The Mind of a Believer: Taking Thoughts Captive

• The Mind of a Believer 00:00:00 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the series topic, focusing on how God changes a believer's thinking and perception of reality.
• The Mind of Christ vs. The Mind of the World 00:01:17 ▶️ 📄
  > Contrasting the intellectual, philosophical mindset of ancient Corinth (and modern culture) with the spiritual perspective granted to believers through Christ.
• Salvation and Present Reality 00:03:42 ▶️ 📄
  > Explaining that the gospel is not just an escape from hell but a transformation of how one perceives their current life and circumstances.
• Scripture as the Measure of Reality 00:04:20 ▶️ 📄
  > Asserting that the Bible provides the 'glorious narrative' through which believers should measure reality, rather than worldly sources like newspapers.
• Reorienting Perspective in Suffering 00:11:49 ▶️ 📄
  > Applying the concept of 'looking past the condition' to health scares and diagnoses, trusting that God is weaving these threads for His glory.
• The Power of the Gospel Message 00:12:48 ▶️ 📄
  > Discussing Paul's approach in Corinth, emphasizing that the power of the gospel lies in the message of Christ crucified, not in the speaker's eloquence or appearance.
• The Power of the Gospel 00:13:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that the efficacy of the gospel does not depend on the speaker's appearance, sophistication, or wisdom, but solely on Jesus Christ.
• Reorientation of the Mind 00:14:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to shift their focus from self or worldly standards to Christ's glory and the Lord's Prayer, emphasizing that God's kingdom comes to earth as it is in heaven.
• Maturity and Wisdom 00:16:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines spiritual maturity as the recognition of one's own ignorance and the need for God's wisdom, contrasting it with the fool who thinks he knows everything.
• The Passing Nature of Worldly Wisdom 00:18:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that the wisdom of the current age and its 'rulers' is doomed to pass away, using historical examples to show that what is considered 'right' changes over time.
• Divine Revelation 00:23:25 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor clarifies that the 'secret and hidden wisdom' of God is not kept from believers but is revealed by the Holy Spirit, enabling them to understand spiritual truths they could not discover on their own.
• Spiritual Revelation and the Spirit's Role 00:27:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that God reveals spiritual truths through the Spirit, opening the believer's eyes to things prepared for them, contrasting this with human imagination.
• The Nature of Money and Possession 00:29:20 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor corrects the view of money as a possession, defining it instead as a tool, emphasizing that people matter more to God than material wealth.
• Deepening Faith and Understanding 00:29:46 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor encourages believers to view lack of understanding not as a roadblock but as an invitation to ask God for help, noting that a fully understood God is a God of one's own making.
• Reliance on the Holy Spirit vs. AI 00:34:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts seeking wisdom from AI bots with seeking it from the Holy Spirit, using a personal anecdote about being misled by AI to illustrate the danger of trusting technology over divine guidance.
• Wisdom in Trials 00:34:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor interprets James 1, arguing that believers should ask God for wisdom during trials rather than stopping at the promise of steadfastness, emphasizing God's generous and faultless provision.
• The Believer's Mind vs. The World 00:41:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that the believer's mind is 'strange' to the world, meaning unbelievers cannot spiritually discern Christian actions, which are based on faith rather than natural logic.
• Church Critique vs. Worldly Judgment 00:43:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the internal critique of a 'messed up church' by spiritual leaders with the external judgment of the world, asserting that worldly judgment is meaningless because the world is doomed to pass away.
• Rejection of Theological Debates 00:44:25 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor advises against spending time on debates between theologians and atheists, labeling them a 'waste of time' and contrasting Jesus' method of feeding the sheep with debating.
• Identity of the Believer 00:45:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines the believer's heritage as having eternal life and never perishing, emphasizing that believers should not worry about non-believers' opinions.
• Surrendering Worldly Approval 00:45:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor addresses those dominated by the opinion of non-believers, urging them to let go of the need for approval from those who do not belong to Christ.
• Invitation to Salvation 00:47:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor leads a prayer for salvation, inviting listeners to surrender their lives to Jesus, receive forgiveness, and declare Jesus as Lord.

• Sermon Illustration 00:00:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the metaphor of spring (grass, leaves, flowers) to introduce the idea of new beginnings and transitions in life.
• Sermon Illustration 00:05:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about coaching a flag football team to an undefeated championship to illustrate the concept of being 'more than a conqueror' and having a future.
• Sermon Illustration 00:06:56 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references auto-stereograms (3D pictures) to illustrate the spiritual gift of seeing beyond the chaotic surface of life to the ordered reality God has woven underneath.
• Sermon Illustration 00:08:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of an oriental rug, where the top looks ordered but the underside is a tangled mess, to explain how believers can see God's order in life's chaos.
• Sermon Illustration 00:09:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the historical context of Corinth, a city known for intellect and philosophy, to contrast with the 'foolish' message of the cross.
• Sermon Illustration 00:09:45 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the division in the Corinthian church where believers followed different leaders (Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ) to illustrate the folly of focusing on human preferences over unity in Christ.
• Sermon Illustration 00:13:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes Paul's physical appearance (short, limping, missing teeth, bald) and lack of eloquence to highlight that the gospel's power is not in the messenger's sophistication.
• Sermon Illustration 00:13:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes Paul's physical appearance (short, limping, bald, eye issues) to illustrate that the gospel's power is not in the messenger's impressiveness.
• Sermon Illustration 00:13:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a story of a reluctant attendee who was dragged to church but ended up receiving Jesus and jumping in the baptismal tank, illustrating the power of the gospel.
• Sermon Illustration 00:20:36 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the example of 1950s doctors prescribing cigarettes and putting heroin in children's cough syrup to illustrate how societal norms and 'wisdom' change and are often wrong.
• Sermon Illustration 00:22:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Bishop Fulton Sheen's quote about marrying the spirit of the age to become a widower, and mentions Gen X hairstyles and pegged pants to illustrate passing cultural fads.
• Sermon Illustration 00:32:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal story about quoting an author in a sermon who later clarified in comments that he never wrote the quote. The pastor used ChatGPT to verify the quote, which falsely confirmed it, and even the source link provided by ChatGPT was to the pastor's own real book, illustrating how AI can fabricate or misattribute information.
• Sermon Illustration 00:45:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses a physical illustration where the congregation holds their hands out to represent holding onto the approval of a specific non-believer (boss, coworker, spouse, etc.), then opens their hands to drop that approval and receive the Lord.

• Pastoral Charge 00:03:22 ▶️ 📄
  > Write down the statement that salvation changes how one thinks about their present condition.
• Pastoral Charge 00:14:35 ▶️ 📄
  > Reorient their minds away from worldly importance and back to the foundational truth of the gospel.
• Pastoral Charge 00:14:49 ▶️ 📄
  > Reorienting one's life and priorities to focus on Christ's glory rather than personal wisdom or status.
• Pastoral Charge 00:16:30 ▶️ 📄
  > Acknowledging personal ignorance as the first step toward spiritual maturity and receiving God's wisdom.
• Pastoral Charge 00:22:25 ▶️ 📄
  > Reflecting on past cultural fads to recognize the temporary nature of worldly standards.
• Pastoral Charge 00:34:34 ▶️ 📄
  > Read further in James chapter 1 than usual.
• Pastoral Charge 00:35:08 ▶️ 📄
  > Ask God for wisdom regarding specific life problems (children, spouse, work).
• Pastoral Charge 00:41:34 ▶️ 📄
  > Ask and seek God for the word needed to fix their challenges.
• Pastoral Charge 00:46:01 ▶️ 📄
  > Hold hands out and visualize placing a specific non-believer into them.
• Pastoral Charge 00:46:26 ▶️ 📄
  > Open hands to symbolically release the need for approval from others.
• Pastoral Charge 00:47:48 ▶️ 📄
  > Recite a specific prayer of surrender and confession to accept Jesus as Savior.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] Taking thoughts captive. The mind, part one, the mind of a believer.
[00:00:08] So spring is usually the time of new beginnings. We call it spring because things start to spring forth. Grass springs back to life again on the lawn. Leaves spring out of the branches of our
[00:00:20] trees. Flowers spring out of the buds of the stems of the roses and the daisies. And maybe in your out of high school. Maybe you're springing out of college, springing out of education and into
[00:00:37] real life. Welcome. Maybe you're like me and my wife and one of your children is springing out of the house. Spring is a time for new things. That's why we call it spring. And I thought before
[00:00:54] you think about what's changing in your life, let's do a series of messages about how God changes how you think. Before you embrace the change, receive the way to think about that change. So we're in 1 Corinthians for a reason, and this is a letter from the Apostle Paul to
[00:01:17] a church in ancient Corinth, a city known for its wisdom, its intellect, its philosophies.
[00:01:23] Some people compare it to the modern-day city of Boston, Massachusetts, with all of its educational facilities, educational centers. People would gather and debate the most modern ideas and thoughts of men and this is a letter to that church and paul gives a promise to this
[00:01:39] church that is a promise for you and for me and i want you to take a look at this at the end of the chapter the last line of first corinthians chapter 2 verse 16 but we have the what notice
[00:01:50] this it doesn't say we might get it doesn't say we have to strive for it doesn't say if you ask you will receive no we christians have the mind of christ now there's another passage of scripture
[00:02:04] where paul tells us that our thoughts are in concert with the lord's thoughts in philippians chapter 2 verse 5 he says have this mind among yourselves no notice the prophet the promise which is that will be which is yours in christ now this word mind here in the greek is different
[00:02:25] than the word for mind in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, the word is froneo.
[00:02:33] It means the attitude of mind by which you perceive reality. You have the mind of Christ, meaning that in Christ, if you're a believer in the Lord, you have a way of perceiving reality that has been transformed from your old life to a brand new life. You see the world in some way,
[00:02:53] shape, or form? Through the lens of Jesus. That is a wonderful gift. That is a wonderful privilege.
[00:03:01] When he talks about the word, have this mind in you in Philippians, I'm sorry, that word is phroneo.
[00:03:06] That means the way to think. So not only does God change how we perceive the world in Christ, he changes how we think about our perception of the world. In other words, what I'm trying to say
[00:03:22] Christians see reality completely different than non-Christians. This is your spiritual privilege. It's a beautiful privilege. Now, I want you to write this down to start us off with this series. Salvation doesn't just change my eternal destination. It changes how I think
[00:03:42] about my present condition. The gospel is not just the escape hatch. It is not just a fire escape for a building burning down. No, it changes how you see your reality around you. In large part,
[00:04:00] you are walking in eternal realities right now. You have a way of perceiving reality that non-believers do not have. This is why non-believers and believers oftentimes cannot have intimate fellowship with each other, because they see the world completely differently. How
[00:04:20] many are tracking with that? You know what I'm talking about. And what we have to learn to do in our lives is we have to learn to look past the conditions to the reality of what Christ is doing
[00:04:34] in our world. Now, the scriptures are the bedrock principle by which we measure reality. We do not measure reality by the front page of the newspaper. We measure reality by the glorious narrative of heaven given to us by God through the scriptures. 40 different authors, 1500 years of writing,
[00:04:56] 66 different books, 39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament, all with one glorious narrative that God has come in the person of Jesus Christ to rescue fallen mankind and redeem them and bring them into the glorious future of eternal glory in the presence of Almighty God
[00:05:15] forever and ever, and we shall reign forever and ever. That's our narrative. I don't know what your story was, but your story now is I've got a future. I'm a champion. I'm more than a conqueror
[00:05:35] through Christ who gives me strength. Now, I've been talking about this for a while, and I feel I need to close the deal on this narrative portion of my life, but I've been coaching flag football for a few weeks. I told you I was undefeated, and I want to let you know
[00:05:54] that on Friday night, our team took the championship home. I have never stood on the sideline of a losing effort. Never, never. I hope that changes how you see me. From now on, I'd like you to call me Champ. Pastor Champ, Reverend Champ, however you want to say it.
[00:06:17] I know I'm going to pay for that. Years from now, people will be like, hey, Champ.
[00:06:21] um you gotta understand that's who you are you are more than a conqueror how do you see your life how do you see you how do you see your spouse how do you see your children how do you see
[00:06:31] the people who don't believe like you there's a frame of reference that god wants to reorient inside of you through the mind that is yours in christ jesus now what was the deal with corinth
[00:06:42] well they were in a condition that was unhealthy and paul needed them to see beyond the condition now i don't know if anybody remembers these pictures from way back they were called auto stereograms. Auto stereograms. Anybody? Does that ring a bell? We're going to put one up on the
[00:06:56] screen. Some of you are going to remember immediately. Here we go. This is an audio stereo. Auto stereogram. You know what happens in this picture? You're supposed to fix your eyes a certain way so that you actually see a picture within the picture. And on the screen, it's full
[00:07:10] screen at other locations, but if you get your mind, your eyes trained just so, you start to perceive that something in that chaotic mess that you didn't previously see. Now, does anybody know what the key is? The key is to look beyond the picture. The key is to look beyond what is in
[00:07:36] front of you. If you can get your, does anybody get, has anybody got it yet? Does anybody see it?
[00:07:41] There's like a shark. Do you see the shark? Don't beat yourself up if you couldn't. I couldn't see it on the screen either. I had to do it on my computer screen, but there is, I think there's
[00:07:50] a shark in there. Anybody? Nobody. Okay. Take it down. It's not working. I don't want to freak you out. Let's put the word of God back in your mind. Yep. There we go. Um, the picture is though a
[00:08:06] principle. You've got to learn the spiritual gift that God has given you again, has given you in Christ to see beyond the mess, the chaos, the things that don't look ordered. Somebody once said it like this, that on this side of heaven, life is like an oriental rug, a real one, not the
[00:08:29] fake ones at HomeGoods. If you ever go and see a real oriental rug, the top of the rug is this gorgeous, beautiful, ornate, very ordered pattern. But if you flip it upside down, it's all these
[00:08:44] tangled, wired messes of threads going every which way. They look completely chaotic. Here's your reality. Under the banner of heaven, your life could look like a chaotic mess, but my Bible tells me that God is working all things together for my good. There are things
[00:09:02] going on spiritually and in the heavenly realms that I cannot perceive fully yet, but I can get a glimpse of through the mind of Christ. Now, what was the condition in Corinth? Well, Corinth was a
[00:09:14] very um like i said intellectual sophisticated city paul brings the gospel there a church is born there in the 2000 2000 years ago way back um i've actually been to the ruins of the ancient
[00:09:26] city of corinth and uh he talks about the condition of the church in the first chapter he says it's been reported to me by chloe someone that was in the church that there's quarreling among you. Who would ever have discovered fighting in a church? He says, here's your
[00:09:45] fights. One of you says, I follow Paul. I follow Apollos. I follow Cephas. Cephas is another name for Peter. I follow Christ. And Paul says, this is ridiculous. You're all fighting each other over who's your favorite preacher. Or how about in modern times, your favorite denomination, your
[00:10:02] favorite church style, your favorite worship leader, your favorite style of church service.
[00:10:08] And this is ridiculous. We still do this to this day. He goes, look, you got to stop focusing on the things, the small little issues of your differences and come together in Christ. And so
[00:10:23] he reminds them, he says, listen, you got to remember that when God chose you later on in that chapter, he didn't choose you because you were wise and sophisticated and knowledgeable. He chooses foolish things, lowly things, despised things. And he chooses those things that are not
[00:10:37] very important in this present world to bring to naught the things that seem to be important. God flips the script on society and it says this, and because of him, verse 30, you are in Christ.
[00:10:47] And so then he says, so that him who boasts, boast in what? Boast in the Lord. In other words, you are saved by Christ to be in Christ for the glory of Christ. And that is still true to this
[00:11:02] day. For every believer, in the sound of my voice at every location, I want you to understand something. You are where you are for Christ. I am in this family for Christ. I am in this job
[00:11:16] for Christ. I am in this church for Christ. Let me tell you what you do not say. You do not say, I am in this thing for me. You do not. I am in this church for me. I'm looking for a church that
[00:11:27] meets my needs. Okay, how about you meet somebody else's needs because you're here for Christ?
[00:11:34] How about you stop thinking about marriage as, what am I getting out of this person?
[00:11:37] but rather what is christ doing through me for that person you see this is the reorientation we need to look past the condition some of you are in a health scare some of you are in a diagnosis
[00:11:49] and you're struggling to comprehend why would god allow this here's what you don't understand god is weaving together the threads of your life through that sickness and through that condition to bring glory to the name of Christ. Sometimes God supernaturally heals for his glory.
[00:12:09] And sometimes God lets you struggle through the recovery for his glory. Sometimes God lets you gain for his glory. Sometimes God lets you lose for his glory. Christians experience the same hardships, the same heartaches, the same brokenness as many non-Christians. The difference is how we
[00:12:30] respond to it because we have a perspective that has been shaped by heaven. This is ours.
[00:12:37] This is our mind. So Paul says, listen, when I came to you in chapter two, I didn't come the way you expected me to. I didn't come with high-minding arguments, lofty speech or wisdom.
[00:12:48] No, no, that's your game. That's the world's game. He says in verse two, I decided to know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified. I decided to boil the message down to the fact
[00:12:59] that there was this Jewish carpenter named Jesus who was put on a cross and was resurrected three days later. And I was there in weakness and in fear and trembling. What does that mean?
[00:13:09] Paul probably had eye issues. Historians tell us he wasn't a very good looking man. He was short.
[00:13:13] He walked with a limp. He had missing teeth and he was bald. Eddie had an eye issue, not an impressive man. And on top of that, not exactly the most impressive message. Believe on this Jew
[00:13:26] named jesus who died and rose again but there's power to the message of the gospel it is not about who delivers it that's his point it's not about who's who declares it's not about how good they
[00:13:40] look or how sophisticated they sound or how wise they appeal to your intellectual sensibilities no the power of the gospel is in jesus and him crucified not in the presentation of men I said this a couple of weeks ago I said it's always astounding to me that I will show up here
[00:13:59] on Sunday and I will preach and I'll talk about Jesus and somebody who was dragged to church by a friend begged to come for weeks finally relented and and very reluctantly walked through the doors
[00:14:11] and before you know it they're receiving Jesus standing for salvation and jumping in the baptismal bank tank that's the power of the gospel and he says I did this verse 5 so that your faith
[00:14:23] would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. And I want you to reorient your minds around what you think is so important. And I want you to get back to this simple foundational
[00:14:35] reality as a Christian. Here we are. We are here for Christ, his glory, his honor, his name.
[00:14:49] What do we, what are we instructed to pray in the Lord's prayer? What are we instructed to pray?
[00:14:52] Our Father in heaven, what? Hallowed be, not my name, your name. And then the next line, not my kingdom, your kingdom come. You know, sometimes it's hard to say your kingdom come when my kingdom's had a good year. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in
[00:15:18] heaven. Okay, pop quiz. Very intentional phrase, on earth. Where does humankind come from? The earth.
[00:15:28] God took this dust of the sand, molded it together, and went, inflated that dirt balloon, and a man became a living being. Whenever we pray, your kingdom come on earth, we are saying, your kingdom come to this body as it is in heaven. And it shapes not just what we do
[00:15:53] or what we experience. It shapes how we perceive reality. So three points about the believer's mind, and then we're done. Number one, the believer's mind is anointed to receive godly wisdom. You've got an anointing in Christ Jesus to receive wisdom, not from this world, but from
[00:16:16] Christ. This is what he means when he says in verse six, yet among the mature, we do impart wisdom. Now, before we get to wisdom, let's talk about what does maturity mean? What does maturity
[00:16:30] do you mean? Here it is. Write this down. Maturity is a recognition that you do not know as you should. That's maturity. The book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom. And the ironic thing about the
[00:16:40] book of Proverbs is that the heartbeat of getting wisdom is to realize you don't have it. That's the irony of Proverbs. Because the book of Proverbs says the fool thinks he is wise in his own eyes.
[00:16:59] To be a fool in this world, in your marriage, in your parenting, in your workplace, to be a fool in education is to think you already know. And you're ignorant because you need to have the
[00:17:14] humility to learn. In fact, Paul says this later to the Corinthians in chapter 8, verse 2. He says, if anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.
[00:17:27] So our minds have been anointed to receive wisdom from God. Why? Because we need it. Some of you beat yourselves up and you say, I don't know how to handle this situation. Okay, just put a pin in
[00:17:39] that because we're going to circle back to it in just a moment. The first step is to acknowledge you don't know. Welcome to some spiritual maturity. Like the first step to healing your marriage is
[00:17:52] to acknowledge that you need wisdom about that marriage situation. The first thing about that child, I need wisdom on how to raise this child. Because how many know this, parents? The first one ain't like the second one and the fourth one I haven't gone that far but you know I'm saying
[00:18:09] so we have to have a maturity to let wisdom be imparted to us and then notice how he describes it it is not a wisdom of this age and this is 2,000 years ago this is 2,000 years ago where
[00:18:24] they thought there were hundreds of gods on a mountain called Olympus and those gods fought each other and all the catastrophes and the dangers of the world were a result of the gods fighting and i want to let you know that at the time that paul was writing that line that's what people
[00:18:42] thought was true today we call that greek what mythology but it wasn't always mythology to most people you understand so he says it's the rulers of this age now let me talk about this rulers this
[00:18:57] is a very simple thought. Rulers are whoever seems most important at the time. And he says, look, the wisdom of this age and the wisdom of the people who are important today are doomed to what? Pass away. This is so important that you understand and catch. Whatever seems important
[00:19:20] today, just give it time. Whoever seems right right now, just wait. This is the time of the ancient mythology of the Greeks. And Paul says, it's doomed to pass away. And guess what? Paul's right. No one goes up on Mount Olympus and worships Zeus, except a few nuts that I heard about when I
[00:19:50] is in greece he says it's a secret and hidden wisdom from god and in those which god decreed this is a wisdom that god put into effect when before the ages began for our glory
[00:20:06] ages means before time in other words god had a wisdom by which he made the world before there was the world there was god's wisdom and this is why every age seems so um attractive because it
[00:20:22] seems right now, but it's just right only for right now and give it time and we'll think that what was right in one generation is completely moronic in the next. I'll give you a couple of
[00:20:36] like extreme examples. Do you know that in the 1950s, doctors would prescribe cigarettes for people who had a cough? Literally, doctors would advertise, you know, camel smokes like this, the cigarette doctors trust the most.
[00:20:54] And we laugh today because we think, of course it's stupid, but they thought it was right back then.
[00:21:01] And do you know that we used to put heroin in children's cough syrup?
[00:21:06] I'm not kidding.
[00:21:07] This is true.
[00:21:09] And today we would never think of doing such a thing.
[00:21:12] Did anybody ever have to remediate asbestos or lead paint in your house?
[00:21:17] You understand that the people who put asbestos and lead paint in your house did not do so, saying, I can't wait to ruin the lives of these people who are going to have to remediate. No, they put the asbestos and the lead paint in the
[00:21:34] house because they thought they were good. And what I'm trying to say is that in every age, there is a accepted normative wisdom, and there are important sounding people who are all doomed to pass away so don't christians christians don't adopt the standards of the age
[00:22:06] blindly with the sheep of this world there was bishop fulton sheen who said he who marries the spirit of the age will be will find himself a widower in the next what's cool today how about
[00:22:25] this go home for those of you like me my gen right gen x go home today if you still have it and whip out your yearbook and just look at the hairstyles and look at the shirts and the styles and some of
[00:22:43] you remember when we used to peg our pants and we thought that was cool i'm so glad that the mullet is coming back. Maybe we can redeem the mullet. There's always a passing fad. And what
[00:23:02] happens is humans do this all the time in every generation. We experiment. We experiment by getting away from what God has decreed from the ages, from before the ages. We experiment. We fall on our face
[00:23:16] and then we try to come back to God. That's what humanity is doing on a regular basis. Now, Let's talk about these two words, secret and hidden.
[00:23:25] Does that mean that God keeps it away from you?
[00:23:26] No, no, no, no.
[00:23:27] It's a way that Paul says, listen, you only get a hold of this wisdom if God reveals it to you.
[00:23:33] You can't search it out.
[00:23:36] You can't come to it on your own.
[00:23:39] It is a revelation of God.
[00:23:42] To be a Christian is to understand that God, not you, has revealed Jesus Christ, his son, to you.
[00:23:53] When Peter says to Jesus, he says, Who do you think? Who do you say that I am? And Peter says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. It's an astounding statement from Peter. And Jesus responds in Matthew chapter 16,
[00:24:05] 17. He says, blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood, you didn't find this out on your own. You have been revealed this by my father who is in heaven. Do you understand that you don't find the truth? The truth finds you. You don't discover Jesus. He reveals himself
[00:24:27] to you and and when you when you get a hold of that it starts to change how you think change how you perceive change how you see people it changes because god puts a new lens over which
[00:24:43] you see through the world and all things have been reoriented around the person and the work and the narrative of god's only son jesus christ and we just talked about this and heaven is going
[00:24:56] to be the praise of Jesus, that the scripture says heaven is without sun because he will light it up forever. There'll be no tears, no pain, no sorrow, no misery. Why? Because in Christ, the Prince of Peace, all has been renewed and restored to God's original intention,
[00:25:16] fellowship with us and the Father. Number two, the believer's mind goes deeper with the Holy Spirit.
[00:25:25] some of you are snorkeling in the waters of waters church when you should be scuba diving you're surfacy you're surfing yeah i i just like sunday morning i'm a sunday morning only guy and and god bless you sunday morning people at least you're not christmas and easter only people
[00:25:48] but there's more there's more than sunday morning there's life group where you get to face each other there's growth track where you get to find out your gifts and where you fit there's marriage re-engage class there's alpha if you're new to the faith and you have questions
[00:26:05] about evil and suffering and and the hard questions of there's all these opportunities for you to dive deeper and the christian mind if if if you're a christian and this is a big if there should be i mean this there should be a serious inquisitive appetite for the things of
[00:26:30] God. Did you hear that? You said a pretty good amen. I'm assuming you heard it. Let me take a look at this passage together with you. Verse 10. Well, verse 9. What no eye has seen or ear heard
[00:26:46] or entered in the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him. Now this, this verse 9 is a classic funeral verse. I've even used it at funerals. This is a funeral verse. We
[00:26:58] say, okay, when the person's going, well, what God has, you know, prepared, what I, I as I seen, ear heard, or no mind has perceived, what God has prepared. And we think this is talking about
[00:27:07] a reality later. I got news for you. That's not the intention of this text. It's not. How do I know? Well, the very next verse, these things that I has not seen or ear heard or, or, or imagined
[00:27:22] these things god has past tense revealed to us how through the spirit when you become a christian your spiritual eyes are opened to the things that god has given you these things that god has prepared now paul is in verse 9 he's quoting from isaiah chapter 64 and isaiah was looking
[00:27:51] forward to the time when christ would come 750 years before christ would come isaiah saw christ and and he says and this is what's going to be there's gonna be this glorious kingdom of all nations and the lord will rule over them and he saw what i'm looking at right now the church
[00:28:11] people from all nations all colors all stripes coming together why are you here you're here because of christ he brings you together and this is not just here in water church and all of our
[00:28:24] locations it's it's in all the churches around the globe right now in every country whether they are public facilities where you can gather or private underground facilities like in china and north korea all over the world people today are coming together from all nations to worship
[00:28:42] christ and paul is quoting this image that isaiah saw and he's saying it it's a reality now and now you know the things that God has revealed through the Spirit. What is that for you?
[00:28:59] Well, when you come to Christ, you suddenly realize how much God loves you. When you come to Christ, you suddenly realize that God has truly forgiven you. When you come to Christ, you come to the knowledge that death is not the end of you, that this life is not all that there
[00:29:20] is that money is not a possession.
[00:29:22] Money is a tool that people matter to God.
[00:29:27] They should matter to you, right?
[00:29:29] These are the things that God reveals.
[00:29:31] And now look at this next line.
[00:29:33] For the Spirit, oh, I love this.
[00:29:35] Here we go.
[00:29:36] Let's scuba dive.
[00:29:39] Searches, what?
[00:29:41] Everything, even the depths.
[00:29:46] To be a Christian is to always desire to go deeper with God.
[00:29:52] where are you right now in your walk go deeper where are you right now in the understanding of the word go deeper some of you do this this is what you do you make a terrible mistake you try
[00:30:04] to open the bible and you do this you say okay i'll read i don't understand i don't understand that's why i don't do it that's why i don't read not understanding is not a roadblock
[00:30:21] not understanding is an invitation to ask God to help you understand. Got it? Because a God that you fully understand is a God of your own making. There's always going to be some aspect of this
[00:30:49] walk of faith that you will not understand. And it's not for you to shy away and say, I guess I just don't do it. No, it's an opportunity for you to ask the Holy Spirit
[00:31:01] through the spirit that searches. This word means examines everything, the depths of God that he wants to. There's a deeper way to approach the people in your life who are difficult.
[00:31:16] there's a deeper way to approach the unanswered prayer. There's a deeper way to handle that person's criticism of you. You understand this? God wants to reveal these things to you.
[00:31:37] Where do you go? This is the problem with us. Where do you go when you need to know?
[00:31:44] i know where you go you go to google and now you go to chat your ai bot which is programmed to affirm you a couple of months ago no a couple years ago i was preaching a message and i shared
[00:32:09] a story about an author and what he wrote in his book and i thought it was true i literally thought it was true so i shared it and we have a social media manager who creates all the reels i don't
[00:32:21] do that. I'm not on my Instagram. This person's on my Instagram. They know all that's going on there. So don't at me because I won't see it. They see it. And they put it up and it went viral.
[00:32:34] And it was like 100,000 views, all kinds of likes, praise hands. Wow. Cool. Amazing.
[00:32:42] Where did you get this source, please? And wouldn't you know, the author that I quoted chimed in on the comments and said, not me, but a good story. I'm like, what? This is not true.
[00:32:59] I was wrong. And I was so convinced that I was right. This is what I did. I went to chat GPT and I said, can you tell me if this person wrote this in his book? He had just said he didn't.
[00:33:16] And I'm still thinking he did. ChatGPT comes back. Yes, he did. He wrote this in his book.
[00:33:27] And I'm like, there we go. Vindicated. But then I pressed the sources button. And wouldn't you know that the source that ChatGPT used to say that guy said the thing that he actually didn't say
[00:33:37] was my real. This is what the AI bots are doing. Some of you treat the AI bot the way you should be treating the holy spirit your first inclination when your first inclination should be holy spirit
[00:34:16] i don't know you know help me to know as i should know in jesus name this is god's word there's someone in here who needs to read james chapter one just can you please read a little
[00:34:34] further than you normally read in james chapter one for me because we love james chapter one verse 2. Count it all joy when you go through various trials of various kinds. Why? Because you know the testing of your faith. It produces steadfastness. Steadfastness has a full effect.
[00:34:49] You may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Okay, God, so thank you for the trials. Thank you for the trials. I know the trials. The trials are going to make me perfect and complete.
[00:34:58] Steadfastness is coming my way. Stop it. Keep reading. If any of you lacks wisdom for what?
[00:35:08] the trials that's don't stop don't stop reading i don't know what i'm gonna do with this kid okay ask god i don't know what i'm gonna do with my husband ask god i don't know how am i gonna how
[00:35:24] am i gonna get this job done my boss is on my back ask god because he gives wisdom generously to all without reproach and you gotta love that without reproach line because the without reproach line means? That God does not hold it over your head. That some of the things you need
[00:35:46] wisdom for are messes of your own making. And he doesn't say, nope, I told you not to do that in the first place. No, he knows we're dust. He understands we are weak. And when we ask him,
[00:36:06] he gives generously without finding fault. Now, it gets deeper. For who knows a person's thoughts except that person. In other words, only you know what you're thinking. But good news for us. This is the illustration here Paul uses. So also no one comprehends the thoughts of who? God. Except
[00:36:29] the spirit of what? Of God. And verse 12. And we have received not the spirit of the world, but we have received the spirit who is from God that we might understand the things given us by
[00:36:44] God. You've got an eternal, not AI bot, you've got an internal heaven-oriented father who will guide and direct your steps. But don't stop reading still, because Paul says, and we impart this in words. There's a transmission of God's wisdom through words taught, not by human wisdom,
[00:37:20] but by the Spirit interpreting spiritual truth to those who are what? Okay, so how do I get a hold of God's wisdom? You come into the house of the Lord. You receive wisdom. Right now, a mystical
[00:37:36] reality is happening in the atmosphere of every single location. Spirit-filled man is talking to spirit-filled people about spiritual truths. And it is my job to interpret spiritual truths to those who belong to God. And what happens is there is an unfolding. Scripture says in Psalm
[00:38:03] 119 verse 130. The unfolding of your word, the unfolding of your word brings light and revelation.
[00:38:14] So it's the job of a preacher to open the Bible for people who are hungry for the Bible to understand more of the Bible. We are people of the book. We are not people of the ecclesiastical
[00:38:37] authority somewhere. We're not people of the structure. We're not people of the building.
[00:38:42] We're not people of the denomination. We are people of the book. And so we go to the book, the book, our hearts, because we are born again. Our hearts long for the word of God.
[00:38:57] Peter, Peter says this. First Peter chapter one, verse 10. No, no, sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:39:08] he says concerning this salvation the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully about the person and time of the spirit of christ in them that was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of christ and the subsequent glories and he says
[00:39:22] this they searched out for you searched out so that you would delight in god's word and if you're a Christian, again, if you're a Christian, this is an appetite that God has already deposited in your being. Write this down. It's not just a spiritual issue. It's not just a natural issue.
[00:39:48] It's a spiritual issue. This is what God is trying to convey to someone here struggling with a challenge that's too great, a mountain that's too high, a relationship that's too far gone, a forgiveness issue that you have been wrestling with, an addiction that you can't break. It is
[00:40:10] not just a natural issue it is a spiritual issue anxiety is not just a natural issue it is a spiritual issue my bible tells me pray about everything and give thanks and make your request known to god and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts
[00:40:34] and minds in Christ. That's a spiritual issue. My Bible tells me that God is going to accomplish his purposes for me. It might not be easy. I might have to suffer and struggle, but the end
[00:40:55] is going to be glorious. It's not just a natural issue. It's not just a relationship. It's a spiritual issue. This is why you go deeper where some, some of you, this, I hope this was your
[00:41:09] appetite, but some of you you're on the precipice of receiving the exact word that you need from God to fix how you see your challenge. You just need to ask and seek and put your scuba gear on
[00:41:34] Number three, the believer's mind is strange to the world.
[00:41:39] The believer's mind is strange to people who do not believe.
[00:41:45] Okay?
[00:41:46] And Paul makes this abundantly clear in verse 14 and 15.
[00:41:50] He says, the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God.
[00:42:00] Let me put this in layman's terms.
[00:42:02] Unbelievers do not understand why you practice your faith the way you do.
[00:42:08] and it's not just that they don't notice what paul says they can't they can't see christ the way you see him they are folly the word here in greek is morios from which we get the word moron
[00:42:28] so unbelievers think that christians are morons and i've got good news from the greek because the word natural here person is psychotic. So we might be morons, but they're psychotic.
[00:42:50] Amen, somebody. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. That's an exegetical fallacy right there. Don't take me on that one. He's not unable to understand they are spiritually what? Discern. Another key word. We've talked about interpret. We've talked about taught. We've talked about impartation
[00:43:07] and now discern. There are things that you know that God is asking you to do and you've got to do them and no one who is not a Christian in your life is going to make sense of it. Why are you
[00:43:19] doing that? That doesn't make sense. That's right. It's a faith. It's because God has changed my heart. Christians do things that are not normal. Now it says this, the spiritual person judges all things, another word, but is himself to be judged by no one. Now, now, okay, listen, this is not
[00:43:42] permission for you to do whatever you want as a Christian and nobody can question it. That's not what he's saying because even in chapter five of first corinthians he's going to challenge a guy who's sleeping with his dad's wife uh in chapter six he's going to challenge them about bringing
[00:43:54] each other to court in chapter 11 he's going to tell them to stop getting drunk at their love feasts and on and on this is a messed up church so there's constant critique judgment of the church
[00:44:04] from spiritual leaders but in the context what he's saying is that the world doesn't judge you The world doesn't judge you.
[00:44:12] Their judgment of you means nothing because they're part of this age and they're doomed to pass away.
[00:44:23] Don't worry about what non-believers think.
[00:44:25] This is why I don't give any credence and I don't spend any of my time watching debates between some theologian and an atheist online.
[00:44:36] Some of you are suckers for this stuff.
[00:44:38] Oh, I watched this three-hour debate between an atheist and a Christian.
[00:44:41] Oh, back and forth.
[00:44:42] And the atheists all think the atheists won and the Christians all think the Christians won.
[00:44:48] It's a waste of time.
[00:44:50] It's a waste.
[00:44:51] Jesus didn't debate.
[00:44:53] He fed the sheep.
[00:44:55] He gave God's people God's word and he says, my sheep know my voice and they follow me and they won't follow a stranger because they don't know his voice.
[00:45:03] They come to me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish from my hand.
[00:45:09] This is what your heritage is.
[00:45:11] This is the mind of the believer.
[00:45:17] Sermon and a sentence.
[00:45:19] To be a believer is to think differently than the world.
[00:45:24] Guided by the Spirit into wisdom for life in every situation.
[00:45:32] There's a reality beyond your reality. There's a plan beyond the problem. There's a truth that will transform your approach to your world. At the first service, I've got to do it in this service.
[00:45:52] some of you have let one person's opinion of you dominate and they're not even a christian i want you to do me a favor i want you to hold your hands out like this everybody this little practice
[00:46:01] little little physical practice to speak to our spiritual hearts i want you to close your eyes now and i want you to put into your hands that person that you are dying to please and they don't
[00:46:14] belong to christ it might be a boss it might be a co-worker it might be a spouse it might be a kid It might be a parent. It might be a sibling. Just put them in there, whoever it is. And you've been
[00:46:26] trying desperately for this person to think you're something, worth something, worthy. You've been trying desperately for them to approve. And I need you to do this today. I need you to drop their approval from your hands. Just open your hands and let it go. Now look at me. Just look at
[00:46:45] it. And now put your hands like this. Just put your hands like this. Receive. Receive the Lord.
[00:46:51] because the moment you let go, the moment you let go of the opinions of this world, your hands are finally open.
[00:47:11] With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to give you a chance to say yes to that Savior.
[00:47:16] For some of you, this is your first step to Jesus.
[00:47:20] It's time to surrender your life to him.
[00:47:23] I want to lead you in a prayer to say yes, yes to the Lord right now.
[00:47:31] You're a sinner.
[00:47:32] Christ died for you.
[00:47:35] And if you receive him, you have eternal life.
[00:47:39] You will never perish.
[00:47:42] And you have a home in heaven.
[00:47:44] But you've got to receive it.
[00:47:46] So I want to give you a chance to say yes to Jesus.
[00:47:48] With your head bowed and eyes closed, if that's you, would you say, Heavenly Father, forgive me of my sins.
[00:47:57] Change my life.
[00:48:01] Make me your child.
[00:48:03] Today I declare, Jesus is Lord.