180 degree turn to jesus

January 28, 2024
​Speaker Luke Eichstedt

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And we should all have these cross reference sheets titled the Renaissance with us and it can serve as an outline for us this morning. So we can follow along together as we explore the renewing of our minds. That is what the Renaissance is. And I'd just like to open up with a word of prayer before we begin. Your heavenly father, I thank you for the graciousness that you've presented us, not only today, but in our past as we explore both our past, present, and future with regard to our mental states in Christ. Allow everything that is said and done from here on forward to be for the purpose of your honor and your glory. and not anyone individuals but yours all of your glory. Amen. 
And ultimately, you may be wondering, well, why am I up here? What is going on? And the simple answer to that is I was inspired to write a memoir of sorts, which is also sort of like a self-help book for people of my age, that I just had a longing to contribute to society in that way. And it really details a sort of 180 degree turn from where we were headed, a wrong path, to taking that 180 degree turn and completing it to Jesus and what he wills for us in our lives. Which leads us to this word, the Renaissance, which is a French term signaling rebirth or renewal. And it also implies of the dark ages or our past where we were before salvation. And they've surely passed those dark ages upon salvation by a redeemer. We have been cleansed of those things. We are forgiven of our sins upon belief and trust in Jesus. That is what the Renaissance implies. And this morning we'll be going through 10 what they're called missing pieces, and it's sort of imagining someone going home and alone just with themselves in Christ, between them in Christ, and just sort of reflecting on their past, understanding maybe their mistakes where they've gone wrong. and where they need to head in the future. And they're putting these missing pieces together like a puzzle in their minds to live a more clearer life in Christ upon completion of that. So these 10 missing pieces are a process that we'll be going along today and what scripture tells us to do when we're going through them. And each of these missing pieces seeks to answer a question and they do answer a question. 
And after we go home today, We can have this tangible experience that we can pass along and minister to others as well. And you can look at, before I begin, you can look at these testaments from two perspectives. Either you yourself is asking these individual questions and learning about them and having them serve as a reminder to you as you go forward. Or you can have it as a perspective of someone or an unbeliever, you're ministering to them and they're asking you these questions and you're answering them and you're explaining them and going to the word to answer these questions that they have. So we'll begin here with the first missing piece titled Visions. And this seeks to answer, well, what is God's vision for us mentally? And really when we talk about the Lord's vision, we have to look to Romans 12:2. and the first three verses there, and it's signaling a victorious mental transformation. Not some minor tweak or minor adjustment in our lives upon conversion. This is a permanent and everlasting person decision. That is his vision for us, to go to him. So we look to Romans chapter 12, the first three verses there. States, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace. given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. And if you go through Paul's 13 epistles here, it can be found that roughly 48 to 50 times does Paul mention the word mind, renewing of the mind, spirit of the mind, anxious or carefulness, in his epistles here and does that not single signal to us the vital importance of that process of a once and for all being reborn being renewed of our minds and putting off the old man which we see here and further down if you just chapter four verses 22 to 24. That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful us. and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that ye may put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. And the main signal here from God is to fully put to rest our past flawed selves in good faith and in good health, for good, once and for all. Because the old man cannot linger, who we were teetering on this borderline between maybe a life that was led by sin, and corruption as it states here, and a life that is truly meant for us by God's grace and by his will for us, which we know is holy and acceptable. 
So we know that we have to fully put to rest our past flawed selves, put away the old man wholly, and move on and assume the new man. Finishing here with the parable of seed casting, which is again part of his vision for us. We know that when we encounter or when we're communicating with other people, we have to do it in a compassionate and loving way. And let the rest take care of itself. Let the Lord's will take care of the rest when we're away from them. Mark chapter four, 26 to 29, this is just a brief example here. And he said, so the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast a seed into the ground and should sleep and rise night and day. and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first a blade, then the ear, after that, the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he put it in the sickle, because the harvest is come." So essentially, in terms of the true kingdom of God, we must mentally plant seeds. And when we're having conversations with other people, whether they be like-minded believers or people that we're ministering to, who have never heard the gospel of the grace of God, we need to be of one mind, of a renewed mind, before we can do that. And understanding that we were all given one of a kind charms by God and to be used for God's vision. And I'll end visions here with, it's actually in the book as well that you can read. It's a message quite like Isaiah chapter 55, where it's, you know, if you thirst, I will give you beverage. If you are hungry, there will be food. If you're broke spiritually, you will be rich. And it's quite like that here, I'll read it for us. This is from God directed to me as he speaks to every one of us. Says to you, son, I'm with you today, I'll be with you tomorrow. The downpours along with the strife. This glistening dichotomous fortune you are now aware of. Those people I gave to you They lost when you lost. Without feeling and tears, you slowly perished and thirsted. But I'll fill your cup to overflowing. I'll take care of you. I'll keep my promises, the ones you see glimpses of every now and again. 
I'll renew your mind and provide clarity of your purpose. Come, walk with me on the trail I've blazed just for you. My vision, a perfect creation with real inevitability of greatness awaiting. And there we see this inevitability of greatness, and you can have two paths there. Either you can follow your own path that you think is the best for you, or you can follow the Lord's. Knowing that the real greatness stands in him and him alone, not in your own conceptualized plan in that way. 
So that seeks to answer that his vision. We'll move on to the second missing piece here, which is titled Do Not Disturb. And it's figuratively saying, okay, once we understand what the Lord has for us, to take some time away to reflect and to grow privately, just for it could be temporarily or it could be a continuous thing. And it seeks to answer, how do we develop and heal? And the intentional separation of yourself from the world's foolishness that we see to either align or realign your focus on where it needs to be, which is Christ. And the beauty of being alone as a gift from God is realization. how much we can realize while being alone and learning. We'll start here in Luke chapter five verse 16. This is another example. Jesus himself took in many instances across the gospel to take some time away to think, to pray, to even cry, because we require that as humans. And it simply says, and he withdrew himself from the wilderness and prayed. And this is just one of the instances where we cannot even fathom what he had gone through here on the same earth that we walk on. So amid all the madness of this world, taking time alone to pray, to study the word, to be fully immersed in his love, to get us on track, to align our focus where it needs to be. And we all know the Second Timothy, chapter 215, studying to show ourselves approve unto God. Work when they need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And the sense of do not disturb. And as you are rightly dividing the word of truth, it also can be helpful to also rightly divide your past as well, because if you can understand where you went wrong and take accountability and lament to God, it's all that much closer to God when you're in terms of faith. And understanding that if what you're witnessing is seems to you to be utter foolishness as a member of the body of Christ, there's no sense to be partaking in that. We need to run from it. even if it costs you that fool's worldly indulgence. We are not to be a part of that. We are to be shining our lights amid the darkness that is this world. And if it's clarity we seek to find, which it is, distancing ourselves from the world's foolishness and accepting the answers through the word and through our past, and rightly dividing that as well, it's going to be a very loud silence. that we will be hearing, we will be enjoying that, and we will be getting peace and clarity and life from that. Because we're no longer carnally minded, we're spiritually minded. In Hebrews chapter four, verse 12, for the word of God is quick or living, powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit of the joints and the marrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart where we're being judged on. not by our conceptualized ideas of the old man. So do not disturb, really aligning our mentalities to focus and align ourselves to Christ's message and what he has for us. And understanding that salvation, this is a personal decision to run to Christ. 
This is a, you need to be, or you ought to be having that very much alone mentality of understanding what you are doing, understanding where you stand in Christ as a body, as a member of the body. To move on from Do Not Disturb, we go to the third missing piece as we're putting this puzzle together in faith, in good faith. It's called Growing Pains. And in this world, this is a very difficult time within this process that we all have gone through, I'm sure, where you're growing and you notice that other people may be... seeing that and knowing that and their sort of demons are frustrated by the Holy Spirit, that they see in you, that they notice and they notice that you're not going along with those worldly things anymore. So growing pains is an abundance of self-doubt and discouragement and hate even being thrown at us by outsiders and by unbelievers. And it affects our self-esteem, it affects our efficacy. And it's a continuous force that we ought to separate. So pain or hurt for Christians is imminent, essentially to our own coming knowledge of what will happen to those who have not yet placed belief in Jesus for their forgiveness of their sins. And it weighs on us. That's why we are to, in times of pain, in times of deep, sorrowful pain, to lament and grow closer to God within that internal conflict that we face. He's not going to leave us, He's not going to forsake us, simply because we have these conflicts. He knows of the pain and the sorrow that we go through, and He wants us to share that with Him and to lay that in Him. And we should pray for the usage of the strength given to us from God that permits flourishing of ministry, and we can through this growing pain here, expect Graham on the road to cleanliness. So here we are in growing pains. We'll just go to Psalm 27, verse one. This is David here saying, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Essentially saying, what horror can come, what terror can come if I know of the comfort and the blessed assurance that I have in God? And again, in Isaiah, we're kind of bouncing around here, but Isaiah chapter 26 verse 3, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. That is the focus. That is how we will continue and have success in this period of deep sorrow. And remaining positive with the Lord, be wearing a false doctrines, as we know. and emphasizing our time on the earth to other people as a gift, as a journey from God guided by the God of Christ. And proceeding boldly is our mission as well. We were not given spirits of fear. And I'll just read the entirety of Psalm 13. I think it's a great example of the almost drastic change in tone and attitude when we go to the Lord and lament. Here we are in Psalms 13. How long with thou forget me, O Lord, forever? How long will thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord, my God, lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him. and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. Here's that drastic shift I mentioned earlier. But I have trusted in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. That is a great demonstration of going to the Lord in our thoughts and our internal conflicts and the outcome of that being beautiful, being something of a sober minded. beautiful outcome there that we can grow from by the conflict that we have internally. And we'll skip here to Colossians chapter 2 verse 8. Again, being aware in these trying times without discouragement being thrown at us, especially in my generation of people going through their walk. saying, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of man, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. We need to be constantly, continually be careful of what we're engaging with, what we're interacting with, what our conduct is. So, success in growing pains here answers the question, well, how do we stand strong for the truth of God's world amid many continuous challenges? We just went through how we can do that. knowing that going to him with our pains, with our sorrows, with our lamentations, we can grow stronger in faith. Moving on here to a missing piece that is thoughtful in that discernment place of understanding and making sound distinctions biblically in tricky situations or situations that can be difficult to move past. 
This missing piece, duality, answers the question, well, how do we faithfully discern different and contrasting forces the world presents amid this emotional warfare, amid this spiritual warfare that we're immersed in presently? So as we spend more time. And as we get more knowledge of scripture, rightly divided, the likelihood of trickiness in terms of what we are to do and how we are to act in the world kind of decreases. The likelihood of corruption decreases as well because we're standing for the truth. And we're making sound distinctions between different topics that are presented to us. Let's skip here to Matthew chapter 7 verse 15. We are to beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. And understanding that by now, in this reflective process, privately, we're running into many contrasts that we need to rightly divide in and of themselves. And understand the perspectives and the context behind them. So we must make divisions correctly to resume this journey in Christ, to understand, to position us where we need to be so that we can move forward how the Lord wills for us and what his vision is mentally. And as we said there, current times can really trick you into believing that something is full of gold when really it's just fool's gold, or when something is like a sheep when really it's just a wolf. So we need to be take heed of that. And worldly fear blinding us, as it states there in 715, or it implies there, blinding us to true perceptions of meaning and purpose in life, what the end goal is. And genuine faith, however, in Christ, will provide a pathway to see hours clear as day. And that is what has transpired over these past few years, for me personally. And we'll move towards what Paul is saying to the Romans here. and what he calls for us to be mentally again. Another piece to his puzzle. Romans chapter 12, 16 through 21, I'll read this. Be of the same mind toward one another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink. For in doing thou shalt eat coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. And it could be very challenging to do that if we're not making sound discernments here and staying in the truth and the word. And as we move through this journey, we ought to understand that and pray for Christ's guiding hand in each and every one of our lives as we move forward. And it's great to see everyone together. And again, I thank everyone for their sincere prayers during this time. It has been such an encouragement to me these past few years as well. And moving past duality here and understanding that these rightly divisions need to be made, these sound distinctions are being made as we go through our journey with Christ mentally. And as we are trying to, working to complete that 180 degree turn to Jesus Christ and his vision for us, what his will for us is. And the fifth missing piece here is titled Rhythm and Temple, and it was kind of inspired through my dad's teaching how to execute a golf swing with good pace, with good tempo. And I kind of was sitting there, I'm like, well, we can draw parallels between that and how we live, not to have sudden jerks in how we interact with the world, not to be reactive, but to be responsive, compassionately. And this could be another question that is posed to you. What pace are we to live at knowing our time on this earth is fleeting? And really, if you read any textbook, it will say, you know, to cause change, you must create a sense of urgency. And that urgency in this sense is imminent physical death in most cases here. And it must be wholly grasped by the reflector here, by either the babe in Christ or the spiritually great. And understanding that the world's fast pace, or a fast pace, is not inherently good or bad. It's just a gift from God. That we can individually live our lives at the pace that he sets for us based on what he is giving us, based on what we are accepting, and praise the Lord for that. And we hark back to Ephesians 5.16 here where we need to be redeeming the time. The passing of the days are evil. So understand that we don't have all day here in the sense of how much time we have. We don't know how much time we have here. We need to be ready, we need to be willing. to live at an appropriate pace that he has ordained for us, individually. And in one of the Ecclesiastes studies that I was looking at virtually, I had this cloud of smoke analogy where, and I drew a parallel to the pace of life, and you may look at how someone else is living their life and the pace that they're living at, whether it be quicker or slower, it does not matter. 
But it may not always... be what it truly seems to be to the outsider looking in. And it's quite like, life is quite like a cloud of smoke, it says. It looks cool, but you gotta go and touch it, and it moves away from you. It takes a different form. And it may be of great savor, or it may smell good, but it end up being lethal if you're not doing it in moderation. And it may be graceful in its appearance, but it is not necessarily what it seems to be and we can apply that to how we live and how we are discerning again. and Harking back to redeeming time in that topic, James 4, 14 states, whereas you know not what will be on the morrow, for what is your life, it is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. And there are time and time again through scripture reminding us of the fleeting nature of life to take every day as a gift from God and rejoice in that always, to continually be a part of that. And understanding that the life and the balanced rhythm that Christ has for us, they're meaningful to us. And if you find it, if you pray for it, and if you find it, and if you accept and embrace what he has for you individually, you can flow on your journey steadfastly. It can be a continual praise. And to walk in Christ with the pace that he gave to you, not at the vain pace of another, because if you're not intentional about which pace or which type of life you must live, your body will just follow wherever the Lord, or wherever the world seeks to, and that is a major issue there. Moving forward to the sixth missing piece, entitled Butterfly Effect, and this really, This really demonstrates how our conduct, how we interact with the world, has a profound impact in ways that we don't really necessarily know, we aren't to know. And being grateful for the opportunity to interact with the world, to communicate, and to treat everything that comes out of our mouth with great respect because of the impact that it could potentially have on listeners. 
And no better verse to demonstrate that than here in Ephesians chapter 4:29 through 32. I'll read the entirety. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven you. And like I said, a great demonstration there, because when we open our mouths, that we open it up to the possibility of ourselves defiling or spoiling ourselves. And therefore, we should be very aware of what we're saying, what our conduct is with the world, because of that interconnection as we go through our days. We don't know, we are not to know how different events affect each other. Only the Lord knows that. We need to embrace every day and take it for what it is every single time. Here we are in Romans three, we're bouncing around quite a bit, as I said, but. A reminder that for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Understanding that who we were yesterday is not who we are. What happened to us is not who we are. How we respond and how we take accountability for our actions and move forward in truth and in life and peace is who we are. That is who we, that is who God envisioned us to be in him. And his grace can flourish if we allow it to. And understanding that as we move forward, maybe questioning in that lamentation stage where we're questioning what is going on, everything that's going around, we may have concerns that we're taking up with the Lord. Understanding that nothing is ever really random. God is in control. He's in control of what is occurring every day. 
Strange happenings occur all the time, but only one authority knows what's what precisely, and that's the Lord. And we need to fear him. And we need to call others to fear him as well. And with this, the beauty of this missing piece as well when we're putting this together is understanding that one, we're ambassadors for Christ, and our choices and our conduct with the world should reflect that. It should reflect that spiritually as our spirits richly dwell in us. They should see that true wealth and want a piece of it too, wanna understand what it is that we worship. We worship a living savior. And understanding that there are plenty of human beings out there with feelings and souls to influence inside and outside of this building. So putting clean, virtuous energy out into the world, if we do that, we don't have to be concerned or worry about how it's being interpreted. We're putting it out there. We're planting seeds. We're sharing the gospel. And we're just letting it be. Let the Lord be in control. So with this missing piece, we're really illustrating the cause and effect relationship that we have and understanding how we interact with the world, how are we acting in faith every day. Just based on our conversations. Because our utterances, our conversations, are filled with reproof and encouragement and prayer. Those are the rewards. Those are the rewards and those are the gifts that God has given us together as we fellowship. And bouncing down here to Matthew 22:14. stating that for many are called, but few are chosen. And there are a few ways that one could interpret that. But if you are chosen to spread the gospel of the grace of God, to be an ambassador, to embrace that, we need to be understanding that our conduct does matter. What we do and say does, in fact, matter. And our attitudes toward the truth, our genuine enthusiasm for living, it has to be evident to others. if we can have any expectation of them hearing us or listening to us. 
And an interesting one here, Ecclesiastes chapter nine, verse 11, and we'll tie these two verses together in just a moment. Solomon saying, I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bred to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding. nor yet favor to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all." Saying that, yes, time and chance are forces in this world, and the passing of the days bring those about, and once we make something real, once we write it, once we say it, it is only by time and chance and God's control that those things will be affecting the world. So we know that we are called and chosen. We know that time and chance are forces that we need to understand wholly so that clean and virtuous words ought to be spread due to those two forces in our worldly interaction. Others ought to see our lights shining in the Holy Spirit. Finishing up Butterfly Effect here, just understanding, or at least trying to think of how the cause and effect relationship has, just one conversation ought to leave someone in a way that they otherwise would never have thought of. Just as Jim was saying as we walked in, never underestimate what the Lord can do in transforming a life, truly transforming a life by grace. Once we plant those seeds, that's what our task is. That's what our mission is. so we can just let it be. understand that he is in control, that is what that missing piece is about. Which brings us to number seven, which is titled Emulations. And this particular missing piece is really demonstrating and illustrating gratefulness, not only with the people around us on this earth, but also questioning or answering the question of how can we relieve mental anguish and find contentment in our situations individually. So as we walk, Gratefulness is to be expressed in an ongoing prayer, an outward communication, as we know. But keep in mind, as we read, this is not something that is always evident to other people outside. They may be trapped in a vice shackled rut of life, essentially, and they're trying to get out. They're trying to seek a way out. Well, we know that way out is through God's son, Lord Jesus Christ. So with that, take us to 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16 through 18. Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks. For this is the will of God and Jesus Christ concerning you. Notice there it says, in everything give thanks. Which is huge in that even in days of loss, days of breaking even, days of great gain, no matter what that looks like for you, give thanks in them. They're all gifts from God. Everything. Everything good in life comes and originates from the Lord, such as wisdom, which we know as the beginning. that. So rejoicing, praying without ceasing, giving thanks in everything. That's how we can relieve mental anguish and find contentment with our individual situations. And we'll go to Psalm 103 verses 1 through 6 here. Bless the Lord all my soul and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord all my soul and forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy mouth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. And what a testament there that is, both in those two verses there, understanding that he is. He is the crown of our lives. He is the true wealth that we can obtain while living here. And again, exercising the fact that every good gift come from the Lord. James chapter 1, 17 here states, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and come down from the father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. So there's no need for him to change, he is godly. We need to change, we ought to change, and that is what this is all about. Transformation, salvation, and edification. and working towards sanctification. That is what this is about. But the Lord here, there is no varying. There is no change. There is no evidence of a change because there's no need of change here. That does not apply to us, that applies to Him. And understanding for when you're ministering to friends or family or those strangers that you meet along your path, understanding that Jesus, as our key role model to live peacefully as our Redeemer, there will never be, there has never been, there will never be a greater role model that walked the earth than himself. He is who we are to look up to in times of, in all times. and where we can get our reproof, our experience, and our genuine conversations as the reward from him. And giving thanks to him as gratefulness suggests, giving thanks to God as he blessed us with all that we have, could ever have, and all that is unknown to us in his glory. It's unimaginable, his majesty and his glory and what is to come with his kingdom. Our minds are so. uh... limited in the fact that we cannot even picture his glory his magic we can only we can only ponder it And which brings us to equilibrium. And we'll spend a bit more time here. That word equilibrium just suggests a balance or an equal weight on both sides. And this, if someone is asking you, is it possible to live a balanced life while truly knowing good and evil forces? So we've got two ends of the spectrum here in a lot of worldly things and things of righteousness. And what we do know is that balance is like the glue that holds everything together mentally, and we are to sustain it. And an interesting point is we hear Bernie a lot say, keep the main thing the main thing. And well that in and of itself is a balance, and it is actually the balance that we are to strive for, keeping the main thing the main thing. Both in our daily walks, here at church, everything we need to keep our minds focused and aligned on the same, on the right thing. And what is balanced by God's deem? Well, we know through Paul's epistles that it is cerebral calmness, but between the ears you are calm, you are sober, sober-minded, you are vigilant, and rejoicefulness, continual rejoicefulness, that is a balance in and of itself. Philippians chapter four, four through eight here. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. 
Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing or anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. And there are a couple things to digest there with that, understanding that there are eight, in that passage there are eight balanced, glorious things, and there's no change, in need of balance, there's no change needed, because all of those lovely, good report, virtue, those things, those don't need to change because they're from God, they're what he has for us. The only change needed is our adaptation and our pursuit of those balances from the Lord, gifts from the Lord. And bouncing off of that, kind of tying in, we see here in Proverbs chapter 11, the first six verses here. Giving, and this gives us another picture of a balance. It says, a false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. When pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with aloly is wisdom. The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death. The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. You may think, well, how does this tie in with the overall message? Well, there we have six verses. And within those six verses, we have five individual balance examples. We have. We have righteousness, we've got wisdom, we've got pride, we've got shame, we've got riches or profit, and we've got righteousness again, we've got naughtiness, wickedness, and there are all these balances. And if we're focused on Christ, if we're focused on fulfilling our duties as members of the body of Christ, we are at balance, we are at equilibrium. 
And from that point, we can get good work done, our conduct can be what it ought to be. And another encouraging piece here in Hebrews 13:6, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do unto me. And while we were at balance, others will understand that or see a little bit about that when we were shining our lights. But understand that we were not given spirits of fear. We are not to be anxious. We are to be courageous in Christ and understand that man can only take things from you here. He cannot take things. We are sealed until the day of redemption. We are here, and we are not to fear other outsiders there. And again, in 2 Timothy, demonstrating that as well, verse seven of chapter one, for God had not given us spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. One mind, not 360 or 1,000 different minds that Satan would like us to have as the author of confusion, but the Lord is not the author of confusion. He is the author and the finisher of our faith in that one mind. That is what he longs for us to have in his will. And for time's sake, we'll move on to the next missing piece which is simply titled Up. Where are we to look when hope seems lost at our lowest? And this is a very deep question because it's like, well, where do you start when you're ministering to someone who is in such a low state that they're essentially crying to you out for help. But the answer is really simple. And walking by strong faith and not by sight in the Lord is our calling, even with all trials, all tribulations, all difficulties that we face in daily life. And it's interesting here, again, Solomon gives us another piece of information through God in Ecclesiastes, verse 18 of chapter 1. For in much wisdom is much grief. And he that increase this knowledge increases sorrow. So there we are again, spending time, spending more time. and getting the good news, yes, but also having that deep sorrow as you understand things about this world, as you understand the evil presence and the evil forces that are around us and the true reality of what is truly going on and forces that are not good. So there we go, we see that increasing sorrow. A few years back I was reading Pastor Kevin Sadler's book, it was titled Runaways, one of his past titled Runaways, like I said. And it demonstrates the stories of people in scripture who have run away from God in their walks. 
You know, the prodigal with his vain desires, Onesimus with his thievery and his running away, disappearing into the crowd. We have Jonah and his rejection and his longing to get away. Elijah with his fear and his... unfaith and then John Mark with his going away from what the ministry was telling him to do and where he was and understanding that even if 99 sheep are in good line. He still longs he longs for all of them to be in line and to be where he Designated for them to be in goodness and it will do anything to just get that other that last sheep Where you ought to be to come to come back home in Christ And another powerful selection of verses here, we'll finish up demonstrating where we are to look in times of difficulty. Paul's saying, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? So Paul is essentially saying, you know, come on guys, what is the logic behind what you are living like in your conduct? The consequences or the wages of sin is death, so why are we still engaging in that same sin that we had prior to salvation? What are we doing? And that is the ending of Up There as we move on to the tenth missing piece, the final missing piece, which is legacy or will. And this seeks to answer the question, how can we stay in a peaceful and charitable mind given the world's unbelief and hardened hearts and unreceptive minds to the gospel? And understanding this is a key thing here. 
Greatness is not found in our worldly plans, our individual plans for how we think our life ought to. become, but greatness is in His heavenly plans, His glorious plans for us as individuals, as members of His body, of Christ's body. And we'll start here in 2 Corinthians, Chapter 13, and the relationship between weakness and strength while fulfilling His will. For though He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God, for we also are weak in Him. but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. Examine yourselves. Whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, know that how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. Now I pray to God that ye do know evil, not that should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak, and ye are strong. And this also we wish even for your perfection. Therefore I write these things being absent, less being present. I should use sharpness according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in peace. And the God of love. and peace shall be with you. And there we understand many things. But just taking that time to assess ourselves and how are we living? Are we living in accordance with what the Lord wills for us? Or are we continuing in things that are simply just not meant for us? And remaining true to who we are in Christ Jesus all the way until the end of the road for us here is the legacy or is the will and is our reasonable service as we read in Romans. And is our acceptable reasonable service.
 And we'll finish here with Matthew chapter 10 verses 38 and 40 and then eventually into Romans 8:6. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that receiveth me, or he that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you, receiveth me, and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. And how glorious is that to know that we are the facilitators, we are the ambassadors to the good gospel of the grace of God. That is the empowerment. We have the power to do so. It is living in us. And for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. That is how we are to fulfill the Lord's vision and his will. So to finish here, with these missing pieces now cemented in our minds, we can apply doctrines to assist us in keeping the faith and fulfilling the Lord's vision. And like Paul did, fighting the good fight of ministering to those in our lives and in our paths as we move forward. And being of one mind, being of one spirit. And also understanding that we live by God's divine promises, not by worldly explanations. We are not even going to open it up to that. And we are to be bold in that. We are to complete the 180 degree turn of renewal to Jesus and help others see the importance of seeing that as well. 
And let's close in prayer this thing. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the time here to freely worship you and to explore your word and unlock its applicability for our lives. Whether we be nearing the end of our time here or whether we are in the midst of it, it does not matter. We are of one mind. We are of one spirit. And thank you for the prayers, the energy here. and the spirit that we all share, the mind that we are to share as one, as members of the body of Christ together. Again, I thank you for the time this morning, the ability to come up here this morning and to read from your word, to explore what you have laid on my heart. Thank you, Jesus. And we ask all of these things, we ask all of what is said and done continually here to be for the will of you and the accordance with what you will for us appropriately. Amen.