Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Many of you might remember making cookies when you were a kid. When I was a child we had some old fashioned tin cookie cutters that you could press into the dough and make a specific shape. When we were done, like an assembly line at a manufacturing plant, all the cookies looked the same. They were all identical, bearing the same resemblance to each other. How many of you can remember sitting in elementary class trying to copy cursive letters from a textbook. We had to try to copy them perfectly, the exact way that they were written in the book. How many of you have been sent to the office to make some copies on the copy machine? What you were doing was making duplicates of the original.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, we are forewarned not to duplicate the world, but rather to obediently conform ourselves to the Gospel of Truth. This is how we are perfected into His image.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Transformation is to undergo a change. It is about becoming something different than what we used to be. To do this we must change the way that we act and think. Granted, each of us have been trained to think a certain way since our birth. Just like kneeding some fresh bread dough, our minds have been shaped according to worldly teachings. Our minds need to be completely reshaped by a liberal dose of God’s Truth. This is what it’s there for, to guide us in the right direction.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Conformity is all around us. At a grocery store you will see it in a bag of hamburger buns. A young girl might try to look like a famous actress. A young boy may want to dress like a superhero. But the main concern is, who are you trying to be like? Who are your role models? The Lord Jesus provides something else that no one else can, eternal life. If we are going to conform to anything, and someday attain paradise, we need to conform to the attributes of Christ, because He is the source of our salvation. We are called to prove the perfect will of God. That is the final goal. This will require converting ourselves to His purpose for us, rather than our own. It means to follow Him, rather than the world. As I have said many times, people can have 50% of Christianity and then reject the rest because they simply don’t want to submit to it.
Matthew 21:28-32 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Many people might know the name of Jesus, but if they are not going to submit to His purpose, they will come short of salvation.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
To actually be able to enter into Paradise, we will have to perform the perfect will of God, which will require submitting to His purposes found in Scripture. But this is where you draw the line with certain people. They want to live their own lives, and try to keep some of their faith at the same time. They want to profess faith but then live as the world does? Christianity is far more than that. Proving God’s will consistently, is a daily work that will result in perfecting our hearts before Him. One must be very careful that it is not the world who you are trying to be like. We are supposed to become disconnected and withdraw ourselves from the world, refusing to join up with them in the way that they live their lives. When we separate from the world, just as Noah and Lot did, we become a part of God’s family.
2 Corinthians 6:17-18 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Ephesians 4:17-20 – This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.But ye have not so learned Christ;
Simply put, to conform means to consent and submit. We are not supposed to fashion ourselves according to the way that the world lives. Rather, we are to lovingly serve God as His obedient children.
1 Peter 1:14 – As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
Who is it that you are following?
Exodus 23:2 – Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
To truly become a Christian is to enter into a spiritual marriage with our God. Like an unfaithful departing wife, to join up with the world is to commit spiritual adultery against Him.
James 4:4 – Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
So who are your role models in life? Are you copying Jesus, or the world? What kind of information are you running through your….
…..Copy Machine
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 