20260506 Change in the Life of a Christian Wednesday Bible Study Dave Dickmann

Okay, we are going to be talking about change

here again, transformation. It's been a long

time, I guess, over a month. So we'll do a little

bit of a review, kind of. You remember the definition

that we gave? Permanently, fundamentally reshaped

character or being, consistently modified thinking

choices, decisions, and decisively altered behavior.

Now those are given to you in the order that

they should be and in the order that they happen.

So in order for any change to affect in our lives,

we have to... have the fundamental change happen

to us. That is, God has to do something fundamental

in us if we're going to be able to change our

thinking, our choices, our decision, and if we

expect to see any kind of altered behavior. I

think we've all had the experience before we

came to faith in Christ of trying to change certain

things. When we came under conviction of sin,

or even if we just wanted to modify our behavior

for the purpose of family or society or whatever

else was motivating us, it is a frustrating and

a difficult. And in the case of trying to work

up a righteousness before God, it's an impossibility.

So what are the fundamental changes that God

has done for us? First of all, He's done what?

What do we call the first work of the Holy Spirit

on a man? On a person. Regeneration. That is

what? Being born again. So that is bringing life

to dead people. We go from death to life. Then

we say we have been what? And that is we have

gone from slavery to sin to freedom. From slave

to free that is the power of sin has been broken

in us We were vessels of wrath and we have become

vessels of love that is sins Penalty has been

removed from us and then we go from unrighteous

to righteous Which is to say that sins guilt

has been removed from us Then what comes after

or what what's the other another thing that happens

We have been regenerated we have been born again

by the spirit we have been justified by the work

of Christ and we have been sanctified That is

we have been we have gone from service to self

a bunch of self -serving self -interested people

to service for God. He set us apart for that

specific purpose. And then we have gone from

unholy to holy. We have been completely purified

and cleansed. And then what's the last thing

that we have that has been done for us, to us?

We've been regenerated, justified, sanctified

and glorified. That is, in time, we have gone

from hell -bound people to heaven -bound people.

Paul tells us in Ephesians that we are seated

in the heavenlies in Christ. So, all ending tells

us in Romans that those are all accomplished

facts. If you are attempting to undergo the difficulty

of change, and it's hard, then you have got to

know who you are. God is not asking you to be

something that you're not. He's not asking you

to change something that you can't change. In

other words, He's not asking you to work yourself

into His good favor. He's not asking you to become

justified. He's not asking you to become sanctified.

He's not asking you to become glorified. And

He's certainly not asking you to become regenerated.

Those things are all accomplished in you. And

if you're not certain of that, then the thing

for you to do is to get on your knees and ask

God to help you as you study His Word so that

you can come to the conclusion that you are these

things. In other words, I'm telling you, this

is felt and we're going to talk about that some

more. It's experienced. The only thing on this

list that's not experienced is your regeneration.

You should experience your freedom from sin.

You should experience the removal of guilt from

you. That's not just something that we read about

on the pages of scripture, but it's something

that we feel and we know in our very person.

What Paul tells us is that we're rooted and we're

grounded in love. There is nothing that you can

do that is going to make God love you more. There

is nothing that you can do that is going to make

you more accepted before God. If you are not

certain of God's love for you, then you are losing

this battle of change. Because you don't really

even have the foundation that's going to enable

you to be courageous. That's going to enable

you to be confronting realistically the difficult

circumstance of your life. It's only because

God loves you and you know that God loves you

that you're willing to face that and say, okay

If I fail at this a million times I'm going to

and I have to I want to see this change affected

in me and When I fail I don't say oh, yeah see

that's why God doesn't love me because I know

what when I started this journey of change that

I am grounded in the love of God that I stand

before him as in his family as his child that

he loves. That is a felt experience. If you have

never felt the love of God in your heart, if

to you that is a theory, that is something for

special people, that's something for some kind

of second work of grace in my life. And I just

haven't come to that yet. You are wrong on every

level There is Paul tells us that the spirit

ministers to us and speaks to us speaks to our

hearts It's very possible that you've missed

it it's very possible that you've allowed the

guilt of your former self It's very possible

that you've allowed all kinds of things to overcrowd

and crowd out the influence of the Spirit upon

you. Get rid of that trash. Get rid of it. Keep

your eyes, keep your heart on Jesus. The Spirit

will minister that love to you and we need it.

I'm not saying that we can't get by without it.

I'm not saying that if you're unsure, it's okay,

God gives you other means whereby you can see

change in your life. We'll talk about those things.

What I'm saying to you is the foundational principle

of your new life in Christ is that God loves

you. And we need to know that and we need to

feel that because without that, I mean, think

about all the things that Tim was talking about

for, what, five, six weeks about the armor. Do

you think it's possible to go into battle for

God without knowing that He loves you? It's impossible.

Not possible. Then what's left is you're doing

it in your own power. You're doing it by your

own wisdom, by your own strength, by whatever.

If God loves you, then you can. You can stand.

Because it doesn't matter so much what other

people say. Doesn't matter so much about the

temptation. God loves me. God's going to provide

for me what I need and He has given me all these

things that we've studied for the past weeks.

Know who you are. That's who you are. You're

not a vessel of wrath anymore. God does not have

anything bad in mind for you. That's hard for

us because we're physical people. We're in the

flesh. We see our own failures time and time

again. We see and we feel temptation come and

we wonder why is it that I still am tempted by

this? Shouldn't I be beyond that by now? And

maybe you should and maybe I should, but we're

not. We haven't progressed that far yet. I cannot

stress enough to you that you need to know that.

And if you have not carved out time in your life

to experience God, to study Him, to see who He

is, to understand Him, and to know His love for

you, then you are cheating yourself. Carve it

out. Get to know Him. The second part then is

the consistently modified thinking, choices,

and decisions. How is that going to happen? By

God's work. That's the first thing if you are

attempting to undergo change To remove that some

things out of your life to add other things into

your life To examine yourself to find out where

the change needs to happen. Where's my thinking

wrong? The first thing you've got to know is

that it's God that does the work It's God that

works in it in us both to will and to do of his

good pleasure it is through God's means So if

change is hard and God has said this is the these

are the things that I'm going to use in your

life to affect the change you better be making

use of those Because if you're trying to affect

change in your life outside of God's will outside

of his means Then you're going to be frustrated

time and time and time again We don't preach

a 12 -step program We don't teach them to Pull

yourself up by your bootstraps. We teach what

the Bible tells us. Through God's means. The

next thing is it's by our work. If you expect

to sit there on your couch and just let God work

and you're going to somehow be changed, you're

barking up the wrong tree. It's hard work. It's

a determined effort on our part. A consistent

effort. An effort that is ongoing in spite of

failure we don't give up in other words we persevere

and all those things that what they reflect who

we are because of all the things that we talked

about before our change our modified thinking

the new choices that we make the decisions that

we make all reflect what we are in our in our

core being and our foundation because of the

work of God When that happens, God has done the

fundamental change in us. He has worked in us

to change our thinking, to help us and enable

us to make good choices and good decisions. Then

what? That results in decisively altered behavior.

We are in that way changed, and that's the only

way that it happens. Something in your life and

in your thinking is wrong if you continue to

fall into the same sin. Have you taken the time

and the trouble to examine yourself and say,

why is it? Why is it that this thing here is

always a stumbling block for me? Why is it that

every time I come into this circumstance I fail

in this way? Have you examined yourself in that

way? That's not God's will for your life. I can

assure you. It's not because God hasn't equipped

you to deal with that issue. He has. Are you

willing to examine yourself and confront that

issue and say, here it is. Here's the problem.

I need to make different choices. Maybe to keep

myself out of that circumstance. but whatever

it is decisively altered behavior God wants for

you and for me to experience overcoming sin because

Jesus overcame for us and in him we're able to

overcome these real significant and difficult

sin in our lives as we are changed then we are

changed what into the image of Jesus Who is the

image of God? In other words, we start to act

and to think God's thoughts after him and do

God's work. That's what we're talking about when

we talk about change. That's what needs a change,

so you can see how it goes right into our thinking,

our motives, maybe our instincts, however you

want to call all those things out. And what happens

then when our outward... King James has conversation,

lifestyle, or a way of living. What happens when

that changes? Then we are confirming who we are.

Those are the people that God has called us to

be. Those are the good works that He sent out

for us to do. He intends for you to live in this

world as a model to everybody that knows you

as to who God is. As hard as that is for us to

believe, that's the truth. That's what the Bible

tells us. God wants you to love. Jesus instructs

you to love the way that He loves. And when people

look at you and they ask you, then you can tell

them. I'm trying to love and to live the way

that Jesus lived. I want you to see God in me,

in the way that I act. I want you to know that

the God who wrote His... who gave you a knowledge

of Him is gracious. I want you to know that the

God who created everything is powerful. And I

want you to know that by watching me live. Rooted

and grounded in love. You've got to know that.

Turn to 2 Corinthians 4. That's our review. Anybody

got a question? I believe so. Probably worded

differently. Second Corinthians 4 verse 7. Well

2 Corinthians 4:7

start in verse 6, for God who commanded the light

to shine out of darkness Hath shined in our hearts

to give the light of the knowledge of the glory

of God in the face of Jesus Christ That's what's

happened to us, but we have this treasure in

earthen vessels That the excellency of the power

may be of God and not of us Now this is our experience

Now, if you've read this and you've only thought,

Paul's just talking about himself, then you've

missed the point. Paul's telling you his experience,

but he's fully expecting all of us to experience

this in our life. We are troubled on every side,

yet not distressed. Is there anybody here that

can say that they've never felt troubled on every

side? Everywhere I turn, it seems like... Difficulty

is all over the place. Difficult decisions have

to be made. Stressors are just... I just feel

it all over me. I've got a mountain of things

I've got to do. There's a mountain of things

I want to see done. It's hard. But what? We're

not distressed. Why? Because we know who's in

control. Because we're confident in the grace

of God. We're confident that God loves us. We're

perplexed, but we're not despair. People outside

of Christ, they'll go to despair. But that's

not us. That's not you. That's not God's people.

He didn't create us new and intend to show the

world His grace through a bunch of despairing

people. So no matter the difficulty of whatever

it is that I'm trying to accomplish in my life

through grace, By the power of God and the leading

of the Holy Spirit, no matter how many times

I fail, I am not going to go to despair and say,

I give up. This must be what God intends for

me. I'll just be depressed. We're persecuted,

but we're not forsaken. People don't like you.

People make fun of you. Maybe people in your

own family. Maybe you have difficulties all over

the place. But what? We know that we're not forsaken.

We're never alone. It doesn't matter. Let the

world say what they will. Let the people do what

they want. I have not been forsaken by my Savior

and my God. I will stand alone there. Now that's

what God intends for you and for me to do. to

bear the weight of whatever mockings, whatever

persecutions may come our way. These are all

universal experiences of every Christian. Everyone

that's ever been born again experiences these

things. We're cast down but not destroyed. We

fall down time and again. Maybe people beat us

down. we are not going to stay there no matter

how many times I fall no matter how many times

I find myself face down on the ground I'm not

going to remain there I'm going to get up I'm

going to persevere now that's difficult that's

change okay that's what you're up against make

no mistake I'm not talking about you know a cakewalk

I guess they still do cakewalks they still do

cakewalks No, right, it says no. I mean, a cakewalk

is pretty easy. You walk around in a circle,

right? You take numbers or whatever and then

at the end you get a cake. That's a cakewalk.

All you can do is walk around and wait for the

music to stop or somebody, whatever it is. That's

not what we're talking about here. We're talking

about a cakewalk like the cake is at the end

of the runway. And all the way down the runway,

there's people with swords and spears. There's

a couple wild animals that are trying to eat

you alive. There's all kinds of other obstacles.

There's got some, what do they call the things

you jump over in track? Hurdles. There's all

kinds of hurdles you gotta get over. Maybe there's

a limbo bar you gotta get under. And if you can

make it through the end of that, then there's

the cake. There's the prize. That's what we're

saying. So, as we, in our lives, identify things

that need to be changed, we need to come to grips

with the reality that it's not going to be easy.

How many times in your life have you said, oh,

that's finally conquered? I finally found a way

around that. I finally am able to avoid that

pitfall. And then what happens? Boom, there's

the pitfall again. But we don't stay down we

get back up and we continue on it's hard Turn

to Philippians 2, oh, sorry Jake you wanted to

say something Second Corinthians 4 7 through

11 Philippians chapter 2 This should be held

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

for a hard for the hard things that God's called

us to do. Philippians 2, 13. We could read in

12. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always

obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now,

much more in my absence, work out your own salvation

with fear and trembling. That's hard work. For

it is God which worketh in you both to will and

to do of his good pleasure. If you aren't attempting

to change things in your life, to change your

thinking without God, then you are again, you're

losing the battle. You haven't even started the

battle and you've already lost. So how does this

work itself out in our prayer life? In our conversation

with God? In our relationship with God? We're

going to acknowledge the difficulty, whatever

it is. And then we're going to ask God, will

you help me to think about this right? Will you

work in me to change my motives? Will you work

in me to change my initial reaction? Will you

work within me to know the right way forward?

Will you work within me? Will you please work?

I am attempting to change this thing in my life

that has been a mountain. Or, I've just discovered

this thing in my life and I don't like it. It's

not pleasing to me because I know it's not pleasing

to you. Will you change me? Will you work in

me? That's an acknowledgement of our weakness

before God. Ephesians 3, 14. Any attempt to change

has got to account for God, Father, Son, and

Spirit. If you think that you're going to change

while you ignore the Holy Spirit, if you think

you're going to change while you ignore Jesus,

if you think you're going to change if you ignore

God the Father, then you're barking up the wrong

tree, you've already lost before you've begun.

Let's read it. Now when I say 14, yeah 14 for

this cause I bow my knee unto the father of our

Lord Jesus Christ of whom The whole family in

heaven and earth is named That he would grant

you according to the riches of his glory to be

strengthened with might by his spirit in the

inner man That Christ now we've seen the spirit.

We've already seen the father that Christ may

dwell in your hearts by faith that ye all, being

rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend

with all saints what is the breadth and the length

and the depth and the height, and to know the

love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that

ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly

above all that we ask or think, according to

the power that works in us, unto him what? Be

glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout

all ages world without end There it is father

son and spirit and what else do we have introduced

to us here tonight the church All of that is

given to you in the context of the church And

I can't say this Plain enough and clear enough

that there is no change that is going to be effective

in your life if you put yourself outside of the

church. None. The Christian life is not an individual

life. Your relationship with the Lord, if you

want to call that your personal relationship

with the Lord, that's fine, but that's in the

context of the church. If you think that you're

going to fight the battle alone, if you think

you're going to put on the armor, outside the

context of the church, you're bound for failure.

There's no instruction in all of the New Testament

that diminishes the idea of church. It's not

possible for you to follow God if you're not

in a church and if the church is not an influence

in your life. God intends for you to work change

while you're in community. In other words, it's

not enough to be present on Sunday mornings and

Wednesday nights. That's not what being in the

church is. Listening to Dave, maybe Tim, maybe

Dad teach. That's not it. That's part of it.

And there's nothing without that. There's no

doubt. But in this community of believers, what?

We get everything that we need in order to see

the change in our life. We have somebody to bear

our burdens. We have someone to listen to the

difficulties in our life without casting judgment

on us. We have somebody to put their arm around

us and say keep going. Isn't it interesting?

I don't know if you ever thought about this.

But where is that verse that says forsake not

the gathering or the assembling of yourselves

together? Does anybody remember? What book is

that from? And what is the point of Hebrews?

Don't turn back. There's nothing for you back

there. Press forward. And if you expect to make

it to glory, what are you gonna have to do? You're

gonna have to be part of the community of believers.

There's nothing more important to you than to

be a community of believers. It's safe there.

There's people that love you there. There's people

who will teach you there. There's people who

will model grace for you there. There's people

who will have godly advice for you there. It's

where God puts you and it's the church that he

intends to display his glory to the world. The

church is not an afterthought of God. It's the

primary thought of God. It's why Jesus came into

the world to save people and bring them into

community We're going to read that later on Three

persons are at work while you're in community.

It is God that changes us while we're in community

The difficult part of change is accomplished

in community Ephesians 1, just turn back one

page or two, whatever your Bible or printed is.

In Christ and part of God's family. Ephesians

Ephesians 1:3

1 verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all

spiritual blessings in heavenly places. What?

Go ahead, somebody say it. In Christ according

as he hath chosen us In him Before the foundation

of the world that we should be holy and without

blame before him in love You stand before God

in Christ in love Having predestinated us unto

the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself

according to the good pleasure of his will, to

the praise of the glory of his grace wherein

he hath made us accepted in the beloved. And

then verse 7. What is it? In whom we have redemption

through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according

to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath abounded

towards us in all wisdom and prudence, having

made known unto us the mystery of His will according

to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in

Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness

of times He might gather together in one all

things in Christ, both which are in heaven and

which are on earth, even in him. In whom also

we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated

according to the purpose of him who worketh all

things after the counsel of his will, that we

should be to the praise of his glory who first

trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted after

that ye heard the word of of truth, the gospel

of your salvation, in whom also, after ye believed,

ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,

which is the earnest of our inheritance until

the redemption of the purchased possession unto

the praise of His glory. Wherefore, I also, after

I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and

love unto all saints, cease not to give thanks

for you, making mention of you in my prayers.

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father

of Glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom

and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The eyes

of your understanding being enlightened, that

ye may know what is the hope of His calling,

and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance

in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness

of His power to us who believe. according to

the working of His mighty power, which He wrought

in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and

set Him in His own right hand in the heavenly

places. Far above all principality, power, might,

and dominion, and every name that is named, not

only in this world, but also in that which is

to come. And hath put all things under His feet,

and gave Him to be the head over all things to

the church. which is his body, the fullness of

him that filleth all in all." Without question

now, we know that as individuals we've got to

be in Christ. If we're going to trust, we've

got to be in Christ. If we're going to see anything

change in our life, we've got to be sure that

we're in Christ. But it's not individual at all,

is it? It's a group of people who are all trusting.

It's a group of people that God saves and He

brings them in community. It is the church that

is the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.

It's to the church that He's the head. To try

to experience or try to walk a Christian life

outside the context of a relationship with a

church, a community of believers, you are, again,

you are defeated before you even begin. That's

how important the church is to Paul to God To

me and it should be to you Well, he put us in

Christ. So what does that mean? That means we're

part of his family, isn't it? That's basically

what that's saying because we're in Christ we

are sons So let's just read it in first John

1 John 3:9

Chapter 3 verse 9 Whosoever is born of God doth

not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him,

and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

In this the children of God are manifest." I

don't know if you ever thought about that verse

in contest of what is this seed that is left

in us. We can't remain in sin. Why is that? Think

of all the New Testament verses that have the

passive, let. Let not sin reign in your mortal

body. Let not this, let not that. The seed that

remains in you that's going to grow you up into

Christ. The question is not whether or not being

in God's family and having his seed within you

is is going to grow and to mature. The question

is whether or not you're going to get in the

way. It's like God fills us up with his love.

And then he says, don't get in the way of that

love finding its target. I've got some people

in your family that I need you to love. I've

got some people in your church that you need

to love. And I've got some people out in the

world that are going to know my love through

you. Don't get in the way of that. Whatever you

do, let it go. Let my grace find its mark. Don't

get in the way. I made you my son. I put you

in Christ. I've done all these things for you.

Now don't let your flesh get in the way of me

accomplishing my purposes in you and through

you. In Christ and part of his family. Turn to

John so change is only accomplished in Christ

and it is as we are part of God's family Word

-driven is number five John 8 John 8 31 Then

said Jesus to those Jews which Believed on him

it be continued in my word. Then are you by my

disciples indeed? And ye shall know the truth,

and the truth shall make you free." Now you might

think that that's just talking about that one

time when you finally heard the truth of the

gospel. And it's undoubtedly true there, but

it's true throughout our lives. How are you going

to see change happen in your life? Only as you

are in the Word. Only as you are observing the

truth of who God is, of who you are, of who God

wants you to be, of who God has made you in Christ.

If you are trying to effect change by going to

some worldly wisdom peddler, then you are defeated

before you begin. I'm including in that every

kind of social media. I'm including in that chat

GPT. Everything. I'm including it all. I'm summing

it up all with this, that that is foolishness

and nonsense. It's not the means that God intended

to bring truth into your life. It's just not.

This is the truth, right here. And this is the

thing that will set you free. All the rest of

that is just an illusion. And all the rest of

that is just going to bring more bondage into

your life. Be done with it. Listen to what I'm

saying. There's no good advice on Instagram.

There I said it. None. I'm not trying to soft

pedal it. I'm not trying to hedge mine. I'm not

exaggerating for the sake of exaggeration or

to make my point. I'm saying to you there is

no good advice on Instagram. There is no good

advice on any social media account. This is where

the good advice comes from and this is the context

where that good advice is administered in the

church. Anything else is hogwash and a waste

of time. You say, well, but yeah, I mean... No,

that's the answer no Romans 13 Romans 13 11 And

that, knowing the time, that now it is high time

to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation

nearer than when we believed. The night is far

spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast

off the works of darkness, and let us put on

the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as

in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not

in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and

envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ

and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill

the lusts thereof." So we're going to have to

hear with our ears the Word. We're going to have

to meditate in our minds on the Word and then

we're going to have to repent. That's what putting

on Christ is. If you don't know who Christ is,

how can you put Him on? If you don't know who

God is, how can you put Him on? It's nonsense.

But is it enough just to read about Him in the

morning in our quiet times? Is it enough to hear

about Him on Sundays and Wednesday nights? And

the answer is no. Because there's, what, a hundred

times more minutes, a thousand times more minutes?

I don't know. I haven't done the math. But there's

way more time outside of your personal devotional

and study time. Your time here on Wednesdays

and Sunday mornings. And what is the rest of

that time supposed to be filled up with? It's

supposed to be filled up with a meditation on

what we've studied and what we've learned. It's

supposed to be filled up with this vision of

God who is happy beautiful in his happiness beautiful

in who he is and beautiful in the way that he

lives so beautiful in fact that you say that's

what I want I want that in my life and my eyes

are My thoughts and everything else is fixated

on that as I meditate on the Word, on what He's

taught me. As I try to explore ways that I can

apply that in my life. As I attempt to view myself

in light of what I've heard. The meditation on

the Word. You're not in the Word enough. In your

private study and on Sundays and Wednesdays.

to then crowd out a bunch of nonsense that you

pour in throughout the day. Now listen, I'm not

saying that you ought to go live in a cave somewhere

in wherever so that you can remove the influence

outside of you. The influence of the devil through

the world will be with you as long as you are

in this world. You can't escape that. your influence

when you drive to work in the morning or when

you drive to the grocery store or when you drive

to church on Sunday morning. It's all over the

place. It's on billboards. It's everywhere. The

question isn't whether or not you're able to

remove all that from your life. It's whether

or not you want to compound that influence by

purposely bringing other influences, devilish

influences. Devilish thinking, worldly philosophies,

however you want to say it. You want to bring

the lies of the devil to yourself. Meditate and

fix your mind in the heavenlies where righteousness

dwells. Meditate on that word. Meditate on it

day and night. Enjoy it. Love it. There's nothing

more freeing. There's nothing more exciting.

You young fathers, you're going to be having

family devotions pretty soon from kids that can

understand you pretty well. And you're intended

to teach them there. All that you've got to do

if you want to be effective in family devotions

is meditate on the Word. I can guarantee you

that you're going to have hours of things to

communicate to your family and family devotions.

Moms, especially if you're going to homeschool,

I assume you're going to have some devotional

time with them. Are you meditating on the Word?

You don't have to worry about it. You will have

plenty to share with them. Colossians 3, we're

still in the same order. Here, meditate, repent.

Colossians 3 1 If you then be risen with Christ

seek those things which are above where Christ

sitteth on the right hand of God Set your affection

on things above not on things on the earth That's

just putting it a little more plainly than putting

on Christ and what we read in Romans a little

bit easier to see there Set your affection on

things above now What's gonna happen when you

set your affection on things above what's gonna

happen when you're studying the word and then

meditating on it? What's gonna happen when you

have this vision of God in front of you? It's

gonna make you and me look pretty dull It's gonna

make you and me and the faults and the sins and

the foibles in us stand out You know, that's

how they teach counterfeiters. If you're looking

for counterfeit, they don't say, here's 15 different

counterfeits. When you see that, you know it's

a counterfeit. What do they do? They show you

the real thing so that you know that real thing

forward and backward. And when somebody throws

that counterfeit in front of you, instantaneously

I see it. Now when you stare and you learn and

you meditate on God and on Christ and his righteousness

and in his holiness Then when you view yourself,

you're going to immediately see This part of

me has got some change in that needs to happen

This part of me is ugly. This part of me is not

fun for me to look at I Don't enjoy this part

of me That's what's going to happen and so the

change happens not only when we hear, not only

when we meditate, but when we repent. We live

a life of repentance. Now that's important. In

other words, we're turning away. We're turning

away from that ugly part of us, and we're saying,

okay, that's got to change. And I'm going to

turn towards God and towards His way. God gives

us all kinds of desires. God made us with certain

needs. Have you thought about that? But he gives

us a legitimate way to fulfill that desire. He

tells us how it is that he's going to supply

for that need. And so, usually, sin is a... Well,

always, sin is a going around God's way. You

say... I don't feel affection. So I'm going to

go and try to find affection some other kind

of way. But God tells you this is the way for

you to have affection in your life. This is the

way for you to experience relationship in your

life. Are you going to submit? Am I going to

submit myself to that and say that's the legitimate

filling of that need? It's not that the need

is wrong necessarily. To feel your need is not

a bad thing. to acknowledge, I need this. I can't

live in this world unless I know that somebody

loves me. That's true. So how are you going to

experience that? You experience that in Christ

through the ministry of the Holy Spirit by God's

plan. And that will have to be enough. So it's

a life of repentance. While we study, while we

meditate on the word. 2 Corinthians 10. This

will be our last one. Change is comprehensive.

2 Corinthians 10, 3 through 6. For though we

walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh,

or accordingly we don't use the flesh in our

war. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,

but mighty through God to the pulling down of

strongholds." Now Paul's talking about false

teaching that's been going on there in the Corinthian

Church. Some false teachers. But that doesn't

mean that we can't legitimately apply that in

your life. Is there strongholds in your life?

Are there things that are locked behind iron

doors? Habits that have been formed over the

course of your life? Thinking that you're just

accustomed to so that it almost seems like instinct?

Those are strongholds. And you're not going to

accomplish the tearing down of those strongholds

in your flesh. By your might. By your wisdom.

By your thinking. by your power of using logic.

It's not going to happen. Casting down imaginations

and every high thing that exalted itself against

the knowledge of God and bring into captivity

every thought to the obedience of Christ. And

having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience

when your obedience is fulfilled. I mean, have

you thought about that? Have you really, have

you settled down into this phrase, every thought

to the obedience of Christ, to Christ? Every

thought? You thought you had some thoughts that

were just, you know, they're neutral. Every thought.

Now how many thoughts do you think you have in

a day? That's the level of change. We're not

talking about some changes on the fringes. We're

not talking about just affecting it way out there.

We're talking about every thought is going to

be brought captive To Christ in other words everything.

I think is going to be thought in light of what

Christ has done and who he is Every thought that

I have is going to be Christ centered and God

exalting Now how do I know that how do you know

that Well does God intend for you to live at

some point And has he promised you that at some

point in your life every thought is going to

be brought captive? Emma? He hasn't told you

that? Yes. Okay, where is that going to happen,

Chris? In heaven. In heaven. Okay, that's fine.

But it is going to happen, right? And heaven...

is the goal. Heaven is the ideal. And God has

equipped you here to experience Him. So that

comprehensive change that's going to happen is

not quite now. But we can expect it at that level.

In other words, there's no reason for us not

to have that as our goal. I want every one of

my thoughts to honor the Lord that died for me.

I want every one of my thoughts to be centered

in Christ. I want, in other words, when I am

going to the baseball game to enjoy the baseball

game in light of the glory of God and the power

of God. The wonder of a God who would give imagination

to men that would allow them to create this game

that I can sit back and enjoy. And I do that

in the pleasure of my God while I'm sitting there

at the ballgame watching. I want to be thinking

about Jesus when I'm getting ready to discipline

my kid or when I'm laying out the foundation

of my family. I want to have Him first in those

things so that I can walk in confidence there.

Knowing that I'm going to fail, but knowing that

my God loves me and knowing that the struggle

is real but it's worth it because there's a day

coming when all the struggle is done and it's

over. That's glorious. That's comprehensive.

That's the power of God. And that's why God gets

great glory as your life and my life is remodeled

into the image of His Son. as we display more

and more of who God is before a watching world

and before our brothers and sisters in the church.

We sang this, I couldn't believe we sang this

song. He gives more grace when the burdens go

greater. The more you know him, The more you

see the difficulty of change in your life, know

that God's grace is there. He sends strength

when the labors increase. There's more work to

be done, but I can expect more strength in those

times. To add an affliction, He adds His mercy.

You see? Just what we read about in Corinthians.

Buffeted on every side and persecuted, but He

adds mercy. to multiply trials. I'm surrounded.

I'm troubled on every side. But what do I find?

Multiply grace. The troubles in your life are

met with more and more and more grace. Why? Because

His love has no limit. His grace has no measure.

His power has no boundary known unto men. Comprehensive.

You think you can't see a change at the level

of personality? Are you a person that just says,

well, that's, I mean, that's my personality.

That's just what it means to be human. Is that

your excuse? Is that your crutch? God intends

to reform all of you. Every bit of your spiritual

life in Christ is going to grow and mature and

every effort that you make in your flesh is going

to be closely linked to that spiritual growth.

So that you're putting down the flesh. See, the

flesh is going to have less and less influence.

That seed that's within you is growing up and

it's crowding out the flesh's influence. That's

what it looks like. Those instincts that you

used to have when somebody offends you, somebody

says something rude or crude or mean to you and

you respond in anger. More and more as the life

of Christ in you gets stronger and matures, less

and less do you give into that initial urge and

you say, hold on, dial it back. I'm not gonna

respond in that way. That's not honoring to the

Lord. You can expect that level of change in

your life. You can expect great things because

your God is great His power is the limit of His

power is unknown to men You think of all the

changed lives that you've seen in Christ you've

only just barely touched the tip of the iceberg

When we've exhausted our store of endurance You

know, we said, I'm going to stand. I'm going

to stand in the flood. I watched a video this

week on flash floods. Amazing. The beginning

of that flood, just what? It's just mud. Mountains

of water behind it pushing it down. Now that's

what I have in my mind when I think about standing

in a river. It's not standing in a big river,

baptizing Caleb or Michaela. Johanna. That can

be hard, especially for a little guy, especially

when it's freezing cold out. But when that torrent

of water that's pushing that mud and those huge

trees and even houses comes, that's where God

intends for you to stand in the midst of that

flood. We said we were going to do it, but we're

exhausted. When our strength is failed, but the

day is only half done. When we reach the end

of our hoarded resources, our Father's full giving

has only begun. You see, He thought you were

going to be able to do it. You determined it.

That's all God honoring. I'm going to do this

thing by the power of the Holy Spirit within

me because God loves me. But then the flood comes

and the day's barely half done and you're exhausted.

The troubles that were on every side have just

gotten closer and closer and closer. But it's

then that you've got to know that God loves you

and he will supply you more strength now as Much

as you need if you will just trust him if you

will just buy faith believe him You want to know

why the Christian life is all about faith? Because

God has made marvelous promises The question

is whether or not you're going to believe it

God promises you grace and strength in the time

of trial. Do you believe it? God promises you

that just because for the past 10 years you've

been this, just because for the past 30 years

you've done that, just because you've trained

yourself to react in this way, just because your

thoughts are all confused, that does not mean

that tomorrow has to be that way. It doesn't

mean that you should have regrets about your

past. You have today. And today is the day of

salvation. Today is the day of God's grace for

you. Will you believe in those promises? The

same way that you believed in the gospel, will

you believe that God will strengthen you to be

the man that he calls you to be in your families?

Tim's teaching about the family. Very practical

and real advice and truth. Difficult though.

Are you going to examine the way that you are

in your families in light of who God is and in

light of His teaching. And where you find yourself

wanting, are you going to believe that God by

His grace is able to make you the husband, the

father, the mother that He intends you for you

to be? Do you believe it? Because if you don't

believe it, then you're already defeated. There's

not going to be any change. It's as simple as

that. But there is. We've read about it tonight.

We saw them before I got up here. That's a hopeful

life That's a life dependent upon a God who intends

only good things in your life Will we believe

it and will we face the changes that need to

happen will we repent in faith? trusting God

That's the question. That's what I want for you.

That's what I hope you want for me That's what

I want for all of us. That we all together traverse

this difficulty of this life and we make it to

the end. Are we going to make it to the end?

Are we going to make it to the end? Yes. I want

to hear everybody. Are we going to make it to

the end? Yes. Amen.