Bellevue Foursquare Church: Podcasts & Services

Paster Gaby teaches on legacy

The Healing of the Soul

What most ordinary Christians need to do is go deep with the Bible and believe and absorb and teach what it means and what it implies in its straightforward statements.

If you do that—if you think your way down deep into the warp and woof of the Bible, and let it shape your mind and heart—you will be spared many trendy detours that sound so up-to-date, but end in the destruction of lives.

“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”—Psalm 147:3.

Many of us have spend a large portion of our lives in a world where we were punctured and emotionally battered.

As a result our spirit had a breach in it and the enemy came in like a flood charging right into the center of our lives and as a result we have become like oysters producing of ourselves to cover the hurt so eventually it was so hidden within us that we could not detect it even.

The pursuit of emotional health is a futile pursuit

Now I might be making a controversial statement – but please listen to me – a counselor can never heal you. While they serve a valuable role in health care spectrum and often a vital asset their role is and cannot be to heal you – they cant.

But they can explore how you are where you are at and then help you cope

The only thing that matters is Christ and His fullness because it is only through Him that we will truly be able to totally healed in our souls

You see we need to come to the place where we understand that through Christ each one of us have what we need so that we can live in today

Let me also say - the pursuit of a painless life is vain pursuit – we live in a fallen world and unfortunately we will experience trials and tribulations

Jesus in John 16:33 says this :

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Let me tell you – you don’t have to be normal

You are not an example of perfection, but you are an example of what it means to survive the stuff of life

And so let us take a look at the scriptures that will speak to you so that you can live in Emotional Health

Romans 12:1-21 contains the principles of being able to live in Emotional Health

1. Verse 1 “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God which is your reasonable service”

2. Verse 2 “ don’t be conformed to this world’s pattern, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

And from the Message :

1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.

Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

In other words as you actually take the time to read the bible and study it then you will understand what He wants you to do.

You see if we want to live as God has ordained for us to live we will have to begin to look beyond that which will only satisfy us physically or naturally.

A life – a mind - only dedicated to the world and its concerns will produce a life tossed back and forth by the currents of culture.

But a life – a mind - committed to God’s truths as they are revealed to us will produce a lifestyle that can stand the test of time and withstand the tribulations we will inevitably face

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he”

It is possible to live life differently from the way you may be enduring by having a change of mind

I have two things up there on the screen : a thermometer and a thermostat.

They almost sound the same.

They are both concerned with temperature.

Yet, there is a big difference between them.

A thermometer merely registers the temperature.

A thermostat, on the other hand, controls the temperature, either raising or lowering it to the desired level.

Some Christians, I’m afraid, are thermometers.

They merely register or reflect what is going on in the world around them.

The world puts self first; so do they.

Like all the worldly and godless people around them, these Christians pursue a materialistic and hedonistic vision of life.

They are but thermometers.

But then there are other Christians who are are thermostats.

These believers do not blindly follow or reflect what is going on in the godless world around them.

Instead, they dare to be different, they dare to stand out and be counted.

They dare to impact the world around them for Christ.

They dare to go against the flow.

So you determine what you -are you a thermometer or a thermostat?

Do you conform to this world or are you transforming your life so as to more and more reflect the reality of the New Life you have in Christ?

As most of you realize, I do a lot of my work on a computer.

When it comes to doing work on a computer, a simple rule applies: garbage in, garbage out.

If someone programs garbage in, the computer can process it, and publish it, and give it a neat appearance, but the end product is still only garbage.

Our minds are the same way.

If our minds are fed garbage, filth, pollution, junk, the end product can only be garbage.

To be transformed, then, our minds have to be programmed with the right sort of material.

What is this right kind of material?

Paul calls it the “will of God.”

It includes such things as the preaching, reading, and studying of God’s Word; Christian books, magazines, music, and radio; prayer; worship; Christian fellowship around the Word; the sacraments.

Renewal of hearts and minds is the work of the Spirit.

But the Spirit does not work in a vacuum.

To bring about renewal, the Spirit uses the principal of garbage in, garbage out.

Our minds must be fed and nourished on the right kinds of material, on the will of God, for the Spirit to bring about the renewal which allows us to be transformed rather than conformed.

It isn’t easy to lead and live the transformed life.

In fact, it is something we have to work at all of our life.

When you first start a job, everything seems so new and different.

You have to think carefully before you do anything.

It doesn’t come naturally to you yet.

Over time, though, you are able to do your job automatically, seemingly without thinking about it.

It becomes second nature to you.

The same thing happens with the will of God.

At first it seems new, different, and strange.

You have to think twice about anything and ask, “Now what does God want me to do here?”

Over time, however, as you live and practice the redeemed life, God’s will becomes second nature to you.

It becomes part of your being and existence.

And so begin to express the possibility that God is with me and then I challenge to each day do a little Kingdom work

However, let me tell you - that Kingdom work will only come out of an ability to hear Him and respond to Him.

So the acid test is not how you feel, but can you respond to Him today

Verse 3 -21:

From verse 3 to verse 21 we have a list of God’s patterns so that we might have the results that He and you want from your life as a Christian

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.

Say you had a pattern for a pair of pants there is not way, whichever way you cut that pattern that you will get a coat out of it

You have to use the right pattern to get the right result

So it is just the same with regards to living a Godly life – you cant think in terms of worldly patterns and then produce a Godly result

So lets look at verses 3-8

We cant do it alone and I believe that I need to ask you to forgive me – because in many instances I have firstly taken on more than I am truly able to effectively do

And secondly, in doing so I have robbed you of the joy and privilege of participating in the ministry.

And so folks I need to tell you – I am anticipating and praying that you will step up to the plate and assume your rightful roles in the work of Christ here at TGP

I am excited that so many of you have decided to get involved and volunteer in some or other area of ministry

I can tell one thing I do realize as I get older – I am not infinite – in other words I can wear out

READ VERSES 3-8

Verse 3 : notice the words “not to think of himself / herself more highly than he ought”

In other words – a renewed mind begins by thinking soberly about oneself.

The first step to changed behavior is being honest with ourselves about ourselves.

He then goes on to say that God has given every single one of us spiritual gifts – the gifts that are listed in verses 6-8

These gifts are not the result of intense prayer time or spirituality, God simply gives them as He wills so that each person using those gifts can strengthen the church

You see church is not like watching the Seahawks or going to a baseball game – each of us have been given spiritual gifts which needs to be used to build up the church

Of course we will come up with objections and reasons why God cant possibly use us

VIDEO – I will take it – Sermon Spice

I am not going to go into the specifics of the list today – that is for another time – suffice to say that there are a few other places in the New Testament that lists the gifts as well

So what do we do from here Peter?

Well, let me encourage you to get into the base classes

When you get to 301 you will deal with this area

OK moving on
Verse 9 - “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good”

The Message says “love from the center of who you are” - It then says “don’t fake it”
The kind of love that we see in the epistles of Peter and Paul is not a superficial love, but a genuine deep love.

D. L. Moody used to say, “There are a lot of people who talk cream, but live skim milk. ”
What Paul is talking about in Romans 12:9 is not that skim-milk kind of love; he is referring to love that is cleansed of self-fulfillment and self-aggrandizement.
We are to love in a pure way for the sake of Christ.
Incidentally, to describe this kind of unique love, the New Testament used the Greek word agape and invested it with a new dimension of meaning previously unknown in the world.
And so Paul here utilized a different word to describe the kind of love that only God can author.
And so – the highest form of love is Agape - this is self-sacrificial love and involves an act of the will whereby one seeks the best for another.

Then there is the word Philo which means affectionate regard and the derived form philadelphia is translate brotherly love in this verse

The third way this word love can be translated is philostorgas and that means kindly affection in this verse

And then finally there is the word eros which means a physical or sexual love and actually does not occur in the NT and this means a preference for one another.

Let me tell you that the greatest proof of the truth of the gospel message and of the reality of Jesus’ love is the love believers show to each other.
Christ is the model for such self-sacrificial love

So let me re-phrase that portion of verse 9 again with this thought in mind.

So let your love be self-sacrificing seeking the best for each other with an affectionate regard looking out for the best for the other person

So let me ask you a few questions:

When you say “I love my wife” what does that mean – what are you talking about ?

“I love my job” – what do you mean ?
“I love –“ - You fill in the blank - lets just stop for a moment and ask ourselves – what does this really mean?
Or has this word love merely become a cliqued word that today really has very little meaning
Let me give you an example - when you say I love my wife – do you know what the bible says about that.
Genesis 2:24 – “ a man will leave his father and mother …”
Ephesians 5:25 “ husbands love your wife just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it – in other words self-sacrificially
In other words husbands are to emulate Christ’s love, the kind of love that is willing to lay down one’s life for another person and to serve that other person even if it means suffering
Obviously there are responsibilities that a wife has as well and scripture carefully outlines that as well.
In other words folks – we cant use a worldly pattern to get a Godly result – it just does not work – it wont fit
And so let me challenge you with something – ask that person who says they love you – ask them to help you by pointing out when they might think you are being insincere in your love.
What I have just said is going to require a great deal of boldness and courage
The second part of verse 9 it says “ abhor what is evil – cling to what is good”
This is very interesting that Paul adds this between the beginning of this verse and verse 10 where in both instances talks about love
Lets briefly recap so far
Remember in verses 1-2 he is talking about us changing and tells us the way to do that
Then in verses 3-8 he talks about the Spiritual gifts that each one of us have been given
Yes these are freely given – but I believe that us being able to recognize that and this will only be evident for us as we renew our minds
He then begins the next verses by talking about love

By the way – in passing let me ask you this question – why do we want to see people give their lives to Christ?
There can only be one reason – not so that they will escape hell, but for that person to get to know Jesus Christ in a personal way and so have their lives changed like yours is
Let me tell you that unfortunately many people think that “if they do things right and God will bless me”
That is a perversion of the gospel and a serious lack of understanding of the grace of God and how much he truly loves you
You see many of us have grown up in an environment where as children we were rewarded by good behavior and favor withheld when we did not meet some or other standard.
And so we have brought this thinking into our Christian lives and we think that God treats us in the same way
No God does not love us that way
He knows that we are a sinful bunch
He knows we cannot live in perfection - that is why Jesus came and He is our advocate.
Now what I have just said is not a license for sin but there is nothing we can do that will make God love us any the less.
Then the second part of verse 9 says “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good”

And so for a moment let us focus on these words, “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

The reason I want to spend a little time looking at this part of the verse is simply: if you will think and pray and obey your way down into this straightforward exhortation, you (and your children) will be liberated from many of the follies of this age—and every age.

So let’s do this together.

I see five things to point out.

You may not even be conscious of these things, and yet they can have a powerfully good effect on you.

In other words, you don’t have to be an expository preacher to be transformed by the Bible.

But it helps to have them pointed out from time to time and may hasten and deepen the transforming power of the text.

1. There Is Such a Thing as Objective Good and Evil Outside Myself

So good is not what you want to be good.

And evil is not what you want to be evil.

If there were no God—if there were no Christ—then the good would be subjective, not objective.

Good would be in the eye of the beholder

But God does exist.

The good and true and right and beautiful have objective foundation in God, and in his self-revelation, Jesus Christ.
Which means that the simplest peasant in Russia or Jew in Germany or slave in Georgia or Christian prisoner in Rome can say to the most powerful Stalin or Hitler or plantation owner or Caesar:

“No sir, this is wrong.

And all your power does not make it right.

There is God above you.

And therefore right and wrong have objective reality apart from you.”

2. Choosing Against Evil and for Good Is Not Enough; Inner Intensity Is Required

Paul does not say “Choose against evil and choose good.”

His words are very strong. “Abhor” is a good translation. “Loathe,: “Be disgusted with” (Liddell and Scott Lexicon) would also be correct.

“Hold fast to what is good” means embrace it.

In other words, God is not mainly interested in a willpower religion or a willpower morality.

Choosing is not enough.

It doesn’t signal deep moral transformation.

Remember the meaning of hypocrisy—changing the outside with willpower choices.

Now Paul says, Don’t just avoid evil, hate evil.
Don’t just choose good, embrace the good.

Love the good.

The battle of Christian living is a battle mainly to get our emotions changed, not just our behavior.

Which leads us to the third observation.

3. The Bible Commands That Our Emotions Be Changed Even Though We Don’t Have Immediate Control Over Them

You can’t make yourself immediately abhor what you like.

God commands not only that we choose the good but that we love it, and not only that we choose against evil, but that we hate and abhor it.

But what if your heart is in such a condition that you love the evil and hate the good?

How will you obey this command?

The answer is that we must be born again.

That which is merely born of the flesh loves the things of the flesh.

That which is born of the Spirit loves the things of the Spirit (John 3:3-7; Romans 8:7-8; 1 Corinthians 2:14-16).

Ezekiel 36:26, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.”

The way we get a new heart (Ezekiel 18:31) is by despairing of self-change and crying out for mercy from God in the name of Christ that he would take out the heart of stone.

And when Christ has given us a new heart that begins to see the world the way he sees it and feel the way he feels it, we must go on fighting for daily transformation:

2 Corinthians 3:18“Beholding the glory of the Lord, [Jesus] we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another”

Christian living is not mere choosing. It is choosing with intensity: Abhor what is evil, embrace what is good.

4. Objective Moral Good Is Good for Us, and Objective Moral Evil Is Bad for Us

I see this mainly in the relationship between the two halves of this verse. First, verse 9 says, “Let love be genuine.”

The link between the command to love and the command to abhor evil and embrace good is very close.

So when Paul says, “Let love be genuine, abhorring the evil and embracing the good,”

I take him to mean that it will be loving thing to do if we abhor the evil and embrace the good.

Which means that what God calls evil must be bad for people, and what God calls good must be good for people.

You can see this very clearly in 1 John 5:2. John writes, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.”

So how do you know you are loving people?

By loving God and keeping his commandments.

Which leads us now to the fifth and last observation.

5. Genuine Love Must Hate

In a world like ours it is necessary not only that we love and hate, but that our love include hate.

Paul says, “Let love be genuine, abhorring what is evil.”

One commentator calls this abhorring “an intense inward rejection.”

It is rejection. It is inward. It is intense.

And my point is that in this world love has to feel hate for evil.

Since evil hurts people and dishonors God, you can’t claim to love people while coddling evil.

You were made to display the worth of Christ to others.

That is what is good for them.

That’s what it means to love them.

But if you do things to yourself that damage your delight in Christ and your display of Christ, you sin against others and not just yourself.

You rob them of what God made you to give them.

So I say again, love for others must hate evil.

Because evil hurts others directly, and evil hurts others indirectly by hurting you.

Evil obscures the beauty of Christ.

And Christ is our greatest good. Our greatest joy.

Conclusion

In closing lets just take a quick look at the word evil – take a moment and spell it backward – what is it?

LIVE –

Anything that inhibits the life flow is evil

The sum of all truth and all good, and the triumph over all evil is Christ.

So let us hold fast to Christ, and abhor everything that dishonors him.

Let me Pray