Well, it's a pleasure to be here today. I've known Melissa and Alex quite a long time. And just not have the Vosburgh family here is quite a void, isn't it? It's like they fill in all these gaps, right? But I've known them quite a few years. I used to have more kids than they did. And then they kept having kids. And then they had more kids. And it's funny, because I would meet Alex almost every year at the same place. It was at our tax preparer, so down in Great Bend there, or Halstead. And so we would kind of have a running joke, you know, did you get there already? Did you go do your taxes yet? And so that was kind of a running thing. I have in my house a hymnal that has the name Brushville Baptist Church on it. And you ask me, why? Well, back in the years of Terry Jenks, I was working at Aaron's Rod bookstore, and he ordered a bunch of the celebration hymnals, that red one. And I put the name on all of those hymnals with my machine. And so he comes back to me the week after I had delivered or I had got them all ready. He had taken them down there. And he comes back with this hymnal, and the hymnal had the cover upside down. And so you'd open up the hymnal and everything was upside down in there. And so I got credit for it. And I thought, well, this is fine. So I took the hymnal home. So all these years now, I've had this Brushville Baptist Church hymnal in my house. And we do a lot of singing and everything. So we have a number of those. But Brushville is right there. That's right, yeah. Anything I know about singing is because of you guys. I also know Jerry and Janet from a long time ago. Please don't hold that against me. Well, I'm going to talk today about making a good cup of tea. Now, I know probably you were expecting something different, you know, like maybe something from the Bible or something like that, but today it's how to make a good cup of tea. So what you do is you first find a teabag, right? This is a Salada teabag. You can choose any kind of tea bag that you want, really. And then you take some hot water. And you take the hot water. It doesn't have to be hot, actually. If you're willing to wait, you can use cold water. And maybe even put it in the sun. And it comes out, you know, as tea eventually. But I'm not usually willing to wait. So I take my tea bag. This is kind of hot water, maybe it's not real hot. And I put it in there, my hot water, and I make tea. This is life-changing for some of you folks, isn't it? Yeah, this is really new stuff. But this is how you make tea. This is a Salada tea bag, so what would you expect that the tea would be? Yeah, it's just like regular tea. It's not gonna be mint tea or some of those really fancy teas that you can buy at the fancy shops. It's just gonna be a lot of tea. So just like a tea bag, when life situations crowd into our lives, you know, when hardships come, when the hot water is applied, that's when we find out What's in our teabag? Now the teabag for you and me is our heart. So what comes out of the heart when we're in some hot water? I think of a story out of the Book of Acts, in Acts chapter 16, where Paul and Silas got in some hot water. Maybe you remember the story. They were in Philippi and they were placed in prison. And in the jail there, it was getting to be late at night. And do you remember what came out of their hearts in the midst of this hot water that they were in? Song, right? That was what burst forth from them at that time. And it was life-changing for those around them and for the jailer, as you recall that story. But I think about hot water, and I think about the hardships of life, the difficulties we face, and how so often I know in my life, it's not a song that comes out. It's something maybe that I don't really want to reveal, right? It's something that I have put into my heart for a long time, and then finally, in the right situation, it comes out. And that's the idea of a teabag. We only get out of a teabag what's in the teabag. Likewise, we only get out of our heart what we've put in our heart, what we've built into there, what we've allowed God to do in transforming us. Mark 7 through 23 says, Jesus speaking, says, what comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man. Proverbs 4.23 says, keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. And Jeremiah 17, 9 and 10 say, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. So my message today is kind of building on what we did in Sunday school, and that's about biblical change. how can we change to become more like Christ? And we see in scripture how really ultimately the goal And what God is doing in your life and mine is that we would become more like Christ. For many of us, we struggle along the way, and apparently we don't have the same goal in mind as what God thinks we ought to have, and so we take a lot of detours. But ultimately, that's His goal. Another word that we use and that the Bible uses is the word sanctification. Sanctification is defined in this way, our changing to become more like Jesus Christ in our attitudes, desires, and actions. It is an inside-out process. Biblical change is not just controlling behavior, staying sober, so to speak, but changing our desires as well, which require a heart change. So that's the idea of biblical change, and all of us are in this process of change. Nobody has arrived. Have any of you arrived spiritually? Anyone pass away out there since I've come in? That's basically the only way you arrive is when you've been when you've graduated to glory. And Paul even said, as he was this great apostle, and he says, I'm pressing toward the mark. I haven't got there yet. I'm pressing, I'm pressing, trying to know Christ more. And that's the idea of sanctification. There's a lot that God has to do in your life and mine. There's a lot as well that we have to do as we look into the word of God. Well, I think that all of us would like to think that we would, you know, when we think about, you know, being in hot water, we'd like to think we'd respond pretty well if we were to go through some hard time. At least we would do better than most, we might think. You know, we'd say, well, I'm probably not where I ought to be, you know, but I'm better than Joe or Bob or Phil. you know, and so, and when I get into these difficulties, I'm, you know, I'm pretty good about how I handle it, and I don't really, you know, it's not like I use swear words anymore, you know, I might get a little angry, but that's just normal. But is God's plan for us to be better than Jim or Bob or Phil or whatever name I use there, or is it to be more like Christ? It's to be more like Christ. And that's really the challenge of the Word of God is not to compare ourselves and say, well, I'm better than somebody else, but that I'm becoming more like Christ, and that's what we're focusing on today. I believe God wants us to live lives that fully reflect him, born out of a heart that sincerely endeavors to please him. In short, the fruit of our lives should be like a good cup of tea. And for some of us, if our heart was truly revealed, it would be pretty nasty tea, right? But really, a good cup of tea. Well, maybe you are worried or fearful, stressed or overwhelmed. Maybe you haven't been able to overcome sin or you have a terribly negative self-image, a wrong view of yourself that comes out in your thinking regularly. These are areas that we can usually hide pretty well under normal circumstances, but when it gets hot, the real you comes out. And so we're going to deal with the heart today. And from this passage, we're going to look at Ephesians chapter 4. So if you'd like to turn over there, Ephesians 4. We're going to look specifically at verses 22 24, that's our key passage, but I'm going to read, as we get going here, a little broader section. I'm going to read verses 17 down through 29. 17 through 29. This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of your mind. having your understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart. who being past feeling have given themselves over to licentiousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ. If indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, each one speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, I thank you for this time, and I just pray that you would teach us what you'd have us to learn, and just guide us, Lord, into all truth. We thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so my big idea is this. God wants us to know that we can change and become more like Christ. God wants us to know that we can change and become more like Christ. And I have three points. The first one is simply this. by recognizing the evil within. God wants us to know that we can change and become more like Christ, first of all, by recognizing the evil within. Verse 22 is the focus here. It says that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. So the old man or the old self is what he's talking about here. This idea of putting off is just like putting off this jacket, and that's the actual word that is used. It's a putting off of a piece of clothing. And so that's what he wants us to do. It's an act that we do. It's something that we can choose to say no to certain habits. It's a choice, really a simple choice to do, but that's really that focus. But in this passage, we need to realize, too, that there is great evil within. Even though we have come to know Christ as Savior, we are still dealing with the flesh, the self. And that is what we need to put off in this. He says, put off concerning your former conduct. And Paul has gone through, he's given us a listing of, this is what you used to be. And he said this earlier on. He says, starting in verse 17, no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over to licentiousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, And I think the idea Paul is getting at is he's recognizing in them some of these same characteristics that the Gentiles had, have, rather, and he says, but you are not to be this way. And he's really, the indicator is that we can do this, we can be just like the Gentiles, just like anybody else. That's how we can live. But it says, you have not so learned Christ. The idea of learning Christ is not learning about. It's the idea of, this is knowing him, so it's a relational thing. You came to know Christ, and what you did before was not, they are not, they don't work together. So Paul has already discussed what we used to be, but if you continue as you used to be, this is inconsistent with the change that has taken place in you. So the old self. Paul in other places wrote things like this. For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh, for I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. So Paul is expressing a struggle as a believer where he wants to do something but he does not Galatians 5, 17, and 18 share this struggle with the flesh. It says, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. So it's this struggle and so we need to recognize the evil within. That's really the first step in this. It's recognizing it, not just recognizing it, it's putting off those things. And it's interesting that Paul in this verse 22 says, the old man, so that's the flesh, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. So it can get worse and worse as we allow the deceitful lusts to rule in our lives. A passage in James speaks to this. If you have your Bible, you can turn over there if you'd like to James chapter 1. 14 and 15, James 1, 14 and 15, it describes the temptation we face. He says, but each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. So the process of sin, each one of us, each one is tempted when he is drawn away of his own desires and enticed. In the Greek, this word on is a word we get idiosyncrasies from. I know it looks like a short word, but idiosyncrasies. And it's the idea of we all have our unique set of desires. So we all have this, none of us are the same. So you've probably wondered at times, why is so and so tempted by such and so? And it's different for you. It's like, that doesn't tempt me at all. But this over here is tempting for me. And it's like we have built our own jacket, so to speak, of desires. And we keep putting on this wardrobe that is uniquely designed for each one of us. And it's really a wardrobe, you know, probably all of you have some patched, ugly, comfortable, warm, and cozy piece of clothing that you just like to go back to because it just fits you perfectly. And that's kind of the idea here. Each one of us is drawn away by his own set of desires. And these are strong, really it's the word for lust, these strong lusts and entice, these things that really, you know, we feel comfortable in. We just like it. You know, yeah, it doesn't line up with the Word of God, but boy. It's comfortable. So we keep going back to these. Well, we can be tempted by these things, and that's okay. You need to overcome these temptations. God has made a way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10, 13, he's made, he's an open door. He provides a way of escape for us when we're tempted. So as long as we go through the open door, that's a success. But when desire, verse 15, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. So when our will matches up with the will of, you know, with our desires, basically, that produces sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. So really, we can show forth death, spiritual death, just like any unsaved person. And so that's the idea of this passage. So we have this jacket that we're to take off, we're to put off, we're to say no, we're to overcome this. Our problem is, like, I put my jacket here, you know, and I want to keep it close. Yeah, I'll put it off. I'll kind of keep it close so I can fling it back. No, really, it's a once-for-all act, and we're to put it far enough away that it doesn't continue to haunt us and want to put it back on. And that's really, so turning back to Ephesians, What I didn't say here is this putting off, it is a one-time act that we have to do over and over again. Paul says just cut it off, just stop it, put it off. It's a one-time act, but it is something that we give ourselves to and want to put it back on, whatever that may be. I mean, it's just desire for things that you know you shouldn't have, or it could be different other, you know, anxiety and worry and just a poor self-image. You know, you're just thinking untruths about yourself, or it's lusting after something. And so those struggles are there, and Paul is just saying, put it off. The idea of put off is to renounce, lay aside, or down, and putting away. It is a once-for-all act. Romans 6 says it this way, it says, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God. To truly change biblically, we must put off the wardrobe that we have specifically designed to meet our fleshly desires. So we have created this, we've put the patches on, we've made it fit comfortably, and we just love this. So these are some things we need to put off. C.S. Lewis writes about our struggle to really see the evil within ourselves. He writes this, If you have sound nerves and intelligence and health and popularity and a good upbringing, you are likely to be quite satisfied with your character as it is. A certain level of good conduct comes fairly easy to you. You are quite likely to believe that all this niceness is your own doing, and you may easily not feel the need for any better kind of goodness. It is very different for the nasty people, the little, low, timid, warped, thin-blooded, lonely people, or the passionate, sensual, unbalanced people. If they make any attempt at goodness at all, they learn in double quick time that they need help. It is Christ or nothing for them. If you are a nice person, if virtue comes easily to you, beware. Much is expected from those to whom much is given. If you mistake for your own merits what are really God's gifts to you through nature, and if you are contented with simply being nice, you are still a rebel, and all those gifts will only make your fall more terrible, your corruption more complicated, and your bad example more disastrous. The devil was an archangel once. His natural gifts were as far above yours as yours are above those of a chimpanzee. So C.S. Lewis' words on niceness, and I think all of us tend to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, but you need to get into the word to see where God needs to change you. Warren Wiersbe writes about this passage in this way, he describes it as remove the grave clothes. So when he takes it from an illustration out of John chapter 11, or he draws from this, the idea in that passage is the resurrection of Lazarus. And you recall that the Lord's friend Lazarus had been in the grave for four days when Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethany. And even Martha admitted that by now the decaying body would smell. But Jesus spoke the word, and Lazarus came forth alive. An illustration of John 5.24. Notice our Lord's next words. Loose him and let him go. Take off the grave clothes. Lazarus no longer belonged to the old dominion of death, for he was now alive. Why go about wearing grave clothes? Take off the old and put on the new. And that's the illustration he uses as he explains this passage here. put off the new. You have been resurrected. If you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you are made new. You've been transformed, and yet you're still wearing the old clothes. Why are you doing that? And so, just like Jesus says, take off the grave clothes, Lazarus no longer belonged to that old dominion of death, so you no longer belong to that as well. And so we need to put off So God wants us to know that we can change and become more like Christ by recognizing the evil within, first of all. Secondly, by cooperating with the Holy Spirit to renew our thinking. By cooperating with the Holy Spirit to renew our thinking. Let's look at the passage in Ephesians. Ephesians 4.23 says, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Through Christ, once for all, we have been given a new position in a relationship with Him. We are a new creation. But day by day we must by faith appropriate what He has given us. The Word of God renews the mind as we surrender our all to Him." So this is not renew your mind, it is be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and there's a difference. Really, this is where the Holy Spirit comes in and needs to take over. Yes, we cooperate with him, but he needs to do this part. So we are told to be renewed and not renewed, and in the midst of this, you know, as we're trying to transform our thinking or trying to allow God to do that, the Holy Spirit to do that, there's a lot of competition. There's a verse over in, or a couple of verses over in 1 John, I'd like to read to you. 1 John chapter 2, verses 15 through 18, some key verses on sin again. 1 John 2, 15-18, they said, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away in the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. And so we get a sense that there's a struggle going on. We're seeking to have our minds renewed, and on this other side, it is the world that is seeking to renew our minds as well, or corrupt our minds, rather, we should use. And so there's a competition. Three areas, it's the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life that are just struggling and fighting for us to transform our thinking when we need to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Like Romans 12, one and two, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So like a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly, and we kind of wonder how in the world does that happen? Have you ever watched that? So this caterpillar is eating along, you know, and it finally gets to a point where apparently it says, hey, I'm full enough. And then they do these little things, they connect to a leaf and they wiggle and jiggle and they fit into this pod and what happens? Who knows what happens in there, right? And suddenly, a few weeks later or however many days, they come out as a butterfly. And that transformation was not something, I mean that's, That is a transformation. The butterfly didn't do that, you know, that worm didn't somehow, you know, it's like, oh, I'm going to hide in here like you enclose a new building structure and you're going to be working on things and then, you know, you're going to have the big reveal, you know, and so you do that. This butterfly didn't do that. And that's what it's supposed to be for us. It's the same word used here, the idea of renewing of the mind. that God needs to transform what we were into something that is new and living and powerful in that way. It is through the word of God, through the Holy Spirit's help as he guides us into all truth. John 17, 17, as Jesus prays for his people, he says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. You know, so as we understand the Word of God and it gradually transforms us through the Holy Spirit, then that renewal takes place. So that is the process. So we need to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. We cooperate by reading the Word, by memorizing the Word, meditating on the Word, and I think by asking questions of God as you read the Word. Ask Him to teach you and to guide you, help you to understand. I think A big thing that's helped me is journaling about the Word, just writing a few things down every day as you get into the Word. So it's the Word of God that's our tool in our tool bag, basically, that we use to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to transform our thinking. So to truly change biblically, we must allow the Holy Spirit to transform our thinking. I'm going to take a little sip of this. Hopefully, Alex doesn't watch this, because he may request certain drinks up here, like coffee or something. Just a couple weeks ago, there was a customer in the bookstore that shared this story. She works at Burger King and was working the drive-thru window recently taking orders when she felt a strong feeling from the Lord to say something to a customer. She had just taken the customer's order and the Lord seemed to say to her, tell this person that she is beautiful. She was, of course, hesitant to just say something like this to someone she didn't know. So as she placed the order for the customer, she's waiting at the line for this customer to come up, and God speaks to her, tell this person that she's beautiful. So she was hesitant to do that. So when the lady came up to the window to pick up her order, she said, God wants me to tell you that you are beautiful. Well, this lady immediately burst into tears. She said, since I have placed my order with you, I have been looking in the rearview mirror and telling myself that I am ugly. Can you imagine? What was in her teabag? what's in her teabag was coming out. For whatever her circumstances were, she's calling herself ugly. And I think that's where it is the renewal of our mind needs to take place, that God would transform who we are from the inside out, and so that our teabag will have some good stuff. Well, God wants us to know that we can change and become more like Christ by recognizing the evil within, by cooperating with the Holy Spirit to renew our thinking, and finally, by putting on the wardrobe that God has created for us. By putting on the wardrobe that God has created for us. So verse 24, and I'll finish this up quickly. And that you put on the new man which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness. Look at the description here of the new man. Again, it's the word put on. It's the same form. It's a one-time act of putting on. You took off the one, you put on the other. If I was proper, I would have had another jacket over here, maybe a really fancy nice, classy jacket and put that on, but I know it's the same sort of idea you're putting on now what God has created. This jacket doesn't have patches on the elbow. It doesn't, you know, it's not like been threadbare and ugly and all of your, you know, created by your own desires and lusts like we described in verse 22. Instead, this is something that has been created by God in righteousness and true holiness. So we're to put this on. It's something he has done. So he's done the work in the renewal of our mind. And we choose to, day by day, we put it on. Lord, I need your righteousness and holiness. Please dress me in this. So we pray. We also seek his word to how to live today. We choose. We make those small choices that just lead toward a righteous living for this day. Further on in this passage, he gives some explanation. He says, like verse 24, for instance, says, put on the new man. Well, I mean verse 25, rather. Therefore, putting away lying, each one speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. That's a choice that you make, a little choice. And as you do that, God will help you put on the right outfit for the day. Likewise, do honest work, he talks about. Be kind and forgiving as you go down through that. So we put off our sinful past. we be renewed in the spirit of our mind, and then we put on what God has chosen to make specifically for you, just like our lusts and desires have made something very unique to us, he has something very unique for you to wear, to fulfill his purposes, to become more like Christ. And that's the idea, really, of making a good tee. It's all about what's in the tea bag. So what's in your heart today? What are the things, the areas you're struggling with? What are those things that you've built up that you need the Holy Spirit to begin to move out and transform that into something that will be magnificent, really will impact your life and those around you? So one of the things, too, with, like I said about making a teabag, you know, we're not only gonna put stuff into our hearts that are something that would make a very tasty tea, spiritually, but also we need to realize that God will add the hot water. And the hot water is a welcome thing, according to James 1, because it is what helps us to mature, become perfect. We're to count it all joy when we fall into diverse temptations and trials. And so, we add the hot water that will come, and then we just enjoy what God has planned for us. And we can enjoy the sweet savor of a good cup of tea as we trust Him in this life. So, let's pray. Lord, I thank you for this time together. for your love for us lord thank you that you have a plan for us bring us through in areas that we're we're not able to face and we struggle on with things thinking well we either have it under control or we will have it under control we can figure this thing out but Many of us forget that it's your renewing of the mind, it's your transforming us that we really need to depend upon. And so I pray for each one here, each one of us, that you'd help us to grow in this area. We give you the praise now in Jesus' name, amen.