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Biblical Dynamics of Change · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reform Thinking. We are back at the table, coffee
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is poured and we are ready to open up some really practical
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material. Today we want to see how all
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this high level theology actually meets the pavement of
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everyday life. It is good to be back and meets
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the pavement is definitely the right phrase for today.
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We aren't floating around in abstract concepts this time.
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We are looking at a manual, a literal how to guide for the
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soul. We are.
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We're opening up a classic text today.
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Self confrontation a Manual for Indeth Biblical Discipleship by
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John C Brocher An specifically, we're zeroing in on lesson 5,
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Biblical dynamics of change. And I have to say, looking
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through this, it's it's intense. It's not a light devotional you
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read while waiting for your toast to pop.
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No, it's not. And as Reformed Christians, you
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know, holding to the Westminster Confession, we should appreciate
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that intensity because it takes sin so seriously.
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The whole premise here is that we really need to understand the
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mechanism of a spiritual change because the universal dilemma we
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all face is, I think, pretty simple.
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Why do we do the things we don't want to do?
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And why, when we try to fix our problems with our own common
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sense, do the problems usually just multiply?
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It's the classic, I'm in a hole, so I'll just keep digging
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strategy. We've all been there.
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You know, you try to fix anxiety with more control and you just
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end up more anxious. You try to fix loneliness with
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maybe some bad relationships and you just end up feeling more
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lonely than when you started. That's the pattern, exactly.
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And Bridger's mission in this lesson is to map out two very,
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very different roads. There's what he calls a downward
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spiral, which is, you could say, the natural gravity of the
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fallen human heart. And then there's an upward path,
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which is the way of the Spirit, the way of obedience.
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OK, so before we get into the mechanics of those two paths, we
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have to set the theological stage because that's what we do
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here. We believe the heart is
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naturally deceitful. That's Jeremiah 17.9.
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That is the absolute cornerstone here.
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From a Reformed perspective, we're talking about the doctrine
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of total depravity. Now.
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We need to be really clear about what that means because people
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hear depravity and they think we're saying everyone is as evil
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as they could possibly be. Right.
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Like like everyone is a serial killer just waiting to happen.
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I'm not Hitler, so I'm not totally depraved.
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Correct, and that is a very common misunderstanding.
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But total depravity doesn't mean you're as bad as you could be.
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It means that the corruption of sin has touched every single
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part of you. Every part.
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Every part, I like to think of it like a glass of pure water.
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If I put one single drop of cyanide in it, the whole glass
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is poisoned. It's not all cyanide, but the
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poison is permeated the whole thing.
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Your mind, your will, your emotions, they're all tainted by
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this self focus, this rebellion. Which means.
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My natural autopilot is just. It's going to crash the plane
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every time. Precisely So the goal of this
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self confrontation manual isn't just behavior modification.
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It's not about stop biting your fingernails or try to yell at
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the kids less. It's sanctification.
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It's change at the root level. The heart level.
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The heart level because if you don't deal with the root, the
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bad foot will just grow right back.
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So let's jump right into the first section of the outline.
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Then the lesson kicks off with what I'd call an anchor verse.
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It's First Corinthians 10 point thesaur, and it's a verse a lot
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of us have probably memorized maybe in Sunday school, but I
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feel like we often treat it like a greeting card.
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We don't actually get in there and look at the mechanics of it.
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Let's read it because every single word in it matters so
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much. It says no temptation has
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overtaken you, but such as is common to man, and God is
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faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you
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were able. But with the temptation, we'll
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provide the way of escape also that you may be able to undo it.
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OK, let's unpack this slowly, piece by piece.
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The first thing that just jumps out at me is that phrase common
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to man? And this is the first defense
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mechanism we all have that has to be dismantled.
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We love, absolutely love to think our struggles are unique.
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Oh, we do. We say, well, sure, the Bible
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says don't be anxious, but you don't understand my financial
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situation is uniquely complicated or my spouse is
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uniquely difficult. Nobody knows the trouble I've
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seen. Yeah, we want our suffering to
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be special, and I think it's because if it's special, then we
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have an excuse. We have a reason for why the
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standard rules don't seem to apply to us in this one
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instance. That is the trap.
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And Brosier points out that this thinking isolates you.
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If your problem is unique, well, then the common solutions in
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Scripture don't really apply to you, do they?
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You've just built a wall between you and God's Word.
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But Paul says no. Your temptation, whether it's
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anger or lust or worry or despair, it's common.
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It is a human problem. Someone else has faced this
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exact thing and God has walked them through it.
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That is actually incredibly freeing when you think about it.
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Even though it hurts my pride a little bit, it just kills the
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self pity dead in its tracks. It does.
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But then we get to the second part.
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God's fidelity. He limits the intensity.
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God. Is faithful.
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That is the Rock You stand on. He essentially controls the
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thermostat of the trial. He promises that the pressure,
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the heat, will never exceed the structural integrity of your
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faith, provided you were relying on His strength, not your own.
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He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are
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able. OK, I want to push on this
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Goddess faithful part for a second because when you're in
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the middle of a full blown panic attack or a rage spiral or just
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a deep dark depression, it doesn't feel like God is
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moderating the thermostat. It feels overwhelming.
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It feels like the dam is breaking and you're about to be
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washed away. How do we reconcile that promise
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with the lived reality of that kind of pain?
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That is the crucial question, isn't it?
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And I think the feeling of being overwhelmed often comes because
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we're looking for a specific kind of relief that God hasn't
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actually promised while we're ignoring the relief he has
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provided. We feel overwhelmed because
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we're trying to carry the whole load with our own emotional
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muscles rather than shifting the weight onto the structure God
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has already for us. Which brings us right to the way
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of escape. The text says he will provide
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the way of escape. And the Greek word there is
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ecbasis, and this is really, really important.
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It doesn't mean a transporter beam that just zaps you out of
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the room. It doesn't mean God makes the
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temptation vanish. Which is what we usually want.
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It's what we always want, but the word actually refers to a
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mountain pass or a way out of a difficult place, or like a
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landing place for a ship during a storm.
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Wow, OK, that paints a totally different picture than just a
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magic exit door appearing in the wall.
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It really does because we usually pray God take this away,
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teleport me out of this situation and make the feeling
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stop. But EC basis implies A rugged
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pass that you have to walk through the mountains.
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It's not the removal of the mountain, it's the map that
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shows you the pass through it. Which means effort is still
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required from my side. The climbing, The Walking, It's
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still required. That's the point.
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And notice the purpose of the escape in the verse.
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It isn't so that you can be comfortable.
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It's not so you can feel better. It's so that you may be able to
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endure it. That completely changes the
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definition of success in a trial.
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Success isn't. I stopped feeling tempted.
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Success is. I saw the pass through the
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mountain and I walked it without jumping off the Cliff.
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Yes, exactly. So if God promises an escape
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every single time. Then that changes everything
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about how we view our failures. If I fall into sin, if I lose my
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temper with my kids, if I click on that website, I shouldn't.
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If I tell a small lie to protect my reputation, I can no longer
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say I couldn't help it. I can't say the devil made me do
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it or the pressure was just too great.
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It hurts to hear, but it's true. If First Corinthians 10/14 is
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true, then at some point in that process God provided an escape
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hatch, a neck basis, and I looked right at it and I chose
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to slam it shut and sin anyway. This removes victimhood entirely
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from the equation. Entirely.
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And that is so counter cultural right now.
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Modern psychology, so off air wants to affirm our victimhood.
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It's your trauma, it's your environment, it's your brain
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chemistry. And like, while those things are
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real factors, they are not the Master.
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The Bible treats us as responsible moral agents under a
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faithful God who always provides a way out.
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OK, so let's say we ignore that escape.
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We slam the door on the mountain pass and say no, I'm going to do
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this my way. That leads us directly to the
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second major section in the manual, the downward spiral.
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This is actually a visual diagram in the source material
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and it is fascinating to look at.
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It's the anatomy of spiritual decline.
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The source defines the spiral as what happens anytime we neglect
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or refuse God's way. Then Brosier sites His principle
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10 here, referencing Isaiah 55. God's thoughts are higher than
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ours. Which means our own logic, our
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own common sense, is naturally flawed.
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We think we know the quickest way to happiness, but our
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internal map is just upside down.
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Right. When we rely on what feels right
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or what makes sense to our fallen human logic, we deviate
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from the path of truth and the spiral has a very specific
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progression. This is key.
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It moves from the heart to our deeds and then finally to our
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feelings. Heart deeds, feelings that feels
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completely backwards to how the world thinks about these things.
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The world usually says I feel bad and that's why I act bad.
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Correct. The world works from the outside
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in. Fix my feelings and then I'll be
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a better person. If I just had more self esteem I
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wouldn't treat people so poorly. The Bible works from the inside
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out. All problems start in the heart.
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Jeremiah 17.9 again or Mark 7. Jesus is so clear, He says.
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It is out of the heart that evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
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fornications, thefts, false witness and slanders proceed.
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So let's trace this progression. The heart is the engine, the
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source of the problem. Then come the deeds.
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The deeds are just the fruit. They're the visible expression
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of what's already happened in the heart.
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Unbiblical thoughts, unbiblical words, and unbiblical actions
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that are just following the heart's desire.
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And then, and only then, do we hit the bottom of the spiral.
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The feelings level, the guilt, the depression, the despair, the
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anxiety. Emotional consequence.
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The source gives a really specific and helpful case study
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here the student. I want to walk through this in
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detail because I think everyone listening can identify with this
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pattern, even if you're not a student anymore.
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Let's go role play this a bit. I'll be the students internal
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monologue. OK, good.
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Set the scene. All right, it's Tuesday night.
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I have a massive exam on Thursday that counts for half my
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grade. I know I need to study but I'm
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tired. Had a long day of classes.
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The couch looks amazing. So step one, the heart.
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My focus is on self. I value my immediate comfort
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over my long term duty. And there it is.
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Laziness. That's the heart issue.
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You want the path of laced resistance.
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You are in that moment, worshipping the idol of comfort.
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So then we move from the heart to the thought level.
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I think you know what? I don't want to study.
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I'll just do it tomorrow. It's fine.
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One night off won't hurt. That's Galatians 51 saving right
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there, the flesh warring against the spirit.
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Notice the sin has already started.
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You haven't done anything visible to anyone else yet.
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You're just sitting on the couch, but the rebellion is
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already active in your mind. You've already rejected the
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responsibility God gave you as a student.
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Then comes the action. I turn on the TVI start
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scrolling on my phone. I procrastinate.
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But then my mom walks into the room, or maybe my roommate and
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asks, hey, are you all ready for that big exam?
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And I feel that little pinch of shame.
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So I say, yeah, yeah, I'm mostly ready.
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I'm just taking a quick break. And one sin begets another.
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The laziness leads directly to lying.
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The spiral is accelerating. Now you're digging the hole
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deeper just to hide the fact that you're already in a hole.
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No, it's Wednesday night. Yeah, the night before the test.
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The pressure is on. I haven't studied at all.
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The test is tomorrow morning. I'm panicking.
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I have this sickening realization that I can't
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possibly learn three weeks of calculus in four hours.
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So I get an idea. I write some key formulas on the
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inside of my water bottle label. Escalation.
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So now you've moved from laziness and lying to planning
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premeditated theft. That's Exodus 20.15 lamp.
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You are preparing to steal the answers and steal a grade that
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you haven't earned. The spiral is getting steeper.
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Thursday morning comes. I take the test.
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Maybe I get caught, maybe I don't.
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Let's just say for the sake of the story that I fail the course
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anyway because even with the cheating I didn't know enough to
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pass. Or let's say I get caught and
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expelled. And here comes the unavoidable
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consequence of the actions. And finally we land at the
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bottom, the resulting feeling depression, guilt, overwhelming
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anxiety. Now I'm in my room, the lights
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are off. I feel like a total failure.
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Maybe I'm even having suicidal thoughts because I feel like
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I've ruined my future. Now stop and look at that
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sequence. The student is now sitting in a
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counselor's office or talking to a pastor saying I am depressed.
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Can you help me fix my depression?
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The world looks at that and says, oh you poor thing, you
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have an anxiety disorder. Let's treat the anxiety.
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Let's give you techniques to feel calm.
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But the Bible says. The Bible says the depression is
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a symptom. It's the smoke alarm going off.
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You don't just take the battery out of the smoke alarm.
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You find the fire and you put it out.
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And the fire in this case is the laziness, the lying and the
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cheating. The fire is the self-centered
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heart that refused to do the hard work God called him to do
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from the very beginning. Wow, that is a radical shift in
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perspective. It means that feeling bad, that
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guilt, that anxiety, it might actually be a functional system.
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It's supposed to hurt. It's a feature, not a bug.
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Yes, you see that in Psalm 38, David describes his bones
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wasting away because of his unconfessed sin.
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The misery is what he calls the heavy hand of God, and it's a
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mercy. It's a mercy driving us back to
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repentance. If you could sin and feel
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fantastic about it, you'd either be a sociopath or he'd be
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reprobate. The pain is a sign of spiritual
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life, or at least it's sign of God's intervening grace.
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It's God shouting through a megaphone.
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Stop. You were going a wrong way it.
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Reminds me of physical pain. If I touch a hot stove, the pain
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is a good thing. It tells me to move my hand
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before I burn it off completely. Exactly.
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We always want to numb the pain of our conscience, but often
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that pain is the messenger we desperately need to hear.
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So we're at the bottom of the spiral.
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We're miserable. The student has failed.
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He's lied. He feels terrible.
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How do we pivot out of this? This brings us to Section 3 in
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the manual, The Necessity of New Birth.
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And this is where we have to be very, very theological for a
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moment. Borosier is crystal clear on
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this point. True God honoring change is
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impossible without spiritual life.
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His Principle 11 cites John chapter 3, Jesus's words to
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Nicodemus. You must be born again.
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OK so why is that the pivot? Why can't a non believer just
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follow the steps? I mean, can an atheist decide to
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stop cheating on tests? Of course an atheist can stop
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cheating on tests to avoid getting expelled.
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That's just behavior modification based on self
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preservation. But he cannot do it to please
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God. He cannot change the root of
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self worship that drives his decisions.
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From a reformed view, this is the doctrine of regeneration.
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You can't discipline A corpse into running a marathon.
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It needs life first. You cannot discipline the flesh,
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the old nature, into submission. You need a new nature.
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So step one of the solution isn't try harder, it is make
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sure you are spiritually alive. That's it.
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It's 2nd Corinthians 5.17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a
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new creature. The old things have passed away.
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If you don't have the Holy Spirit living in you, this
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manual will do nothing but crush you.
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It will just be another list of rules you can't possibly keep.
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It just becomes crushing legalism.
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The source also mentions Principle 3rd 10 here.
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Wisdom comes from asking in faith.
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James 1.5 we need dependence. It's the polar opposite of the
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self-reliance that got us into the spiral in the 1st place.
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We have to come to the end of ourselves and say God, I can't
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do this. I don't know how to fix this.
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I need your wisdom and I need your power.
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It's Philippians 4.12. I can do all things through
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Christ who strengthens me, Not through my own willpower, not
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through my own grit. OK, so we have the new birth, we
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have the indwelling spirit, we have a posture of dependence.
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Now we can finally look at the alternative to the spiral
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Section 4, the upward path. Walking God's way.
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And the outline defines This path is involving specific
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obedient responses regardless of your feelings.
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That is the key phrase in the whole lesson.
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Regardless of feelings, the downward spiral is entirely
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feeling LED. I don't feel like studying.
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The upward path is principle LED.
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It's truth LED. Principle 12 in the manual sums
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it up with Ecclesiastes 12.13. The whole duty of man is to fear
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God and keep his commandments. That's it.
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So let's break down the how to. The source lists very specific
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steps of correction. We already mentioned step one,
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salvation. You have to ensure Christ is
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your Savior first. Right.
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If you aren't actually in the Army, you can't use the Army's
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weapons. You're not on the team.
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That's Step 2, confession. That's first John 1.9.
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If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to
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forgive us our sins. But let's be real, most of us
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are really bad at confessing. We say these vague things like
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Lord forgive me for my many sins or Lord, forgive me if I messed
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up today somehow. That's a total cop out.
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The word confession means to say the same thing as homologio.
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It means you are agreeing with God's verdict on your sin, and
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that involves naming the specific sin.
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Lord, I was lazy. Lord, I lied to my roommate.
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Lord, I was fearful. Instead of trusting you with my
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future, you have to drag the monster out of the closet and
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call it by its proper name. Then Step 3 is repentance.
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How is that different from just confessing?
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Confession is the admission of guilt.
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Repentance is the action of turning around and walking the
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other way. It's a change of mind that leads
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to a change of direction. And Brozier makes a crucial
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point here. We must repent because our sin
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displeases God, not just because it has bad consequences for us.
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That's a huge distinction. Repenting because I got caught
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and I'm so embarrassed isn't real repentance, that's just
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worldly sorrow. Right, Second Corinthians 7
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makes a clear distinction between a worldly sorrow, which
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it says leads to death, and godly sorrow, which leads to
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repentance. Worldly sorrow is, I can't
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believe I did that. Now I look so stupid.
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Now I'm going to lose my job. You see how it's still all about
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me. Godly sorrow is I have broken
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the heart of the God who saved me.
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My sin offends His Holiness. Even if no one ever found out, I
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would be grieved because He knows and he is displeased.
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That's the difference. Then Step 4, reconciliation.
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This is Matthew 5. Yes, if your sin affected other
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people, you have to go to them. You have to ask their
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forgiveness. And notice the language there.
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It's ask forgiveness, not just say sorry.
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What's the practical difference between those two?
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I'm sorry is a statement of your feeling and I'm sorry you felt
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hurt is even worse. That's basically gaslighting.
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But asking will you forgive me is a transaction.
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It puts the power in the other person's hands.
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You are asking them to cancel a debt you owe them.
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It is profoundly humbling. It kills your pride.
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Then we have Step 5 and this is one that I think a lot of people
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skip over replacement. This is the put off put on
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principle you see all over Ephesians 4.
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You can't just create a vacuum in your life.
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If you tell a thief stop stealing, he might stop for a
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while, but if he doesn't then start working with his hands and
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giving to others. He's just an unemployed thoof.
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He'll probably steal again when he gets desperate.
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So you have to actively replace the bad habit with a good one,
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right? If you put off lying, you have
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to put on speaking the truth and love.
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If you put off worrying, you have to put on praying with
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Thanksgiving. And Rosier really emphasizes
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studying and memorizing Scripture here.
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You have to replace the lies in your head with God's truth.
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We'll talk more about the memory work in the mechanics section,
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but it's absolutely vital. Then step 6 is prayer unceasing
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dependence. 1st Thessalonians 5.17 You're walking up this
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steep hill and you're holding God's hand the entire way.
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You're constantly checking in with headquarters for
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instructions and strength. And finally, step 7, obedience.
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Just doing what God says. And again, the text hammers this
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home with the story of Cain in Genesis 4.
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God confronts Cain before the murder.
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He says sin is crouching at your door.
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It's desire is for you, but you must rule over it.
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And Cain did not feel like ruling over it.
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He was angry. He felt completely justified in
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his anger. But God told him to obey anyway.
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We have to do the right thing, even when every fiber of our
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flesh is screaming at us. I don't want to.
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That moment of resistance, yeah, that's the spiritual Jim, isn't
20:14
it? That's where the muscle of
20:15
obedience is actually built. That's where the battle is won
20:17
or lost. It's easy to obey God when you
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feel like it. I mean, even pagans do that.
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Christians are called to obey when it hurts, when it's
20:24
inconvenient, when we don't feel like it at all.
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The source lists some sample problems that this whole upward
20:29
path applies to. It's quite a list.
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It's got anger, anorexia, financial problems, worry, self
20:35
pity. It's a very comprehensive list
20:38
of common human struggles. I have to pause on the word
20:40
anorexia. That feels different.
20:43
That feels like a medical condition.
20:45
Is it really fair to put that on a list of spiritual issues next
20:49
to something like anger? That is a sensitive area, and we
20:52
need to be very careful and nuanced here.
20:54
We are not saying there aren't serious physical consequences or
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that medical intervention isn't needed to save a person's life.
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Of course it is, but the reformed view and Brozier's view
21:04
in this manual is to always look at the driver of the behavior.
21:07
The heart issue. The heart issue.
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What is driving the starvation? Often, not always, but often.
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It's a sinful desire for control in a life that feels out of
21:16
control. It can be a fear of man
21:18
worshipping a certain body image.
21:20
It can be a wrong view of the self.
21:22
It can be idolatry of a certain look or an ideal.
21:25
So the manual is treating the outward behavior as a fruit of a
21:28
spiritual root problem. Exactly, if you just force feed
21:31
the person, but you don't deal with the heart that hates the
21:34
self that God made or the heart that craves ultimate control,
21:38
you haven't healed them, you've just fattened up a soul that is
21:41
still suffering. The Bible claims to have answers
21:44
for the soul problems that often drive these destructive
21:46
behaviors. OK, that makes sense.
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So we have the downward spiral and the upward path now.
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Section 5 of this lesson deals with the motivation and the
21:54
consequences of which path you choose.
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Blessings, discipline, and judgment.
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And this is where we really need to put on our theological
22:01
thinking caps to make a careful distinction between
22:03
justification and rewards. This is where a lot of people
22:06
get tripped. Up because the text says
22:08
plainly, and we need to be clear on this, you are saved by God's
22:12
grace and not by your works. That's Ephesians 2.89.
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We are clear we are not earning our way to heaven.
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Absolutely. We are not Roman Catholic.
22:21
We do not believe our works contribute one bit to our
22:23
justification. We are declared righteous by
22:26
faith alone in Christ alone because of his work alone.
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However, and this is a very big however, the text also heavily
22:34
stresses that believers will be judged as a child of God by your
22:38
obedience and rewarded accordingly.
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This is the judgement seat of Christ, the Bema seat that Paul
22:44
talks about. That's right, Second Corinthians
22:46
5.10 For we must all appear before the judgement seat of
22:49
Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the
22:52
body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
22:55
This isn't a judgement of criminal versus innocent that
22:58
was settled at the cross. This is more like an award
23:01
ceremony or maybe a final performance review for a Child
23:04
of the King. Like the Olympics, maybe?
23:06
In a way, yeah. You're already on the team.
23:08
You're already a citizen of the heavenly country.
23:11
But now your life is being evaluated on how you ran the
23:14
race. What did you do with the grace
23:15
you were given? Did you bury the talent in the
23:18
ground out of fear, or did you invest it for the Master?
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The source lists Matthew 12.36 that every careless word will be
23:25
judged and Revelation 22.1. No, he will render to everyone
23:29
according to what he has done. That scares me honestly.
23:33
Every careless word. That's a high bar.
23:35
It should produce a holy fear in US.
23:37
It's sobering. The reformed application here is
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that we are not saved by our works, but we are most certainly
23:42
saved for works. A consistent lack of good fruit
23:45
might suggest a dead root, but more than that, there are
23:49
eternal rewards at stake. There are degrees of glory.
23:52
There is the well done, good and faithful servant that we all
23:55
want to hear. Do you want to enter heaven with
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all your works burning up like wood, hay and stubble smelling
24:00
like smoke? Or do you want to bring gold,
24:02
silver and precious stones to lay at the feet of Jesus?
24:05
And there are temporal consequences too, right in the
24:07
here and now, the outline talks about the two roads in this
24:10
life, blessing and discipline and.
24:13
Again, blessing doesn't mean you'll get a Ferrari or a big
24:15
promotion. The blessing talked about here
24:18
is John 15.711. It's peace and joy.
24:21
When you align your life with the manufacturer's design, the
24:24
machine just runs more smoothly. There is a peace that passes all
24:28
understanding. It's the internal stability and
24:31
confidence of knowing you are walking in a way that pleases
24:34
God. And the other Rd. is discipline.
24:36
That's Hebrews 12. Those whom the Lord loves, He
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disciplines. This is so crucial.
24:43
When a believer is on the downward spiral and life starts
24:46
falling apart, that is not a sign that God hates them.
24:49
It's a sign that God is parenting them.
24:51
He is spanking His beloved child to get them back on the path
24:54
before they run out into traffic.
24:55
So the misery that comes from our sin is actually God's love
24:58
in action. It is the text references Psalm
25:01
32, David said. When I kept silent about my sin,
25:04
my body wasted away. God's hand was heavy on him.
25:07
And why? To make him miserable enough to
25:09
confess, to bring him back to restoration and joy.
25:12
That is such a helpful reframe. The misery isn't the end of the
25:15
story. It's a messenger.
25:17
It's the sheepdog nipping at your heels to get you back to
25:20
the chef. That's a great image for it.
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Let's move to section 6, the mechanics of all this.
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Because this source is a manual, it implies work.
25:29
It's not just a theory book to read, it's a workbook to be
25:31
done. No, it's a gym membership and
25:33
the homework is rigorous. This is where the rubber really
25:37
meets the road. You can't just listen to this
25:39
deep dive and expect to change. You actually have to do
25:42
something. And one of the biggest
25:43
components of that is memory. Versus Yes, the lesson assigns
25:47
First Corinthians 10/1 Third free the escape first and Romans
25:51
8.2829 the verse about God's sovereignty in our trials.
25:55
I know people who say oh I can't memorize my brain.
25:58
Just doesn't work that way. That's nonsense.
26:00
It's just not true. You memorize the lyrics to your
26:03
favorite songs. You memorize the stats of your
26:05
favorite sports team. You memorize what you value.
26:08
And why do we need to memorize Scripture?
26:10
Because when temptation hits you at 1100 PM on a Tuesday, you
26:14
probably won't have your Bible open on your desk.
26:16
You need the Sword of the Spirit in your hand, ready to use
26:19
immediately. If it's not in your head, it's
26:21
not in your hand when you need it.
26:23
Exactly. Jesus fought Satan in the
26:25
wilderness by quoting scripture he had memorized.
26:28
He didn't say hold on Satan, let me go check my scroll.
26:30
He had it ready. Then there's this.
26:31
Really interesting testimony exercise.
26:33
The student is asked to prepare a 10 second, a 32nd and a 62nd
26:38
version of their testimony. I love this.
26:40
It's such a practical discipline.
26:42
It forces you to crystallize your own understanding of
26:44
salvation. Can you explain who Jesus is and
26:47
what he did for you in 10 seconds?
26:49
If you can't, do you really understand it as clearly as you
26:51
think you do? It's a good test, something like
26:54
I was a Sinner headed for hell. Christ died for my sins, I
26:57
trusted Him and He's changed my life from the inside out.
27:00
Boom, there's your 10 seconds, but you need to have that locked
27:03
and loaded first. Peter 3.15 commands us to always
27:07
be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us.
27:10
It also serves as a constant reminder to the student himself,
27:13
doesn't it? This is who I am.
27:15
I am saved. I am a child of God.
27:17
This is my story. It reinforces your new identity
27:21
in Christ. It reminds you whose team you're
27:23
playing on. The homework in the manual also
27:25
prescribes A7 day schedule of daily devotions.
27:28
It's very structured, highlighting verses in John 14
27:32
through 17 that talk about peace and joy, reviewing the downward
27:37
spiral chart and identifying it in your own life.
27:39
It's all about creating a new rhythm of life.
27:42
You're replacing the time you used to spend worrying or
27:44
distracting yourself or sinning with time spent soaking in the
27:48
Word of God. The goal, as the source puts it,
27:51
is to stop being a forgetful hearer and to become an
27:54
effectual doer of the word. That's from James 1.25.
27:57
And we have all been forgetful hearers.
27:59
We hear a great sermon. We say wow, that was great.
28:02
And by lunchtime on Sunday, we've completely forgotten the
28:04
main point. This manual forces you to chew
28:07
on the truth until it becomes a part of your thinking.
28:10
It's the difference between glancing in a mirror and walking
28:13
away versus staring into the mirror of God's Word and
28:15
actually fixing what's wrong. So if we do the work, if we rely
28:19
on the Spirit, we take the escape hatch and we start
28:21
walking that upward path, what is the result?
28:24
What's the fruit? That's Section 7, the fruit of
28:26
change. The abundant life that Jesus
28:28
promised. Now we need to be really careful
28:30
with that term because some TV preachers have hijacked it.
28:33
Abundant Life has come to sound like a new boat and perfect
28:37
health and financial prosperity. Right, and it is not necessarily
28:40
financial prosperity or a life of ease.
28:42
The source is very clear about this.
28:44
The abundant life is characterized by peace and joy.
28:47
That's John 16.33. Jesus said in this world you
28:51
will have tribulation, but take courage.
28:53
I have overcome the world. So the abundance is internal.
28:57
It's an abundance of spiritual resource to handle the
28:59
tribulation of life. It's a spiritual resilience.
29:02
It's what allows you to rejoice always.
29:04
As Paul says in Philippians 4.4, it looks like speaking the truth
29:08
in love instead of with anger. It looks like working heartily
29:11
for the Lord in your job, and so beautifully.
29:14
It is regarding others as more important than yourself.
29:16
From Philippians 2.3. The downward spiral was all
29:19
about self focus, self comfort, self protection.
29:22
The upward path ends in others focus.
29:24
That is one of the surest signs of genuine sanctification.
29:28
You stop staring at your own belly butter and you start
29:30
looking up at God or out at your neighbor.
29:32
You actually become useful to the Kingdom of God.
29:35
And what is the ultimate motivation for all of this hard
29:38
work? Love for Christ, it all comes
29:40
back to that. John 14.15.
29:42
Jesus says it so simply, If you love me, you will keep my
29:45
commandments. That is the heartbeat of true
29:47
Reformed piety, isn't it? We don't obey God in order to
29:50
get Him to love us. We obey because He already loved
29:53
us and saved us when we were His enemies.
29:55
Obedience is the love language of the believer toward God.
29:59
It is how we say thank you for the cross.
30:02
What a powerful place to land. It just takes all the legalism
30:04
and the bootstrap pulling out of it.
30:06
It's a relationship of love. It really is.
30:08
It takes the pressure off of performing for God and puts the
30:11
focus on responding to His love. So let's wrap this up.
30:16
We've looked at the two paths today from this manual.
30:18
The Downward Spiral rooted in self-reliance, which leads to
30:22
unbiblical deeds and always ends in misery.
30:24
In the upward path, rooted in the new birth, fueled by the
30:27
Word and by prayer, characterized by obedience
30:30
regardless of our feelings, and leading to the peace and joy of
30:32
God and. I think one of the biggest
30:34
takeaways is that our feelings are just indicators.
30:37
They're not dictators. We are called to act on the
30:40
truth of the word and eventually the feelings will follow the
30:43
train. They're the caboose, not the
30:45
engine. That is the summary right there.
30:47
Don't wait until you feel like obeying.
30:50
Obey and trust God to handle the feelings in His time.
30:54
So here is a provocative thought to leave you with listeners.
30:57
The source material and of 1st Corinthians 10.13 says that God
31:01
provides an escape for every temptation, every single one.
31:04
That's a staggering claim when you really let it sink in.
31:08
It means we have never, not once, had to sin.
31:12
So if you look back at your last failure, that argument you had
31:15
with your spouse, that indulgence you gave in to late
31:17
at night, can you identify the specific moments that the escape
31:21
hatch opened and you chose, actively chose, to slam it shut?
31:25
That requires some very honest soul searching that is painful
31:29
but necessary work. And maybe even deeper than that,
31:32
What would happen in your Christian life if you stop
31:34
praying? Lord, please take this struggle
31:35
away from me. And you started praying.
31:37
Lord, show me the escape that you have already provided.
31:39
That shifts the entire prayer from 1 of passive waiting to one
31:43
of active expectant obedience and that is a complete game
31:47
changer. We encourage you to examine your
31:49
own spirals this week. Where are you relying on your
31:52
own logic? Where are you letting feelings
31:54
drive the bus off a Cliff? Take the time, do the hard work
31:57
of self confrontation. It is worth it.
32:00
Thanks for joining us on this deep dive into reformed
32:02
thinking. We will see you next time.