Renewing the Mind — Richard Sipley

Renewing the Mind and the Perfect Will of God

To help each other's Christians, and it's my desire in this message tonight that it would be helpful. That's what I want it to be for me very practical, and I want it to help God's people. I've said many times.

I wish I had heard this sermon when I was 16, but I wasn't preaching it then. And it would have helped me a great deal. I Didn't come across these truths until I was in ministry many years later in God.

If he hadn't brought them to me, I don't think I would be here tonight. They really rescued my life and So I trust God may use it to help you. Please turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 12 and verse 2.

We hear verse 1 quoted many of you here tonight. Memorized it long ago and could quote it Romans 12 1 have no problem quoting it. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service.

Many of you know that since I started quoting it you could have finished it with me. Not so many know the next verse and the next verse is Essential in order to bring about the first one and I really doubt whether the first one can ever truly and fully happen in a life unless the second one also happens.

The second one says and be not conformed to this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That you may prove. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God? Let us bow in prayer Father.

How precious it's been to be here tonight. What a blessing we've had from you and from our brothers and sisters in Christ and Now we pray Recognizing our own weakness and inadequacy Lord Jesus without you we can do nothing.

Lord I cannot speak anything here tonight that will help anyone unless you speak. I Pray that you will open our understanding even as we did those early disciples that we may understand the scriptures and Open our hearts to receive your word in Jesus name.

Amen. And be not conformed to this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That you may prove. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God? The perfect will of God. In revival, it seems to me that God brings us to the place where we earnestly desire To live and walk in the perfect will of God.

Now I say we come to the place that we desire it and the reason I said that is because I think Even though that's true many of us find that we're not really attaining it. Why is that? Well, there are a number of reasons but I believe that one of the main causes is because we have not come to understand This matter of the renewing of the mind and that's our subject tonight the renewing of the mind.

Thought Patterns Formed by Bondage

There was a man who had been convicted of a serious crime and he was in prison for a number of years. In fact, he'd been in prison for 40 years. Now the main part of his life was gone. He was up in years, but still fairly healthy and Still had some hope for the future.

Came time for him to be paroled and he came out of those great front gates and heard them clang behind him and He was free. As he began to walk down the sidewalk beside the prison. There's a great wall around the enclosure and as he was walking down the sidewalk One of the guards that he had come to know over the years very well I saw him walking and realized that he was now free and called down to him and said hey Jack.

And he stopped he said yes, Frank. He said Jack tell me what is it like to be free? Well. He stood there for a few moments and deep thought and he finally looked up and he said Frank It's too soon. I don't know.

I Really can't tell you. He said I'm going to think about that though, and I'll get back to you and I'll tell you later. And so he continued to walk toward the boarding house where a room had been arranged for him a job has been arranged.

He went down into the boarding house and he got to thinking more and more about that and he went down the basement started searching around. He thought I know I'm going to try and experiment and I'm going to see what it's like to be free.

He found a bottle one of those big tall bottles. That's narrow at the top and then comes down like that and goes down to the bottom shape sort of like that. He thought I'm going to try and experiment.

He put that bottle up on a shelf and then every day as he went to work and came home He looked for pieces of wire. Every time he'd find a piece of wire He'd pick it up put it in his pocket and take it home and he dropped it down in the bottle.

Now some of the wire was thick some was thin some was stiff some was soft some was springy. There's all kinds of wire. And as it went into the bottle it started to fill up the bottle and finally came to the point where he had to push The wire down into the bottle, but he kept bringing it home pushing it into the bottle pushing it in pushing it in.

And finally he was just packing it in packing it in every time and a bottle was just. So it didn't look like he could put one more piece in and he kept forcing it in and forcing it in until finally the Day came when he couldn't get one more piece of wire in the bottle.

Now many months had passed and he thought now all of this wire has been imprisoned within this bottle and I'm going to set it free, and I'm going to see what it's like to be free. And so he took the bottle he laid it down on the cement floor in the bottom of the of the basement.

And he took a hammer and with one blow he shattered the glass and it flew in every direction and the wire was free. It was very interesting when he saw Some of the pieces of wire of course as soon as they were free sprang out from the mass and fell out on the floor Exactly as they were before completely free and restored.

Some of the wire came halfway out. But he found that the great mass of the wire though free Had retained the shape of its imprisonment, and he saw what he had suspected that the long time Imprisonment had shaped the wire so that even after it was free much of it Still retained the shape of its former bondage.

Now many of the wires were deeply entangled and he found that most of the wire had to be disentangled strand by strand and Pulled from the mass and straightened out and set free piece by piece and even though technically it was free absolutely free.

Yet in fact in experience It still retained much much of its former shape of bondage. Now the mind is very much like that. Well, you see the mind has an ability to form patterns of thinking and over the years as you grow up your mind forms thought patterns ways of thinking and Many of you who lived the life of sin before you were saved found that your mind had formed many thought patterns of sin and The day came when you came to Jesus and your mind had been dark and full of sin of all kinds.

And you came to Jesus Christ convicted for your sin seeing the Lord as your Savior. Knowing that the blood of Jesus was shed for you that Christ died for your sin. And you confessed your sins and repented of your sins and turned away from them and put your faith in Jesus Christ and invited him To come into your heart in life, and he came in and a word of God says that whomsoever the son shall free he shall be free indeed and So when you receive Jesus Christ your sins were forgiven and you were set free.

But were you very interesting? Of course actually you were free in the sight of God you were free and as far as Christ is concerned You were free and all the power of God was there to make you free. But maybe you found as many have found that many of the patterns of thought that had been formed over many years Still seem to retain their same shape of bondage and they have to be disentangled strand by strand.

And set free by God. Now actually free in the Lord. But in your experience you're finding that some of those thought patterns are not free. In fact, I have to admit to you that I received Jesus Christ when I was seven years old.

Now you don't get much time to form many bad thought patterns big time. You're seven. So you can form some. But I was brought up in a very fine Christian home. My father was a pastor. When I was born in his first church, and I always had the Word of God and by the time I was seven I hadn't gotten into much and the little few things I did get into my father had means of straightening out.

And he occasionally had board meetings. And which he applied The Board to my seat of understanding. And he could straighten me out very well. So when I came to Christ, I have to admit that as far as my mind was concerned It was basically filled with things of God and teachings I had in my home and I did not have any great deep sinful thought pattern.

But I have to admit to you tonight that over those years even as a Christian because I did not understand I formed many deep strong Patterns of sinful thinking and by the time that I was Into the ministry and married and trying to pastor church and preach the gospel.

I Found that even though Christ was real to me and his call of my life was definite and I wanted to do his will I found that my Christian life was being greatly crippled because I had a mind That had formed many many sinful patterns of thinking and they were very strong and deep pattern and even though I hated those things and I went to God under deep conviction and I Confessed them as sin and I asked him to forgive me and I pled with him to set me free.

I Did not find a media freedom. You know what I discovered that my life could not be totally transformed unless my mind was renewed and Then God took me to scripture and began to work in my life and he said be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the Renewing of your mind and God began to get it through to me that I could never have a life totally changed and pleasing to God.

Unless my mind was completely renewed. I Have to confess to you that I like to read that was nothing wrong with that. But there was a lot wrong with my reading and in those early years those teen years.

I read everything that came to my hand. I have to confess that I read all kinds of literature all kinds of books all kinds of novels. I remember going to a junior high school I came out of a little country place and I went there.

I couldn't believe it when I saw the library I just started to wade through it almost right down the road. I Just read everything. He said what's wrong with that plenty and by the time I was up around 25 Pastoring a church and wanting to serve God I found my Christian life was crippled because I had a mind that had never been renewed.

Transformation Through the Mind

Well You say that seems very strange. What do you mean? Now? I'm going to show you what I mean. I want you to help me tonight. And first of all, we're going to take this word transform be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Many are talking about blowing their mind. But we might do something different tonight. We want to renew our mind. So I want you to help me. Well, you do this now will you get a hold of the word transform by its two ends.

Come on, get your hands up and get a hold of the word transform by its two ends. We're gonna pull it apart. You say that's silly. Come on. Our pride is a sin. Get a hold. You know, it is silly but help me.

We're gonna pull this word apart. Are you ready? Pull it there. Okay. Thank you. You can put your hands down. I thought your word came apart right where mine did right be. Right between the prefix trans and the suffix form.

Came apart right there. Transform now trans means to be changed and form means shape. So God says he wants you to be changed in shape. Now and once your time is pasted some of the ladies were attending a skinny class, but that's not what the Lord was talking about that's all right, too, but He wasn't talking about that.

He was talking about the shape of our life. And he says in Colossians chapter 3 in verse 10 that we are to be renewed in Knowledge or in our mind after the image of him that created us. So when we become a Christian God wants to reshape our life in the image of Jesus Christ.

Amen. Do you want to be like Jesus? Oh I do. I want you so much. I want my life to be like him. I think I've wanted that ever since it came into my heart. I've longed for that as long as I can remember.

I've wept over that. I've been totally discouraged over that because I was not like Jesus. I Wanted my life shaped like him and that's what he wants. He wants a life transformed reshape. Shaped in the image of Jesus Christ.

But you know this reshaping of the life is impossible without the renewing of the mind. Now you say to me tonight. Well, why is the mind so important and I'm going to give you four reasons very quickly why the mind is important and why that?

It's essential to this change. First of all, everyone thinks. Now you say now I know some people that don't think. Well, you really don't even people in mental institutions think you know my wife and some other young people in the church where she grew up were going through a mental institution and They had a service there and there was a very finely dressed man nice.

They're lovely business suit and shirt and tie very neat who was kind of showing them around The floor where they were and explained to them different pieces of equipment and and the problems with different patients they thought he's one of the doctors and went all through and and finally one of the orderlies came to Unlock the door and let them back out and they were about to go and they Turned to thank this man and he got up close to one of them and kept him on the shoulder and he said say.

Said that would you have a poached egg that I'm a piece of toast and I want to say No, he wasn't one of the doctors. Please. I wasn't implying that he was. So you see everybody thinks. Now people think differently, of course, but I hope no one here thinks like that.

But everybody thinks. Another thing about people is that not only does everyone think but people think all the time all time even 24 hours a day. You have dreams. I don't have many dreams anymore. I'm too tired.

I Go to bed. I just sleep. That's it. My poor mind doesn't have time to have dreams. But they tell me that it's functioning 24 hours a day and people are thinking all the time. You say oh, no. They're not I something happened to me and I wasn't thinking yes, you were.

Only you're thinking about the wrong thing and there's a wonderful most TV ads are sickening, aren't they? Made for. I don't know who to make for me. But there's a few that are really cute and there's one in the United States that I like and it's an insurance ad and it shows.

This man driving a car down the street and it says Mr. Smith is driving toward the corner of 5th Avenue and 25th Street and he is thinking about his business instead of his driving and Mr. Jones is also driving toward the corner of 5th Avenue and 25th Street.

And when they get there, mr. Smith is going to give mr. Jones the business. You'll catch out of that one Sunday. So I like that one so you see people think all the time. Now when you he wasn't thinking about his driving, but he was thinking right?

So you think all the time and the next thing I want to say is that what you think is Almost unlimited because you can do anything you want to in your mind. You can do a thousand things in your mind. You could never do actually.

You can do a thousand things in your mind that you don't think you would ever do actually. What. I wonder what would happen here tonight if I should say that I have a brand new, you know. They're making all these marvelous machines now.

And if I should say that I have a brand new machine. It has a cone on it that I can point toward people and we have this screen up here. I'm going to set the machine up and I'm just going to at random point the cone towards somebody in the audience and it's going To play back everything they've thought this week on the screen.

This place would be empty in two minutes. The reason you laugh is because you know, it's true. You see. The mind is important, isn't it? You know God has given me the privilege of being many places in the world and I can just stop for a moment and I Can immediately transport myself to Brazil and I can see missionary family there.

I can see it churches there where I preached. I Can be transported to West Africa where we were a year ago summer my wife and I four countries of West Africa. I can see the work there. I can see the head of the National Church in Gabon, fine-looking man.

I can see the president and vice-president of the National Church in Mali and Dear man of God that sat and talked to me through an interpreter for an hour and a half telling me with tears in his Eyes about the National Church and the great Brunei's heart for Africa.

Isn't that marvelous? I can be there in a second lifting them up to God in prayer. The mind's a marvelous thing. But you know, you can also commit a thousand sins in your mind right. Isn't that why Jesus said you have heard that have been said by them of old time thou shalt not commit adultery.

But I say unto you he that looketh on a woman to lust after her that is to have a determination in his heart to Possess her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Doesn't have to do it with his body.

He can do it in his mind. You see the mind is important, isn't it? Because we think all the time and because we can go anywhere and do anything in our minds good or bad and lastly because God says That what we think is what we become.

Because the Word of God says in Proverbs 23 7 as he thinketh in his heart so is he. Always say no, that's not what I am. I'm not like that. No, no I've tried to tell God that I said, oh Lord, I'm not like that.

Sure, I've read all that stuff and I thought all that stuff and I've developed all those simple patterns of thinking. But that's not what I am. I'm a man of God. I love the Lord. I preach the gospel. God says oh That's not what I say.

I say that as you think. So you are and the mind is so powerful the way God has made us that it actually shapes our life and That's why God said you can't be transformed or reshaped unless you have a renewed mind.

That the mind has to be renewed in order for the life to be transformed because the mind shapes the life. And I can't have a mind like the devil and have a life like Jesus. Amen. And The mind has to be renewed.

Sowing and Reaping in the Mind

It simply must be six verses seven eight. Remember these because it's six seven eight you never forget it now six seven eight. It's like that six seven eight Galatians six seven eight. What does it say be not deceived?

God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth but That shall he also reap he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. And he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.

What you put in is what you get out. What you sow in your mind you will reap in your life. And all I have to know tonight to know a great deal about you is to know what you're putting into your mind. If you simply let me know what you're putting into your mind.

I know the problems in your life. Sometimes I go to visit people in my church and I sit down in the living room and there while they go to get me A cup of coffee or something. I just look at their bookcase or their magazine rack.

And I learn a great deal. I Learn a great deal about their lives because what you put in Is what you're going to get out? The mind is very much like a vast computer. In fact, they'll never make a computer to match the mind.

But it's very much like it and with a computer if you put into the computer that two and two or five. Then every time you give that computer a mathematical problem. You'll get a wrong answer and You keep putting things into your mind.

Whatever you put in your mind and feed into your mind and whatever you think constantly and fill your mind with then you push the button and it will come back and It will shape your life. And the reason I preach this kind of a sermon is because I love my brothers in Christ and Because I am so conscious that there are many people sitting here listening to me tonight.

That desperately need to hear what I'm saying in this service tonight. And if you will listen to it It will change your life. Because you have been a Christian for years and you have never had complete victory and you're never going to unless your mind is renewed.

Nothing else will do it. You know, we must stop the blaming game. You know where the blaming game started in the Garden of Eden. And God said to Adam what have thou done and he said it was my wife's fault.

It does if I can read it. And not only that he said it was the woman You gave me. So he not only blamed Eve, but he blamed God for giving her to him. I don't doubt he'd been asking for her for a long time.

And you know God turned to Eve and said what about it Eve and she said what my fault it was the serpent and the serpent Didn't have anybody to blame but himself. Or what see that's not new that's old and The whole attempt and I want to say it's again with great kindness.

But the whole attempt of the behavioristic science is to blame our behavior problems on other people is an irresponsible Lie that began a way back in the Garden of Eden and God said no, I won't accept that.

You're to blame for what you do. And you see we say well, it's not my fault that I'm like I am it's my family or it's my wife. You see I can't have victory because of the wife I married. I can't have victory because of the husband I have.

I can't have victory because of my children who are away from God. I can't have victory because my parents aren't Christians. They'll be if you had to work for the man. I have to work for you wouldn't have victory either.

You see it's somebody else my grandfather mistreated me. There's somebody else to blame. It's not me. Or it's God. He won't do it. I've asked God to change me and make me holy and God won't do it. So we charge God with being a liar.

The scriptures say that God be true. And every man alive now we need to stop the blaming game and accept the fact that we are what we are because of what we have done and The shape of our life may be determined by what we have put into our minds and it's up to us to come to God.

And get those minds renewed. Whenever I think of this I think of a little boy who was helping his mother and It's nice little boys to help their mother and he was down the basement sweeping the basement out for his mother and so as he was sweeping the basement as hard as he could go a mouse ran out from under the sofa and Boy, that was exciting and he took after the mouse with a broom and he he caught it somewhere in the middle of the room and he smacked it and.

But he didn't kill it and it started running the other way and he took a swing at it and knocked it up against the steps. Now couldn't run anymore, but it wasn't quite dead. And so he knocked it out into the floor and he beat on it and he beat on it.

I just really smashed it and it was really thoroughly dead probably about ten times dead and Then he was really proud of what he had done. So he grabbed the mouse by the tail and It was a bloody mess all smashed and mangled.

And the only problem is he didn't know the preacher had come to call on his mother. And so the preacher was sitting up in the living room talking to his mother and the preacher was sitting right around the corner from the door where he couldn't see him and He went running up the stairs and said mother mother mother.

Look what I've got and we're running through the house right out into the middle of the living room. Holding this awful mess and he said mother mother I was down in the basement and I was sweeping it and this mouse ran out from under the couch and I hit him with a broom and he wasn't dead and I knocked him up against the steps and he still wasn't dead and then and Then he saw the preacher and he did a double take and the wheels turn this mine and his horrified.

He said and then and then and then the Lord called him home. Just the old blaming game. It's God's fault. Not mine, you know the reason y 'all laugh so hard. Right along with me. All the rest of it, but you know, God wants us to stop that doesn't he?

You see, I think many of us for many years have been glad that somebody was willing to help us blame our problems on someone else. But in revival we have found God's finger pointing where? Right at us.

I'll never forget the first night. I sat in the meeting him and Ralph said revival is God's finger pointing at you. And I said yes Lord, that's me. God is pointing. And I'm all alone. There's nobody else.

You see God wants us to take responsibility for this matter. Now, how are we going to do it? Let me give it to you quickly. God's Word says first of all be not conformed to the world now. I want you to help me one more time pound since the last time you'll have to help me tonight.

Rejecting Worldly Influences

We're going to take the word conformed apart so get it by the end come on. You did well with the word transform. You got it. Now pull it good. Thank you. You've got it fine. It came apart right where I wanted it.

You have the prefix con and the suffix form now. It's a little different this time because con means to be like now form still means to be shaped. So it means to be shaped like like what God says do not be shaped like the world but be reshaped.

By the renewing of your mind do not be shaped like the world. Now, how are we shaped by the world like the world? Let me tell you. Our lives are shaped like the world by thinking the thoughts of the world after them.

What we put in our mind? Will make all the difference. There's a man in Akron. There's a great soul winner was in the church I pastored there. He put it kind of bluntly. He said garbage in. Garbage out what you put in is what you'll get out.

The reason that so many of us have so much problem with the world and we find our lives shaped like the world. We cannot seem to get free from it and be like Jesus is because we are constantly filling our minds with the thoughts of the world.

We're constantly pulling into our minds the world's philosophies the world's attitudes the world's books the world's TV programs the world's music. The world's entertainment and we constantly constantly fill our minds with it and No one can do that and not be shaped like the world.

Absolutely, it will do it. I am convinced that were I forced to constantly listen and Fill my mind with the thoughts of the world that it would affect me whether I wanted to or not. You know, some of us need a book-burning.

Oh, you say come on now. That's back in the time of witches and all that kind of thing. No, it isn't I want did you know there was a book-burning in the Bible? Now you say you're that's a joke. No, it isn't.

No turn with me to Acts chapter 19. It was in a revival a book-burning in Acts chapter 19. Oh was preaching in Ephesus and Acts chapter 19 verse 17. It says this verse 17 now Acts 19 beginning with verse 17 and this was known to all the Jews and Greeks all for dwelling at Ephesus and Fear fell on them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified and many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds.

Somebody says I don't believe me sharing session for Paul did. It is May the bleed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious art brought their books together and Burned them before all men and they counted the price of them and found it 50 ,000 pieces of silver and when they burned those books what happened so mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed.

Isn't that fantastic? That's in the Bible. You say you really believe that? Yes, I do when God began to show me this truth. I went through my library. I Went through all my library all my books all my magazines and I had a big steel drum out in the backyard and I filled it up and Put gasoline on it and I had a book for me.

That's right. Now may not may be against the law in your city. So you may have to go and put it in garbage dump or something, but you see we need to get these things out of our lives. God's Word is very explicit about this when I was bringing up my children in the United States.

Do you know who told all of us how to bring up our children? Dr. Spook, I mean Spock. And do you know what thousands of Christians did they left their Bibles lay on the shelf and read dr. Spock? You know what happened they ruined their children.

You know what? God's Word says how many of you can quote at least the first few verses of the first time. Can somebody quote? Part of the first time. Yes. Uh-huh. Okay, you got it. Wait, I want to see how many can some of you did now, you know what it is.

Blessed is the man. You want to start it with me? Come on. Let's just start it. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. That's enough. Did you know that was in the Bible? Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.

There are thousands of precious Christians that are going to the ungodly for counsel. May God help you. It's the wrong place to go. I Just heard today about a couple that went for marriage counseling.

To one of the worldly marriage counselors, he finally agreed with them that their marriage was hopeless and they ought to split up. They don't have God's standards. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.

We must stop going to the ungodly for their philosophies and their thoughts and their ideas and their ways of living and Filling our minds and our lives with what the ungodly believe and think. And some of you may have thought that that Tom Allen was extreme when he talked to the young people about their music.

He was not. I Want to say to you that it's absolutely impossible and I want to say this very strongly because I've been in the ministry for 35 years and I've been trying to salvage Young lives that have been ruined for those many years and I weep many tears and have many heartaches trying to salvage young lives that are crippled and I want to say that there isn't a young person on earth that can fill his mind Constantly day after day after day with the filthy garbage that's being put out by that kind of music and walk with God.

His life will not be shaped like Jesus no matter what he does. He can go to a prayer room and pray and when he cries his eyes out He can call on God he can ask God to fill him with the Spirit or take him to the cross and do anything He wants to but if he keeps filling his mind with that filthy garbage He will have a life shaped like the world and he will not be like Jesus and he will not walk in victory.

That's all there is to it. God made us that way and he will not change it. That's the way we're made. Second. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We are to be shaped like Christ. Listen carefully by thinking his thoughts after him.

Filling the Mind With Scripture

Replacement. We must fill our minds with the thoughts of Jesus Christ. Go back to Psalm 1 with me. Will you and just quote it as far as you can go? That's all when you run out. Don't worry about it. Just I'll finish.

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 that he meditates Day and night and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water That bringeth forth his fruit in his season.

His leaf also shall not wither and Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drive us away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Oh my friends. We need to fill our minds with the Word of God. We need to read it. We need to study it. We need to meditate in it day and night.