Paul Washer | Renew Your Mind | HeartCry Missionary Society

Well, let's let's open up our Bibles to Romans chapter 12. And we're going to work our way through verse to hopefully touch also on Psalms 1. It is such a privilege for me to be here this morning and my heart is full of joy, I'm struggling a little bit with my breathing, but my heart is full of joy.

Truly, truly. What a happy day. Now.

Whenever we talk about holiness and growth and holiness and spiritual disciplines, oftentimes I will notice an inclination of the head. The head will drop because people are very aware that they have not devoted themselves to the devotions as they are. They have not grown as they ought and that there's something lacking in them.

They have to some degree or some measure. They have failed. That's true with any man, no matter how spiritual, any woman, no matter how much they have grown in Christ, whenever I teach on spiritual disciplines or I teach on the necessity to read the word or to pray, I always want you to keep this in mind.

His mercies are new every morning. I have been walking with the Lord for getting close now to 35 years. That is my verse.

That's my text. There's not enough paper in the world, not enough trees to cut down, to write down how many times I have failed the Lord, how many times I have gone astray. Mercies new every morning.

You know, sometimes I've actually done things and since the forgiveness of God to such a degree that I almost felt like he was wrong. You can't do this. And he couldn't it would be wrong for him to forgive me as many times as he has forgiven me, except that Christ died in my place.

What a wonderful thing to actually walk through a door where the love really is unconditional and you say, Oh, brother Paul, you talk that way, people will run wild. No, the unconditional love of God. We'll drive you much further and much faster than a whip.

How could you love me this much? That's the mystery of the ages. How could you love me this way?

And so we talk about prayer. I know that you're thinking, you know, man, my lack of devotion is evident. I don't pray as I ought.

We talk about reading the word my lack of devotion, I, I don't read as I ought. But what I don't want you to do is I don't want you to sit there and dwell on the past. I want you to think about now, I want to think I want you to think about rising up now.

And seeking to obey God in his strength. And every time you fail, I want you to go back to the same thing. Christ died on Calvary so that his mercies might be new every morning.

You see, here's one of the things the devil will always do and how you can always tell his voice when you sing, he will tell you run away. Runaway. And if you even think about not running away, you hypocrite, just yesterday, Paul.

You and go, what would God want with someone like you go? And so you have this I call it kind of a hockey mentality in which when you've seen go sit in the penalty box for at least several days, depending on the magnitude of the sin, don't think about raising your head. Then after a while, you've done a certain degree of.

You know, morning then, yeah, you can come back, but I've got my eye on you. God never speaks that way. God will come to you and tell you you have sinned and he will say it's so clear that it will literally break your heart in two.

But if it's God's voice, he will always come back and say, Now, return to me, return to me, run. Run to me. I've sent I can't run to him.

You've said you must run to him, you say. And do it quickly. Before he reaches you because he's already started running.

And see, that's why. I'm so glad that my my security doesn't depend on my devotional life. I'm so glad that my salvation doesn't depend on the most spiritual nanosecond I've ever had because it would not be enough to save me.

To keep me. But his blood. That'll do it.

That'll do it. Isn't it amazing right now we'll get to my text, I promise, but isn't it amazing? That the apostle Paul.

So devout. So many years. So much hardship.

So much devotion. He went to heaven for the same reason the thief did. The murderous bandit hanging on a tree, some people get mad about that, I happen to really like that because if it was any other way, I would not be going to heaven and would have no confidence for heaven.

One day, walking around heaven, I'm not going to run up to you and then call a whole bunch of people and say, hey, come here, come here, come here. I want to tell you every wonderful thing that Sean did for Jesus in order to glorify Jesus. That's not what I'm going to do.

I'm going to grab a hold of Sean and then I'm going to say, hey, everybody, come here, come here. I'm going to tell you everything that Jesus did for Sean. See the difference?

I need no other argument I need. I'll never finish it. I need no other plea.

It is enough that Jesus died, that he died for me. So every time we talk about Jesus HeartCry, you can't live this long. And see that much faithfulness.

That much mercy, that much unconditional love without it breaking your heart every time you open your mouth. Well, let's get to our text. Romans 12, verse 1, therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies are living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

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. Now, just by way of review. He's urging them to do the greatest thing a person can do to give the greatest sacrifice possible to offer their lives that one life you have unto God, lock, stock and barrel, every bit of it to God.

That's what he's urging you to do. But then he gives you a great motivation, the mercies of God. And that's what I've been talking about.

So actually, I have been preaching my text. The mercies of God are the thing that motivates us. And those mercies are most revealed in the cross of Calvary.

And then as we go on through our life and through our failure and through our weakness, we see that power that was demonstrated on the cross magnified over and over and over again. Well, to give our lives. Because of him.

Because of his goodness, because of his kindness. Were to present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice, a sacrifice that's acceptable to God, and that's the most spiritual thing we can do here in the new American standard. It says your spiritual service of worship, the word can also be translated, reasonable service of worship.

As I get to this text, knowing that this world today is filled with so many men who call for absolute devotion in so many cults. I want you to know it is never reasonable to give your life to a man. To give yourself lock, stock and barrel to even a people.

Or the thing that calls itself a church, but it is always reasonable to give yourself to Christ, to offer yourself to God. Now. I want to look at the larger picture of this text.

In verse one, he's calling us to offer our lives as a living sacrifice. And he tells us that sacrifice ought to be holy and alive, but then in verse two, he tells us how we can prepare that sacrifice, how we can grow in transforming grace, that we might be acceptable to God, that we might be pleasing to God. And then after becoming conformed to the image of Christ dealing with that matter, he goes on, how do we serve him?

And if you notice, he begins to talk about the church. We serve him in the context of the people of God. Now, most of you know how strongly I feel about family.

And how we ought to do what the Bible commands with regard to the family, but I want to preach against just for a moment, this idea that you've done everything you should do as a Christian just because you homeschool and do a good job in your family, because that's not true. You are called to do a good job in your family. You're called to obey every command God gives you with regard to the family.

But your ministry does not stop there. If it does, there's something truncated, something wrong. Because he goes immediately now to your service among the people of God, identifying your spiritual gift, growing in your spiritual gift, administering according to that spiritual gift within the body of Christ.

And he's not talking about some in visible universal body without a name. He's talking about a local congregation, a local church where the rubber hits the road with regard to your service and you're demonstrating that you really are doing something. It's so easy to love the big picture.

It's so difficult to serve individuals. You say? Very important.

Now, let's go on and look at the text, how do we prepare this sacrifice? How can we be a pleasing sacrifice to God? Verse two, do not be conformed to this world.

So starting out, you need to realize something before we get to the dos. We have to look at the don'ts. It doesn't matter how many times I take a bath every day if I keep going back to the same waller.

If I keep going back to the same mud hole right after my bath, you need to know something. There are places you do not belong. There are things you should not do or participate in.

There are things that you should not even listen to. There are things that should not be mentioned among you. You must understand this, there must be a degree of separation.

Why? Well, first of all, look, the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. So I'm not afraid of the devil, you know nothing, you know nothing.

You've never seen him. You know nothing. That mouth of his is a pit.

Full of rotting flesh and dead men's bones. If you had half the spiritual sense, you ought to have. You would be terrified to move in his room.

I have seen him take down stronger men and women. Then those upon whom I'm looking at this moment. There are certain things you should fear, you should be afraid.

And then there's not only that, there's the influence of the world. Paul says even with regard to and when he gets the First Corinthians, chapter 15 and there's this denial of the idea of a resurrection, he throws in there something you don't expect. He said bad company corrupts good morals.

But not only their ethic was being influenced. By ungodly unbiblical influences, but even their doctor in their manner of thinking, and that's where it all starts. It all starts in the mind.

Doubt's half, God said half. God said, are you sure about that? And then there's the distrust we should have for ourselves.

I heard a father one time, it was amazing his young boy was 15 or 16 years old and wanted to go out and do something, go out to somewhere with this young lady. And he said no. No, I don't believe you have.

No, you shouldn't. Not in this instance, no. And a man was standing there listening and says, what's wrong?

Don't you trust your son? He goes, No, I don't trust my son, I don't trust his dad. You're all too trusting in yourself.

It only take a few failures, hopefully, to turn your thinking on. I do not trust myself. I know something of my weakness, and even if I haven't experienced it all, I've read the scriptures in the scriptures, tell me of my weakness.

There are things I will not do, places I will not go and people I will not be with. I must I must I must protect myself now, holding your place there in Romans, run over to the book of Psalms and look at what we have here, chapter one. How blessed is the man blessed?

Very difficult word, very difficult world, it's just like a huge. Bag or container filled up with everything that comes out of a right relationship with God. I mean, you could go you could spend days just going through what it means to be blessed, but it's someone who is walking in a right relationship with God and has God's favor in God's care.

God is intimately acquainted with this person and intimately acquainted sovereignly with his ways. Guiding, protecting above, below. And what's this blessed man like, how blessed is the man who does not?

Isn't that amazing, usually when people talk about how can I be blessed, especially these TV preachers, it always starts with what you should do. What you should do really doesn't matter if you don't get a hold of what you should not do. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the council of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers?

Many Hebrew scholars believe there's a progression here. There may be, but we have to be careful with the nuance. And then when you look at it, first of all, does not walk in the council of the wicked.

This is denoting an acquaintance with the wicked. And coming under the wicked influence, you've you've aligned yourselves so that you're walking now with them, you're hearing their counsel. And it begins to have its impact, he says, does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners.

Now, what you've done is you're no longer just being influenced. You have adopted their ways. You have become one with them.

And then here's probably the most horrific, horrific because I've seen it, I've seen it so many times nor sit in the seat of scoffers, so first you come under their influence. Then you adopt their ways, then you sit with them against the godly. And you speak against the godly and you mock the godly.

I saw this happen in seminary. I went to a seminary that was far more liberal than my pastors had imagined than I knew when I first got there. And I saw young men who, when they got there, believed the Bible would go out witnessing on the streets and all sorts of things.

And by the end of their three years, they scoffed at such things. And they scoffed at someone who tried to walk in piety and they scoffed at those who spoke of hell and heaven. And please, what you've got to understand is I am now appalled, the aged, I'm not young anymore.

I fear this more now. Then I did when I was young. I have more reason to fear it.

I choose my friends very, very carefully. I choose what I watch with great care, what I listen to with great care, what I read. Why?

For the preservation of my soul, this is listen, this is not just about going to heaven and get a reward, this is a difference between heaven and hell. Fighting the good fight and not coming under ungodly influence. So before we get to verse two, where he's delighting in the law of the Lord, there are things he should not do.

He should not do. Do you see that now let's go back again to Romans. Do not be conformed to this world.

The idea here is literally imagine when when I was in Peru, we made adobe bricks for church buildings, for buildings, different things like that. And what you do is you got this square box. It's about this big.

He put sand in it, wet it, put some sand in it, and then you put the clay in it and you press it down, you press it down and then you flip it over in the Amazon, sun hardens that brick. And what's amazing, you walk out and there will be hundreds of these bricks and they all look alike, how is it that they all look alike? They all look alike because they've been pressed out of the exact same mold?

That's the idea here in the text. Do not be made out of the same mold that the world is made out of, that those in the world are made out of. Don't.

Don't allow them to say, well, I won't listen to me, listen to me very carefully. Most of us are awake about 16 hours a day. Unless you're living in a bubble.

Several of those hours you are coming under the direct influence of the world. In your workplace, in your school. This is unavoidable, but the things that can be avoided must be avoided.

They must. They must. You are moldable.

You know, there's this big ongoing debate about freedom free will. But when you want to define it technically. Technically.

You have to admit that there is only one person who has free will, and that's God. You do not have free will. Why do I say that, not entirely.

Why do I say that? Because you come under the influence of so many people, so many ideas. The context around you is constantly pressing in on you and influencing you so that your ideas and your decisions are not wholly yours, but the influence of those around you.

Only God is above that. He's the prime cause he sees the beginning, he's the first and the last, nothing influences him. He's free from that, but you're not.

Neither am I. That is why I must be very careful with my companions. One of the things that I always tried to search out is.

If there's another preacher out there, another man out there that I know. When I leave him. Do I always walk away wanting to be more like Christ, do I walk away wanting to be a better man?

You see, you need that, you need to become that for other people also. So he says, do not be conformed to this world. Don't do it.

Because you will find yourself sooner or later sitting in the same seat as those in the world, those who are condemned and mocking. The people who are truly seeking to follow Christ. And he says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed.

It is from this Greek word that we get the word metamorphosis. It is this same word that is used of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration when he was transformed before the people. There is a real transformation that does occur in the life of a believer.

By the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, but then I want you to see this. With regard to our justification, we have no participation. God did that in our sanctification.

God is also working for our sanctification to make us like Christ, but we do participate in that. And that is why God has transformed us inwardly. God is transforming us so that what is inward becomes outward.

But we also are to participate in this. Even ministers, because Paul tells Timothy, do these things that your progress would be evident to everyone who sees you. That your progress is evident, that you are growing.

So he says, be transformed how by the renewing of your mind, this idea that probably was a reaction in the 60s against maybe dead orthodoxy or academic orthodoxy, this idea that you're supposed to check your brain at the door. That's a lie. It all begins there.

It all begins there. It all begins with the mind. Filling the mind with truth.

Filling the mind with encouragement from the scriptures, that's where it all begins. I hear people say sometimes, well, you know, I got it in my head, I didn't get it in my heart. What do you mean?

You've got it in your brain, but you didn't get it in your blood pumping muscle. What do you mean? You say we say these cliches.

It's not about the brain. It's about the heart. My heart doesn't read or think it pumps blood.

It really is about the brain. It really is about the mind. It really is about growing in knowledge.

And then that knowledge through the power of the Holy Spirit does what transforms us. Now, if you want to talk about affections or passions or this or that, yes, I'll go along with you there. But I'm so tired of hearing this.

I have a heart religion and not a head religion. Have you ever seen a chicken with its head cut off? It's very zealous.

It will run all over the yard. I'm not kidding. These things can run for, like, days with no head, just like some of you.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

So you say it's the renewing of our mind. And I want to tell you something, folks are like. Confession here, I- I like fighting.

I, I, I just like boxing, I like it, I like wrestling, things like that. I'm not kidding, I could sit there and watch a few fights and I like- I'm like going down in the basement, hanging the heavy bag again, getting my gloves out and like everything, I think I could do this. If, you know, if I live long enough, all my competition will be dead.

And it's- What are you thinking? Just so quick! What are you thinking?

We can become so distracted. So distracted and yes, my dear friend, there is a balance. There is a balance because there are people who just seems like their mind is totally removed from the word of God and everything is just foolishness, but then there's other people who are quite serious about the word of God, but I just don't want to be around them.

If you even smile, they'll find a verse to rebuke you with. They can't go fishing, they don't ride bikes, they don't do anything. But that's not true spirituality, true spirituality is a minefield filled with the word of God, a person empowered by the Holy Spirit, and in that person's life, there is no secular and sacred.

If I am fasting and praying and reading the word, it is spiritual. And if I'm teaching my daughter how to ride a bike and laughing with all my heart, it is just as spiritual. It is a life lived under God.

And where does it begin? It begins with the renewing of our mind. The renewing of our mind when I became a believer at the University of Texas for the first like year, I mean, I grew like a rocket.

One of the reasons I grew like a rocket, that's what a friend of mine said, he said you grew like a rocket. It's because. Almost the moment I got converted, several of the guys.

Who really love Jesus? They surrounded me. And then soon as soon as the semester was over and it was summertime, they said, hey, where are you going to live for the summer?

I said, well, I haven't thought about it. They said, we have you going to live with us? And so it was Bible studies with them, it was praying with them, it was them holding me accountable, it was going out, witnessing it was just having people around me constantly who loved Christ.

Had walked with him longer, had a deeper and more profound passion and knowledge of him. And guess what, after 35 years, I still need the same thing. I still need the same thing, the renewing of the mine.

Now, how do we renew the mine? I would give you just Paul doesn't define it. Here.

But, you know, the first place we should look, right, the scriptures. Second, prayer. Third.

Ready? The church. I don't mean a building.

I mean, the people of God. Those who actually discuss spiritual things, godly conversation, you say. Good books.

And I want you to know something, I truly do believe this, I was raised in a small town on a farm, raised cattle and quarter horses, nothing metropolitan. And it wasn't until I was at the university that I had to take like this art appreciation class. Someone asked me, what's an art appreciation class?

Oh, no, you look at some paintings and say, I appreciate that I didn't know what an art appreciation class was. But but as I began to understand, I think it was Renoir who- who- Tied the brushes to his hands. The arthritis was so painful.

Why would he do that, because the beauty was worth it when you started to understand and to look and see the talent and everything else. You know what? Today when I travel anywhere in the world, I say, you know, is there is there an art museum anywhere?

I have a thing actually on my phone that's a Twitter feed that sends me a famous painting every every day. Now, why did I say that I said that because there's sort of a spiral the more you read God's word. The more you will read God's words, the more you pray, the more you will pray.

You you're either spiraling up or you're spiraling down in this matter, I can assure you, and you learn to appreciate things. You learn to appreciate things that are holy, things that are beautiful, things that are excellent, and you desire them. Now.

We still got some time. I want to just stop for a moment. And I want to show you something that may be helpful.

It doesn't make for good expository preaching, but I'm just trying to help you today. I want you to look back up at verse one. Ah, no, look, look at verse two.

I'm sorry. And he talks about the will of God says renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is. Isn't it true so many, you know, especially when you're younger, what's the will of God, what's the will of God and you're not sure, and you end up doing something like this with your Bible and, you know, putting your finger that you've done it.

That's why you're laughing. So so basically, people aren't really each day so much thinking about the will of God, but when they get to a certain situation where they really need an answer, that's when they start treating this book almost as though it was magical. Put your finger there or looking for counsel.

And there's nothing wrong with that as long as it's wise counsel. But here's what I want you to see. In our text.

If you are constantly renewing your mind in the word of God. If you're reading the word of God from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation. What's happening, this renewal of the mind is like you are cultivating the mind of Christ.

You are cultivating the mind of God, you are beginning to understand more and more generally and generally, and then more and more specific the way who God is, what God desires, so that if you're a person who is constantly renewing their mind in the word of God, you are going to know God's will. In so many areas that at this moment, it's kind of blurry for you. I'll give you an example, I remember one of the first times I taught at a Bible school, a young man walked up to me.

He says, I have a question, Brother Paul and I just confused. I don't know what God's will is. And I said, OK, what is it?

He goes, Well, the church has called me to be a pastor. Really? That's that's that could be wonderful.

I said. How long have you been a Christian? Oh, about 14 months.

And what did the professors you talk to here tell you? Well, they told me they think I ought to take the church. I said go back to every one of those professors and tell them that I said, use my name, give them my phone number.

That they need to leave this school and not give anybody counsel until they actually read the Bible. He said, how can you say that, how can you say that, you know, it's not God's will for me to be the pastor of this church just because in First Timothy chapter three, it is not a new convert. You are a new convert.

Not to go down through the rest of these qualifications, do you have these qualifications, you only have one, you aspire to be an overseer. That's good. You like all the other qualifications.

So I can tell you with the authority of God's word, no, you should not be a pastor at this moment. And I can also tell those professors they are terribly wrong. Do you see it?

I didn't need something coming down from heaven. Because I already have a sure word that has come down from heaven. What should I do in the ministry?

Well, actually, he gives you a whole bunch of commands. If you just follow those, you won't have time to be thinking about the other stuff. Do you see?

The more we renew our mind in the word of God, the more we will simply understand, find ourselves doing the will of God. Now, I want you to look at something about the will of God that is very important here. He says, renewing of your mind so that you may prove.

What the will of God is, and then he goes on, describe the will of God, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. OK, now, good here. What's the word can be is, of course, can be translated good.

It also carries with it the idea of something that is is healthy. Something that it could be fruitful. Something that benefits, that has integrity, that instills health and strength and vitality.

OK. So if we're wondering, is this thing the will of God, should I do it, ask yourself the first question, is it good? Will it contribute to my spiritual health?

Will it contribute to spiritual vitality, will it make me more like Christ, will it give me strength? If not, I probably don't need to do it. Next thing, is it acceptable?

And you surely learned this week we shouldn't ask ourselves, is it acceptable to our culture because it's acceptable to our culture to kill babies? I mean, just. We if there's one thing we know, don't worry about what's acceptable to this twisted, dark culture.

Your question is, is it acceptable to God? Because if it's not acceptable to God, we don't need to be doing it. And then is it perfect?

You say, well, there's not a lot of perfect in this world, Brother Paul. The idea here is complete. Let me give you an example.

One time I actually saw almost a revival breakout in Eastern Europe with about 70 pastors, they were just on their face crying out to God. Broken over their sin because I had shown them in the scriptures that it is not biblical to offer up your wife and your children as a sacrifice to your ministry, that they had always been told that, you know, that's the mark of a man of God. He neglects his wife.

He neglects his children. He's always out there doing the work of an evangelist and pastoring and everything. And I showed them painstakingly and scripture and God really moved and broke their hearts.

But here's one of the ways. Here's one of the things that really got them. I said, the will of God is perfect.

And I said, I have already shown you now that the will of God is for you to minister. We we saw it in First Timothy, second, Timothy Titus, it is the will of God for you to minister over here in the book of Ephesians and Colossians and Deuteronomy 6, I have shown you it is the will of God for you to care for your wife and your children, instruct them in scripture and be there for them. Now in Romans 12 to tells us the will of God is perfect.

That means if in order to do this. I have to disobey this. It's not the will of God.

And so if you're telling me I don't have time to take care of my wife, I don't have time for my children, why? Because I've got to do the ministry. You are actually accusing God of having a will that is imperfect.

Contradictory. Do you see that it's the same way a young man sees a beautiful girl? Who is not a Christian or a beautiful girl since a young man who is not a Christian and becomes very interested in that young man, and what does she say?

It is God's will for me to evangelize him? Yes, it is God's will for him to be evangelized, and therefore I'm going to date him. No, it is not God's will for you to date him.

So you're trying to carry out God's will by violating God's will. If it is truly God's will, it will be non contradictory. That's what systematic theology actually is, teaching a young man how to think in a non contradictory manner.

According to the scriptures. So that's the will of God, does it prosper you spiritually, is it acceptable to God, as he has revealed it in his scriptures? And is it?

Is it in harmony with all the other commands? Now. We're going to close.

I want you to hold your place there and I want you to go to Philippians for just a second. Chapter four, verse 8. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things now.

Someone asked me a while back, do you have a Ph. D. ?

I said, I have a posthole digger. Yes, I do. In my barn.

I have I'm an expert at digging post. I can, man. I have dug more postholes than you could ever imagine.

All right, I can see from the smiles on your face, most of you have never touched a post today. We're going to touch a posthole digger this morning because we're going to dig a fence. We're going to dig a circular fence, a corral, and you're going to dig it around you now.

From Romans 12, the first post we're going to put in is. . .

It's got to be good. The next one, it's got to be acceptable. The next one.

Perfect. Doesn't contradict God's will in any shape, form or fashion, then we're going to go over to Philippians. It is true.

Do you realize I was walking through Wal-Mart the other day and realized that if they took if they left in this store, only the food that's good for you, they're only be like 10 percent of the food left. If you did that with news today. With what's being taught in ethics, in schools and everything else, I would say we'd be down somewhere around two percent.

But we're going to dig a post hole and we're going to stick a post in it called truth, and then whatever's honorable will be the next post and then whatever is right, according to the way God sees it right means it's conform to God's standard. Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely. Do you know an immoral culture will always.

In an immoral culture, it will always take a knife and stick it right through the heart of beauty. There's nothing lovely left, it's just grotesque and dark and gothic. But we're going to stick a postcard, lovely, whatever is of good report, whatever is excellent, whatever is worthy of praise.

We're going to stick all those posts around us and we're going to say, I have just made a big step in discerning what God's will is for my life. Do you see that if it's not good, I don't need to be around it, if it's not acceptable to him, I don't need to be around it and it don't need to come around me. That's why I built the fence.

If it contradicts God's law and any place, I don't need to be around it. But now is it true? If it's not true?

I don't need to hear it. If it's not honorable. Not just neutral, but actually honorable.

Right, pure. Oh, my dear friend, I'd love to write a book on the beauty of purity. The attractiveness of purity.

You say, well, I've blown that, no, you haven't. Not while Christ is still seated on the throne. And not while the blood still has its power.

Remember what I said, new every morning, new every morning, new every morning. Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, lovely. Whatever is of good report, whatever is excellent, whatever is worthy of praise, on praise, on these things dwell.

Now, look what you've got. That that fence we've built around us, that's going to filter out a lot of things that are going to keep you from growing. It's going to filter out a lot of things that are going to hurt you.

That are going to hurt you? And as you read the word of God, these things that we have mentioned will become more attractive to you. And you'll realize that many of the things in your life were not just neutral, but base.

Base. You see? Now.

One last thing. If you're spending about zero time every day reading the word and about zero time in prayer, every day reading the word, I don't want you to read the word tomorrow an our. Or pray for an hour or.

. . Do a nightwatch all through the night, not sleep, it's like we always want to go from zero to 60, don't we?

And we end up falling back. I want you to go on, I want you to be a person given over to the spiritual disciplines, but I want you to begin with small steps. You know, Star, if you've not read through the Bible, start start reading, you know, start reading in in Matthew, read through the New Testament, read one chapter of Matthew, one chapter of Psalms, work your way through the New Testament.

Just sit down with a cup of coffee, enjoy yourself, whatever cup of tea, whatever, and just sit there in the morning and read through it and feed on it. And if you don't understand everything, that's OK. I don't understand everything.

But my problem is not what I don't understand. It's what I do understand and don't do. And I could recommend also a very good study Bible that is very it would be very helpful, would be the ESV study Bible another the Reformation Heritage study Bible, the John the MacArthur study Bible.

Why a study Bible? Because I don't want to have to get up because I don't know where that certain city is or what it's even talking about and run over to a commentary somewhere and then come back. I just want to read this isn't my study time necessarily.

I'm just reading through the Scriptures. To hear what God has said in the scriptures, to enjoy God, to feed, to eat. And then pray.

Pray so, I don't know how to pray. Well, then we'll have to go through the Lord's Prayer because there is how you learn how to pray, not by repeating it, but by understanding it. It's the model prayer and it shows us how to pray.

This is what you need. You need what I'm telling you more than you need the sermon, and I'm not saying you don't need a sermon, but I want to tell you something. People are starving to death because even in good churches, they're only eating once a week.

You have to eat every day. And that brings me to another illustration that will extend my preaching time, but it'll be worth it. And this is it.

Listen to me. Sometimes you can look around and you see things that are physical realities and you wonder, why did God do it that way? In almost every time I've sat down and thought about it.

There's a spiritual application, I mean, to everything, and if I don't see it, usually I'll come across it some day in reading the Puritans or something. But here's something, let's say that tomorrow I'm going to leave for Europe and I'm going to just be preaching day and night for four weeks. Tomorrow, OK, but I have to eat a very healthy diet now because of my heart and everything.

And so here's what I've decided. I told Chouteau yesterday, are you going to the store? Yes, I need this food.

That's a lot of food you need. Well, I need it. So she buys it.

So after I get done here preaching, I'm going to go home and my plane leaves it at 11 o'clock tomorrow morning. So I have almost 24 hours. I'm going to eat for twenty four solid hours.

That way, I won't have to eat for two weeks and I don't have to worry about having some specific food delivered to me while I'm preaching to sound like a good idea. What's going to happen? What's going to happen?

Well, first of all, going to get really, really sick. I'm also never going to want to eat again after eating for 24 hours, I'm never going to want to see a piece of broccoli again. And if I can accomplish that at least within two days, what's going to happen, I'm going to be hungry again and I'm going to be weak again right now.

What do we learn from that? It's the same way. You come in here and brother Anthony or our brother Luke.

Brother Tucker, they've preached do you think you've taken notes, you've fed, that's good. I'm sorry, that's not good enough. You have to eat every day.

You have to eat several times a day. Some of you should probably back off on the several. But you have to eat consistently, it's the same way I would rather have you in the word of God for 20 minutes.

But but reading systematically reading from from Matthew to Revelation or from Genesis to Revelation or reading through the book, of Psalms or reading through Proverbs according to the need reading, reading, meditating, thinking about what you're reading, asking people questions. You don't understand something. Look, in the study, Bible was not in the study Bible.

Come to one of the pastors, someone who studies the scriptures. Spend time in prayer, you say, well, I do pray. Well, let me ask you a question, and this again is very important.

When you pray. Is it just intersession? And I got several sermons on that.

Because this is important. Intersession is only one thing. Hard, hard work.

If my prayer life was just intersession, I wouldn't last very long. So that's where most people get it wrong, you get it so terribly wrong, you get down on your knees and it's interceding. It's interceding either for yourself or it's interceding for your family or it's interceding for Malaysia or it's interceding for what's going on in our country.

Intersession, intersession is nothing but hard work. And it is not fun. It is a fight.

It is a battle. It is hard. It is sweat, blood and tears.

It is grabbing a hold of the horns of the altar. I will not let you go. This must be changed.

And if that's all your prayer life is, your life won't last very long. Prayer is primarily, first of all, communion with God, delighting in God, talking to God, that's why my favorite, if it's not intersession, my favorite way of praying. Is seated at a table or my best, favorite way.

Just walking. Walking and talking. To God.

Enjoying God. I mean, just got. I am so tired.

Or God. I'm scared. Or God, that's the funniest looking animal I've ever seen.

Why did you make an animal like that? It is literally enjoying God. It is loving God, it is being loved by God, it's talking to God, it's walking with God, it's communion.

And out of that, out of reading the word to feed and out of praying for communion and fellowship and intimacy comes forth. The ministry of studying to preach the ministry of what intercession? The ministry of counsel and of care and of evangelism.

It flows out of that. Please learn that. You will be and I use this word specifically, you will be a happy believer.

A happy believer. I'm not afraid of that word. It's what you need.

Just enjoy him. Enjoy him and remember, no secular, no sacred or sacred. Our sacred.

Our sacred. Because. He happens to be omnipresent.

And he delights. He delights in seeing. Whatever conformity there is in us.

He delights in the work of his son. It's lovely. It's lovely.

It's just so. Lovely. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your many kindnesses. Thank you, Lord.

That you save and keep saved, that you. . .

Come after and you bring back and you. . .

You're everything that we need a God to be, and if you were any less a God than what you are, we would have no hope. We need a complete savior. And you are that.

Thank you, in Jesus name, Amen.