Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Four Steps To The Renewed Mind Pt.3

Hallelujah! Amen. We do have a lot to be thankful for, and as Neil was sharing in his worship, that gladness, the ability to obey with gladness; and that’s part of the renewed mind that we were talking about this morning. You know, you can do different things grudgingly, out of necessity; but God loves cheerful giving, doesn’t he? And the giving we’re talking about is out of Romans 12, the presenting of our bodies as a living sacrifice; that should be a cheerful thing, not something we have to do, but something that He blesses us and enables us to do; it’s a gift of God to be able to daily walk in the spirit and die to our own natural desires. It's a time of rejoicing when you see the old man dying, isn’t it? When you realize supernaturally that you’re making decisions that are in the realm of the spirit, and the old man is going down, praise God; and it’s a time of rejoicing as the Holy Spirit is ordering our steps, and that still small voice that speaks to us, "This is the way, walk in it." And that still small voice is the part that gives us peace in our conscience and the understanding that we are walking in the spirit; and in doing so, then, you’re not going to fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Let’s go to I Peter tonight, and we’re going to pick up on the four points that we were addressing this morning. In I Peter, chapter 2, verse 11, as we deal with the subject of abstinence, one that the flesh doesn’t like to give a lot of consideration to. The flesh does not believe in abstinence, does it? It believes in abundance. You can never give the flesh enough attention, and the demands that it makes is an interesting thing; and then as it’s stroked, you know, that temporal satisfaction that’s there. It’s interesting, we just went through that. I know Jeff and Star, and I, as we were working out at the country property, and for the first time in our lives we all got to experience chiggers. All down in our socks, and around our ankles¾ I’ve never known anything to itch like that in my life. I’ve had poison oak, I’ve had poison ivy, I’ve had all other kinds of rashes; but I’ve never really known anything to itch to that degree; and to respond to it made it worse. So using one of the old wives tale type remedies for it, we used fingernail polish on them, and it really cut the itch. But then the interesting thing is, as soon as you start taking the fingernail polish off, then the response of the body, and you rub it, and it’s so good, it just felt so good; but the more you rub it the rawer it would get; and the flesh is that way. It says, "give me something," and the first few strokes feel so good, but then it begins to respond in a negative way, and the abundance of the flesh brings death, the carnal mind is death. To satisfy those lusts, those fleshly appetites, ends in death; it gives momentary pleasure, but it ends in death. We were trying to bring death to the chiggers, but it began to be a very, very interesting study on abstinence, and I’m talking about abstaining from scratching your itch; and many of us have fleshly itches that we need to abstain from scratching. And so you begin to meditate on other things, and you give your mind over to things that are more vital, and it’s something that we can apply to.

I Peter 2:11, are you there yet? "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;" Or the renewed mind, is the context here, and how we understand the soul here; we know that the soul lusteth against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh; it’s obvious that the positive reference to the soul, here, is speaking to the renewed mind, or the soul at this moment as it’s being governed by the spirit within us. And so we realize that there’s going to be a war against the soul, or against the spirit, as the flesh lusts against the spirit. And it says one of the ways then is to abstain. We left off with this, this morning. You know, whatever you’re going to feed is what’s going to be strengthened in your life. If you begin to feed your fleshly appetites¾ how many of you know that the more you sleep the more you want to sleep; the more you eat the more you want to eat; the more you play and get all caught up in hobbies and recreation then the more you want to recreate? All of these different things that take place. Those of you who have a regimen where you physically do exercise, you know, and you abstain from that exercise and the body goes into a time of being able to rest unto itself, then the more it wants to abstain and serve itself; and so these are the laws that we’re working against, and it doesn’t change in any area of our lives. So it tells us here, very clearly, what we have to do; and that’s an abstinence from fleshly lusts.

Now, the thing that we have to look at is, natural appetite is not necessarily lust. Natural desires are not necessarily lust; and so we have to identify it. Lust, then, is that strong force, a compelling force, that is insatiable, and also contrary to God’s law. Therefore, these appetites that we have naturally have to be governed by the overall revelation of God’s word. Eating has to be governed by the temperance of the word of God; our sexual appetites are confined within all that God’s word governs within marriage, and we understand that that’s a part of it; our sleeping¾ the Bible talks very clearly to the fact that we can’t take and over respond to the flesh’s need to sleep, and so there can be that sleeping, and slumber, and folding of hands; and the Scripture says that leads us to what? Poverty. So you realize, then, that there has to be a governing; so the abstinence is not from natural, fleshly desires, but from the lust. That’s when it begins to be out of control, and it says when this thing begins to control you life then there needs to be an abstinence. That doesn’t mean you have to abstain from eating or sleeping, just cut off the extra five hours of sleep. Okay? Get it down to twelve hours a day; and cut that extra five, abstain from the abundance.

Many of us overreact to our flesh being out of control and what we want to do then is go into a total abstinence, or a total fast, if you please, and then we begin to have¾ the warfare begins to rage, we go into a total fast, and that produces some good fruit for a moment, but we realize that totally¾ let’s take it into a physiological realm again and eating¾ if you fast too long then the consequence to that is what? You die. You may die holy, but you’re going to die, okay? So you have to realize there’s balance to these different things. Sometimes it requires, to break the power of it, a total abstinence, but most of the time it’s an abstaining from the abuse, that abusive realm. But the thing that we do know is this, if we’re going to walk victoriously, and if our minds are going to be renewed to where we’re not thinking like the carnal man whose body, whose appetite tells him that everything he desires he should acquire, and he needs it now in abundance¾ exceeding abundantly, above anything that he could have asked or thought. Once we turn into that realm he tells us, "Listen, we’re not like the rest of the world, as strangers and pilgrims from the world’s ideologies , their methods, their appetites, you’re not like the rest of them, therefore, abstain from their fleshly lusts that contradict the word of God. And so it can come into every realm. It can come into the lust, you know, for material things; it can come into the different crazes like we’ve spoken before, you know, of all of the image crazes and how we have to look; and we talked a little bit about that, I think, last session, and how you have to conform to the world; and we’ve come through¾ you know, we’re in this health thing and you know, skinny is in, and all of these different areas; and biblically, skinny shouldn’t be in; healthy should always be in. God wants us to prosper and be in what? Health, as your soul prospers; and many of the people who have the right "look" are not healthy; and so health is what we’re looking for as Christians, and we abstain from all the pressure that the world puts on us, to be spiritually minded and know, then, that it’s not an image consciousness but it’s a health consciousness, that I would be strong, that my temple would be able to glorify God; that I would be strong enough, healthy enough, to worship, to serve in the community. All of these things that are God’s speaking to us. So the world can try to influence us in many different ways, and we need to abstain, or oppose, all of those forces that natural man wants to respond to, that causes him to be accepted in that community. You and I are pilgrims, we are strangers in that kingdom, and we need to abstain from everything that they put the seal of approval on. Okay? And so it’s very important for you and I to understand that principle.

Turn over to Thessalonians for just a second and I’ll show you another aspect of this. In 1 Thessalonians, chapter five, we are all very familiar with this principle. When it talks about abstaining from all appearance of evil. Now that doesn’t mean¾ although it is part of this, it doesn’t just mean that here we are as two young people and we don’t want to be seen isolated somewhere. You know, we understand the safety that’s been provided and the counsel that we walk in as a fellowship, and we’re all aware of that, and we don’t want people to get the wrong idea, and so even though it may be an innocent situation that we will not give any outward appearance of something that’s wrong. Now, when we’re talking about outward appearance of wrong we’re not talking about people that visually look upon what is wrong. "And man, I shouldn’t have given an appearance, or I shouldn’t have made public my sin." That’s not what this is talking about. You shouldn’t make private or public your sin. This is talking About something that’s truly innocent but even gives an appearance, so that it doesn’t cause confusion or a stumbling. But it really goes beyond that also, as you look at the context of this and you see that he talks about, verse 21, "Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good." It’s talking about actually imbibing or partaking of what’s good. Now, this word, "proving", means what? It means to involve yourself in, to actually partake of, what is good. Proving it says, all things, and holding fast to the good. Whatever is working, whatever is bringing glory to God, I continually am partaking in that, but then, the next verse goes on to say, [and I am] "Abstain from all appearance of evil." In other words, you know, I touched that thing before and it had bad results. So what are we supposed to do? If we’ve partaken of it, and we’ve proved that it’s not good, then what are we supposed to do? Abstain. You’ve already done it. It doesn’t work. Why are you doing it again? That’s stupid, to keep doing the same thing wrong over, and over, and over again.

And so, when we understand what he’s talking about here, the abstaining from the appearance of evil is once we’ve received revelation and we have that¾ that evil has appeared and we know that that thing is not acceptable, you and I are responsible, then, to walk away from that and to bring about that counsel to those that are around us. "Abstain from all appearance of evil. And [then] the very God of peace [will] sanctify you wholly;" We’re all looking for sanctification, but that sanctification process, or that refining, God being glorified in our lifestyle, is a consequence of our abstaining from the things that we know in our conscience, experientially, are evil. "And I pray God [then, will sanctify you wholly, and that you’d] …be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." Praise God, that’s good news tonight, isn’t it?

God’s working these things in us, and He’s allowing us not to be destroyed by many of these experiences, but in fact, educated and say, "that doesn’t work, I’m staying away from that. I understand clearly now, that’s not liberty, that’s sin." And so then we’re able to glorify God, and He’s able by His Spirit, through the renewed mind, to sanctify us wholly, spirit, soul, and body; and so it’s a process, then, of moving and walking away from those things that we know are detrimental to us.

Timothy says it again over here in Timothy. Look at II Timothy chapter 2, verse 22; or actually, look at verse 21: "If a man therefore purge himself from these, [things that he had just spoken of] he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work." A purging process, or an abstinence, a cleansing process, and then he says in verse 22, in this make sure that you "Flee also youthful lusts…." Now, fleeing and abstinence, we need to see how it really works biblically, and this is important; whether it’s a spiritual fasting¾ you know, one thing that’s interesting, let’s talk about a literal fast of food. How many of you know that if you abstain from eating, but in the process of the abstinence you don’t seek God, then all you’re doing is dieting, you’re not fasting? Because look what the Scripture says here: "Flee also youthful lusts: but [what?] follow righteousness, faith, [love], peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." You see, it’s not just what we’re not doing, it’s what we’re replacing it with. Are we replacing what we’re abstaining from with the pursuit of God? Don’t partake of that, but in lieu of that partake of this. Follow righteousness. So it’s important for us to understand the proper application of biblical abstinence; it’s not just restraining ourselves from a certain activity, it’s replacing it with righteousness. That’s biblical abstinence. That’s the way that it’s supposed to take place in our lives. So, the renewed mind begins to understand what all of these powers are that are drawing on us. God, knowing our makeup, the power of the seduction of all that’s in the world system and all of the fleshly appetites, realizes that when the body is catered to with these insatiable appetites that there’s times when a restraint has to be put on it, and Jesus takes it to the extreme and He says, "Look, there’s times when you may have to go to drastic measures."

Matthew chapter 5 speaks of this doesn’t it? And we’re all familiar with the Lord’s teaching. He says down in verse 29, "And if thy right eye offend thee, [what do you do?] pluck it out..." I think that’s an interesting phrase, you know, I’ve never really given a whole lot of thought to this aspect of it, but you know, He not only says pluck it out, what’s He say? Cast it, so you can’t find¾ He doesn’t want you putting it back in. How many of you pluck your eyes out and put them back in? You crossed them when you got them back, but¾ He says pluck your eye out, cast it from you. Now this is a powerful statement concerning abstinence. Chapter 5, verse 29. He says, "…for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast if from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." We can look at that from a literal aspect and, of course, most of your theologians will tell you, "This isn’t literal; He’s not saying cut your hand off, He’s really talking to us typically and He’s trying to show us the need of abstaining from these areas that are offenses." The power of this statement, this verse, is seen in the Church, however, in Paul’s revelation and teaching to us as it pertains to the body in what? Church discipline. He talks about the leaven that’s among us, and the fact that there are going to be offending members in our midst, and He says you need to understand something, a little leaven does what? Leavens the whole lump. And so when there’s leaven what are we supposed to do? Okay, it has to be cast out of our midst. Now why would we understand that in a community, but we don’t understand it in out own lives when something’s offending us? The need to do whatever is necessary to separate our self from that thing that’s destroying us; to understand that if you give place to that leaven in your life, whatever it is, a little bit of leaven will leaven the whole lump. It will take you over; it eats like a cancer, the Scripture tells us. So, He gives us this extreme understanding of what we’re to do.

Now, we know that some of the old monks over the years and stuff, they practiced this literally. Many of them would castrate themselves, and there are accounts of those who literally plucked their eyes out to protect themselves from the eye gate and many of these different areas. That may have worked for some of them. I don’t believe that’s exactly what the Lord is speaking to us here; but let me share this with you, if it worked then it was better that the whole body was not cast into hell; but if it worked¾ if it worked to somehow restrain these activities, but it was done in the flesh, did it profit them anything? No. And most people who read this verse and misapply it¾ and I’m speaking so that some of you don’t misapply it¾ are those who are prone to moving in the flesh and thinking that something they do will obtain righteousness for them.

The abstinence doesn’t bring the righteousness, the cutting off the hand does not make you righteous; it’s the following after righteousness and peace. So I believe that the example the Lord’s spoken to us here is one that is so graphic that we can’t miss the point of biblical abstinence; but I don’t think He’s literally telling us to mutilate ourselves in the process. So we begin to understand then that¾ and let me go on record as saying this, however: I don’t think that if someone did go to this extreme and it worked for them, that we have any biblical basis for saying that what they did was necessarily wrong. If it was done in the flesh, if it was done by works, then it would definitely be wrong; if it was done in the desperation of spirit, then I would be slow to judge somebody; but I don’t think that’s the main point. But I don’t want to leave it unsaid that we cannot literally look at people who are so bound in different areas that extreme measures¾ now this is extreme, and I can’t even think of where it might be applicable, but we're so easy to let the flesh off and say, "that’s extreme. Surely it’s not literal;" and we’re so quickly going to protect the flesh and thinking that, you know, "surely the Lord wouldn’t want us to suffer in the process of our righteousness and in this war with the flesh. Surely we don’t need to ever suffer in this thing." And let’s be careful that we don’t try to overprotect the flesh in the process either; nor are we going to come into this thinking of by works and the different monastic approaches that any kind of righteousness is going to come about by your physical endeavors. It doesn’t. What’s it profit you to give your whole body to be burned if you don’t have love? So, we understand that it’s not the physical action, but it’s the love of God and the zeal for Him in our lives.

James says it this way, over in chapter 1 of James. You know, you begin to think about the mutilation process, and to me it shows the desperation to be free. Have you ever been that desperate? I believe I’d rather see that kind of a desperation than the casual approach that people take today to sin and say, "you know, we’re only human." Do you find yourself ever crying out "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death" (Romans 7:24)? How desperate are you to be free from the dominion of your carnal mind? Have you just accepted it? It is just some, "well you know, this is how I’m going to be I guess, until the Lord comes." You don’t have to be that way. Are you willing to pay¾ and this is what Jesus was saying¾ whatever cost is necessary to be free from the carnal mind, from the ruling of your fleshly appetite? As you understand the Lord’s speaking to us, and the context of the seeking of the kingdom and realizing, then, that all of these other things are going to be provided by the Lord when we stop trying to guard ourselves, that begins to be the walk in the spirit, and that’s the liberty that the Lord wants for it.

James chapter 1, verses 21 and 22, he says: "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." He’s talking about the need here again for you and I to lay aside something. Lay apart, or aside, all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. What’s that talking about? Those words are interesting, we don’t use that term. "superfluity of naughtiness", much today; but it’s really talking about the excesses of malice; and when we talk about the malicious spirit, you know, and "dog each dog," and every man fending for himself, and all of these things; and he’s saying, "we don’t live like that in the body of Christ." He said, "you need to put on yourself this spirit of meekness." Stop trying to defend yourself.

Meekness, meekness – Moses, the meekest man that was on the face of the earth; meekness is abstaining from your own strength, your own methods, relying on your own abilities, and trusting God. The meekness of Moses was seen; he went in, tried to deliver them in his own strength and was not able to; came back and trusted solely in God’s program, and God was able, then, to deliver His people. The abstaining from all of what we see in ourselves as being strengths; how we can succeed, what’s got me this far? We hear terms used today like, "that guy’s streetwise." You know, "he’s street smart," and "That person doesn’t have a formal education, but they’ve been proven in the fire," and all of these particular things; and the natural man learns to adapt and to bring about the greatest of all those drives we have within ourselves, and that’s self-preservation. It’s amazing what we can do with this drive of self-preservation. The desire of self-preservation, it takes all of those other appetites that we all know are the major appetites and it subordinates them. In time of war, in time of conflict, self-preservation takes over; you can do without sleep, you can do without food. All of these different things that seem to be so important, when your life’s on the line, they begin to be put into another realm of importance. They’ll tell you they’re the most important thing in the world until you put it up against your life; then why is it that we can’t take these appetites and put them up against having our whole bodies cast into hell? If they can be subordinated by temporal preservation of life, then shouldn’t they be subordinated by eternal preservation of life? So it’s really how much we really believe in eternal life. How strong that appetite for eternal life is, how, how bad I really want to live eternally. How bad to I want to spend time in the presence of God? Now, I want to tell you something, man. If your physical life goes on the line here in the next few minutes you’d be surprised to what measures you would go to spare your life. And yet how cheap do we account eternal life. What do we do for eternal preservation?

So James, speaking to us here, tells us that we need to receive the engrafted word of God. That brings us into number two, the studying of the Word of God. The realization that abstaining from these physical things is not enough; now what we have to do is not only do we abstain, but we realize that the ability to abstain comes from our obedience to the Word of God. You’re going to see that this thing works in reverse of these four steps. And the abstaining then, the ability to abstain, comes about from our habitual obedience to the Word. Look at your outline. Habitual, obedience, study, abstinence. Your habitual obedience to the word causes you to be able to walk free from all of these other appetites. That’s where our strength is; that’s where faith comes from; that’s the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth; that’s walking in the spirit that we don’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. So, we have to give the Holy Spirit something to work with; this word has to be put into our soul. See, the word of God¾ it’s not just knowledge that we’re talking about here, we talked about what you’re going to feed¾ the carnal mind or the spiritual mind. As our minds are renewed, the word of God is alive, it’s powerful. This is a living entity. I’m not talking about the paper and the ink, I’m talking about the spirit, the God-breathed revelation, God’s will recorded. As we put it into our spirits, it refreshes us, it strengthens us. How many of you know that experientially? Do you? You sit down, you begin to meditate on the word, you read the word and what happens? You begin to be refreshed. Your mind now¾ you begin¾ peace begins to come over you. Your circumstances begin to be put back into proper perspective. You read the word and you say, "Yeah, man. Praise God, that’s right. All this stuff was lying to me; all the things that these circumstances said they were going to do, that’s not true, God has said this," and we begin to come to rest again. That’s the renewed mind, it’s holding the truth of God up against what’s perceived reality or truth. So you take eternal truth, you hold it up against perceived truth, and the lies vanish; and the peace, and the rest of God begins to take hold of our souls.

So lay aside all of these other cares and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to renew your mind, James tells us. This engrafted word, it just¾ its talking about the implanting, or the sowing in of the word of God. Now, you mind isn’t necessarily going to be instantaneously renewed; you read the Bible and "phew, now I’m a transformed, instantaneously transformed individual, my thoughts are now going down different lines." No, the engrafting of the word, the implanting of the word, many times, is a process. It’s sown. We rise up, we lie down, it begins to grow we know not how. But it begins to produce after it’s own kind, the seed that’s sown into good and honest hearts in the parable of Jesus. How much have you given God to work with? How much of the word do you put in there that is now being implanted into our consciousness so that in the time of warfare God has something draw on, and the word is able to come up; and not only the understanding of the Word to where you can speak as Jesus did in His temptation, "it is written," but the very fact that there’s a nutrition there, that there’s a strength there? Do you really have confidence that the Word that you’ve put in there over all the years is working in you> That it’s alive, it’s powerful? Do you really believe that the Scripture is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart and it’s able to¾ even before you’re solicited by your flesh, it knows your own tendencies, your intentions, and that the Word will judge those and speak to you even before the circumstances arise? That’s walking in the spirit. That’s, many times, the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in speaking to us words of wisdom and words of knowledge; they all work off of the engrafted word. And there can’t be the deception¾ we’ll get down into the obedience part of this, verse 22, in just a minute. But there can be no power to obey until there’s the implanting.

So Timothy tells us this¾ II Timothy, chapter 2, verse 15¾ that we’re supposed to study, aren’t we? "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Study. We’re not all naturally great students. Most of us don’t mind spending time, and studying and refreshing ourselves with things that we like. Some of us are great students of Betty Crocker’s Cookbook; others know how to trim bushes; we’ve a number in our fellowship, now, that really need to spend a lot of time in Golf Digest so the rest of us would be safe. But there’s a studying for everything we do. There’s a training process that has to take place. Now, as we look as the Scriptures, here, we’re told to study to be approved. Study to show yourselves approved unto God. It’s amazing to me how many people study the word to show themselves approved unto men. We want to be able to show people how smart we are. "I know more than they, I can with this argument, I know more Bible." The Bible doesn’t say study to show yourself approved unto men; you’re showing yourselves approved, or accepted, by God. Now the word, "study", here in and of itself, is an interesting word. When you begin to look at it in it’s purest form, it talks about a diligence. This study is an act of diligence, or an appetite for the word of God. It really speaks, also, of doing your best, or as Paul said, to extend ourselves, to fully extend ourselves in pressing"…toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). It’s not just acquiring knowledge, it’s accessing the heart, the will of God, presenting our bodies a living sacrifice. It’s the Joshua spirit of wanting to be at the mount of the tabernacle for the visitation of the glory of God. It’s the Jacob attitude of "…I will not let thee go, except thou bless me" (Genesis 32: 26). It’s the spirit of Elisha that says, "No, man, I am not leaving you. I want to be here and receive the double portion." What kind of an appetite do you have for being God’s best? Study just means doing everything you can to be God’s best.

We’re in a day that just¾ One of my, one of my pet gripes, you know, it’s what we’re doing to kids today. Everybody’s got to be recognized somehow, and you go to the little soccer banquet and here we are, and twelfth runner ups, twice removed, and they get a trophy. "You’re a looser kid, you’re a looser; you’re no good, you’ve been defeated." Let them know the facts, okay? Now you don’t have to go to that extreme, but come on, what is this? Everybody’s a winner. You get a trophy for showing up. What’s that all about? Whatever happened to excellence?

And when the Spirit’s speaking to us here, this study, that’s what it’s talking about, is being excellent for God, being the best. And it’s a process, there’s a lot of work involved. It says, "show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"(2 Timothy 2:15). Then it talks about shunning profane and vain babblings. Here’s an abstinence again. Don’t get involved in all of these things, shun them.

…all of the credibility over the years that’s been given to apologists. It’s not a biblical ministry. You can’t explain the word of God to anybody, and you get into all of these arguments, and somebody wants the word of God proved to the natural mind; "give me some type of forensic evidence and I’ll believe." No, you won’t. You won’t believe even if you see one raised from the dead. There’s no sign going to be given you but the sign of Jonah; the testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and if you don’t believe that, you can’t believe anything. As we study, that word begins to be a reality to us, the knowledge of His resurrection power, the glorying in the cross that we sang about; the identity with the resurrection power of Jesus Christ¾ all comes as a result of this excellent pursuit; when we abstain from the world’s wisdom and we embrace the wisdom of God, the wisdom of the cross, which is foolishness to natural man. So where are we, then, in our endeavor to be like Him?

This studying is going to cost you something, it’s going to require death to self. The studying is a doing as well as a knowing of the word of God; and so it’s going to cost to be a servant, to prefer others better than ourselves. There’s a price to pay to be in prayer, and be refreshed so that you can speak a word in season, and when a brother or sister is in need your word will come into their spirit and it will bring revelation and you’ll deliver their souls, praise God, by just one word spoken in season. And so, we’re refreshed. You can’t just get into the standard guidelines. I was talking to Tony Gonzalez. He’s¾ Jamie’s in the golf craze now, I think, with the rest of you crazies, crazes, I mean. And so he took Tony down; they were going to go to the driving range. And Tony said, "I was having trouble hitting that ball," and he said, "I didn’t quite understand…" He said, "it’s hard." I said, "yeah, it is kind of hard when you look at the rules and everybody starts telling you what to do." "Keep your arm stiff." You can’t hit a golf ball with your left arm stiff. And everybody says hold your left arm stiff. You can’t hit it that way, don’t hold it stiff. It’s got to be bent. Stiff. [demonstrating] There’s no power in that, there’s no fluidity in that. "Keep your hear down, rotate your shoulders twice the rotation of your hips [demonstrating] "Head down; keep your left arm in; don’t let your right elbow fly." [demonstrating] Let me share with you how to hit a golf ball: grip it and rip it. And that’s where you start, and then you refine from there, okay? All of these other things are refining the process. The best thing you can do¾ I just want to give some of you that are going out to play golf some advice, the best thing to do is grip it and rip it, and then start refining it from there and find out what works for you, because there is no proper swing. Okay? Lee Trevino could not begin to swing a golf club like Jack Nicholas. He had the absolute ugliest, nastiest swing that you’ve ever seen, but he beat everybody, and that’s why he could coin the phrase, "It’s not how, it’s how many." I like that. "You’re not doing it right!" "Yeah, but I’m whipping you!" [laughter] Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke, man. There are pictures of his golf swing from behind. You wonder how in the world that guy could hit that ball. One of the best ball strikers to ever play the game.

Now, many of us believers are reading these books, and these instructions; and I’d like to encourage you to grip it and rip it; I’d like to encourage you to get involved and begin to do what you know to do. And once you begin to do what you know to do, God will give you greater understanding and revelation in your obedience as to what’s next, so that your life can begin to be refined through your obedience and your doing; showing yourself approved unto God, a heart, an attitude, a desire to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. Many of the hearers are people that love to hear, study, debate Greek, and all of these different things, and their lives are producing nothing for the glory of God. They don’t know the voice of the Holy Spirit, the power of God. I get concerned when you begin to hear men quoting theologians and not apostles; the intellects and not the heart of God. None of these things that Paul and Peter, James and John wrote came from study, they came from relationship, they came from a visitation with the Word of God. This "study", beloved, is not just memorizing Scripture, it’s receiving the life of the living Word, a visitation of Jesus to where He speaks to your heart and you’re changed. And all that used to be important to you is now counted as dung the apostle said, I count it all loss for the apprehension of Christ, the pursuit of that for which I have been apprehended, he says. (Philippians 3)

Now, if we’re studying properly, in other words, we’re communing properly, it says that we’re going to rightly divide the word of truth. And that word, "rightly divide", it just means cut a straight path, literally, in the Greek. It’s like that golf swing. Don’t make easy things difficult; just cut through to the truth of the moment. Let the Word of God speak to the moment in your life and in those that you’re ministering to, and it begins to produce fruit that’s going to remain.

How do we do this? This is something that’s so important. How does the word become more than just information to us? Well, the Scripture speaks over in Joshua to this, and this passage that we’re all familiar with in Joshua 1. Joshua was an interesting guy. The task that he was called to was phenomenal. We won’t go into the whole preparation of Joshua’s life to receive this call, but I think this is important for us to understand. He didn’t just get called out of the blue. This is a man that had a heart for God; he was pursuing God. Moses, by the wisdom of God, was giving him access, the ability to be there at the encounters of God, to imbibe the spirit of Moses. Now, little did Moses know that he was going to get in the flesh, sin, and not be able to go into the Promised Land. Little did he know that God was going to speak to Him some day and say take of the spirit that I’ve put in you and put it on this man. But he was aware of that ability to imbibe, and Joshua was being prepared by the visitations of God. You want to know what some of your best studying of the word of God is? Be an understudy. "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12). Find somebody that has it working and see what they’re doing instead of assuming you know better. Look at God’s men throughout the Scriptures; look at God’s men throughout history, and look at what works, and you’ll see that there are numerous ways of doing it. There’s not just one way to be a champion in the kingdom of God; but every one of them have the same characteristic of humility. They all have the same characteristic of diligence in their pursuit. They all love God more than they love men; and their love for men is pure because it’s source is God.

So we understand, then, that in Joshua, as this call is placed upon him and we find in the verses preceding in Deuteronomy 34:9, it says, "And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him..." Joshua was a man approved of God, sent. Though there would never be another, verse 10 says, "…like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face," And we understand that this first chapter of Joshua then, he’s overwhelmed by the task at hand, and he’s being admonished, verse five of the first chapter. It says, "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." How many of you believe that for yourself tonight? Do you? I believe that. I live by that. Nobody can stand before me all the days of my life. Now, when you understand that in the true spirit of meekness¾ when you know how weak you are in yourself, and when you know the inabilities¾ in your weakness, and the knowledge of your weakness, and in the acknowledging of your weakness, God’s strength, then, can be perfected. That’s what comes from the study of God’s word. You can’t look in this word and not see how weak you are; and you can’t look in this word and not see how strong you can be; and when those two things come together you’re a man that can now begin to be used of God. And so Joshua is being encouraged, and He says, I know the task is overwhelming but don’t worry, no one will stand before you, I’ll not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and of good courage. Then He says in verse seven, "Only be thou strong and very courageous…" And you’re going, "Oh, man. This thing must really going to be bad. He’s gone from being courageous to being very courageous." You know, we all think we like to know the circumstances. "I just want to know what I’m facing, give me all of the facts. Oh, Lord, it’s that bad." Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I’m the type, I like to know what I’m up against, give me all the facts, we’ll deal with it. Well once you see all the facts, then you need this: very courageous. But the courage, here, is spoken of the ability to be obedient to what God tells you. He’s saying, "I’m going to put you in circumstances when everything in you is going to what to do what natural people would do. Choose the Word. Be courageous enough to do it God’s way. Be courageous enough to move in the renewed mind. It will seem foolish to you, but you’re going to understand that victories are going to be won by being silent, by marching around walls and being quiet, shouting when I say shout! My ways are not man’s ways. Can you be courageous enough in the sight of everyone around you, to be a fool for Jesus Christ?"

So He speaks concerning that and He says, then, "Do all the law. Don’t turn from it, to the right hand or to the left." (Joshua 1:7). If you will just refuse to do it any way but God’s way, you’ll prosper wherever you go. The one thing I’ve tried to purpose in my life, with all of the failures, with all of the different shortcomings in my life, the weaknesses, whenever crunch time has come, I’m so thankful that God’s Spirit has enabled me to not turn to the left hand or to the right when everything was on the line. And He says, "Then, and then alone, can I prosper you. I’ll make you victorious; it can look like there’s no way of escape, the sea before you and the armies behind you; the furnace stoked hotter than before; hungry lions; giants; and if I’m for you nobody can be against you; I’ll cause you to prosper." Now how’s that going to happen? How are we going to be able to stand?

What’s going to keep our minds intact in these times of warfare? The ability to be able to keep your mind when everyone around you is losing theirs. Now, the natural mind says if you can keep your mind when everybody around you is losing theirs then you’re not aware of the circumstances. That’s what a lot of them think. They say, you know, "How can you stand, you just – you’re stupid, that’s your problem, you’re stupid; you don’t know how bad this really is." I’m not moved by what I see. I’m not moved by anything but the testimony of God. Now how do we get there? Look what he says, and we’ll end with this for tonight. "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest" (Joshua 1:8-9). Meditate upon the word day and night; meditate upon the word day and night; don’t let it depart from your mouth. How many of us are too quick just to shoot our mouths off in frustration, in doubt, in fear or whatever. Guard your heart, guard your mouth, and speak what God speaks. Say about the circumstances what God says; talk about your children the way God talks about them; talk about your spouse, talk about the battles that you’re facing in your body the way God talks about it; speak what the word of God has to say; meditate day and night upon the word. That word, "meditation", doesn’t mean just think; it means mutter it, say it over again, encourage yourself with the word of God; speak and say, I am the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. Say what God says about you. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me; if God is for me who can be against me. Mutter these things, walk around talking to yourself about your good success. Now, you know, I’m talking about being practical. We don’t want any of you locked up somewhere; but to give place to understanding that these are things that we have to stand for, and speak, and encourage our own hearts; you’ve got to talk to yourself.

I watched part of the Wimbledon Finals today, and I was watching Sampras, I could read his lips, and I could – I was watching him; he really had a bad day, he really struggled to prove that he was the greatest tennis player of all time. He had already proven that; the guy that he was tied with came from another era, he only had to win one match and you were the champion. As he won his thirteenth grand slam and Wimbledon seven out of eight years, he won fifty-three out of fifty-four matches at Wimbledon. I’d say that’s pretty good. But I watched him, and could identify, so many times; and I know all of you have done the same thing; I watched him at different times and I was reading his lips, and he was talking to himself, saying, "Come on Pete, man. Think!" He was encouraging himself, nobody thinks anything about that. They didn’t rush down, lock him up, haul him off the court for talking to himself. He was encouraging himself, he was speaking, he was motivating himself. Do you encourage yourself in the word; do you mutter the word of God? That word, "meditate", means to mutter, to say it over to yourself, what God is saying about these circumstances to where you enter into the word of God and refresh your spirit? You see, the study is more than just reading and looking at a commentary. It’s encouraging your heart with the word of God; it’s building yourself up in the most holy faith. And so the study, then, is a whole other realm of the renewed mind; that obedience factor, that you may observe to do. What you’re doing here in your muttering is you are speaking and encouraging yourself in the way to do what God said to do; and so that’s all part of the study process. We’ll pick it back up Wednesday.

Father, we thank you for the Word of God, and as our minds are renewed we’re just bombarded by everything that’s out there trying to seduce us into the world system. The original sin, you don’t need God, eat the fruit of knowledge, you’ll be as gods, your eyes will be opened, you’ll be able to tend to yourself. Father, we know the foolishness and the vanity of that, and so we shake ourselves, and we say, no, I’m not going to be in any way deceived or seduced into that kind of a life. I know the vanity of it. But just the awareness of the vanity doesn’t strengthen you; the abstinence doesn’t strengthen you; it’s the following of righteousness. What are you doing now to meditate day and night, to feed your spirit with the very presence of God that transforms you? What are you doing to partake of the Word of God through obedience, that you’re doers and not hearers? You see, your ability to do what you’ve been trained to do is your protection against deception. And so, as the spirit enables us we’re doers; we follow after righteousness and peace. Then He begins to reveal and open to us a greater understanding of what our eternal task is. And the more the picture is clarified the greater the ambition to fulfill the task. The more you do, the more you’ll see the benefit of what you’re doing, and the more diligent you’ll be in the pursuit; but it’s a process.

As Gary plays for us, let’s just stand before the Lord and allow Him to speak to you even now. Begin to meditate upon the word, day and night, then your way is made prosperous and you have good success. Take a moment and just worship Him and speak what He’s spoken about you. The renewing of the mind is a process of obedience. Habitual obedience to the word brings the ability to abstain from the carnal mind. Oh, Father, move us into that area that’s pleasing in your sight, the life of obedience, the life of meekness, the laying down of our own abilities and our total dependence on Your integrity, on Your presence. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. Oh, we delight in You. Glory! Glory! We worship You.

Let’s sing it together. Just delight in Him tonight. Hallelujah! "Behold the Lamb." Yes, Lord. Hallelujah, Jesus. Lord, our eyes are upon You. Oh, declare it again, behold Him. "Behold the Lamb." Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Just worship Him. Take a moment and just refresh yourself in His presence. Take that time and just lean on His bosom tonight and hear the heartbeat of God. Let Him speak to you. The very intention of the kingdom. Where we are in relationship to where we should be for His eternal purposes. And with absolute confidence that He can put us into the place necessary for His own glory. All that lacks in your life can be made up in a moment by the visitation of God. You may appear to yourself to be unworthy, but are you available? Is your mind renewed to the place where you can say, "Lord, if you can use this, it’s available. In the natural I don’t see any possible way, but here I am, send me, because it’s not about me, it’s not of me, it’s of you. Be glorified in my life. The renewed mind doesn’t focus on self abilities, inabilities, but on the timing and the purpose of God. You want to use me now, I’m available." Thank you for it, Father, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "I think I see a little better now." Amen. Go in peace. God’s love go with you.

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