As we look into the material for today, you have that initial section of introduction. What I want to do as we kind of start to think about the process of change, which is what we're going to talk about today, I want to start just by thinking about what are some wrong ways that people tend to think about overcoming their struggles. What are some wrong attitudes, some wrong perspectives about change? So here's how I wanna do this. I'm gonna give you an attitude that sometimes people have, and I wanna hear from you, whether you're online or here in person, what is it that drives that kind of attitude? And it's gonna be different things for different people, so there's no one right answer. But just to reflect together and think about what are wrong attitudes when it comes to overcoming personal struggles. And maybe this is helpful for bringing conviction into your own heart perhaps as we think through these things and we identify some wrong attitudes. So the first one is kind of this attitude that says, you know, I know I have problems, but I don't need to grow. It's not important for me to grow. What do you think drives that kind of thinking? What are some potential contributing factors to that kind of mentality? Hey Spencer, can you say that again? Yes. Yeah, that's good. So Spencer said that you're just comfortable in your sin. That you just don't feel like it's all that important that you need to grow because it's comfortable. It's easy. Yes, Andrea. Yeah, yeah, that's true. Take it or leave it. I don't need to change. Yes, Diane. We don't think that we need to grow because we're not aware that it's even there. That's good. Well, yeah, I mean, that's a little different than the scenario that I mentioned of, I know I have problems. But you're right that sometimes we're just kind of unrealistic in thinking about the reality of ours. Yeah, so whether or not you value a problem as being significant, whether you think it's important or not. One thing it comes down to is, particularly in the area of sin and a drive to change, of God and a low view of His holiness, and instead of being holy, crying holy, we somehow morph that into, well, I determine the reality of my life, vice, the scriptures, driving me to have a high view of God, and therefore, I, as the wretch that I am, need to conform to His image. Yeah, poor theology. So this scenario, does it necessarily, are you implying that it's Yeah, right. So Mike was just asking the question, am I implying that in this scenario, and for the sake of this discussion, the answer is we are considering sin issues, not personal struggles that are non-sin issues. Let's move on for the sake of time. Maybe there's an attitude of, you know, I know I have problems, but I don't want to grow. I don't want to grow. What could be some underlying hard attitudes or mindsets? JP? Bitterness? Explain that a little bit more. I think it would be kind of like knowing that it's a problem, but just like not wanting it to change. I don't really know if I can explain it, but... Well, I actually thought of that as well early when I was kind of preparing some answers in case nobody said anything. And what came to my mind was, you know what, I'm just so angry at this. I just, I don't care. I don't want to change. I'm harboring, I think I have a right to be angry and bitter. And so I don't, I don't want to. That's sometimes an attitude that people have. Selfishness. Selfishness. Yeah. Yeah. Brian. I like that sentence. I'm not hurting anybody. Yeah, the thinking that this is just a private sin. I'm not hurting anybody. It's not a big deal. Gene, you? Suppose you're not with the sin. You want to get rid of the sin. Personal counseling or biblical scripture. How do you get rid of the sin if you want to get rid of it? Forgive me. Are you asking that? How do you overcome that sin? How do you get rid of it? Well, that's what this whole class is about. So certainly, we'll address that in the lesson today. Where is medicine coming to the picture? Yeah. Yeah. That's a significant issue as well that we'll probably talk about throughout the class. I mean, I definitely have a lot to say about that. But for the sake of time and keeping the discussion on track, Minji? Yeah, laziness. Change is hard. There are some issues that are so ingrained in us, that we're just so habitual, that it's hard to overcome them. It's like, I just don't want to take the time and effort to do it. All right, let's move on to another attitude. I know I have problems, and I've even tried to grow, but it didn't work. It didn't work. What could be behind that kind of thinking? Brian. Last night in the plot we were talking about grace relating to one of the Psalms. So God gives us the grace to deal with some sin that's in our life and get away from it. I know you wrote Romans 6.22, but what shall we say to this? We continue in sin? That grace came about? Certainly not. How can we die of sin and live no longer in it? We may want to get away from it, but we're not attempting to try. Yeah, so for those of you online, can you hear when people in the room are talking? No, you can't hear. So what Brian is saying, if I think I'm understanding you properly, is If I can summarize it in different words, tell me if this is what you're saying. On the one hand, we have the attitude that I want to change. On the other hand, it's like, I want to change, but I love my sin. I want to change, and I love my sin. And we're just not really putting forth the right effort. Is that what you're? Well, God gave us the grace to deal with this problem. He wants to sanctify us with His Word. But we're lacking the application of the Scripture. We're studying God's Word. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, so what Brian's saying is we're receiving the teaching and instruction about our sin, but we're just not applying it. We're not putting it into practice. And so, yeah, when, you know, you're like, well, I've read all the books and I've listened to all these sermons and I'm still struggling with this. It's like, well, what have you done? Have you applied the truth? Oh, not really. I haven't really done much. Yes, Glynis. Yeah. I think also we have this microwave incident mentality and we want change yesterday. And change takes place over a long period of time, so I think it just really comes down to patience. And we really have to put the time in and know that change and growth takes place over a period of time. And that's difficult. Yeah, so Glenys, patience, that's huge. Sometimes people get so frustrated at their lack of progress, that they just want to give up because they're impatient with the process and feeling like, well, what's the point if I'm just going to keep struggling? Mike, you said fear. Talk about that a little bit. I've tried before, and I've failed. I'm just too fearful to take these steps because I'm going to fall sick. Yeah, so Mike is saying, fear out of the reality that, you know, I've tried in the past. Maybe I went to a counselor in the past. I mean, I've heard this before. Tried, been there, done that. I don't know what more is going to help. You know, what, seeing another counselor, what, reading another book. Didn't work in the past. I just, I'm afraid to try and experience failure again. For the sake of time, let's move on to the last attitude. And this, of course, not exhaustive, but just ones I jotted down. What about this wrong attitude? I know I have problems. I must grow. I know I need to grow in order to make God happy with me, because He can't be happy with me while I'm struggling with this. What wrong thinking lies underneath that attitude, that mindset? that sort of like a works mentality attitude. It's like, the change doesn't come from you. You have to be patient with God for that kind of change. It's going to God every single time. But for me, I don't know, personal wise, maybe I'm misinterpreting the question. Maybe I'm misinterpreting. Yeah, I'm trying to think, Spencer. I apologize. I was a little distracted for the first part of what you said. But would you mind repeating? So, again, the wrong mentality is, I know I have struggles, and I know I need to grow, because I need to make God happy with me, because He cannot be happy with me when I'm struggling with sin. in front of the Father, and I have to rely on Him to be good enough. To be good enough is, you know, it's a prideful idea. I think that's the underlying problem, is pride. No, you're not, Spencer. What you said there that I want to just emphasize is the wrong thinking, you identified the right thinking, but the wrong thinking is, I have to be the one to do the work to make God happy with me. What you said is the right attitude of, I need to remember that Christ has already done everything that I don't need to make God happy with me because he has already declared me righteous I am his beloved son and that's the right mentality I need to maintain over and against the wrong thinking that you know it's up to me to make God happy with me and you know some people have said well what about those passages like 2 Corinthians 5 9 and others where it says, I make it my aim to please Him, or we are to live our lives to be pleasing to Him. Well, those are obviously true because that's what Scripture says, but by saying, I'm seeking to please Christ or God or the Father, that doesn't mean that His default position toward us or disposition at all is that of displeasure. It's not that I have to change his displeasure. And we all understand this, those of us who have kids or all of us who have been kids with our parents. We could have a great relationship with our parents and yet still desire, like, I want to make them happy. I want to do something. I want to, you know, with little kids, I want to show them my drawing. I want to show them what I made with my Legos. Not because our parents are mad at us and we want to try and change their disposition, but just because out of our love relationship, we just want to do what's pleasing to them. Anyway, so we have to remember that Christ has already done everything there. So we have to remember our true identity in Christ. There's a wrong view of identity in Christ when we're trying to make God happy with us. There's a wrong view of the gospel. Okay, well, let's move on from that. The challenge of online and in-person is definitely interesting with Zoom here, but that's okay. So as we think about today's lesson, what we're talking, as you have seen in the notes, if you grab those, is the biblical process of change. We looked last week at the Christian's biography and how from the start to finish of our lives, which is not really a finish, but from the start to eternity, God is seeking to work change into our lives. And so just to emphasize that a little bit, we have to remember that God is in the business of change. That is what God is up to in our lives. Oftentimes I ask people, you know, they relay some situation in their life, maybe a time of suffering or personal difficulty. And I might ask something like, well, what is God up to? Where is God in this situation? And the brief answer is, God is seeking to accomplish His purposes in my life. And His purpose is, as we again saw last week, is that He is seeking to make us more like Christ. So just to emphasize that again, just remind you of what Paul says in Romans chapter 8, verses 28 to 30. He says, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom he predestined, he called, and these whom he called, he also justified. And these whom he justified, he also glorified." So Paul here is explaining that all of the difficulty, all of the bad things that we would identify in our life, God is purposing those things. He is using those things. Paul even uses the word causing all things to result in that good purpose of making us more like Christ. so that Christ would be seen to be greatest of all. He would be preeminent. And then in verse 30, he walks through what's often called the golden chain from predestination to glorification of how God is seeking to accomplish in his people the work of redemption, sanctification, and glorification. So God is in the business of change. He is seeking to transform us, which is why when Paul gets all the way through his explanation of the gospel in those first 11 chapters of Romans, when he launches into what we might call the practical, though there's certainly a lot of practicality in the first 11. When we get to chapter 12 and he makes this transition, He says, therefore, in light of everything that I've said about what God has done, what God has accomplished, what God's purposes are, what God is even going to do in the future. He says, therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And he says, do not be conformed to this world. but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." So again, in light of everything that God has done for us in Christ, in light of all of the gospel truth, now be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You need to become a new person. Now, we are a new person in the sense of positional sanctification, that at salvation God declares us righteous, that's justification. In sanctification He separates us from sin and unto Himself, that's positional sanctification. And so now we begin at that moment, the lifelong process of conforming our lives to the image of Christ. And God has not left us without help in that endeavor. He hasn't left us ignorant of, okay, how am I supposed to go about this? How am I supposed to think about what are the problems that I'm supposed to be changing? And what does it look like to become like Christ? And how do I take steps in that direction? He's given us truth. and wisdom and resources to change. And there's so much we could say about this, but just consider a couple realities. Colossians 2, verse 3 says, In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ. So if you want to know how to change, if you want to know what is right, what is wrong, what is holy, what is just, what is unjust, and if you want to know everything that pertains to truth and knowledge, you have to grow in your understanding of Christ. You have to look at Jesus Christ, you have to study Him, you have to observe Him, you have to listen to Him, and of course, not just Him, but those who wrote about His life. when Peter, who of course was one of his closest disciples, writes about what God is seeking to do in our lives. He said in 2 Peter 1, verse 3, seeing that his divine power, that is God's, the Father's divine power, has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. God, out of his power, he's given to us everything, that is, everything that we need pertaining to life and godliness. That is, how are we to live a godly life? What does a life in the kingdom of God look like? God has given us everything we need. Now, how do we access that power? How do we access that knowledge? Well, he goes on to say, through, he's given to us these things through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. So again, that same truth that we access all that we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Christ. So we need to be experts on Christ, on Jesus Christ, on who he is, on his person and his character, his thoughts, his attitude, what drove him. We need to know Christ above all. And the more that we get to know Him, the more that we are transformed. This is why Paul said, I didn't jot this reference down, but I think it's in 2 Corinthians 4, that as we behold the glory of God in the face of Christ, the more that we look at Christ, we ourselves are being transformed from one degree of glory to another. So, We have to look at Christ because God is in the business of making us more like Christ. Now, for the rest of our time, I want us to consider Okay, what are the actual steps of change? And obviously this is gonna be in such high level, we're not gonna apply this specifically to issues today, but this is kind of the paradigm that we'll use as we talk about specific issues in the rest of the class. So, Jean, you asked earlier, you know, kind of how do we go about, this is the beginning, kind of the beginning of that answer that we'll look at today. So we're about to launch into the put off section. So there's several passages that give us kind of a clear, a crystal clear process of how we go about changing. And for the sake of narrowing down to one, I think the best one, the clearest, the most thorough passage is Ephesians chapter four, verses 17 to 24. So if you have a Bible, you can turn there and we will, what you see as the outline, the put off, renew the mind, put on, you'll see, we'll walk through this passage to see those different elements. So let me just go ahead and read Ephesians chapter four, verses 17 to 24, and then we'll walk through it. As I'm reading, pay attention to look for these different steps that I've already named for you. And you'll see them right there in the passage. He starts out saying, so this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk. Again, don't be conformed to the world. Don't live like your old self. In the futility of their mind, this is how they walk, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart. And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness." Don't walk like that. Don't live like that. He says, you did not learn Christ in this way. Notice that. You did not learn Christ. He didn't say, that's not what the Christian life looks like. He says, this isn't Christ, because we're supposed to be looking at Christ if we want to know what the Christian life is. You didn't learn Christ. That's not how Christ lived. Indeed, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. So now he's going to give us what is the way that we should walk. What do we learn in observing Christ and learning from Christ? He says in verse 22, that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the less of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind. and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. So you see those three steps there in verses 22 to 24. Don't live like the Gentiles. Don't follow their lifestyle, which was your lifestyle before you came to Christ. But now, having come to Christ, we've learned a whole new way of living, and that is by putting off or laying aside the old self, renewing our mind, and putting on the new self. just for validation that this isn't something that's isolated to Ephesians. In Colossians 3, verses 8-10, Paul says, But now you also put them all aside, anger, malice, wrath, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him. So you see those three things, the laying aside of the old self, putting on the new self, and being renewed to a true knowledge. It's not in the same order, but it's the same principles. You can jot down, if you're taking notes, James 1, verses 21 and 22. James 1, verses 21 and 22. And I want to just go ahead and read 1 Peter 2, verses 1 to 3, where Peter says, therefore, putting aside, again, that same language, same term, putting aside all malice, and all deceit, and hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord." So there he doesn't specifically name or identify put on, but the longing of the pure milk of the Word is what it means to renew the mind in the sense of giving attention to the truth of God's Word. So those are just four representative passages. There's many others we could look at to draw out these truths, but those are more. Keep your finger there in Ephesians chapter four, and let's kind of talk about these three different steps more specifically. What does it mean, first of all, to put off? What does it mean to lay aside something? Well, putting off means to remove something from one's life. To remove, that's the blank there, to remove something from one's life. It means, S-T-O-P, stop. One theological dictionary, when speaking about the Greek word that's being used here, says, behind the picture lies an oriental custom when the possessor of high office was deposed, he had to put off his robes of office. In other words, in ancient culture, and just like in some cultures today, like maybe a judge who wears a robe, or maybe an academic professor who wears a robe, or maybe athletes who have a uniform. Someone who holds a particular office, they are identified in that office by what they're wearing. That's their identification. That's how you know, oh, that guy's a judge, or that guy's this, or that guy's that. And the idea of laying aside is taking it off, that I'm no longer going to be identified with this reality. So specifically, he uses multiple examples here throughout this passage as we go forward from verses 25 and forward. He talks about lying. In verse 25, he says, therefore, laying aside falsehood. So if you want to put off lying, if you want to change your habit of lying, first thing you need to do, stop lying. Put it off. Disrobe that habit from your life. Verse 28, he refers to stealing. He says, he who steals must steal no longer. Just stop stealing, stop engaging in this behavior. Or verse 29, for those who struggle with their speech. He says, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth. Put a filter on your mouth. Whatever your struggle is, The first step, the primary attitude should be, I need to stop. I need to set this aside. I need to stop engaging in this behavior. I need to stop identifying myself in this way. There are some issues that we struggle with that we don't necessarily identify ourselves in the sense that, oh, I'm If you struggle with lashing out at your children, you might not say, oh, I'm a children lasher-outer. You might not develop an identity based on that. You might just say, I struggle with this. But there are other struggles that we do tend to identify ourselves with, especially when we have worldly thinking. I am a drunk. I am a liar. I am a homosexual. I am a thief. Well, in 1 Corinthians 6 verses 9 to 11, which we looked at briefly last week, Paul helps us to consider that part of putting off, part of removing something from our life is stopping to identify ourselves with that thing. He says, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, effeminate, homosexual thieves, covetous drunkards, revilers, swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he uses sanctified there, he's not speaking of you've now been perfectly conformed to Christ. He's saying you've been set apart from that sin. So you no longer have to identify yourself with that. So you no longer say, oh, I'm a thief. I'm a reviler. I'm a drunkard. That's not you because you have been set aside. So there's this fundamental reality that when I lay aside my old self, I am removing myself from it. I'm taking a step aside to say I am no longer defined by that struggle and I'm not going to engage in that behavior anymore. Jesus referred to this in terms of radical amputation. If you're taking notes, that's the blank there. Radical amputation. You know, Matthew 5, verses 29 to 30, where he said, If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you. For it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you. For it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. So another sense of putting off, of laying aside, is to cut yourself off from those avenues that bring temptation and sin into your life. Now, obviously, Jesus is speaking hyperbolically here. But the point is real that we need to do whatever it takes to remove temptations to sin. Now, Jesus is not denying the reality that sin rises out of the heart. More than anyone, He's the one who teaches that it's out of the heart that we engage in sin. But what He's saying here is, when there is, in this case, a part of your body that is making it difficult for you to cease from sin, just cut it off. Do whatever it takes. Now, we might think in other terms like, you know, put a blocker on your computer or turn in your smartphone and get a flip phone or, you know, get rid of your laptop or have someone put in various protections for various things, or change your job. If there's a particular temptation in the workplace, just change your job. Again, that doesn't solve the issue, that doesn't change the heart. But it's acknowledging, you know what, this thing, this situation, this temptation is so serious and so difficult for me to resist that I just need to get it out of my life. I need to do whatever it takes. And I would tell you, that the resistance to this principle, the hesitancy to do whatever it takes, is what causes personal struggles to remain so often. Now, there are some things, certainly sins of the mind, like anxiety and depression, that you can't necessarily get rid of a part of your brain, but there are so many things in people's lives that they struggle with that they just want to hang on to because they're not willing to make the sacrifices. But Jesus taught that radical amputation is a key component to putting off ceasing from sin. Paul referred to this term, the next point in your outline, Paul referred to this term in terms of not submitting to sin as a slave master, right? Not submitting to sin as a slave master. We looked at this a little bit last week. He writes, therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body. This is Romans chapter six, verses 12 to 14. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lust. And do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of righteousness, of unrighteousness. But present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. As we said last week, those who are in Christ have had that chain of slavery to sin cut. And even though there is a lot in us that longs to go back to that sin master, we don't have to. because of the power of Christ, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, with the grace of God, we can choose to say no to sin. I was thinking about when I was in, I don't know, elementary or junior high, whatever it was, and there was the war on drugs. You know, shout no, like you mean it, shout no and run away. I don't know if anybody remembers that, but that's how we need to think about sin. In fact, another way that scripture talks about putting off sin Radical amputation, not submitting to sin as a slave master, is the idea of fleeing. Fleeing from sin. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 18 says, flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body, right? And this calls to mind Joseph, right, who was constantly being tempted by Potiphar's wife, and he constantly resisted. And finally, in a final attempt to force him, she grabs his coat. And what does he do? He gets away from her. He slips out of his coat and he runs the other way. That's how we need to have our attitudes toward personal sin struggles. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 14, Beloved, flee from idolatry. Some of our sin struggles, as we'll talk about in the coming weeks, is a hard attitude of idolatry that we are seeking to gain from a person, or an object, or an experience, or a life situation. We're seeking to gain what only God can give us. We're seeking to gain identity, or fulfillment, or control, or comfort. And when we choose to sin in order to obtain that, or we sin because we're not able to obtain that, we're living out idolatry. And Paul says, flee from idolatry. Or 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 10 and 11, for the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. And some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you men of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness." So flee from the love of money. For 2 Timothy 2.22, flee from youthful lusts, Paul says. So run away. Get away from that situation. Get away from those things that bring temptation into your life. Treat it so seriously that if it were a physical object, sometimes it is and sometimes it's not, but if it were, that you would be 10 miles away in a minute. You think about Eve in the garden. Remember how Satan tempted her and said, did God say, you know, you can eat of any tree? Remember Eve said, you know, we can eat of any tree, but we can't eat of this one tree that's in the middle of the garden. In fact, God said to not even touch it. And Satan didn't question her on that, but a lot of people have. People have said, well Eve, oh man, that's where she really messed up, because she misconstrued God's Word, God didn't say don't touch it, He only said don't eat it. Well, I would submit to you that Eve understood this principle, that When God said, don't eat the fruit, He wasn't saying, well, you can use it for different purposes. In fact, you can pull some of the fruit and fertilize the ground with it. In fact, it's pretty round and so you can play catch with your kids with this fruit. No, He was saying, don't have anything to do with this fruit of this tree. Eve understood that. And that's what our attitude should be with sin, that we don't even want to get close to it. We want to avoid it at all costs. We want to flee from it. We want to radically amputate anything in our lives that is bringing temptation into our life. So that's the first step, if you will, to put off, to stop engaging in that sin. The second step is renew the mind. Renew the mind. Renewing the mind means to think differently. To think differently. That's the blank there. And let me just give you the rest of the blanks under the subpoints quickly, and then we'll walk through them. To think differently, or sorry, to think rightly about what is wrong. To think rightly about what is wrong. To think rightly about oneself. to think rightly about oneself, to think rightly about God's character and work, God's character and work, to think rightly about life, and to think rightly about God's revelation. I'll walk through these again as we look at this passage. So to illustrate this, I want us to consider Matthew chapter 6. You can turn there if you want. This is the passage of scripture where Jesus is talking about anxiety and worry. So we're going to use this as an illustration of how to think differently. Jesus knows that anxiety and worry are common struggles in the lives of human beings, right? We have kind of basic needs of food and clothing and shelter. We have this instinct of preservation of life. And so those are the kinds of things that we are very concerned about throughout our lives. We're always, or depending on your culture, we're thinking about where the next meal is going to come from. Now, for us, it might be from the refrigerator. But if you have teenagers, it's like, oh, there's nothing to eat, even though the refrigerator is full. Or certainly, there's people in many cultures where they literally don't know where their next meal is going to come from. There are those who are worried about their life. That's certainly true of a lot of people today. What can I do to make sure I don't get sick and die of COVID-19? And so, anxiety and worry are common realities. And so, Jesus addresses how to think differently about this in Matthew chapter 6. So, for example, in Matthew, I'm not going to read the whole passage for the sake of time, but in Matthew chapter 6 verse 24, he talks about this principle of thinking rightly about what is wrong. He says, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. Now in your Bible, you might see a division like I have in my Bible between that section and the following section. But Jesus is carrying a theme all the way through here, so ignore that division. What he's saying is when we're so concerned about our finances, when we're concerned about provision in our lives, we have to understand that what is wrong, what is fundamentally wrong in our thinking is that we're trying to serve two masters. On the one hand, we're trying to please God. We know I'm supposed to trust God. On the other hand, I need to provide for myself. I need to work hard. I need to figure out how to budget. I need to get another job. And he said, you can't serve two masters. You can't pursue God and money and wealth and safety and security at the same time. you can only choose one. And so as we are renewing our minds, whatever our issue is, we need to understand the nature of that issue. What is the heart that is going on that is driving the problem in our life? We need to think about that. So in this example, again, he identifies the reality that when we are anxious about wealth and money, prosperity, security, we're trying to serve the wrong master. He says in verses 26 to 27 about thinking rightly about oneself, Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you, by being worried, can add a single hour to his life? What he's saying here is that you need to understand yourself better. You need to understand, number one, that you are far more valuable than the birds of the air. God cares about the birds of the air, but He cares much more about you. So this is where our identity in Christ comes in, that we need to know that God loves me, and He cares for me, and He will provide for me. I need to understand that about myself. It's not about growing in my self-esteem. It's understanding who I am in Christ as we import other biblical truths. But he also, in verse 27, says, you need to understand your limitations. There is nothing that you can do that can add a single hour to your life. Don't take this the wrong way, but just understand the general idea of what I'm trying to communicate here. If God wants you to live into your 80s, if that's God's plan for you, and let's just say you're 20 years old, you could walk around this earth today with no mask on, getting closer than six feet with people, and you will not get sick. because you don't have control over that. God has control over that. Now I'm not saying, please hear me, I'm not saying to be foolish, I'm not saying to, hey, breathe in my face. I'm just saying the reality that it is true that we cannot live any longer than God intends for us to live. So we wanna be good stewards, right? We ought to take care of our bodies, but we should not be so concerned about preserving our lives as if it's all up to me and I just gotta do whatever I can and hide away. No, we need to be faithful and good stewards, but faithful to all that God has revealed and not be so concerned because we are limited. We can't control the length of our life. So that's just one example. We need to rightly understand ourselves. Next he says we need to think rightly about God's character. Look at verse 30. He says, But if God so clothed the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Don't you know, believer, that God cares for you? Don't you know that God provides for His creation? You know, you read Job chapters, what, 39 to 42 or 38 to 41, whatever it is, when God is questioning Job. Hey, Job, who's feeding the lions out there? Who's helping these animals give birth to their children? Who's providing for all of these creatures? God is caring for his creation. That is his character. He is a loving, gracious, providing God. And don't you know that because you are more valuable than they, that God will care for you? Know that God is a character and work that you need to understand rightly. Verse 34, he talks about thinking rightly about life. And so he says, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus is not saying, hey, don't worry, be happy. If you're a believer, nothing bad is going to happen to you. No, He's acknowledging the reality that life in this world is difficult. There is corruption. There is suffering. There is pain. But it's not for us to worry about tomorrow's problems. We can trust God for today. And then lastly, thinking rightly about God's revelation. That's how I phrase it, but verse 33, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. In other words, whatever God says in his word is important, is what we should value as important. So if I'm spending all my time worried and concerned about my daily provisions and God's like, hey, don't worry about that. I got you. I'm taking care of that. Here's what I want you to take care of. Here's what I want you to be thinking about. then that's the attitude we need to adopt. We need to believe God's Word and all that it teaches. So those are just some categories, some ways in which we need to think differently in renewing our mind. We must be filled with the knowledge of His will. That's the next point in your outline. We must be filled with the knowledge of His will and spiritual wisdom. Let me just read Colossians 1, 9-10, For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, that is, the faith of the Colossians, we have not ceased to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Do you want to bear fruit in your life? Do you want to grow as a believer? You need to be filled with the knowledge of His will. You need to be growing in your knowledge of God. You can't grow beyond what you know. Just knowing things by itself is not gonna change you, but you have to start with that foundation. You have to be filled with the knowledge of God's will. A lot of times I ask people, is the problem that you're having that you don't know what you're supposed to do, and that's why you're having this struggle, or you do know what you're supposed to be doing, but you're just not sure how to do it. And I put it generally that way with various struggles. I often get the answer, no, I know it's true, I know it's right, I know what I'm supposed to be doing, I just have a hard time getting there. But what often happens is as we look at their particular issues, as we draw out what's going on in their heart, as we look at what the Scripture teaches, people often, and I'm not saying always, but often people are like, wow, I didn't understand things the way I thought I understood things. I'm seeing things from a different light. I'm having a deeper understanding. We need to be filled with the knowledge of what God reveals in Scripture so that we can understand our issues rightly. There's some things I have to skip here for the sake of time, but renewing the mind is perhaps the most critical component because how we think about life, how we think about God, how we think about ourselves, how we think about the world around us, that will determine how we live. And that's just it. If you think God is sovereign, that will impact how you deal with unexpected tragedies. If you think that God isn't sovereign, that He has no control, you will be lost in despair and anxiety. If you think that God loves you, cares for you, and has done everything in His power to work for your good, then that will impact how you deal with the struggles of your life. But if you question God's goodness, if you question God's love, you will struggle. So it starts with an understanding of reality. We have to grow in thinking rightly about everything as God has revealed it. All right, lastly, put on. Putting on means to begin to live consistently with a renewed mind. So based on what I've known, what I've learned in God's word, What God has revealed about himself, about myself, about my circumstances, I now need to take practical steps to live consistently with that renewed mind. Let me just get through the bullet points here, and then I'll reflect on some of these things. The second bullet point is, it means to develop new life habits. J. Adams, a pastor, kind of the father of biblical counseling, the modern biblical counseling movement, he called this re-habituation, that is, developing new habits. Whereas we were habituated with sinful habits in our former life, in our old life, now we need to develop these new habits. We need to re-habituate our lives. Old patterns of sin is the third point. Old patterns of sin must be replaced by righteous and opposite living. So let's go back to Ephesians 4, hopefully you still have that open, and see how Paul works through these principles. I already mentioned verse 25 where he says, laying aside falsehood. He says, put on, speak the truth, each one of you with his neighbor. So don't lie. Instead, speak the truth. Develop the habit of being a truth speaker. And then he mentions the renewing your mind element, for we are members of one another. We need to understand the relationship that we have with one another, especially within the local church, but you could say this with families as well. And if I understand the importance and the dynamics of our relationships, then it only makes sense, it's the only rational choice to speak truth. So with that right understanding, with a renewed mind of the fact that we are members of one another, I am now going to put on speaking truth. Or verse 28, he says, He who steals must no longer steal, but rather, here's the put on, rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. You know, it's been asked, how do you know when a thief is no longer a thief? And what would be an answer? What's that? When he stops stealing, Brian says. The problem is, a thief who has stopped stealing is probably better known as a thief between jobs. Right? According to Paul, and the Holy Spirit, a thief is no longer a thief when he is known for working. In fact, not only working, but being generous and giving to others, providing for others. That's when you know someone has ceased being a thief and they have started and they have developed a new character. Or you could say the same thing about lying. How do you know when a liar is no longer a liar? Well, it's not when they're not lying because they could just be sitting there with their mouth shut. It's when they are known as someone who speaks the truth. In verse 29, he says, let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth. Instead, put on words that are good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it may give grace to those who hear. So whatever our issue is, and it's, you know, the answer of what exactly you're putting on will depend on the struggle. You need to think about, okay, what are the things I need to put off How can I think rightly about this? What does God's word have to say about this? And then what do I need to put on? What are the new habits? What are the new habits of thinking? What are the new ways of speaking? What are the new kinds of actions? What are the new attitudes that I need to cultivate in my life to bring about change? Now, these three steps, put off, renew the mind, and put on, are not chronological. It's not like, okay, today I'm gonna work on putting off, tomorrow I'm gonna renew my mind, and next week I'm gonna put on. No, that's not how it works. All three of these are happening all at the same time, every day, throughout the day. We need to be daily putting off, saying, no, I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna think that way. I'm not gonna go there. In that same moment, why? Because of who God is and who I am and how God has me to think about my situation. Instead, in this moment, I'm going to choose to put on whatever it is that pertains to our situation. These are moment-by-moment steps that all work together to bringing about change. So what can we expect if we follow this this process of biblical change. Number one, we can expect a new outlook and perspective. As we're renewed in our mind, we're gonna think differently about our situation. We can expect, number two, new attitudes. So not only do I think differently, but I feel differently. We can expect, number three, new desires and values. Not only do I feel differently, but I long for different things. I value and prioritize different things. And number four, we can expect new choices in our words and our actions. That if I am renewing my mind, putting off and putting on, I'm going to be making choices that are different than I used to make them. And as we have this new perspective and new attitudes and new desires and values and new choices, we will be increasingly becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. Not just at an external level of actions, but from the heart. One final thing, grace in the battle. I know I mentioned this a little bit last week, I just want to emphasize this because it's so important. in thinking about all of this that we've talked about, don't think, okay, I just gotta get up in the morning, gotta get a good night's rest, gotta get my energy drink, and then I'm gonna be ready to do this all on my own. I gotta muster up all the strength and courage and energy to get this done by myself. No, think about Philippians 2, verses 12 to 13, where Paul says, So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out, exercise your own salvation, put to work your salvation with fear and trembling, for, because it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." In other words, Obey because God himself is working in you to give you the desire to obey and the ability to obey. When I say grace in the battle, what I'm saying is God is graciously enabling and empowering and working in us what we need, the desires, the ability, the capacities, in order to honor and glorify him. So this isn't something that we do on our own. This is something that we are utterly dependent on God for. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 9-10, For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me did not prove vain, but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I. but the grace of God with me." There is this mystical dynamic that we can't fully explain where on the one hand we exert effort, we are thinking, we are planning, we're putting things into practice, but we're able to do that because God's grace is active in our life. You can think of it this way. The Holy Spirit illumines our mind. He enables us to understand the truth. The Holy Spirit convicts our hearts. He points out the things in our lives that are wrong. The Holy Spirit grants us new desires. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. The Holy Spirit empowers obedience. And all of this is an undeserved gift of God. It's grace. It's God's riches at Christ's expense. So God is actively working in those who trust in Christ. He is the one who gets the glory for our change because it's His work and His power. Yes, we cooperate. Yes, we have to be purposeful and intentional. but it's all possible because of the grace of God. All right, well, we're just a couple minutes over, one minute over, according to my watch. Any thoughts or comments? I apologize for kind of ramming through all of that without pausing for interaction, but any thoughts or comments? Yes. Good morning, Pastor Gabriel. Good morning. I wanted to ask you, sometimes when, you know, like, when you're living, you know, like, with your husband or you have a boyfriend or your children have boyfriends, and they're both struggling, how can, you know, they start having conflict? And because one of them is struggling and the other one is, let's say, is understands that God's Word is more godly, And the other one is struggling, because trying to catch up, or to be, or to get to that place, or... I guess God is working in that person. But the other person doesn't have the patience. I mean, what can be my advice to them? Because I have a child, one of my daughters is going through that situation. One of the things that as we observe Christ, as we look to Jesus and how he lived, we can see that he had to deal with a lot of people who were stubborn, who were stiff-necked, who were hard-hearted. Not only the Pharisees, who of course hated him, only the people of Israel who only liked Him because of the benefits they received, but even His own disciples you know they were really stubborn in not catching on, they hadn't yet received the Holy Spirit. And yet Jesus was patient through it all. Why? Because He knew that God was at work. He knew that God was accomplishing His purposes. God was even using their disobedience, their stubbornness. God was purposing those things to happen so that Christ could ultimately end up at the cross. in the same way when we are in personal conflict with someone and we feel like, man, I'm really trying to do what's right, I'm really trying to honor the Lord and the other person is not. One of the mindsets we need to have is to say God is using their stubbornness or God wants to use their stubbornness to help me grow in patience, in love, in kindness. And so I need to do that. I need to work on those things. And I can do that by looking to Christ. And I would consider going to the class that I taught last quarter, the Gospel for Life. We talked a lot about those kinds of things, so there would be more helpful things there, but that would be my initial answer. Excuse me, to go where? Where did you say? The Gospel for Life class that I taught last quarter. It's on Sermon Audio at our church's Sermon Audio page. Oh, okay.