to myself, but that's not my new self.

I'm created in the likeness of God.

Jesus wasn't really lazy.

So Jacob, get off your backside.

Stop watching CNN and get on with work.

Everything becomes a little different.

I know that the Spirit of God will let this sink into wherever it's supposed to sink into.

And that if you begin to think about it, it will begin to change you.

Remember guys, our bodies are neutral.

They'll do whatever we tell them to do.

Our bodies, there's no evil.

You cut my flesh, evil doesn't come out.

No snakes will come out.

Just blood.

The body is neutral.

My spirit is brand new.

I got Christ living in me.

The only area that needs work is my thinking.

My reasoning.

My reasoning.

Yep.

Any questions on this guys?

Please feel free to ask.

And remember the word flesh, whenever you see the word flesh in the Bible,

think of it this way.

I know we've talked about this before.

There are two words for flesh.

Soma sarx.

Soma means body.

Somatic disorders.

Whenever Paul uses the word flesh, it's this word sarx.

S-A-R-X.

It means the manner of life

before

you

received

Christ.

That's why when he talks about put off your old self

that is corrupted

by your former manner of life.

He talks about it in Ephesians 4.

He talks about it in Ephesians 4.

Moving on then.

Guys,

the new self created in the likeness of God is who I truly am.

Who I really am.

Look at this. This is not my line.

I don't remember who said it.

To say that I have sinned is true.

To say that I am free of sin

is truer still.

I love the line.

To say that I have sinned is true.

But to say that I am

free of sin is truer still.

S-A-L-L-A.

To say that I have sinned is true.

But to say that I am

free of sin is truer still.

Put off your old self that is

corrupted

and put on your new self.

This old self that you've let

gone off was crucified

on the cross. For we know that our

old self was crucified so that the

body of sin may be destroyed.

So,

it is true that I have sinned.

But it is truer still that I am free of sin.

And it is not normal.

It is not normal for Jacob to

sin. It is not normal for

Jacob to sin.

I'm not trying to say it louder so I

convince myself. I'm saying it louder because

I'm convinced of it. It is not

normal for me to sin.

Every time I sin, it's not normal.

It's something that I'm taking on, man.

It doesn't matter what addiction you have.

You begin to believe this, you will see how addictions

begin to fall off.

And by addictions I don't mean

just drugs and porn and alcohol.

There can be addiction to self-hatred.

Where you've hated yourself for

20 years, you think that's not an addiction.

Where there's an addiction to fear,

bitterness, disharmony.

These are addictions, guys.

They've become habits.

It's unfair to leave addictions

at drugs, alcohol and porn.

Because we haven't renewed our minds

and we'll talk about that.

And we actually don't think

that this is our true condition.

I am so looking forward to the rest of my life.

I'm so looking forward to it.

I'm so looking forward to it.

Because I'm created in the likeness of God.

I don't have to

think of things

as normal anymore.

And it is not idealistic or utopian.

It's Christian.

It is, but

we should by now begin to grasp our identity.

We should.

This is the true you.

It's the true you.

You've heard that story, right?

I was saying in Nandigama

when I was there two weeks ago,

King came to a little island,

decided he's going to kill all the eagles.

Killed all the eagles.

And then after he had killed all the eagles,

this one soldier finds four

eagle eggs.

He came and said, King, four eggs left,

let's destroy them too.

King was evil, so he rubbed his hands with glee

and said, let's not destroy them.

And so he says, what shall we do with them?

So he says, I've got a chicken coop in the back of my house.

Let's put the eagle eggs in the chicken coop.

So they take the eagle eggs and put them in the chicken coop.

And the eggs hatch.

And the eagles come out.

And the mother hen takes care of the eagles.

And it's an open chicken coop.

With high fences, that's all.

But the blooming eagles won't fly

because they think they're chicken.

And so an eagle from another island visits.

And he's sitting there watching them

scroung in the dirt and he's saying,

guys, there's much more, you want to fly?

No, we can't.

No, you really can't if you flap those wings.

No, we're not allowed to.

Why? Look at the others around us.

That's normal human life.

And so they stayed there, till one eagle

dared.

And that was it.

Love the story.

Because so many times I'm like that.

This is not who I think I am.

This is who I think I am.

And the world around me,

the church, my parents,

my pastors, me myself,

reinforces that this is who I am.

And so it's very normal.

And therefore we have counseling sessions.

Tell me brother, what's happening to you?

Oh, sinning.

What if we took people here?

What if there was a new generation that lived here?

What if there was a new generation that lived here?

We'd run counselors out of work.

To live out the true you,

hey, listen to this line.

Nothing has the power to change

my new nature, created

after the likeness of God.

But my mind has the power to affect my behavior.

Nothing has the power

to change my new nature.

My new self, my new nature

is created.

Created, not

some modern art blotches

that got through on the wall of my life.

No.

Created

in the likeness

of God.

This is my new nature.

This is my new nature.

Nothing has the power to change

my new nature.

This is why you will go to heaven tonight

with every sin that you mentioned

you go and repent and

God takes you to heaven. Why? Because your new nature

nothing has the power to change it.

But my mind has

the power to change

the way I behave.

When I renew my mind to think

a certain way, now my nature

and my behavior match.

And Paul's letters were always about that.

Paul's letters were, hey, you are

holy, so why don't you start behaving like that?

Hey, you are a Christian, show me

your ethics. Hey, how come your

Corinthians have behaved, I have

given you life to life, but you, life to God

but you still behave like the Corinthians.

How come you're going

eating in temples,

participating in idolatry,

indulging in sexual immorality?

Don't you know?

How many don't you know does he come up with?

Don't you know you're this? Don't you know you're that?

Don't you know? Why? Because he

says your nature and your ethics, your

nature and your behavior must

match. Biggest problem

in Christianity, especially among the

young.

Love the Lord, will weep before the Lord and then

not be able to

sustain it. Same with the grown-ups, of course,

but we do it in hiding.

To live out the true you,

you must renew the spirit of your mind.

To live out the true

you, you must

renew the spirit of the mind.

Tantan tantan

Tantan tantan

Tantan tantan

Tantan

Amazing board you've got Ashantel.

Comes with music.

Where's the...

Yeah.

Guys, to live out the true

you, you must renew the spirit of your mind.

Listen, here's the thing

uh... Our minds

Here are some words Paul uses to describe.

Derek, welcome.

We normally start at 1.40.

You were supposed to move your clock forward,

not two hours backward.

Just so you know.

Minds.

Here's the thing about minds that Paul says and Jesus say.

Our minds, the ones that we are born with,

the ones that we have cultured in this world,

are debased, traditional.

Jesus said that your minds are traditional.

Callous,

darkened,

alienated,

blind,

proud,

deceitful.

You can throw in a few others if you want to,

but these have scriptural references.

Like Romans 1.28.

Not that you need scriptural references for this.

We know this about ourselves.

Ephesians 4.18 to something.

18 to 20.

And 2 Corinthians 4.4.

2 Corinthians 4.4.

So this is where, this is what our minds are like.

And now God is saying,

hey Jacob, you've got a new nature.

You're created in my likeness.

This is the true you,

this is the you I relate with.

This is the you that sometimes explodes in worship.

This is the you that is strikingly honest with me in prayer.

This is the you that connects with me

as a child connects to his father.

This is the you where the Spirit of God lives,

this is the you out of which emanates that Abba cry.

This is the you that is no longer a slave to fear.

This is the you that is a child of God.

This is the you that I look at.

This is the you that has been purchased

with the blood of Christ.

This is the you that has been anointed by the Spirit.

This is the you that is true and real.

But, you have a mind that has been cultured in the world

that is this way.

And so, I want you to renew your mind

so that your nature and your behavior match up.

Guys, this is what the world feeds, eh?

This is what the world feeds.

All media feeds this.

Most education feeds this.

Let's throw in another one.

Our minds are super rational.

Media, education, the world, and culture,

this is what it feeds.

The only problem is, the world is getting our children

earlier than it got us.

So, they get affected with this.

They get infected by this far earlier

than you and I got infected by it.

I mean, I grew up in India, man.

We didn't have a TV till I was 16 or 17,

and that was a black and white TV

that would turn blue after one hour.

I've got to say, I want to renew your mind.

Let me show you how to renew your mind.

Guys, I'm going to go for 10 minutes more

and then stop, because it'll be four,

and we'll have to continue next week

which I'd really not like to do,

but I'll have to do so in 60 days.

I just wanted to say thank you to all our viewers

for replacing anonymity with patience.

You could't have been using your head

not like to do but I'll have to. That's okay. So there's easy ways to renew your

mind. Why are they easy? Because God provided them already. There are about

nine or ten ways that he says, hey do this, do this, do this and you can renew

your mind. But it all begins at this one place. The starting point of the renewing

of your mind is understanding your new self that was obtained at the cross. Your

thought life must support the reality of your new self. Your thought life must

support the reality of your new self. I was talking to Heidi a day or two ago

and I'd done something to hurt, offend, let down someone in this church. And so

Heidi comes and tells me that this is what the person is thinking. And the

first reaction in my mind is argue, defend, justify. And that's normal for

humans. And yet the new self created in the likeness of God does not justify,

argue, defend first. It looks at what is true and enjoys the truth. And so listen

to what Heidi said and while she's still sitting there write this unqualified

apology to this person. Why? Not because I'm a pastor, not because I'm sucking up

to them, not because I want them to stay in church. I really am not into that. But

because they needed an apology because I hurt them and did them harm. Knowingly

or unknowingly but it hurt them. Guys all I'm trying to say, why am I giving you

these examples from my life because that's the only life I really know well.

What I'm trying to say is this. You cannot renew your mind till you first

come to grips with the truth that God sees you only as a new self created in

his likeness. He does not look at you and see the sin and the inadequacy and the

failure. He's not relating to that person. That has been taken care of on the

cross. He says my son dealt with all those unloving details of your life on

the cross. This is why he looks at you and says you are honored. I honor you.

Scary stuff when God says stuff like that. I always think God humbles himself

when he says stuff like Jacob I honor you. Is it scriptural? You should read

Isaiah 43. He's talking about Israel and its people. I honor you. You're precious

to me. I really love you. The king of the universe coming and saying it to a guy

like me. I always tell God not always. I question and tell God father I

fascinates me how you humble yourself to say stuff like that to me. But why is he

able to say it? Because he relates to the new self that Jacob is created in the

likeness of God. He relates to me like he relates to Jesus Christ because I have

put on the new self and the new self according to the other side of the board

is put on the Lord Jesus Christ which you have. It's natural for you to be like

Christ. I know as I say that you and I are thinking it is natural for you to be

like Jesus Christ. It is unnatural for you and I to be where we are. It's

unnatural. It's not normal. Our normality is the new self created in the likeness

of God. That is when you're the freest. We won't go into renewing the mind today

because I'll leave you half-baked. Most of you don't need a tan. So here's the

reality that we have to come to grips with that I only have this life and it's

normal for me to live this way. Christ like. When you go to work when your

spouse says something nasty, when you're not appreciated, when you feel like

people are pushing you around, when in all those situations you'll find

yourself easily defaulting to who you are. Why? Because you actually think

that's who you are. When you think you are who you are you behave that way

guys. It is. And it'll become easier as we find this whole idea of renewing the

mind. The more used you get to it but it begins here. Please this week if you can

just. Jacob what does this have to do with blessed as a pure for they shall

see God? I'm saying it is absolutely possible to be pure in your conduct

because it's normal for you. It's normal for you. It's absolutely possible for

you to begin to repair relationships with others, with your spouse, with your

brothers, with your sister, with your mother, your father. It's natural for you

to do that. It's not abnormal. It's abnormal for the world but it's natural

for you.

He does that regardless of whether I do it or not because he relates to the new

self-created in the likeness of God but when I don't it grieves him but he's a

God who rejoices over me man because he relates to this other person. I so want

to leave this earth with my behavior like my nature. I want to leave this earth

with my behavior like my nature. I want you to be able to see the difference in

me even before the end of December. I'm so gung-ho about this. I want you to see

it. I don't want someone in India to see it. Big deal. I go there once every four

or five months or perhaps once every five weeks but I don't want them to see

it. It doesn't do me any good. It's the hardest to be different and noticed in

your family and if you guys can see then I'll think to myself, oh shucks, this is

actually working oh God.

I'm done. Any questions? This is going to go guys. Imagine when our D based minds,

traditional mindset, callous hardened minds, darkened minds, alienated minds,

blind minds, proud deceitful rational minds begin to disappear and is replaced

by, you know what the renewed mind really is? It's a mind of Christ and there are

ten verses which gives us such clear pathways into how to be. Questions,

comments, disagreements, challenges. Let me shut this so I don't go on and then

you can ask.

Paul says renew the spirit of your mind. We'll talk about that next week so that

we can actually live holy conduct. Having been made holy, Acts 29 began to live a

holy conduct. That'll be brilliant. Questions? No questions? Comments? Go ahead.

Yeah, if you could locate the verse where it says sin in our members because

because there is no sin in this body. This body is free of sin. This body, God

made, it's decaying. That's the only problem with this body. Otherwise there's

no sin in this body. My body will not do, like I always say, it'll do good. Hey,

good to see you man. Or otherwise. Yeah.

Yeah, but it's not in my flesh. That's what I'm trying to say. I'm saying as far

as I know from Scripture, there's no sin in my body. I can think a certain way and

at the end of the day when it comes to generational sins guys, all that

sometimes is happening is if my grandfather was a drunkard, demons who

have been around for ages will come and offer my father the same choice of drinking

and then will offer me the same choice of drinking because they know the

tendency in the family. There's a tendency in a family and so every

generation is offered that or there'll be adultery in the family for the last

four generations and every fresh generation will be offered the chance to

indulge in adultery or pornography and all it takes is for one man or one woman

to stand up and say, I'm not going to. That is a more brilliant way than having

ministry. I'm not saying ministry is not important but I'm saying let us rise to

a place where we minister but we operate from... music please... where we

operate from here.

Yeah, renewing of our minds. You can switch it off.