[SUB12] REMENDO OU RENOVO? - Luciano Subirá

The Lord Jesus warned us that God offers complete provision of transformation to our lives. What we could call a total and complete renewal. However some people end up rejecting this complete provision by God for a wrong choice of only trying to bring a patch to his own clothes instead of changing them.

This shows me that a serious problem for the christian life, the life of some, is that they choose to live from patches when they could live from renewal. In the next few minutes I would like for you to reflect with me about this decision so that you may understand what choice you have been making. In Luke 5:36, we read: "He also told them a parable:No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment.

If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. " In these words the Lord Jesus makes it clear, an example they could clearly understand back then that is not so hard for us to comprehend today, regarding the different age and cultural context. Clothes today are objects that we get almost to the point of saying they’re disposable, except for people that have the condition to invest in expensive labels.

Clothes today, compared to the past, is what we could certainly say that has become a cheap artifact. Even people that are not owners of much let themselves have a better wardrobe than those in the old days. Even those that had god possessions in the past, because there was no textile industry, clothing was all hand made, the fabric was hand made, the disposability and quantity was not the same compared to today and it was obviously a lot harder for people to have it in quantity.

So imagine someone that already has difficulty in having different pieces of clothing and has one that is torn, one garment that is old, done. Someone offers her what is the solution for the problem, that would be the new garment. So the logic and it doesn’t take much for it to be understood, what should this person do?

An exchange, trade the old garment for the new one. When Jesus says “no one does it", he is not talking about impossibility, he is talking about common sense. The reason why no one would do it in the natural is because it is nothing smart to have an attitude like that.

Someone has an old garment, torn and a completely new one is offered to her, and instead of accepting the exchange she says: no, my problem is only this little spot here. So she goes in there, cuts the new garment, ruins it, what would be the solution, and now she tries to patch only a part that is her problem. jesus says: “the clothing does now match, it won’t last, and you still managed to inutilize the solution.

" Although in the natural Jesus affirms: “no one does it", it is impressive how we lack the same common sense to the spiritual matters. In the spiritual realm we have a lot of people choosing to live from patches instead of living from renewal. The word of God when it speaks from garments is meaning men's condition before God.

For example, in the letter of Paul to the Ephesians about the necessity of undressing or unclothing from the old man is so that we can redress, reclothe, from the new men that was created after God’s will in true justice and holiness. He is talking about an exchange of life, the old life before the Lord Jesus, and the new life after Him and he presents it as a figure of garments. When the Lord of Jesus is talking about this new exchange of clothing what is he saying?

God has offered us a complete provision of transformation. The gospel is the power of God of salvation to all that believes and comes and carries a complete provision of transformation to each single area of our lives. When the prophet Isaiah says: “I'm a man of impure lips" the word of God tells us that immediately an angel takes a burning coal from the altar and touches his mouth.

God is saying: “you recognize your problem, I want to tell you I have provision of transformation, of sanctification to you. " A lot of people today, has stopped looking to the gospel this way because we have what I classify as a mentality of departmentalization. We have a great difficulty with macro vision, how to see the whole.

We are usually only focused on the micro, trying to see isolated aspects. So today is not hard for you to see someone sharing a testimony that before convertido he smoked a lot, drank a lot, lied a lot, but now praise the Lord he has stopped smoking, stopped, he only hasn’t stopped lying. There is a lot of people, making from the Gospel something that touches only in a parcial way.

He is rejecting a complete provision of transformation that God has because it has only focused in a part, instead of understanding the whole. I would say this problem can be be seen in multiple areas of our christian walk. For example, if you go to a good christian bookstore you’re going to find a little promise box but I doubt it that someone will ever find a little exhortation box.

Reason why you are not going to find it is because it does not exist. And the reason why it doesn't exist is very simple, no one will invest in something that does not sell. why wouldn’t it sell?

Because none of us want to be exhorted or confronted. People go there and try to be selective and even with the Word of God. "Nope, I want this part that is interesting to me.

I want to choose the verse every day, when I look to it and remember that good message that God still loves ma and that everything will be ok. " I am not trying dispose from the promises of God by the scripture in any way. Paul the apostle says: "For no matter how many promises God has made they are “Yes" in Christ, And so through him the “Amen”, what can’t to is want to believe that only one part is interesting and dispose the other.

In Joshua chapter 23, verses 14 to 16, we see this great leader standing in the end of of his days and confronting his generation saying: “all that God has spoken trough the mouth of Moses, his servant, will be fulfilled. " He said: “for good or for evil. " What is he saying?

The Word of God is entirely true. Not only the good part, that God said he wanted to introduce us, Joshua speaking, to a promise land, a land that flows milk and honey, but also the other part of the warning: “if you don’t listen to me, if you don't obey my commandments, these curses, these consequences, these judgements will come upon you. " Joshua was saying: “you can’t pick one part and reject the other because all the Word of God is true.

" Let’s change examples, let’s talk for example about the prayer life. In the mind of many believers, prayer is the way trough which he gets from God all he wants. Although the Word of God shows us it is possible to get from God something that I want trough prayer, this does not define that prayer is only the way trough which I get from God all that I want.

Contrariwise we learn with the Word of God, Jesus taught us to pray and say “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. " We learn with the very prayer that Jesus prays on Gethsemane that should be an example to us, he falls to his knees and says: “not my will but yours be done. " So prayer also is, in counterpart, the way trough which God gets from us what He wants.

So we can't set the definition of prayer as only what is interesting to us. “I get from God all I want. " God should also get from me what He wants.

Prayer should also be a part of an environment of surrender, but the reason why we end up not seeing this many times, is because we are focused in one part and not the whole. In the same way, I have been noticing that people have this difficulty regarding the Gospel, they try to live from patches. For example, the person says: "no, now I’m gonna focus on this specific area of transformation in my financial life.

Family we’ll work later if we can. " And when people choose this, You know what they’re saying to God? "God, I reject the provision of the whole you have offered me.

I want just a part of it. " Some years ago, me and my wife traveled to India, we went there to preach the gospel. It was in the year of 2002.

And, for two occasions we lived a unused experience, of having to, literally, leave in a rush, running from the meetings, because of the persecution there is in there. In India, not only because of the cultural system they have, a concept of castes, but also by law, conversion is prohibited. India is a platform for many beliefs.

It is not only the birthplace of hinduism, it is not only the birthplace for buddhism, there is room for every type of "ism. " There you’re going to see islamism, Christianity and many other beliefs. And everyone has their space, what is not allowed is someone trying to convert others to his.

You're not gonna se a hindu trying to convert a christian. It is like they were saying: “you were born like this, you die like this. " But on the other hand they’re saying: "we were born like this, we die like this.

" And preaching the Gospel, we can say that we live from this, from convention. So for two occasions we left literally running. In one of them I spoke at a public square, behind me there was a temple, in front of me some other type of temple, on my right another one, to my left another one, we had a lot of people.

Christians in the front watching the meeting but a lot of people listening and just preaching the Gospel to our folk in a public square had no restriction, as long as there was no conversion. However, in the beginning of the message, I began making a bold statement, that the true living God we went there to proclaim makes His Words followed by signs and wonders. I announced that in that moment and that God would testify that.

In the first 10, maximum 15 minutes of preaching, the weather began to change quick and drastically. All of the sudden heavy rain fell upon us. I was afraid that no one would stay to listen to us, but not only there was no dispersion, but a lot of people started to approach us.

I realized that my translator, despite the shocks he took because of the bad equipment we were using, under the rain, we were literally soaked, I realized that even despite the shocks he was a lot more excited than otherwise. I confess my initial reaction was that maybe it was spiritual opositor, an attempt from the enemy of resisting us. When it was over the missionary we went to serve said “enter the car!

We’re leaving! We need to go now! " I asked: “What is going on?

" - Later I’ll tell you, later! " We were with our wives, I imagined his silence was not to worry them and then we left. Only later he told me: "Luciano, it had been more than 6 months that it didn't rain in that place.

When you announced that God would give testimony of His Word and the rain came, a lot of hindus began to approach us and their talk was: their God works. Their God is giving them an answer after none of our gods listened to us. " He said: “when the chief hindus saw that there would be conversion because of the signal they decided to persecute you and me, that’s why we ran.

” I remember when he told me that, I said to him: "maybe that is the biggest challenge that you live, a prohibition to conversion. " He told me: “not for me, because islam also preach conversion in here and it is more than christianity in India, and they don't have the signals that we have. ” I was like: "really?

So what is the problem for you? " He looked to me and saud: "Luciano, it’s the way our generation preaches the Gospel. " He said: “when someone is converted, he has to adapt his life completely to islam, he cannot adjust islam to his life.

" He said: “the problem is our generation is offering t a gospel that people get to decide how to adapt to their lives and not their lives to the gospel. " If we don't change that tone, if we don't change that speech we will have problems. That brought me a lot of fear.

So we stay with that warning, that: we are not going to live from patches, we will leave from renewal, we will adjust our lives to the gospel, and not the contrary, in the name of Jesus.