Untitled Sermon (57)

We pick up where we left off in verse two last week. I received a lot of positive feedback from last weeks sermon and I hope that this one is just as edifying and just as encouraging.

The events this week have been fairly entertaining for Me but it also fits in with what we will be talking about today. And when I say events this week I'm talking about pop culture references or pop culture events.

And one big things that made news this week was Ellen DeGeneres was at a Dallas cowboy football game and the man sitting next to her was former president George W Bush. And she seemed to have enjoyed her time next to him and it appeared that they got along very well.

But her own people, her followers and admirers all demanded a response from her on how she can sit next to such a man. And so she said that she thinks we all just need to get along a little bit better.

That she thinks when she tells others to be nice she's not telling others to be nice within their own community or to be nice with people who are like minded. She encouraged her followers and admires too be nice to those who think differently than they do.

And the audience clapped for it as they always do but the response to it was kind of odd. And so you had celebrities say yeah we can be nice to people who don't think like us but that man hate homosexuals and he is the reason why so many were killed in the Middle East.

Others came in in support of her but quickly deleted their statements in support of her after they went under attack. to me, this is just another example of the left turning on the left and how they created an atmosphere of a new puriton movements where they define what morality is.

And they keep redefining what this morality is and their Top celebrity a listers just cannot keep up. They cannot live up to what is being demanded. The very attitude that they're projecting is you better conform or we are going after you.

Now I don't know if ellen's intentions were to have a positive message out there or if it was just to calm the nerves of people who were upset that she sat next to somebody. But they will define a person's righteousness based on who they sit next to.

I mean this is literally the attitude of the Pharisees. Another thing that took place this week was with somebody who is I guess famous on YouTube. I don't know who this woman is, I never heard of her in my life and it was the first time I've ever seen this person before. I don't even know what she is famous for doing on YouTube.

But this week she had a video go viral and it was an apology video. I mean she got like 1.4 million views just within a day, that's pretty quick for YouTube standards. What was she apologizing for? Because she offended people. How did she offend people? She decided to come out on video as trans gender.

She is this real feminine female type and she told people that she felt like a man on the inside. And people within the transgender community were upset because they felt like she was too girly to make that claim.

So she then released a video apologizing And made statements that she was not trying to offend anyone and she doesn't want to feel the way she feels and has even been in therapy because she does not want to feel the way she feels.

Which then brought on more criticism and she had to do another video pretty much saying she questions everything. Well of course she questions everything because they've created a culture where people are afraid to even move without upsetting somebody.

They've created a culture of confusion to the point where people are confused about who they are and confused on how they are supposed to act.

confusion is chaos and this is the sure sign that what you are seeing in our culture is truly satanic. Because Satan is the author of confusion, Satan is the author of chaos and what we have is a culture of confusion and chaos.

And these people who follow the prince and power of the air, Who are the sons and daughters of disobedience keep demanding conformity. Well in today's sermon we're going to continue with the thought of conformity and then work our way into true transformation, into true change.

So let's dive in.

Romans 12:2 NASB95

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans

If you remember when we first began this chapter a few weeks back I talked about the different preaching methods. And I explained what was common in our culture what was not common in our culture but historically was the method of preaching. And I talked about why I was so critical of the common form.

That common form I called moralistic preaching. This is where the pastor spends a bulk of his time telling Christians what to do and what not to do. That is the description of it in a nutshell. Trying to figure out who does this kind of preaching tends to be more difficult.

It is not always easy to find because they are so good at going to the scriptures and proving their point. However often the scripture is not in context and when it's not in context people do not properly apply things.

Further, when we do not put things in context we can make the scripture say whatever we want them to say. Honestly you can do that with any form of writing. If we do not put the diary of Ronald Reagan in Context, we can make Ronald Reagan say whatever we want him to say.

If we do not put The Great Gatsby into context, then we can make it say whenever we want it to say. And this is one thing I have been pushing from this pulpit; context, context, context. If you were not in context, chances are you do not have a proper understanding of what you were looking at.

Then You are left standing there saying, “but I thought the bible taught x,y, and z” confused when context is applied.

And so because we are the people of God that means we are the people of truth and that means we want the truth to be proclaimed which means we have to always be in the context of that truth.

The preacher may be telling the truth about a certain topic but he does not do anyone any justice when he is just pulling chunks of scripture randomly to prove his point because that means the entire sermon he preaches is where the word of God is never in context. That's a tragedy.

Pastor Brandon, you are a man who is passionate about the topic of abortion and that preacher is preaching on abortion.

Yes it is true that I am passionate about the heinousness of the sin of abortion but I'm even more passionate about the word of God and while I may agree with a preacher and his topic on abortion I would be bothered if a sermon is delivered where the word of God is not put into context. And that should bother you.

this is how nonbelievers criticize us. They will pull a verse out of the Bible for their own personal agenda and say do you believe this yes or no, or do you live by it yes or no.

And the verse may not be in the context of the Christian and the Christian walk. But that is their idea of scripture that we can just take one verse and leave that verse as a lonely island. And we are the ones who gave them that impression.

Folks chapters and verses did not come into the Bible until the Reformation. That was added during the Reformation as a tool to help people memorize scripture. That means for the first 1500 years of the scriptures there were no chapters and verses. And the reason for that is because it was not meant to be read in chapters and verses.

Crossway publishers even released a reader's edition of the Bible that is in 6 volumes where it is published like a book in paragraph format and so on. But it does not have the chapters and verses. You are meant to sit and read the scriptures as they were meant to be read.

You are meant to sit and read the scriptures as they were meant to be read. But we are one verse a day type people and this is all because of this moralistic preaching. These 2 verses right here are the reason why I am so critical of that method.

But we are one verse a day type people and this is all because of this moralistic preaching. These 2 verses right here are the reason why I am so critical of that method.

to help us better understand the rest of this verse we need to continue looking at that word conform. Looking at the word in and of itself. What does conform mean. Last week we talked about what it looks like but what does the word conform mean. It literally means to change an outward appearance.

To assume a certain form or figure. It is to shape one's behavior. That is what the word conform means. It means to act a certain way. And the warning that Paul gives us is to not conform to the world. Do not assume the figure of the age.

Now pay attention folks because I want to tell you what the text does not say. I want to tell you what the text does not say.

The text does not say, and do not be conformed to this world but be conformed by the renewing of your mind. Why do you think the scriptures tell us not to act like the world but they do not tell us to act like Christians. As far as how that word conformed means.

The scriptures do not tell us to conform our behavior. But it tells us that our behavior shall not be like the world. What the text tells us about behavior is that we must be transformed. And the Greek word used is where we get the word metamorphosis from. That is a completely different word then conformity.

And wow transformation or transform is the perfect translation for that. it also has the meaning of to become. Now what is the difference? The difference is is that the word conformity is an outward appearance.

It means you do these outward things that looks like what the world does. But the word transformation or to be transformed means you have a dynamic change from within.

It means that our actions are a display of our inward working. And so the teaching is this do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Paul explains to us how this transformation takes place. And it doesn't take place by some guy telling us how we should act but it takes place with the renewing of the mind. Now let's think about that for a second.

You have a brain , everybody who's living has a brain, as shocking as that may sound , they have brains. And then Salvation takes place , let me ask, do we still have the same brain?

Of course we do. The question then becomes what is the force behind our brain, what is the force behind our thinking. If it helps you to understand it differently What is this spirit behind our brain?

Now here is the thing, this is where we apply context. Paul is not speaking to unbelievers. He is speaking to the church in Rome, he is speaking to believers. This text applies only to believers. We cannot tell those who do not have God's Holy Spirit to be renewed by God's Holy Spirit.

This is the Instruction for those who have placed their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can not instruct people before they have this trust. It is only after the gift of faith and after we have this trust that one can be transformed by the renewing of their mind. And that word renew means exactly that.

Now do we see this teaching anywhere else in scripture? The answer is yes.

Titus 3:5–7 NASB95

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:5-7

Here we have the same teaching in the context of Salvation. And Paul makes it clear that it's not on the basis of our deeds but according to God's mercy and by the washing of regeneration an renewing by the Holy Spirit.

This regeneration and this renewing is an inward miraculous act by the Holy Spirit. And Paul continues that the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us richly through the Lord Jesus Christ and that we are justified by his grace. not by our works not by the things we do not by our deeds. But by his grace and now we have the hope of eternal life.

Combining these text together and when we combine it with the new birth that Jesus taught us in John chapter 3. If you remember Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be born again.

Literally in the Greek language it says born from above, one must be born from above. Everyone thinks that John chapter 3 begins at verse 16 but before verse 16 Jesus laid out here is the beginning of the Christian life you must be made new.

if you want to receive this divine gift then there has to be a dramatic change within you. Because apart from a new heart given to you you will never seek God. That is the point of Romans chapter 3.

Never forget that chapter because that is an essential chapter for us to give the gospel message. And in that chapter we read all have fallen short of the glory of God and we also read that not 1 single person seeks after God.

And you either believe Paul or you don't. He was either telling the truth or he wasn't. There are no two ways about it. And so the gospel message that Paul lays out and the gospel message that Jesus lays out is one must be regenerated.

but it doesn't stop there. Regeneration is a great miraculous gift. While we are all searching for these great miraculous signs the fact that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is such a great and holy gift and it is truly a miracle. Never overlook that . The fact that any one of us in here believe at all is a great and powerful miracle.

But it doesn't end there. What we have here is the doctrine of sanctification. You see Salvation is a very big topic. And there are compartments within Salvation which is what Romans chapter 8 reveals to us.

one is 1st called and that there is an inward calling and an outward calling. The inward calling is the calling that nobody sees an nobody audibly here's but takes place within your heart.

This is the Holy Spirit revealing to you that you are a great Sinner in need of a great savior. And that calling can only be done by the Holy Spirit, only he does that calling. I cannot manipulate him.

That was also something that Jesus taught us in John chapter three, that the Holy Spirit moves wherever he wants to move like the wind. He will work in the hearts of whom he desires. This is called regeneration or new birth.

But there is also this outward call and that is what we believers do, we proclaim the gospel message and we trust that the Holy Spirit is working in the heart of man to revive that heart and respond to that message.

After that calling has taken place we see those who are called are then justified. Justified is a legal term and that means that you were declared not guilty in the court of God.

In the court of God you were declared righteous not because you actually are righteous but because of the righteousness of Jesus. Because of the works that Jesus has done. When that regeneration has taken place and man has placed their trust in the sacrificial work that Jesus has done they are justified by their faith.

That means in the court of God you are now declared righteous because the life that Jesus has lived, because not only did Jesus die for us but he also lived for us.

He fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of those who were not righteous. He then took their guilt sentence and the wrath of God that was meant for them but he took that upon himself.

And so now in the court of God you are declared righteous. But it doesn't end there. We have a thing called sanctification.

And in the simplest terms, sanctification is the life long process of being transformed into the image Of God son. It is where we grow in holiness as believers.

Nobody can just do this, the justification and before that the regeneration must take place before the human can enter into sanctification.

Now this word sanctification finds its root in the word hagios. which is Greek for St. Saint, sanctification makes sense doesn't it? But it also has its roots in the word holy. Meaning the word holy and saint are very similar.

And those words mean to be separated, it means to be set apart, to be different. But there's also this aspect of purity behind it. And so we read that God is holy and not only is God holy but he is the source of holiness which means he is the source of purity , he is the example of purity.

And so we can look at the word sanctification as being set apart by God 4 holiness and 4 purity. As he defines it not as we define it. And that is what we are seeing now.

Do not be conformed to this world. And as a reminder this does not mean if the world is doing it then we don't. We cannot understand this text like that. the world uses their hands to eat, are we going to use our feet?

It's nonsense right? So we look to the list of sins that the Bible gives us to understand what it means to follow the flesh, what it means to conform to the world.

No we cannot have this outward appearance like them rather we must be transformed. We must be transformed which is an inward working therefore it begins with God but it places a responsibility on man to also seek God in return.

you see, The thing is, we have been looking at Salvation all wrong. We have been looking at redemption all wrong. We sit there and have the arrogance to say that I was saved from sin.

And that is where we leave it at. And that is the most arrogant thing we can say. Because we're not being fully honest about Salvation. And if we're not being fully honest about Salvation then we're not being fully honest about the gospel.

Are we saved from sin? Yeah that's part of it but that's not the main part. Other people have the arrogance to say well I was saved from hell. Again we are not being fully honest about Salvation therefore we're not being fully honest about the gospel.

Are we saved from hell? Yeah that's a part of it but that's not the main part. When we talk about Salvation and when we talk about being saved what we are saved from was the righteous and do wrath of God. We were spared, because of the works of God in flesh, from his own wrath towards us.

Yes, I was saved by God From God, that is from God's wrath. And so our sins have been forgiven do to God the son taking the wrath that we deserved. But it doesn't end at forgiveness. The entry into heaven requires more than forgiveness. It requires righteousness.

This is why I proclaim that Jesus lived for us as well. He fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of his people just like he took the sins on behalf of his people. But when we are redeemed we were not redeemed to go on and continue living in a worldly system.

And so the way we should look at Salvation and the way we should look at redemption is that we were redeemed unto good works.

Prior to Salvation it was impossible for me to please God. Why? because it is impossible to please God without faith. But in faith and with faith, God takes great pleasure in the works that we do. And so we were redeemed unto good works.

But this requires a new outlook, this requires that we forsake the lust of the flesh and so we need to feed our spirit. Which is the force behind the mind. This means we dive into the word of God, we are immersed by the word of God. We go with God's people surround ourselves with God's people and have this fellowship that God designed.

We gather together as one assembly where we hear the word of God proclaimed and where the sacraments are administered. Where we get to witness public declarations of faith through baptism and we get to witness that continual sanctification when we come to the Lord's table.

And we keep nourishing off of all of that and in prayer and with prayer. If you are ignoring or abandoning any parts of these things then you are not properly renewing your mind. You are not taking in the proper nourishment. You are malnourished.

And so the bottom line, if we can sum this up, at least what we're talking about today, is that true transformation is something that takes place from within side of the human being and their actions are the outward expression of what is taking place on the inside. This is why Jesus told us we will know them by their fruit.

This is why we do not allow people to hide behind you don't know my heart. You're right I don't know your heart your body knows your heart and your body is telling the story.

Like it, love it or hate it this is a truth that is revealed to us in scripture. Further , the scriptures do not allow us to take comfort in our own heart. They remind us that the heart is deceitful above all things.

An so, church, does it make sense for us to tell people to act right when we know that they are dead on the inside?

Yet this is what took place in the 19th century. Christians demanded that the world act like Christians. We said this was a Christian society, this is a Christian nation therefore you shall act a certain way.

And people became really good at looking like Christians , people became really good at acting but were completely dead on the inside. And now the roles have switched. And now we have those who are The Walking Dead among us demanding that we act like they do.

The great tragedy is that the church wasted too much time telling people how they should act over preaching the gospel truth that can actually transform the heart of man. Paul is telling us do not be actors. Be genuine, be true but this is not something that just magically happens, no.

You are sealed in the Holy Spirit through your faith but you have been redeemed unto good works so nourish your soul. Stop being lazy in your walk an nourish your soul. Because if you are not doing that then you are slowly going towards the lust of the flesh which means you are slowly conforming to the ways of the world.

And Christians, I don't care who you think you are, every Christian in this room has been on Top of mountains and has been in Valley Lowe's. You and I both know that there are some days where you are not acting very christlike. This is a slow conformity to the world.

Do not conform, be transformed. doesn't mean you were losing faith, it doesn't mean that you became a weaker Christian. What it means is that you are malnourished and because you're malnourished you're beginning to give into the lust of the flesh, and what I am saying is repent. Turn , turn back from that and nourish yourself.

You're getting a little lightheaded you're not thinking clearly come back and get some of the proper food so you can think clearly, so you can act clearly. But do not conform. And now that you're thinking clearly, listen stop telling people how to act. You are wasting time.

Start reminding them of their sin , remind them that they are sinners before a holy God and then give them Jesus. Give them the good news.

Because it is foolish for us to think that we can tell non Christians to act like Christians. So we proclaim the gospel message. We preach until our very last breath.

and we don't have to make this more difficult than what it needs to be.

OK pastor, I will preach the gospel, where do I go? Start near home. Even if they're already believers. Remind each other of the good news of Jesus Christ. Then work with the closest relationship from there.

Tell your siblings, your children , your grandchildren, your neighbors, your coworkers, and then just work your way from there. You don't have to travel far. But begin somewhere. And the gospel message is not you need Jesus. It is let me tell you why you need Jesus.

So even if they already know, tell your spouse why they need Jesus. Tell your children why they need Jesus. Tell your grandchildren why they need Jesus. Tell your coworkers why they need Jesus. Tell your neighbors why they need Jesus. And keep moving.

Until Jesus returns, or calls us home. And on that day you will hear the most wonderful thing from the most wonderful voice… Well done good and faithful servant

Let's pray