Sermon 080397

1Co. 12:31a; Rom. 12:1-3    Earnest Desire From a Renewed Mind                               8/3/97

Series 23.14                                                                                                                       ABCC

I.     Review                                                                                                                             583

q      “Earnestly desire…” – to burn with zeal, strive after & exert yourself

q      Spiritual & rational service of worship requires yielding our bodies for God’s purposes    (v. 1; 6:11-13; 1Co. 6:19-20) – Why are believers so reluctant to be accountable to other believers?  Could it be that we have not really yielded our bodies for God’s purposes; we still want to be in control!

q      Spiritual & rational service of worship requires serving God with your mind (v. 2-3)

II.    Serving God With A Renewed Mind

We normally make judgements or assessments about people based on their actions.  But I think there is a more important factor than outward conformity or appearance – that is, motive or what a person is thinking to cause their actions.

A.      The natural man with natural thinking cannot please or obey God (Rom. 8:6-9; 1Co. 2:14-16)

B.      Before a sinner is converted, he/she is actually out of his mind or insane (Lk. 8:35; Rom. 1:28; Gen. 6:5; Eph. 4:17-19)

C.     At conversion, a sinner is given a renewed mind (1Co. 2:15-16)

- Our wrong thinking about Christ, ourselves, the gospel, the scriptures, the church, worship… IS CHANGED!

D.     After conversion, our minds must continue to be renewed - Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:20-24; 2Pe. 1:12-13

q      Renewed thinking about the will of God (v. 2c)

- It is good for God to tell me how to speak (Eph. 4:25,29), how to dress (1Tim. 2:9), to work (1Th. 3:10), to consistently gather with saints for worship (Heb. 10:25), etc

Earnest Desire From a Renewed Mind, pg. 2

q      Renewed thinking about the circumstances of life (Rom. 8:28; 1Th. 5:16-18)

q      Renewed thinking about serving God (v. 3; Phil. 2:3-5)

-         You must genuinely love God & other people unconditionally & intensely (Mk. 12:30; 1Jn. 4:20)

-         You must not view any helpful/useful deed as insignificant (Mt. 25:40)

-         You must give special attention to the needs of other Christians (Gal. 6:10)

-         ONE ANOTHER = be devoted to (Rom. 12:10), be of the same mind toward (Rom. 12:16), do not judge (Rom. 14:13), build up (Rom. 14:19), accept (Rom. 15:7), admonish (Rom. 15:14), stop depriving (1Co. 7:5), wait for (1Co. 11:33), have the same care (1Co 12:25), through love serve (Gal. 5:13), show forebearance (Eph. 4:2), be kind to & forgive (Eph. 4:32), be subject to (Eph. 5:21), do not lie to (Col. 3:9), comfort (1Th. 4:18), encourage (1Th. 5:11), do not speak against & complain (Jas. 4:11; 5:9), confess your sins to (Jas. 5:16), fervently love (1Pe. 1:22), be hospitable to (1Pe. 4:9), have fellowship with (1Jn. 1:7)

q      Renewed thinking about suffering for Christ (Phil. 1:29; Ps. 119:71; 1Pe. 2:20-21)

Well then, my beloved brother or sister, are you thinking this way?  Has Jesus Christ renewed your mind?  Are your thoughts filled with praise & thanksgiving in all things?  Do you love God with all your heart and want to please Him?  Use your mind for the Lord – whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, if there is any excellence & if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell of these things! (Phil. 4:9).  And you find today that God has opened your heart & changed your mind about Christ, yield to Him today – surrender my friend today & receive this renewed mind to serve the Lord!