Ps Bill Johnson - Renewing Your Mind

that we can host and have bill speak into the life of the church here and and every single life here and I ask that you would just honor the man of God bill you're an hour you're in my car you're in my phone you're in my head you're in my heart almost as much as Jesus is but it is just really really really really great so I'm going to ask you let's stand and let's just on a pastor Bill Johnson here the metagame Christian Center thank you [Applause] [Music] be honest it's it's fun to be back in Australia it's great to be and I've been doing a conference over stairway for 10 years and it's a long conference 10 years sorry coming back every year and had a wonderful time it's a real treat to be here with you guys and and thankful thankful so much for the opportunity I have things that I like to read [Music] several days ago as I left a meeting at a hotel I gave myself a TSA pat down looking for my keys they weren't in my pockets a quick search in the meeting room revealed nothing suddenly I realized that must have left them in the car frantically I headed for the parking lot my husband has scolded me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition my theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them his theory is that the car will be stolen as I bursted the Dora came to the terrifying conclusion his theory was right the parking lot was empty immediately I called the police I gave them my location confessed I had left my keys in the car and it had been stolen then I made the most difficult call of all honey I stammered I always called him honey in times like this I left my keys in the car and it's been stolen there was a long silence I thought the call had ended had been dropped but then I heard his voice are you kidding me he barked I dropped you off [Laughter] now it was my turn to be silent embarrassed I said well didn't come and get me he responded I will as soon as I convinced this cop I didn't steal your car a man had 50-yard line tickets for the Super Bowl that's a little sporting event we have in our country as he sat down he noticed the seat next to him was empty he asked the man on the other side of the empty seat whether anyone was sitting there no the man replied the seat is empty this is incredible he said who in the right mind would have a seat like this for the Super Bowl the biggest sporting event in the country and not use it the second man replied well actually the seat belongs to my to me I was supposed to come with my wife but she passed away this would be the first Super Bowl we haven't been together since we got married in 1967 oh I'm sorry to hear that that's terrible but couldn't you find someone else a friend or relative or even a neighbor to take this seat the man shook his head no they're all at the funeral it's the best lap for everyone that just on cue just turn it on just like a button so funny I want to talk to you about a renewed mind a renewed mind isn't the ability to give a biblical answer when a problem arises a renewed mind is actually thinking and seeing from divine perspective it's I don't think it's possible to have a renewed mind without a divine encounter encounters with God changed perspective it's it's not a matter of discipline although discipline is important discipline kind of sets us up for things but it's not the answer in and of itself it takes us places but it the encounter with the Lord is the ongoing essential element in every one of our lives the renewed mind is I think is the greatest greatest way into a life of miracles I talk about miracles a fair amount not because I need them I don't need the entertainment value of a miracle to feel good about myself or feeling good about life I I just am responsible when he put the spirit of the resurrected Christ in us it's supposed to affect things that are impossible it's supposed to I have that obligation I had the obligation to bring him fruit of the impossible and so it's it's it's more an essence of responsibility for me then than it is any entertainment of value I'm I'm perfectly and completely enthralled with the person of Jesus Christ I don't need miracles to to feel good about life but I I'll tell you when I look at the life of Jesus and the example that he set I I just I suddenly become dissatisfied with what I can do with my talents and gifts and it's not as though our talents and gifts are worthless they're you know they're wonderful God gave them to us he gave us each of us different abilities and unique perspectives on life that are very valuable but you know my gifts are kind of like they're kinda like sales on a boat all of our gifts it this would be like a harbor and we said you don't look at each of those gifts and we see the green and yellow sail over here and the red and white sail here in the blue cell and and we can you know be it you know in thrall with one another's giftings and be impressed with one another sail but they only serve one purpose and that's to catch wind this is the kept just to catch wind to drive that sailboat and the gifts in our life where they catch the breath of God that supernatural element in life is it's supposed to be expressed through what God has given us to be and to do I live with the conviction that the renewed mind is is the best the the best the most consistent way for us to don't stand there the most consistent way to see miracles flow in and through our life there's a lot of way that miracles happen you'll faith just that gift of faith is extraordinary I remember a girl came to me once she she had a an electric pump on her on her hip and with medication and she could live only for minutes without that medication and it was wired directly in your heart and that medication she'd have to change it every morning at 7 o'clock and and she came to me one evening for prayer and when she walked up this is the only time this has happened in my life so this isn't I wish it was normal but but this is the first and only done when she walked up I actually felt the presence of faith I I was so stunned by the I literally she walked up she asked me to pray for her and I was stunned by what I felt on her I actually stood back like this and I looked at her from head to toe toe to head I what I was doing is I was I was wanting every cell in my being to recognize what I was witnessing because I had never seen it before like this most of the time what we call faith is actually hope the faith isn't knowing faith isn't absolute and and what what I was witnessing was so extraordinary so she told me her story that's for prayer and I prayed for she went down into the power it's not necessary for that to happen for people to get healed in fact probably 90% of the time they don't but in this particular case she went down when she got up I said how are you doing she said there's a burning I feel he tore a fire in my lungs and heart it was a heart long issue and as she walked away I said your faith got you this one I realized this all I did was partner with her faith and and she went down she got off she came back the next night 24 hours later to the meeting that we had and she said when I got up this morning the Lord spoke to me said I didn't need them to change the medication I mean you got four minutes to find out if you heard from God because offense I believe faith is such a huge part of the life of miracles and it always is the anointing that sense of presence we've seen people heal from from touching clothing from you know like when they touch the edge of Jesus's garment the same Holy Spirit that was on him is on you and me and there are times where he manifests so over so outwardly that people can literally be healed by touching clothing that's extraordinary we've seen that happen I've seen people healed by the shadow just literally walking by them and deliverance a healing takes place that anointing that presence the most fun I mean I love that stuff but the most fun is is when I see people they'll come to me after the meeting at home I always go to the back door and shake people's hands and stuff after each service and actually after two of my three morning services the third one I hurry home too much information I get there 5:30 and the last service I get through about three o'clock so that's a long day so I get on for a little rest because we have another one that night I like to shake hands with people and give them hugs and just you know take a moment it's like my brief contact with humanity you know and I there's not a whole lot of fellowship from the pulpit towards the audience you know so it gives me a moment to connect with folks and and I remember standing back there one one particular Sunday in over a period of maybe 15 or 20 minutes two people came by and both of them told me they had been healed of the effects of her broken neck both of them broken broken necks and they were both sitting in the same section of the church and they were healed during worship anointing that presence we've seen we see people not need their glasses anymore an individual couldn't read his Bible is angry and frustrated why he couldn't read when he got home he just was took his glasses off and sit there for us what's happening to my eyes and then he realized oh I must have gotten healed because I can see fly it's kind of funny he didn't think of it earlier but but you know cancer we've seen cancer this for so what I'm saying is the anointing that sense of presence brings extraordinary miracles and and I'm not trying to get formulas or shortcuts I'm just saying these are the effects the effects of faith the effects of the anointing I feel like the renewed mind is the most consistent way for us to live a lifestyle of miracles is that of interest to anybody because if it isn't change your interest because I'm going to talk about it you know it is our interest it's our interest because that's what you get when you're born again it's just a part of your DNA it's part of your natural desire and you actually have to get disappointed out of it or bad teaching to get out of it because it's the most natural desire in the world for a new believer for any believer stronger forgot to do impossible things through them so the renewed mind why do I say that because in Romans 12 it says don't be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove the will of God that was a spirit acceptable and perfect be transformed by the renewing of your mind the renewed mind transforms a person a transformed person transforms a city the goal of the Lord is always to bring a Reformation 'el impact on cities and nations but it starts with the renewed mind so he says the renewed mind be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove the little gum what's the will of God the clearest definition of the will of God is found in what we refer to as the Lord's Prayer it's it's technically not the Lord's Prayer our Father who art in heaven because in the prayers confession of sin and he never sinned so he was giving us a pattern prayer a concept prayer to work with so in his prayer he says our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name your kingdom come what's the next phrase your will be done on earth as it is in heaven what's a little God on earth as it is in heaven I believe it's the greatest revelation in the New Testament on the purpose of God for Humanity on this planet everything else yields to that directive everything else yields for that command everything else serves that command if you will our our assignment our privilege our responsibility is always to to bring the revelation of his world the manifestation of his world into this one so what does that look like if there's poverty it means it changes it means the cycle of poverty is broken the way of thinking that allows for poverty an entitlement spirit actually give us a poverty a home learning how to shift our perspectives on a reality thinking the way God thinks the way he reasons and don't think for a moment that that's impossible or impractical it's extremely practical because he commanded it do you understand he does you what country what city and where's the bathroom those the questions there's this passage out of Luke that says nothing is impossible of God say that with me nothing is impossible with God say it again nothing is impossible with God it's amazing to me that here God Himself lives in this realm that no other part of creation lives in everything else is finite everything else has limitation restrictions etc but he alone lives in this realm called nothing is impossible that's where he lives and then he wanted you and me to join him there so he said nothing is impossible for those who believe so now actually biblical faith gives us access to live in a realm where only God himself lives that's where nothing is impossible yeah so that verse you guys doing all right I'm doing good all right I don't want the floor to open up and swallow me you know because I went over so I'm empty empties and empties so here's this verse nothing is impossible with God their word nothing it's actually two words in the original language is the word no and it's the word Rhema which is implies the spoken word of God that the breathed word it's it's like when you're reading the Word of God the scripture how many of you had this happen where you're reading the Bible and suddenly adverse leaps out at you all right so you're reading load offs and suddenly it comes alive you just got hit with Rhema so here when when the Lord says nothing is impossible with God nothing means no Raymond no freshly spoken word of God will be impossible the word impossible means without ability so here's one of the ways that verse can be translated no freshly spoken word of God will ever come to you that does not contain its own ability to perform itself I think that's that's that's huge that that makes me realize oh my goodness every time God speaks is actually creating capacity does that make sense he's not saying here's a job go do it he's saying here I'm going to enter you and make this possible and so when he says something he's actually giving us the capacity to perform the very thing he said which which means we need to take another look at the Great Commission because he said go disciple nations he said perhaps you've never heard this he said go disciple nations he actually in the command released the capacity the ability to do what is absolutely impossible this one of the main responsibilities we have before the Lord is to hear what he says with our heart not just the intellectual acknowledgement of a truth anyone can sit in a meeting and say a man to something they believe but when it pierces the heart it changes my capacity changes how I live changes how I function yeah and so when he speaks a James chapter one says in humility received the word implanted which is able to save your soul in humility that's the one that's the condition of the hearts soil the soil of the heart in humility received the word implanted so the seed is planted which is Abel that word is able to save yourself you say well I'm already saved you know that's that may be true I was saved but I'm also being saved and someday I'm gonna be saved and all three realities exist in Scripture I was born again and such and such a day but I am being saved he's he's helping me to work out that salvation someday he's gonna return it I'm really gonna be saved and so all three layers are there and so he says in humility received the word implanted why because that word that seed carries the DNA of God and it is able to save your soul if you take a kernel of corn you plant it in the ground an ear of corn grows from it where there's hundreds of kernels each of the kernels of corn have the same DNA of the seed that was planted Jesus was the kernel that died and your life sprang up from his death and that life carries his DNA that's why we have to we have to realize that resentment offense disappointment all these things work to distort DNA work to distort who he's made you to be who he's made me to be so here he says in humility received the word implanted why because the ability for my transformation is actually in the word yeah guys alive everyone's still alive all right me too I'm still alive so we got we got a real strange situation in the first part of the Gospels where we have in in Luke we have an angel showing up to John the Baptist's dad before John is conceived and he shows up to Secor ice and he says Elizabeth's gonna have a child and his response was how do I know this is really gonna happen I love how the angel talks to him he says number one I'm Gabriel how'd you like to everything angel answer you like this you have a question how do I know this is gonna happen number one I'm Gabriel number two I stand in the presence of God in other words that's a stupid question now God's never opposed to questions but he is opposed to challenges the challenge might be the wrong word he is opposed to us questioning him putting him on trial where he has to prove himself does that make sense that's not a smart thing to ever do and so John the Baptist dad says how do I know this is real I don't know this is really gonna happen in other words we've been we've had so much disappointment over the this whole issue of having a child we've never been able to have a child how do I know this is the real time well the angel of the Lord shows up to Mary a short while later and says you're going to give birth to the Christ child I'm you know that's that's a stretch that's that's it's a stretch especially because she says I'm a virgin how can this be and the Lord speaks to her the angel speaks to her I'm you know after the angel explained it the angel said the Spirit of the Lord is gonna come upon you I mean oh she still didn't understand what that was getting up but in other words okay I'm still as confused as I was when I asked the question but she settled into the fact that God was able to make the impossible happen and so she said be it unto me I think it's one of the best person the Bible be it unto me according to your word in other words I don't understand it but I don't need to understand it for it to happen I just need to heal so I surrender and I say be it unto me I'm giving the word a place in me for you to perform what only you can perform this is that this is honestly the process of the renewed mind it's our daily walk with the Lord it's our it's our daily walk with or look at this passage in Ghent in John 16 I love the Bible John is the Gospel of John is especially rich in Mark's Gospel is especially rich in revealing what the renewed mind looks like and that's where I'm hoping to get to I may not get there today John's Gospel is rich in showing showing the kind of this this walk with God where you were it's almost like forgive me for stammering here but it's almost like John lifts a curtain to see behind the scenes how the Spirit of God works and to me that is extremely fascinating and we have a statement for example in John 6 do you guys remember the sermon that Jesus preached where he said you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood and he grossed out an entire crowd of people you know I mean I mean he's got he's got the greatest revival going you know he's multiplied food people are getting healed and delivered the crowds are massive and they're just loving life and then Jesus stands up and preaches the most unpopular sermon ever you know it's the one sermon that nobody downloaded on the internet that week it was like nobody wrote home and said Oh mom you got to hear this one that just didn't happen so the people are so freaked out over the message because he's standing after they're saying you actually have to eat me and the people doing you know things were going so well before he started this sermon you know and if you could imagine being on a hillside where Jesus has multiplied food people are getting healed it's just there's just this life this energy this excitement in the air and then he throws a wet blanket over the whole deal talking about drinking blood and eating flesh and a little by little you know you see the families to get up and go come on Martha we got to get out of here and so they get up and they leave and there's this max mass exodus where you get like 15,000 people on the hillside and after you know 30 minutes of this particular sermon he's left with 12 disciples and that's church growth at its finest that's that right there should encourage every pastor you know so he's got like 12 guys left and he turns to him and he says says you guys leaving and Peter says where are we gonna go you have the words of eternal life I Peter you know we we we mock him a lot mostly because we identify so much with his mistakes his blunders but he nailed it he said where are we gonna go you have words of eternal life what does that mean where are we gonna go every time you speak we come alive inside we don't know what you just talked we don't get it anymore than the crowd that left but we have no place to go we've burned our bridges plus we realize every time you open your mouth something happens inside of us and we can't comprehend it we can't repeat the sermon and have it make any sense but when you talk life is given to us does that does it make sense to you so here here Jesus is explaining this this mystery to them was in John 6 it's about verse 63 he says my words to you are spirit and they are life you know think about it my words are spirit and they are life there's Jesus according to the Gospel of John know a great way to study subject is through that particular book and through that particular writers perspective it adds such a quality because the the language that a writer uses will be consistent so here in the Gospel of John II says he says my words to you are spirit and their life well what did John write about Jesus in Chapter 1 he said the Word of God was made flesh so we have Jesus the Word of God made flesh standing before humanity and now he announces not only is the Word of God made flesh but whenever I talk to you I only say what I hear the father say and therefore the word of God becomes spirit all right so first the Word of God became flesh and now every time he talks the Word of God becomes Spirit it should help us to understand why things happened whenever he spoke why people would would get dialed up in anger why why they would suddenly believe things they they they weren't known for faith you know before the sermon but after Jesus talked for a while they just suddenly stepped into their miracle into their breakthrough why because his words became spirit now I want you to see again John kind of lifts that curtain so that we get to see how how this kingdom of God works so Paul what he went to expand on this this concept he said in Romans 14 verse 17 he said the kingdom of God excuse me the kingdom of God is not meat or drink its righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit the kingdom of God is not meat or drink it's none of this world its righteousness takes care of the sin issue peace takes care of the torment issue joy takes care of the healing issue remember laughter is medicine right so he's giving a revelation of the nature of this kingdom righteousness peace and joy two of those three things are felt realities when people avoid experience they avoid Kingdom Christianity the gospel is not a philosophy it's a relationship and while people can get weird and extreme and fall into deception and experience you're automatically in it without the experience that was a good point bill it's a very very good point all right all right I'm sorry I almost went off the deep end again it's it's so tempting to leap you know the people people think that their intellectual strength is going to keep them from deception well they're already deceived so here because here we've got the kingdom of God is not meat or drink its righteousness peace and joy what's the next phrase in the holy spirit the kingdom is in the Holy Spirit Kingdom the king's domain the realm of his Dominion is where it is in the presence of the Spirit of God so when Jesus said my worst you are spirit he actually released the reality of God's Dominion over every crowd he spoke to right so every person now has a a shift in options what's available to a crowd of people or to an individual is different every time he speaks right this this is supposed to provoke us and stir us up with a passion to be able to hear the voice of the Lord hear the subtle impressions that he gives and to say what God is saying why because you've been given the same assignment the same assignment to say what the father's saying what does that mean that means that whenever you speak the environment changes why because words become spirit how many of you have been in a difficult situation maybe there's a loss of a loved one maybe there's a conflict maybe but you're in a room with some friends and it's just it's just really really a hard moment and somebody walks in and they made one statement and suddenly the error is just clear does that make sense to you it just suddenly you don't know what happened it wasn't just brilliance of the idea what it wasn't that it was it was they came in and they said something it just kind of clear all the smoke out of the air what was it well probably their words became spirit so look at John 16 if you still have your Bible open to it you maybe got bored and gave up on me John 16 verse 12 Jesus says I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now I still have many things to say to you we're gonna read several more verses but look at this I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now verse 13 however when he the Spirit of Truth has come he will guide you into all truth that's a whole bunch of truth he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak on his own authority whatever he hears he will speak he will tell you things to come he will glorify me for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you all things that the father has are mine therefore I said he will take of take of mine and declare to you okay go back to verse 12 and it's just kind of walked through these four verses all right he says I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now alright let's put this into the context of John 6 which is 10 chapters earlier my words are spirit so now he says I can't tell you everything I want to tell you because you can't bear it you you don't have the weight carrying capacity for what I would say now how does that make sense because whenever he speaks the presence is released and the presence carries the kingdom you can't bear it in other words when I speak I release reality right whenever I speak to you I release the reality of heaven I really stir reality of my world over you you can't bury you don't have the weight carrying capacity for what I would release over you so I'm going to hold back what I say so that tells us that he's not interested in merely giving us nice ideas to tickle our imagination he's not just trying to make us smarter he's not just trying to fulfill our need for a correct doctrine all those things are valuable and important but that's not his concern his concern is is that I don't want to release over you something you can't live with how many know if you're if you're a bodybuilder and you've strengthened your muscles to carry a certain weight is is a pleasure it's the that I have the weight carrying capacity because I've been working at it for a long time and I now can carry this load and it's a privilege to carry this load but that same load put upon the shoulders of somebody who is not prepared for what should have been a pleasure is now a burden does that make sense it's kind of the picture if you can I don't want to create something over you that isn't a blessing I how many know the Israel often gotten blessed and it became a curse because of how they responded to the blessing that which was supposed to prosper them caused them to be independent from God and so the thing that was supposed to draw them to him in gratitude caused them to withdraw from him because of independence and arrogance it wasn't the problem of the gift it was the heart condition that the gift landed on right right all right so here the Lord is saying I have so many things to tell you which is fascinating to me because I've got to be careful I he's not going to give us anymore books of the Bible alright so when I say hearing from God there's new books that you know will be added to scripture I know I that's that's stupid I don't I don't believe that for a moment but how many of you have read a verse for 30 years and then one day he opens it up to you and it's like I read it for the thousandth time and finally I understand it you know it's like it's like there are so many layers to truth he just takes us deeper and deeper succumbing to the rings of an onion oh he just takes and peels back another layer time after time after time and he does this for us in a relationship with him and so now he's he's got things that he wants to say that he's never uttered isn't that amazing Tim that amazing it's amazing to me that he is how things that his mind that he just can't say yet I don't mean he's gonna add the scripture but he's going to add to our understanding and we're starting written so verse 13 he says however when he the Spirit of Truth has come and he has come he will guide you into all truth he will not speak of his own authority whatever he hears he will speak do you remember where Jesus said I only say what I hear my father say I only do what I hear see my father dude he just revealed how how did he know what the father was doing the Holy Spirit would reveal it to him right he doesn't speak on his own authority he only says when hears the father so so here's the Holy Spirit who is on him in the form of a dove and remained that's the connection that Jesus has with the father is the Spirit of God so the Holy Spirit has been given to him to do what to reveal what he's saying all I want you to do is see that John lifts the curtain on how this thing works all right all right he will guide you into all truth he will not speak on his own authority whatever he hears he will speak he will tell you things to come that's fascinating he will tell you things to come the most hope-filled person in the universe is God he is never depressed he never looked at the planet goes yeah I mean there's nothing that intimidates him there's nothing he likes a girl well that one caught me by surprise I didn't see that coming it just never happens he's got hope because he knows he's able to complete what he said he would complete he knows of his own capacity to complete his promise to humanity so when he is going to tell you things to come how many of you were have been raised in some sort of a church environment and this would be my testimony it may not be yours but a church environment when when you heard the guy was gonna show you things to come that meant he was going to show you the calamities and the difficulties that we're gonna hit the planet that's the environment I grew up in because there wasn't much good news it was pretty much bad news and this is what you don't do and and you know just pray for Jesus to come back because there's a big devil out there and we just need to get rescued you know you know Jesus didn't do everything he did so you and I could do church he didn't suffer the way he suffered so that you and I could barely make it he didn't barely raise from the dead he didn't squeak through a little crack between the stone and the opening to the tomb he rose triumphant absolutely victorious in a same spirit of God lives inside of you he is not subtle in his triumph telling you things to come you know when the Lord said there would be wars and rumors of wars and things of that nature he wasn't giving us a promise he was describing the conditions into which he was sending his last days transformational army he was saying this is the environment I'm sending you into verse 14 says he will glorify me and referring to the Holy Spirit he will glorify me for he will take of what is mine and declare it - 15 goes within all things the father has are mine therefore I said he will take of mine and declare to you now you've got to catch this because it's kind of what I'm building to this that this whole thought really moves me because Jesus Jesus is God and as God he owns everything I mean everything that exists in every realm realms that we aren't conscious of he owns everything in those realms - everything is is it all is for him it was made by him and for his pleasure his absolute delight and all that he has made when he was through the creation he said to himself you did a great job this is good and there's nothing he could have done to improve upon his creation and so Jesus as God owns everything but when he became men he gave up everything and then here Ian's heritage everything as a man why because it's the only way we can be brought into the inheritance because here Ian heritage everything as our elder brother I know what does he say here he says everything is mine everything the father has is mine and the Holy Spirit will take what is mine and declare to you this is what I want you to see this again is that the whole concept that whenever Jesus speaks he creates realities picture this stage as kind of being symbolic of a bank vault and in this bank vault is everything everything in the spirit world the natural world everything that exists in all of creation everything that exists is in this bank vault and the Holy Spirit Jesus says going to take what is mine so he goes into the bank vault he takes what belongs to Jesus and he puts it in Word form and declares it to you he's taking what's mine and he transfers to your account through the declaration every time he speaks there's a transfer of heavenly resource to enable you and me to accomplish what we were born to accomplish so he takes Jesus that he takes what is mine and he declares it to you he remember he speaks and creates realities words become spirit spirit contains Kingdom if Jesus said it's my father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom well we're not gonna go where I had planned to go but we'll go somewhere and have fun let's go go with me to go with me to Matthew 13 and I'll I'll end it on with this passage Matthew 13 this is way too long of a story to start at this part in our time so let me just kind of summarize do you remember the parable of the seed and the sower you guys must remember that this is where Jesus is illustrating the nature of the kingdom as it pertains to seed planted in ground and so he shows us different kinds of soil different kinds of planting conditions okay because he's revealing the soil is what determines the harvest because the seed is the same in all the conditions of the soil so when God speaks and every person in this room he doesn't speak a high quality seed to this person a low quality seed to this one he gives every person the exact same seed of promise and hope and potential impact all of that stuff it's given to everyone so everyone's treated the same in that sense all right and so he's giving us an illustration of these kinds of soils so he says therefore here in verse eighteen here the parable of the sower when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it the wicked one comes snatches away what was already sown in his heart this is he who received the seed by the wayside he who received the seed on stony places this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy yet has no root in himself but endures only for awhile for tribulation or persecution arises because of the word immediately he stumbles he receives the seed among thorns as he who receives the word and the cares of this world the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it becomes unfruitful but he who receives the seed on good ground is he who hears the word and understands it who indeed bears fruit produces some hundredfold some sixty and some thirty this is one of the cornerstone parables in the Bible but don't I mean a cornerstone is in a building where they in biblical days they would build a building and there would be a key stone that would be put in the corner in that corner stone would actually set the parameter of the building number one but number two would actually hold everything together so it was kind of like the most important stone it was unique it was different than all the others it wasn't just another brick it was a stone that set the parameters the boundaries the borderlands all right this parable is a cornerstone parable in other words if you understand this one a whole bunch of other stuff will make sense and so what we need to do is recognize where God puts emphasis because sometimes he wants to talk to you about this but you have no place to put it until you get this right all right so here's the story so he deals with four different kinds of soil it's worthy of good study we're not going to I'm just going to take one word out of it and talk to you about this in the first verse where he talks about the seed that falls on the wayside he says when a person doesn't understand the word the enemy comes the birds come and take the seed so the implication is understanding gives the seed depth in soil so the bird can't take it right you get the picture when there's when there's when there's no understanding the seed lays on top of the ground so the bird is able to come so you get the picture the understanding would be the tenderness of soil that receives the word all right at the end of the parable he says those who understand it produce fruitfulness some hundred some sixty some thirty four all right here's the picture the word understanding here is a word that basically means it's it's learning that we do through our five senses let me illustrate it this way let's say that I let's say that I was bringing a message today about carrying the for the poor and that all of us can do something and so I challenge I challenge everybody in the room let's let's upgrade our compassion for the poor let's look for people that are hurting let's do something let's let's not be overwhelmed by the size of the problem and do nothing let's at least do something for somebody and so I'd give you that challenge everybody in the room says Amen that's a good word all right some will walk out of the building with an intellectual understanding but not an understanding from the heart that produces change what is that that's the first verse in the explanation of the parable that's seed sown on the way said why because the seed stayed on the top of the ground all right so what does the seed do the seed actually invites the Devourer because it's not put into the heart right how is it put into the heart practical human experience if I hear that same word and I say I turn to my wife let's say we got to do something we got to change something let's let's do it let's let's take a percentage of our grocery money and let's take five percent of it and let's just let's just set that aside every week and we'll just find a needy family to give it to or let's go buy groceries or something so we think of something we just purposed together we've got to do something from what we've heard what just happened that seed because it got put into practical human experience just got put into a place where the enemy has no access to that make sense so now it doesn't mean it doesn't mean I have full understanding of the word that was spoken it means that the seed that that which carries the DNA of God on his view of brokenness in humanity is now a part of my life and it cannot be stolen it can't be stolen because I have practical human experience to back what was just spoken I may not be mature in it I may not be all developed I may not have it maybe hasn't changed life yep but it is secure in me because they took it beyond the surface of the soil put it into practical human experience in other words things that I learned through my five senses I can touch the money I saved I can touch the person I give - I have interaction with them and expressing some sort of compassion affection or concern and so something has now been worked into my personality through that seed in God's Word that was more than just my Amen in a service now here's the most dangerous part to me is that when you hear a word that you agree with but do not put into action a deception comes over us where when we hear that word again let's say that I bring the word on caring for the poor all right and in three months you have another guest speaker or your own pastor stands up somebody stands in this pulpit and gives the challenge for caring for the poor everyone who heard my message on caring for the poor can say Amen to the next one even if no action was ever taken and there's this idea that because I intellectually understand the concept I am what the word says but I don't have biblical understanding I have an acceptable cultural understanding the concept that that part makes sense to you so it's pops possible then for me to hear that same word that brought conviction the first time but because I've resisted that convicting word changing my lifestyle now I've learned to live with the pressure of conviction and I can relieve the pressure of conviction by saying amen to the message that out comes the second time or I can talk about it in a Bible study group and we can share our conviction and never put put into practical human experience never put it into that which the five senses can experience and so we create this buffer zone between us and the reality of truth and we acknowledge yes this is true yes people need to be doing something about this which I'm so glad he had the courage to preach that message because we really need this gate for our pastor he's really getting after a hard stuff here our church needs to do something and there's this illusion that because I understand here I understand here all right we just went on a world tour of something I'm not sure where we went but I look at you and I

Channel: Manningham Christian Centre

Views: 4,681

Rating: 4.9428573 out of 5

Keywords: Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, Renewing Your Mind, BillJohnson, renewed mind, MCC, MCCLIFE, LIFEOFMCC, Manningham Christian Centre

Id: CMYsGw7-nKM

Length: 57min 39sec (3459 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 07 2017