The Bible reads,
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God,
to the saints which read Ephesus,
and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
and heavenly places in Christ,
according as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame
before him in love,
having predestinated us under the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will.
To the praise of the glory of his grace
where he hath made us accepted in the beloved,
in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace,
where he hath abounded toward us
in all wisdom and prudence,
and we may note unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure,
which he hath purposed in himself,
that in the dispensation of the fullness of times
he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth,
even in him,
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory
who first trusted in Christ,
in whom ye also trusted
after that ye heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation,
and whom also after that ye believed
you were sealed with that holy spirit of promise,
which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession,
under the praise of his glory.
Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith
in the Lord Jesus in love unto all the saints,
cease not to give thanks for you,
making mention of you in my prayers,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of him,
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened,
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling,
and with the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints.
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power,
which he brought in Christ
when he raised him from the dead
and set him at his own right hand
in the heavenly places,
far above all principality and power and might
and dominion and every name that is named,
not only in this world,
but also in that which is to come.
And hath put all things under his feet,
and gave him to be the head
over all things of the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all.
Let's pray to the Lord God.
Thank you again for everything you bless us with.
Thank you for this church and our pastor.
Just ask that you would strengthen him now,
fill him with your Holy Spirit.
Please bless the preaching
and continue to bless our church
in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
All right, we are in Ephesians chapter one this morning.
Look down at your Bibles at verse 18.
It says, the eyes of your understanding,
being enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints,
and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us,
where to believe according to the working
of his mighty power.
And the title of my sermon this morning
is four steps to a biblical perspective.
Four steps to a biblical perspective.
I wanna talk about this morning
the importance of being scripturally minded.
In other words, viewing the world
through the lens of the Bible.
And it's important that as Christians,
when we make our decisions,
when we get involved in relationships,
when we seek to accomplish some sort of endeavor,
that we do it through the lens of the Bible,
that we do it through the lens of scripture
and make decisions based off of what the Bible says,
not based off of our feelings,
not based off of someone else's experiences,
but based off of God's word, right?
Now, the reason that's important
is because of the fact that God commands that, amen?
God doesn't say that it's optional
for you to make decisions based upon the Bible.
He commands us to use the word of God
and to view things in light of scripture.
And in fact, think about this.
In order for Christians to succeed this side of eternity,
that is greatly determined based upon
your relationship to God's word.
The Bible says in Joshua 1-8
that this book of the law
shall not depart out of thy mouth,
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night,
that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written therein.
Listen to this.
For then thou shalt make that way prosperous,
and then thou shalt have good success.
So according to the Bible,
in order for you to succeed in any endeavor in life,
not just the Christian life,
but even at your job, in your family,
with the relationships that you have,
you need to meditate and think upon the Bible.
Then thou shalt have good success,
then you will prosper.
One of the most famous verses in the Bible,
or capitals in the Bible, should I say,
is Psalm 1, where the Bible tells us,
blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful,
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
The Bible tells us, he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water
that bringeth forth his fruit and his season.
His leaf also shall not wither.
Listen to this.
And whatsoever he doeth,
shall prosper, the Bible tells us.
So if you truly want success this side of eternity
as a Christian, you want to accomplish
and achieve things of significance,
you want that promotion,
you want to succeed in your marriage
and your child rearing, whatever it is,
you know, you gotta make the Bible
the most important aspect of your life
and do things in light of the Bible.
Why?
Because that's what determines your success
and prosperity in this world.
Not only that, but you know,
the Bible also teaches us that in order to succeed,
you have to view things in light of the Bible,
but you know, in order to avoid destruction,
in order to avoid pitfalls, you need the Bible.
So when we make decisions,
when we get involved in certain relationships,
when we shoot for certain accomplishments
this side of eternity, you know,
it's important for us to read the Bible
to see what God's word has to say about it
because of the fact that it'll cause us
to know what we should avoid,
who we should avoid, right?
The Bible tells us in Psalm 19,
you don't have to turn there,
verse 10 says,
More to be desired are they
than gold, referring to the Bible.
Yea, then much fine gold,
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover, buy them as thy servant warned,
the Bible says.
And in keeping them is great reward.
In other words, as we read the Bible,
we start realizing, oh man,
this type of friend is dangerous.
This type of endeavor is dangerous.
This type of company that I'm keeping
is not the right kind of company.
These people are gonna destroy me.
You know, this habit is gonna ruin my life.
And so the Bible is constantly warning us
so we can avoid the pitfalls
and the destructions of this world.
What is that called?
It's called living life with the Bible in mind.
Being scripturally minded,
having a biblical perspective.
The Bible tells us, you know,
to trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
and listen to this,
and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him
and he shall direct thy paths.
Now obviously that requires faith, amen.
Why?
Because we think very highly of our own understanding,
do we not?
We think, oh man, we know,
and we've been around the block,
or I've learned this from so and so.
Whereas the Bible clearly warns us
not to lean upon our own understanding,
but that we should lean upon the Lord and his word,
because his knowledge and wisdom is superior
to our knowledge and our wisdom.
And so there are times
when we're making a certain decision
and we think we know what's best.
Then we hear a sermon,
or we read a particular Bible verse,
and it's just like, whoa,
this is actually the complete opposite
of what I was planning to do.
I don't know if I can do that,
but at the end of the day,
we need to exercise faith in God's word,
and esteem it more than our necessary foods,
esteem it more than the wisdom that we have,
and by faith obey God.
You know, the Bible tells us
that man shall not live by bread alone,
but by everywhere that proceeded out of the mouth of God.
In other words, we should esteem
the wisdom and knowledge of God
far more than anything else in this world.
And obviously, there's knowledge in this world,
there's wisdom in this world,
that lines up with the Bible, right?
And at that point, it's safe.
But at the end of the day,
everything should be filtered through the lens of scripture.
Now, this morning, I'm gonna give you four steps
to have that biblical perspective.
It's a good old Mother's Day sermon, amen?
And so I know moms were hoping
that I would just rip on their kids
and tell them to obey them and all that.
I'll tell them that tonight and the week after
if you wanna come for that.
But that's what we typically preach here,
to obey your parents and to honor them,
so they kinda already know that,
so if they're not doing it,
then you know, have them come talk to me
and we'll straighten them out on that.
But today we're gonna talk about
the steps to a biblical perspective.
I got four points for you this morning
on how to have a biblical perspective.
That is number one, redemption,
two, renewal, three, removal,
and four, remembrance.
Number one, redemption, number two, renewal,
number three, removal, and number four, remembrance.
Now turn with me if you would to John chapter nine,
if you would, John chapter number nine.
Let's talk about that first step
towards a biblical perspective, and that is redemption.
What is that referring to?
It's referring to salvation.
Now, you say, well, what's the deal with that?
Can I look at the world through the lens of scripture
even if I don't ascribe to the salvation of the Bible?
No, because the Bible tells us that the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
neither can he know them,
for they are foolishness unto him, the Bible says,
and they are spiritually discerned.
So in order for us to even understand
the depth and knowledge of God's word
and to obey the Bible, it requires us to be saved.
Now, thankfully, the Bible clearly lays out
how to be saved, amen?
You know, it's not like, well, you know,
you have to like keep all of God's commandments,
you gotta repent of your sins,
you know, you gotta have a relationship with God.
These things are very vague, right?
Whereas the Bible clearly says,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
I mean, can't get any more simple than that.
Even to a point where a five-year-old can understand
that why, because God wants all people to be saved,
and the Bible tells us,
he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.
He that believeth not the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him.
The Bible tells us that if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
But with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
but with the mouth confession is made into salvation.
Verse 13 says,
for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
So the Bible says if you believe that Jesus Christ
died on the cross to pay for all your sins,
not just some sins, by the way, all of them,
past, present, and future,
big sins, small sins, all of the sins,
you believe that he paid for those sins,
and you believe that he resurrected on the third day,
you could literally ask for the free gift of salvation,
not pay for the free gift of salvation.
The Bible describes salvation as being a gift,
therefore it doesn't require anything on your end
other than you accepting of the gift, okay?
The Bible says for by grace are you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves,
let me repeat that, not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God,
and then he reiterates that thought by saying
not of works lest any man should boast.
If you could get yourself to heaven
based upon your obedience to God's commands,
your ability to repent of your sins,
it means you can boast all you want
when you get to heaven,
but no one's gonna boast when they go to heaven
because anybody who is in heaven and goes to heaven
doesn't go based upon their own merits,
but based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ,
our faith in him.
So according to the Bible,
when the Bible describes the people of this world,
he actually describes them as being blind.
So how can you have a biblical perspective,
in other words, view things spiritually
through the lens of the Bible,
if you're blind, right?
Look at John chapter nine, verse 39.
I'm gonna use a couple physical illustrations this morning
to help you to remember this truth,
but let's start off in John nine, verse 39,
it says Jesus said,
for judgment I am coming to this world,
that they which see not might see,
and that they which see might be made blind,
and some of the Pharisees which were with him
heard these words and said unto him,
are we blind also?
Jesus said unto him, if you were blind,
you should have no sin, but now you say we see,
therefore your sin remaineth.
So what is Jesus Christ referring to?
Well, in John nine,
he just got finished physically healing a person
of their blindness, but it is symbolic.
It's an illustration also of salvation
because of the fact that once you get saved,
once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
even though you're not physically blind,
you were spiritually blind,
and now you can actually see spiritually, okay?
Now, again, it's not referring to a physical blindness,
it's referring to a spiritual blindness.
The Bible actually calls it the blindness of your mind
or the blindness of the heart,
where you're incapable of understanding spiritual truths,
you're incapable of seeing the real problem,
you're incapable of seeing the real truth
because you are spiritually blind.
So this means that it doesn't matter
how religious a person is or how devoted they are
to the Catholic church, to orthodoxy, to Judaism,
or whatever religion's out there,
if they're not saved, then they're blind.
That means they can read the Bible over and over
and over and over again,
they will not understand a single word of it.
Why, because according to the Bible, they're blind.
And in fact, the Bible says,
whom the God of this world hath blind of the minds
of them which believe not,
thus the light of the glorious gospel of Christ
through the image of Christ should shine unto them.
So the Bible's telling us that Satan has blinded
the minds of people in this world,
so number one, they don't get saved
and they don't go further than that, you understand?
He said, well, I know someone who is a Catholic
or I know someone who is a Mormon or something
and they seem to understand the Bible.
Well, if it seems as though they understand the Bible,
it's only because they're repeating something from someone
who does know the Bible.
Because at the end of the day, the Bible tells us
that we should lean onto the testimonies of God
and God says that they don't understand it.
So who's telling the truth here, God or the person?
Obviously, God is the one telling the truth.
And you say, well, I still don't agree with that.
I think people can understand spiritual truths
even outside of salvation.
Well, think about this, I got this here
and I don't typically use these, my kids sometimes do,
but these are, I don't know what you call this,
like a blinder or, you know, it's for sleeping, okay?
And let me put this on real quick.
So let's say, you know, let's say I just had this on
this entire sermon.
It's funny, huh?
But you know what, this is exactly how the vast majority
of the world operates.
So what if I came to you and I said,
no, I see everything clearly, and you're like,
I'm over here, you know, it's like,
I see everything clearly, I know what the Bible says,
I've already read it, and he's like,
how do you read it if you can't even see?
And you hand them, you hand them a physical Bible,
and you tell them, explain to me what the Bible
says about salvation, explain to me what the Bible
says about X, Y, and Z, how are they gonna show you?
You know, they can feel around,
and they can, you know, touch the pages,
but they're not gonna be able to actually give you
the content of the Bible itself
because they're spiritually blind.
They can't see beyond whatever it is.
You say, so what are you trying to say?
Well, what I'm saying is that the vast majority
of the world, because they got this on,
spiritually, of course, they believe everything
that they hear.
So anything that they believe is things
that they're listening to, right?
They're not actually seeing it for themselves.
You understand what I'm saying?
And so, and by the way, let me just say this,
is that we all started off right here.
Blind as a bat.
And this is why the Bible says that faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
You say, well then, if you're blind,
then how are you able to see now?
Well, I'll tell you why.
Because of the fact that someone preached the gospel,
they gave me the message of salvation,
I heard it with mine own ears,
and then the scales were removed.
And it was like, oh dang, there's a lot of people
in here, you know?
Wow, color, I see ministries walking.
You start viewing all these things,
and you realize, wow, you know,
I thought I knew the Bible,
I thought I knew the contents of the word of God,
but I didn't really know it.
And you know, there's been instances in my personal life
where I remember before salvation,
I remember reading the Bible.
Because I wanted to like read the Bible,
and I probably didn't get past like Genesis 6,
you know, and then after that,
once you start getting into those proto-names,
you know, all those weird names in the book of Genesis,
then I just lose interest, and I don't understand,
and then I move on, right?
But now that I'm saved, I can understand it and read it.
Why, because now the spirit of God dwells within me,
the eyes of my understanding have been enlightened,
and now when I read the Bible,
not only do I understand it, but I can teach it.
Not only do I understand it, but it enriches my life.
Now I can apply it to the world in which I'm living.
Now I can make decisions based off of the word of God
and reap the benefits of it.
Why, because this is no longer on.
Redemption is necessary
in order to have a biblical perspective.
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter three, if you would.
2 Corinthians chapter three.
So keep in mind, devotion doesn't matter.
You know, being able to practice something religiously
doesn't matter if you don't have salvation,
and the sad thing is that you have millions
and millions and millions of people all around the world
who have been deceived by false religion,
and they think that they're going to heaven
based upon those religious acts,
and you know what, they're blind,
and they're going to lift up their eyes in hell
being in torment.
That's what the Bible tells us,
because if they die, they will go to hell.
That's what the Bible says.
You're like, well, that's not very loving.
Well, you know what, the fact that they have the truth
and they're alive and people are giving them the truth,
that's God's extension of love to them,
making salvation available to them, you understand?
And so God wants this to be removed.
You know, he wants the scales to fall off from our eyes.
He wants us to be able to see clearly
and not remain in darkness,
but it requires you believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
exclusively for salvation, though.
You're like, well, I thought you had to keep
God's commandments to be saved.
The Bible says, therefore, we conclude
that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law,
and no amount of keeping of commandments can ever save you
because of the fact that we've already broken them all,
and the Bible tells us in James 2.10
that whosoever keepeth the whole law,
yet offended in one point, he's guilty of all.
So God's standard is perfection
when it comes to keeping his law.
So even if you've never murdered,
you've never committed any heinous crimes,
if you've lied, which is a violation of God's commands,
God views it as though you just violated all of them.
Why?
Because God's standard is perfection,
and the only person who's been able to meet
that standard of perfection is Jesus Christ.
That's why we have to believe on him.
That's why when we believe on him,
his righteousness, his perfect record is imputed upon us.
So God views us through the blood of Jesus Christ,
not through our own righteous works,
which are not righteous at all.
The Bible says that there's none righteous, no, not one.
That our righteousness are as filthy rags
in the eyes of God.
So I would hope that if you're here today,
and you got this on spiritually speaking,
that you would get saved,
that you'd believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you know what?
You don't have to tithe to our church.
In fact, you actually never have to come back.
You can if you want to, though.
I'm not saying, you know, I'm not kicking you out.
We would love for you to come back, of course.
But you know what?
You actually never have to step foot in this building,
in this church ever again,
and you would still be saved,
because salvation is only based upon your faith in Jesus,
and that's it.
And once you're saved, listen to this,
you're always saved.
You have it forever.
It's the greatest gift God has ever imparted into mankind,
is the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Look at 2 Corinthians 3, verse 12.
It says,
Seeing then that we have such hope,
we use great plainness of speech,
not as Moses, which put a veil over his face,
that the children of Israel could not steadfastly
look to the end of that which is abolished.
But their minds were blinded,
for until this day remaineth the same veil
untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament,
which veil is done away in Christ.
But even unto this day when Moses is read,
the veil is upon their heart.
Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord,
the veil shall be taken away.
So the literal interpretation of this passage
is referring to Jews,
and the Bible's telling us that,
it doesn't matter how much Jews read the Bible,
the Old Testament,
how scholarly they claim to be,
the veil is still upon their heart,
so they can't see nothing.
But once they decide to turn unto the Lord,
the Lord removes that veil,
and now they see all things clearly, okay?
And of course, even though the immediate interpretation
is referring to the Jews,
this is applicable to all lost people.
The Bible tells you you don't have to turn there.
The Bible tells us in Psalm 146, verse eight,
the Lord opened at the eyes of the blind,
the Lord raised at them that are bowed down,
the Lord loveth the righteous, excuse me.
Go to Ephesians chapter four, if you would,
Ephesians chapter four.
So the first step into having a biblical perspective
is you gotta be saved.
Doesn't really matter if you have a PhD
in divine subjects or in the Bible,
or if you're a scholar of the word of God,
if you're not saved, it doesn't really matter.
You know, Nicodemus was a master of Israel,
and he wasn't even saved.
You know, he understood everything supposedly
about the Bible, he was a ruler of the Jews,
he was essentially a teacher of the word of God,
yet he didn't understand the simple concept of salvation
when Jesus Christ gave it to him in John chapter three.
He couldn't, why, because he wasn't saved.
And so if you're not saved, you know,
not only are you not gonna be able to understand,
you know, the basics of the Bible,
you won't understand the deep things of the Bible either,
because you still have this on, okay?
Now, the second step that we're gonna look at,
we looked at redemption, the second one is renewal.
So now that you're saved, you can see,
you have your eyes open, but you know,
here's the problem though, is that
even though you can see, everything is still kind of dark.
You say, what do you mean by that?
Well, I'm gonna illustrate it with these sunglasses, okay?
So for the remainder of these two points,
I'm gonna keep these on.
Why are you laughing?
I don't see what's so funny about me wearing glasses.
I'm just kidding.
He said, well, how does that illustrate
what you're talking about?
Well, you know, when you get saved, you can see,
but things are a little dark still.
And in fact, you know, you're in a room,
and if you're wearing sunglasses,
you can barely see things, but typically,
people wear sunglasses when they're when?
Where?
Outside, when it's really bright,
because they can't really handle the light.
You understand what I'm saying?
And so when the light is shining,
they wear the sunglasses because it's just
a little too much for them, but really,
what it is is that they just need to take
the sunglasses off to allow their eyes
to adjust to that sunlight, et cetera, right?
But from a spiritual perspective, you know,
once you get saved, yeah, you can see now,
but you're still kind of looking through
a glass darkly, per se, because of the fact
that you don't really understand everything in the Bible.
Now, why is that?
Well, where do I have you turn?
Ephesians chapter four, I'm gonna read to you
a couple verses here.
Of course, we started off in Ephesians one,
you're in Ephesians four.
Ephesians 1 18 says, the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, that ye may know
what is the hope of his calling.
The Bible tells us in Romans chapter 12, verse two,
to be not conformed unto this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, acceptable,
and perfect will of God.
So what does the Bible tell us?
The Bible actually tells us that once we get saved,
we need to change our mind about certain things.
The mind needs to change, now why?
Because we all come into the Christian life
with bad ideas, bad ideologies, bad doctrine sometimes.
And we don't all come with the right ideas
and the right thoughts.
You say, well, you know, I agree with some of my old ideas.
Yeah, but what if God doesn't agree with him, though?
Then at that point, it needs to change.
You need your mind to be renewed.
It needs to change regarding certain things of this life.
In fact, the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter two,
and you have to be quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sin,
wherein in time past he walked
according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience.
So according to the Bible, you know,
we've all walked according to the course of this world.
We all adopted the philosophies of this world.
We all adopted the ideologies,
the cultural teachings of this world.
So they're kind of like embedded in here.
You understand?
So that when you hear a sermon,
or you read a verse and it offends you,
that's kind of like your indicator,
oh, you just have a bad,
you just have bad doctrine, that's what it is.
Because any time you hear a sermon or you read a verse
and it just kind of bothers you a little bit,
you're like, ah, I don't really like,
but if it's in the Bible,
it's just kind of showing you
that you need to change your mind
regarding what God says,
and not try to fit what you believe into what God says.
You need to remove what you believe
and insert the new concepts.
And that's really what it is.
You know, it's essentially learning new concepts
about the Bible.
And some things that we learn as Christians
are just completely foreign to us
when we first get saved.
Biblical roles, how about that?
I mean, especially in the world in which we live today.
I mean, today, it's just like,
people are switching genders
or they think that they're switching genders or something.
It's crazy what the world is teaching out there.
But you know, how about just the rudiments
of what the Bible teaches regarding roles?
You know, that the father works,
the wife stays at home,
they're in submission to the husband,
they're in submission to the father,
they raise their children in the nurture
and the admonition of the Lord.
See, even as I'm saying that right now,
I'm sure some of you are just like,
I don't know about that.
Well, it's because you need to change your mind about it.
That's what the Bible says.
Well, I don't really agree with what, I know you don't.
You don't have to tell me, I know you don't.
I'm just telling you,
you have to start believing it, though.
So there's no real option for the Christian,
either you believe the Bible or you don't.
And here's the thing, it's like,
people, they'll believe the Bible,
but they don't agree with the Bibles
in some instances, right?
And it's because they got these on.
You know, they go outside with the sun,
they're just like, oh, man, I can't really take it.
So they put the sunglasses on,
the preconceived ideas that they had previous to Christ,
and they judge everything based off of this right here, right?
Whereas, you know, some people who've been saved
for quite some time, they're learning, they're growing,
they're just like, you know,
you could preach the craziest thing from the Bible,
and then people are just like, amen.
It's great, can I have more?
May I have some more, please?
You know, it's just,
it's like, can you do a part two?
You know, that sounds awesome, you know?
But there's other people who are just like,
oh, man, that's too bright.
That's too much light.
That's way too much truth.
Or, you know, they know it sounds bad
if they say, like, they don't agree with the truth,
so they'll say, oh, why are you saying it that way, right?
They attack the way you say it, not what you're saying.
But here's the thing, whether I say it nicely or not,
it doesn't change what I'm saying, though, right?
So if I say something just very timidly and just kindly,
some of the hardest truths of the Bible,
you have to accept it no matter what,
because it's still the truth.
So it's not really, it's not really how I'm saying it,
it's really the problem that people have is the truth,
is what it is, is they're viewing it
through these right here, okay?
Look at Ephesians chapter two, excuse me, Ephesians four.
Ephesians four, look at verse 17.
He's speaking to believers, of course,
at the church at Ephesus, and he says,
"'This I say therefore, and testifying the Lord,
"'that ye,'" meaning you all, "'henceforth walk,
"'not as other Gentiles walk
"'in the vanity of their minds.'"
So what is he instructing them to do?
He's saying, look, from here on out,
from henceforth, you need to make sure
that you conduct your life
not the way unsafe people conduct their lives.
Live your life not the way the unsafe people do,
that's what he's referring to
when he talks about Gentiles,
and he says, you know,
because they're doing it in the vanity of their minds.
They're just kind of empty-minded,
they don't really have purpose,
there's nothing really to achieve there,
they just got a vain mind.
He says, don't be that way, okay?
He goes on to say in verse 18,
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.
So he says, you know, the reason they're like that
is because, number one, they're not saved.
They don't have understanding,
they're alienated from salvation,
they don't have redemption,
they're ignorant of these things.
You shouldn't behave that way
because you have redemption.
You are saved, you have the word of God, right?
Verse 19 says,
who being past feeling,
have given themselves over into lasciviousness,
to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Verse 20,
but ye, you all, believers,
have not so learned Christ.
You didn't get that from Jesus.
If so be they have heard him
and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus,
that ye put off the former conversation,
referring to the conduct, the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust,
and I want you to pay attention to verse 23,
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
What does that mean to be renewed
in the spirit of our mind?
Change your attitude.
If you have a bad attitude towards the Bible,
then you need to change your attitude towards the Bible.
We'll tell our kids that law.
Fix your attitude.
You know, if they don't like some favor
that we're giving to one of the siblings or something,
they're just like, you know, they get mad
and you just gotta tell them, like, fix your attitude.
You know, you throwing a fit isn't gonna change
Dad's decision,
you need to conform to what I just told you
and fix your attitude.
And it's more likely that I'm just gonna be a blessing
to that sibling if they do fix their attitude
towards my decision, and in fact there's instances
where one sibling is favored over the other,
maybe they're given like a candy or some sort of treat,
and the other one rejoices.
They're just like, oh, that's great.
Hey, you want something else, you know?
And his change of attitude makes me wanna bless him too.
But you know what?
Sometimes Christians, one of the issues that they have
is not necessarily that the Bible's wrong
because we know it's God's word,
it's their attitude towards the Bible.
It's their attitude towards the hard things of the Bible.
It's their attitude towards what the Bible says,
how a marriage should be run.
It's their attitude towards what the Bible says
about child rearing.
It's their attitude just about pretty much anything,
it rubs them in the wrong way.
Why?
Because they still have these on.
They're viewing things, they're viewing the Bible,
they're viewing the Bible through the lens
of their preconceived ideas, their worldly ideologies,
and that's why they're always
gonna have a problem with it.
So it's important that once we get saved,
we determine I need to change my attitude towards church.
Right?
Change my attitude towards reading the Bible every day.
You know, because you might come
with the preconceived lens of,
well, I'm not really into reading the Bible,
more for devotionals.
You know, I like these devotionals.
You know, I got this one app
that sends me one verse or something, you know?
And it just gives me an inspiration of the day.
But you know, the Bible doesn't talk about that.
The Bible says you should be reading the word of God.
The Bible says to give attendance to reading,
to exhortation, to doctrine.
So that's something you have to change your mind about.
You know, well, I've always done it this way,
but just because you've always done it a certain way
doesn't make it the right way to do it.
And the Bible's telling us that we need to change our,
you know, change your mind towards church attendance.
Well, you know, on Sundays I kinda like to, you know,
just do my own thing, and you know,
it's a great time for barbecue,
and you know, fill in the blank or whatever.
Well, I guess you gotta change your mind about it.
Because the Bible says not to forsake
the assembling of ourselves together
as the matter of some is.
Like, yeah, I don't really like that though.
I know, that's what I'm telling you,
you gotta change your mind.
You gotta like fix the way you think about it.
There's a lot of things in the Bible
that we're not gonna agree with.
Why?
Because the Bible goes against our nature.
It's funny when people are like,
oh, the Bible's written by man.
If it's written by man, if man came up with it,
then why does it just go against everything that we want?
Isn't that what I'm saying?
It just goes against everything that we desire,
so obviously it's God's word.
So when we read it, we have to conform our attitude,
our desires, to God's word.
And you say, well, how do I start that?
Well, when you hear me preach something,
or when you read something and you just don't like it,
that's the one you gotta work on.
Say, Lord, change my mind about this.
Because it's in the Bible, I know that it's right,
and it says it right there.
Help me to remove these preconceived ideas
and love the Bible, so that the commandments
of the Lord are not grievous to me, you understand?
So he tells us to renew the spirit of our mind,
change your attitude, change your viewpoint
on the word of God.
He says in verse 24, and then he put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness.
Go with me if you would to 2 Corinthians chapter number 10,
2 Corinthians chapter 10.
So we get saved, we have these preconceived ideas,
we have these shades on, and it makes it kind of
difficult to operate as a Christian, really.
Because you're in a dark room and you still got
those shades on, you just can't really see things,
you can't really understand anything.
And here's the thing, you know the Bible tells us
that if we do the will of God,
then we will understand the doctrine?
So if Christians have a hard time understanding
what the Bible actually says, it's probably because
of the fact that they're not conforming themselves
to the word of God, okay?
But even more so, you step outside in the sunlight
and it's just too bright, you wanna keep those on.
And the brightness, spiritually speaking,
could signify the truths of God's word.
And I'm not saying we're just gonna look straight in,
don't take this illustration too far.
Like just look straight into the sun, you know.
What I'm saying is you need to just operate
and navigate in this world without
your preconceived ideas on, you understand?
Now you know, some people have those shades
where they get lighter or brighter or something,
it's like a dimmer or something, I don't know,
these fancy glasses, you have those, right?
Yeah, and it's just like if you come inside
then they lighten up or something, you know.
Forget all that, okay?
Spiritually speaking, I'm saying, those are good,
yeah, you don't have to throw them physically.
Spiritually, you know, allow yourself to see
inside and out, you know, it's just like,
well, you know, for these particular instances,
I like to have my preconceived, you know,
when it comes to politics, I'll go ahead
and put these on, right?
You know, when it comes to whatever happens
in November, because I like to, you know,
kind of operate that way.
You know, when it comes to, I don't know,
relationships or, you know, my girlfriend
or my boyfriend is just like, ooh,
I'm gonna put these on real quick.
I put them on in certain instances,
that's called compartmentalizing the Bible.
God didn't say, hey, you know,
remove them in certain instances
and keep them on in other instances,
He just tells you to just keep them off permanently.
But you know what, some people just keep them
tucked away in their drawer, because they still agree
with those old ideologies, they still like
those old ideologies, and when it fits them
and when they want them, they pull them out,
they put them on, and that's how they view
the world sometimes, but you know what,
you're doing yourself a disservice
by not changing your mind regarding
certain things of the Bible, okay?
I know you believe the Bible, but in order
to have a biblical perspective and to make decisions
based off of the Bible, you can't have these on.
You need to see clearly in order to succeed
and obey the Lord and do things
that are pleasing unto Him.
So we see there that the second step
to having a biblical perspective is renewal,
meaning change your mind, and you know what,
don't bite off more than you can chew.
As you come to church, as you read the Bible,
you're gonna be challenged with a lot of truths,
and as you're challenged, pick one and say,
you know, I'm gonna work on this part.
I'm gonna work on reading the Bible every single day.
I'm gonna work on just coming to church.
I'm gonna work on my attitude towards
this specific commandment, God changed my attitude,
helped me to just take off the shades
and operate the way you would want me to.
So step number one to having a biblical perspective
is what, redemption.
Step number two is renewal.
Step number three is removal.
Now, at this point, some people still have the shades on.
Because of the fact that, aside from the fact
that you gotta put in the right stuff in,
learn new concepts, learn biblical concepts,
you gotta get rid of the old concepts,
the old ways of thinking, the old ideologies.
There needs to be an uprooting of bad ideas,
bad habits, bad ways of thinking,
inferior ideas in comparison to the Bible.
And just know this, everything that is contrary
to the Bible is an inferior, you know, idea or ideology.
Meaning it's just not as good as what's in here.
Now you may think it's good,
you may think you see great with these on,
but you know what, at the end of the day,
nothing compares to the human eye being able
to just view and see all the beautiful colors and so on.
Okay, so you have to remove those bad ideologies.
The Bible says in Psalm 113,
I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse number three.
It says, for though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh,
for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal
but mighty through God, to the pulling down of what?
The strongholds casting down imaginations
and every high thing that exalted itself
against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ.
So the Bible's telling us here,
it's painting this picture that all of us
have these strongholds in our mind.
What is a stronghold?
We think of one nation conquering another, right?
And once they've conquered that particular nation,
that city in ancient biblical times,
they would set up these strongholds,
also known as garrisons,
where you have these foreign soldiers there
to make sure to keep the inhabitants in check, okay?
So these are outsiders, these are foreigners,
and they have set up a stronghold,
a garrison within that particular city
to make sure that they keep rule
over that particular city, you understand?
So the Bible likens having these bad ideologies to that.
He's basically saying, you know,
throughout the years that you've been alive, you know,
and gone to school and listened to music
and hung around certain people
and been around certain doctrines,
it's Satan just constantly putting a new stronghold,
new stronghold, new stronghold, new stronghold.
And these strongholds are basically lies and deceit, okay?
Now, here's the thing is that some people have
like cities and cities of strongholds within them,
meaning that they have so many garrisons
and strongholds in their mind,
it's like it's hard to get anything done.
It's hard to even get them saved.
You know, you think of people who are just lost
in false religion, right?
They're just not even open to the gospel.
They're not even open to just, you know,
considering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
They're not even open to like listening to the Bible.
That's a person who has just garrisons upon garrisons
and strongholds in their mind
that's keeping them from coming
to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
I mean, think about someone,
if you were to go to the Middle East
and try to witness to someone who is lost in Islam,
that'd be a very difficult person to get saved.
You know why?
Because their mind is just filled with garrisons
and strongholds that are keeping them
from coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
And that lens is just getting darker and darker
and darker and darker, right?
They can't see.
But here's the thing is that once you get saved,
obviously the blinders are removed,
but you know what?
Some strongholds still stay though.
Some bad ideas still remain there.
And you actually have to do something about it.
You can't just allow it to just remain in your mind.
You have to change your mind about those certain things
and you have to renounce those bad ideas.
You have to come to the realization,
this is actually a really stupid idea.
It's contrary to God's word
and I need to reject this way of thinking.
And you know what?
For a lot of people that's really hard sometimes
when it comes to just basic things of the Bible.
Why?
Because if you've just bought into a certain ideology
and you've invested time, money, energy,
your family into it,
it's kind of hard to just get rid of that particular
tower because it's always been there.
But you know what God says?
If that tower is exalting itself
against the knowledge of God,
you gotta tear it down.
You gotta cast that tower down.
You know there's a tower today,
and by the way not just in the minds of people,
but just like culturally, in this country,
there's a major tower of just people accepting
sodomy and perversion in this world, right?
They just accept it.
And you know what?
Christians unfortunately are part of the problem.
Because they're not saying anything about it.
June comes around and everyone's just like zip.
They just don't want to offend anybody.
Well you know that tower's always been there.
That garrison's just kind of always there.
Folks, as Christians, and I'm speaking to Christians here,
you know what we're supposed to do
is go take a hammer to that tower.
And just tear it down.
Destroy it.
Why?
Because if it's exalting itself against the knowledge
of God it needs to come down, understand?
Some people have the tower or garrison of just,
laziness, slothfulness, drunkenness, fornication.
These are things that people want to excuse
in their minds as though it's okay to do.
Oh you know fornication, it's not as bad.
That's just kind of how we've always been.
We just kind of live life that way.
Well it sounds like you got a strong tower there
that needs to be destroyed
because the Bible says that's actually wicked and sinful.
And you know what, if the Bible says it
you don't have to agree with it,
but the reality is this,
you have to change your mind about it
and remove that thought out of your mind
and renounce it and say, you know what,
this is wrong and this is evil and this is wicked.
Now one thing I've learned is that
if you see something in the Bible
regarding a particular sin, and in your mind
you're kind of excusing it,
but you know that it's wrong
and you kind of want to have the right attitude about it,
just start talking bad about it.
And you end up changing your attitude about it.
Like you know what, fornication is wicked.
You're like, whoa, I said wicked.
Fornication, yeah, it's evil.
Fornication is godless, whoa, godless.
And you know, once you start actually verbalizing
these things, you actually start believing them,
which is what you're supposed to do anyways.
You're actually supposed to speak these things out,
teach them to others,
and you'll actually buy into the truth of God's word
that yes, it is evil, wicked, and sinful,
and you should stay away from it.
You understand?
And so, in order to have a biblical perspective
regarding anything, it's important that you remove
the bad ideas from your mind.
Well, I just think that all religions,
I get that Christianity is the main religion
that has salvation, but I'm sure
there's religions out there.
I'm sure the Catholics are saved or something.
That's a false tower.
That is an ideology that's built into your brain
from ecumenical churches that try to make you think
that everyone's going to heaven.
False, wrong, that's not what the Bible teaches.
That's a stronghold that needs to be torn down.
You know, well, I just believe that, you know,
women should be independent and not be a keeper at home.
Well, sorry, but there's enough evidence
in the Bible to prove otherwise.
And that's a stronghold that just needs to be torn down.
And you're like, well, I think that's just wrong.
Well, then, I mean, you don't have to agree with it,
but just don't deny that it's in the Bible, though.
You understand what I'm saying?
It's just like, well, I don't agree with it.
That's fine, you don't have to agree with it,
but you just don't say that it's not in the Bible
because it is in the Bible.
And so, what it is is that you just need
to get rid of that stronghold in your mind
that's been put there by feminism,
that's been put there by wicked philosophies
that want to destroy the family,
they want to destroy women, they want to destroy men,
they want to destroy children, the family unit,
and they're constantly setting up garrisons and strongholds
that are making you believe that.
Tear it down, why?
Because it's exalting itself against the knowledge of God.
You're never gonna have a biblical perspective
if you keep these on.
You gotta remove them, they need the boot, okay?
That's what the Bible tells us,
cast down those imaginations.
Go to Colossians chapter three,
Colossians chapter three if you would.
So even after salvation, you can be deceived.
Even after salvation, the blinders are off,
you just decide to put these on
and you're gonna have a hard time
having a biblical perspective
because you're still viewing things
through the lens of your preconceived ideas.
So the good ideas have to come in
via reading the Bible, via listening to preaching,
via memorizing the Word of God,
and just via being around godly Christians,
you'll get the right ideas.
You'll get the right doctrines,
you'll get the right ideologies,
but that's not enough.
The bad ideas have to be removed as well.
The bad imaginations have to be removed as well.
And here's the thing, some people might think,
well, I think drinking is okay.
I think smoking pot, smoking weed every once in a while,
you know, what's wrong with that?
I think doing crack every once in a while,
there's people out there that don't like that.
A little crack never hurt anybody.
Yes, it does.
What kind of garrison is that?
Who gave you that, who built that strong tower
to make you think a little crack is not bad?
But I guarantee you there's someone out there like that.
A little meth every once in a while never hurt,
are you kidding me?
A little ayahuasca never hurt,
have you listened to Joe Rogan?
What do you mean a little ayahuasca's never hurt?
That guy believes in aliens.
He doesn't have a tower,
he has like a saucer over in his mind.
He has like a starship in his mind.
I mean, there's some silly things
that people believe out there, right?
Believing in aliens and believing in Bigfoot, you know?
And maybe someone in here like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Now you're just trying to be offensive, huh?
Bigfoot's not real either, okay?
You say, well, how do you know?
Because we live in a day and age
where cameras are just like absolutely awesome.
And you tell me we can't catch him in 4K at least?
We catch everyone in 4K nowadays.
I mean, that's like a phrase caught in 4K,
but we can't catch Bigfoot in 4K?
Why is he always pixelated?
And don't tell me that that's what he really looks like.
So there's people who have these strongholds of,
you know what, drinking on the weekends is fine,
whereas the Bible tells us wine is a strong drink,
is raging, wine is a mockery, a strong drink is raging,
and whosoever is deceived, thereby, is not wise.
That's a strong tower that someone placed in your mind
trying to justify you getting drunk.
Remove that strong tower.
Well, you know, smoking pot every once in a while,
the Bible commands us to be sober and to be vigilant.
So we're not going to be able to get drunk.
The Bible commands us to be sober and to be vigilant.
Who built that strong tower in your mind
to say that that's okay?
You know, oh, you know, just dabbling in sin
every once in a while, never hurt anybody.
The Bible says for the wages of sin is death.
Who told you that stronghold, who built that tower
in your mind to make you think
that somehow that's okay and you'll be fine?
It's the devil who's doing it
and it's the devil's minions who are doing it.
We need to cast those things down,
remove those ideologies,
and obviously it's not something
that just happens overnight either.
No one just becomes a perfect Christian overnight.
No one becomes a perfect Christian, period.
But as you read the word of God,
the Bible says that we are sanctified through the word.
When we come to church,
you're washed by the water of the word, the Bible says.
You're just being cleansed and sanctified.
You know, those bad ideas get mocked.
You know, you believe in aliens.
I'm sure there's someone hanging in here
in times past who believed in aliens
and they no longer believe in aliens.
Why?
Because we mocked it and then they realized,
you know what, that was pretty dumb.
You know, I really thought Obi-Wan Kenobi
was a real person or something.
I really wanted Chewbacca to be someone real
but it's just, it's fake.
Look at Colossians 3, if you would, verse number five.
It says, mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth.
Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry.
He's basically saying, when it says mortify,
think of a mortician, he's basically saying,
kill these things in your life.
You know, fornication, inordinate affection, idolatry.
Says in verse six, for which things sake
the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience
in the which ye also walked sometime
when ye lived in them.
But now ye also put up all these anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
So he's saying, look, remove those things.
If you're an angry person, you need to remove
that stronghold of being just an angry person.
Someone with a short fuse, right?
You're just short-tempered,
no one can look at you crooked-eyed,
no one can disrespect you, no one can do this
because you just, you're just gonna kill him.
That's wrong, right?
The Bible tells us to be slow to anger.
Like, well what if someone just comes up to me
and disrespects me to my face?
Let them.
Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words shall never hurt me.
You know?
It's just that you still have these on.
So you think you always have to defend your honor
or something like that.
Whereas the Bible teaches us to just turn the other cheek
just walk away.
And in fact, God views you as being a person
of great might if you don't react
and do something about it.
That's what the Bible actually teaches.
It goes on to say, verse nine,
lie not one to another, be an honest person.
Well, you know, in business though,
sometimes you just gotta lie a little bit
if you wanna succeed.
That's a bad stronghold.
Get that out of there.
Bible commands us to be honest,
to have equal balances.
And a false balance is an abomination unto the Lord.
No dishonest gain in the Bible.
You're like, well then I'm not gonna make enough money.
You know what you'll get?
You may not get enough money,
but you'll get God's blessing,
which is far more valuable than money.
Says don't lie one to another.
See that you have put off the old man with his deeds
and have put on the new man, which is what?
Renewed in knowledge after the image of him
that created him, the Bible says.
James 1 21 says,
wherefore lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness
and receive with meekness the engrafted word
which is able to save your souls, the Bible tells us.
So what is the point here
when it comes to having a biblical perspective?
Well the point is, you gotta put the right things in
and take the wrong things out.
And life is, that's what it is.
Putting the right things in
and excommunicating the wrong things out of your mind.
It's building up new strongholds of God's word
and tearing down the old strongholds of bad ideologies
from Satan, the world, and the flesh.
It's a constant work, right?
But you know what?
If you take these off and you never do any of those,
then you will remain with these.
You'll never truly have a biblical perspective
because you still have those strongholds.
You have an entire city built in your mind
from people, ideas, and places
that have nothing to do with the Bible, okay?
Turn with me if you would to 2 Peter chapter one.
So here are the four steps
to having a biblical perspective.
Number one, redemption.
You gotta be saved.
If you're not saved,
just ignore everything I'm just saying right now
because the first point is the most important one.
The last three steps just mean nothing to you, okay?
They're not gonna do anything to you
unless you take these off.
And if you're not saved today, here's the great thing.
The word is nigh thee, even in the night mouth.
You can literally get saved today.
That's the awesome thing about salvation.
You can get saved in the corner of this building,
outside, in my office, where you're sitting.
It doesn't matter where you're at.
You can literally get saved anywhere.
You can have it and you just have eternal life
from here on out.
Redemption and boom, these are taken off.
But after that, you need to renew your mind,
meaning put good ideas in.
Meaning you gotta start reading the Bible,
start coming to church, get the right type of ideas,
and don't have this attitude of,
well, I just already know everything.
No, you don't.
No one knows everything.
I'm the pastor of this church
and I still don't know everything.
Now, I know the vast majority of what the Bible teaches
because I have to,
because if not, then I shouldn't be a pastor, right?
But here's the thing is that I have not yet arrived.
I'm still learning.
I'm still putting new godly concepts into my mind
as I read the word of God.
I still listen to preaching.
Why?
Because I want my mind to be renewed.
I want to make sure that my attitude is changing
constantly towards the right type of things.
You understand?
But you know what?
Even that's not enough.
You gotta remove the bad ideas.
You gotta remove the bad philosophy.
You gotta remove the philosophies and the vain disease
that come from the rudiments of this world
that don't follow after Christ.
And then lastly,
when it comes to having a biblical perspective
is you have to remember, okay?
So once the good ideas are placed in,
these are taken off.
You're like, oh man, I can see clearly.
Well, now you can see everything
through the lens of scripture.
Now, these are not prescription glasses.
I don't wear glasses.
These are the lowest end of the reading glasses you get.
So hopefully these don't mess up my eyes.
But you know, let's say, let's just,
I see blurry faces right now.
I can't see anything.
But you know, let's say these are the Bible.
Now, it's like, wow, I can see.
When I read the Bible, I can like see it.
I can understand it.
I know what's being stated here.
But here's the thing, though.
Here's the one thing that I learned,
and I don't know if this applies to everyone.
I just know it applies.
I know it's Mother's Day,
but I'm gonna throw my wife under the bus right now,
to my wife and my son.
And that is, they got prescription glasses,
and they just sometimes forget to wear them.
Does anybody know what I'm talking about?
They're supposed to wear them all the time.
Now, hopefully my wife changes her mind about this
after this sermon.
But you know, even on the way over here,
I was telling my son, I was telling him
this illustration.
I'm like, you know how we got you glasses,
and you just never wear them?
He just misplaces them.
He puts them in other places.
They just forget to wear them.
But they're supposed to wear them, right?
And if they don't wear them,
then their eyes are just gonna get worse,
or whatever it is.
I don't know all the science behind it.
This is just a spiritual application.
But you know what?
Once you start renewing your mind,
you can see things clearly.
It's like, oh man, I get it.
But you know what the problem is,
is that people go like this.
And they just forget to put it back on.
You know, Sunday, they come to church,
and they're just like, I see clearly.
You're like, I get the sermon.
This is a great point.
I can see what the Bible says about that.
Monday comes around, it's like, whoop.
And then they go try to look for their glasses on Thursday,
or they try to look for their glasses next Sunday,
and they only wear,
they only have a biblical perspective Sunday,
and if that Thursday.
But the rest of the week is just like the,
you know, it's like by Sunday,
they have to wipe off the dust
because they're not wearing their biblical lenses.
So what do you have to do?
You have to remember to put them back on.
And one thing I've learned with Christians
is that it doesn't really matter
how many good concepts you place in,
or how many bad concepts you take out,
you could actually forget a lot of stuff
if you don't keep these on.
So you could actually become worse later on
because of the fact that you don't have these on.
So you literally have to remember
when you wake up in the morning,
it's just like, gotta put the biblical lenses on.
You know, oh, you're going to work?
Put the biblical lenses on.
Oh, you're going to go do this?
And in fact, just keep them on, right?
Just keep the biblical lenses on.
Now, look at 2 Peter 1.12.
It says, wherefore I will not be negligent
to put you always in remembrance of these things,
though you know them,
and be established in the present truth.
Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle
to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.
Go to 2 Peter chapter three.
2 Peter chapter three.
So Peter's telling him, I'm not going to be negligent
in bringing you into remembrance of these truths
of things that you already know.
Concepts that are already in your mind,
bad concepts that have been taken out,
I'm just going to go ahead
and remind you of those things.
What is that?
He's basically saying, I'm going to put the glasses on you.
I'm going to help you have a biblical perspective.
I'm going to clean your lenses a little bit
so that you don't revert back to these right here.
And you know what, you get out of church,
you're going to put these on.
You stop reading the Bible for a while,
you're going to take these off and put these back on.
Now thankfully, you can never actually put these on.
Because once you're saved, you're always saved.
But you know what, you can get these dark enough
almost to the point where it's like like this.
It's not the same thing, but they're pretty dark.
I mean, you guys ever seen those like,
you know, those glasses for like elderly people?
They're like, you know what I'm talking about?
They're like, they kind of look cool, you know, maybe.
But like, they're like really big.
Does anybody know what I'm talking about?
But they're super dark, right?
It's like the glasses that you need
to look at the solar eclipse, right?
A Christian can get to that point.
Because the Bible even says in 1 Peter,
that he that lacketh these things
is blind and cannot see afar off.
Meaning that if you're not constantly working
on your Christian life, you're going to end up,
these will become shaded, they'll get dark
to the point where it's not that you're not saved,
but it's like, man, you're almost like,
almost blind again.
Not because you're going to lose your salvation,
it's just like you're not seeing clearly.
It's by your own choice
that the lenses are becoming dark.
And so what is the solution to that?
You got to remember these things.
In the morning, put these back on.
When you go to work, put these on.
When you're dealing with your spouse
and you're spending time with your family,
put these on.
When you're going to your unsaved family members,
put these on.
When you're, and I don't recommend this,
when you're watching the news, put these on.
Now, I don't have to put these on
when I watch the news, because I don't watch the news.
You know, that's part of the, you know,
removing the old bad concepts
and putting the good ones in.
Why watch it when all that's coming in is bad, right?
When you read a particular book,
when you listen to a particular podcast,
when you're around certain people, always keep these on.
Why? Because the longer you keep them off,
the worse your vision is going to get
and you're going to forget certain concepts.
And let me just say this is that Christians
who are consistently putting these on still forget things.
They still forget.
Why? Because there's so much information in the Bible.
There's so many biblical principles in the Bible
we just forget.
You know, I have pastor friends who have taught me things,
and then like a year later or something,
or two years later, we'll talk about that thing again
and I'll repeat what they taught me,
and you're like, wow, that's a really good idea.
Like, I never thought about that.
I'm like, you're the one who told me about it.
You're like, no, I didn't.
I'm like, yes, you did.
But you know what, if you want to give me credit for it,
I'm all for it, you know?
But you know what, I've done the same
where I taught something and I forgot about it later on.
I'm like, oh wow, that's a pretty good idea or something.
But you just forget.
So what's the antidote?
The antidote is this.
You gotta keep remembering.
And one of the best ways to remember
is to constantly read the Bible.
You're like, oh man, I already read through all 66 books.
Read it again.
I've read the Bible multiple times
throughout the last 17 years.
I just, you know, I'm in my second time this year,
and as I'm reading it, I'm like, oh man,
I just learned something new.
But you know what, it's not that I necessarily
learned something new, it's just that I forgot
about that one thing that I read.
And there was a time when I read it and I learned it,
and then years later, I'm like, oh wow, that's cool.
And God's like, that's cool, that's always been there.
I taught him that like a long time ago.
But we forget.
So it's important to remember,
to bring these things into remembrance.
And so that's why it's important to live life
as a Christian and avoid the bad ideas,
because the more bad ideas you put in,
the faster you forget.
Look at 2 Peter 3, verse one.
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you,
in both which I stir up your pure minds
by way of remembrance.
You know, this church here, on a weekly basis,
is like a huge pot.
And it's a huge pot of just doctrine,
and all I'm doing is I'm just stirring up
the doctrine again, stirring it up in your mind.
Your minds are like pots that need to be stirred
so that the doctrines that you've allowed
to kind of forget about, that have settled to the bottom
are now coming back up to the top,
and then you're reminded of them again.
Like, oh man, I thought you preached this already.
Oh yeah, I'm gonna preach this multiple times
before the second coming of Christ.
Because we just forget, by way of remembrance.
And this is the surefire way
that we can have a biblical perspective as Christians,
is that we keep the biblical lenses on at all times.
And look, in the day and age in which we live,
listen to me, the day and age in which we live,
it's dangerous to take these off.
I mean, you're like playing with fire
if you take these off.
Why, because there's so much garbage
being pumped through our ears and eyes on a daily basis
because of social media, and just false information
that's being put out there.
You're playing with fire if you decide to take these off.
You need to view everything through the light of the Bible,
through the lens of scripture, so that you're not deceived
so that you don't soon forget what the Bible teaches.
So what are the steps?
Well, number one, gotta get saved, redemption.
Take these off.
Number two, renewal, start putting the good ideas in.
Number three, removal, take the bad ideas out.
And number four, keep these on,
remember to never take them off.
Let's pray, Father, we thank you so much for your word,
and thank you for the clear, distinct principles
that it gives us, Lord.
Help us as your people to have continuously
a biblical perspective that we view things
in light of the Bible, and never disregard
your precepts and statutes, Lord,
on a day-to-day basis, Father.
I pray you help us to keep these things in mind
as we speak to our friends, our coworkers,
our family members, as we go about our life this week,
Lord, at our jobs, dealing with different types
of people and relationships, as we come across
different ideas through social media,
and podcasts, or whatever it may be, Lord,
help us to filter everything through the lens
of scripture that we be not deceived
and carried away with wrong ideologies,
and that which is displeasing to you.
And I pray you bless this as we go on our way.
Thank you for all the moms who came today, Lord,
and thank you for the moms that we have,
everything that they've done for us, Lord,
to help us to be the men and women that we are today.
I pray that you continue to help us to honor them,
not just this day, but all days throughout the year.
We love you, we thank you,
pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.