Laying the Groundwork

The word conversion, as often heard in religious circles, people commonly speak of their conversion, or how they came to be converted. But what does that really mean? Conversion is, in the religious context, generally first to change from one belief system to another, or from non-belief to belief. But is that all there is to conversion? In other words, is it a one-time event? Some use the word conversion to mean almost any dramatic change that better people that choose to make something of their own efforts. In other words, conversion is simply a matter of human choice and human change. Self-induced change is not from God, but this, however, is simply not true. People can and do change without God's intervention, but not in the same way as conversion is described in the Bible. In Acts chapter 15 and verse 3, the writer, probably Luke, writes, So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia, Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy to all the brethren. So Paul comes back and reports that, hey, the Gentiles are actually being converted. What does that really mean? And how does that apply to you and I in 2017, before the Passover comes? The word conversion simply means change or moral revolution, according to Strong's concordance. What are you changed from? You know, some people will say, oh, the carnal mind. Oh, selfishness. Oh, fill in the blank. Is that all there is to conversion?

I said a few weeks ago that I was going to do a series on conversion. We're going to start that today. What are you changed from and what are you changed into? Like a quote from our booklet, the United Church of God booklet, Transforming Your Life. Quote, in the Bible, conversion is represented as a miraculous life-transforming process, a process that is impossible without the direct, active intervention, participation, and power of God. In fact, he initiates the conversion process. He first opens the minds of those he is calling or inviting to conversion so that they can begin to comprehend the scriptures with clarity and depth of understanding that they could never attain on their own.

This wonderful, miraculous process usually begins when the individual God is calling hear or read his truth accurately, explained by his true servants. At the time, God begins to open their minds to comprehend the true gospel of Jesus Christ. God's Word now begins to make sense to them, just as a picture emerges when the pieces of a puzzle are fitted together. So those whom God is inviting to be converted begin to understand the holy scriptures.

This is the miracle of God's calling. What follows depends on the choices that they make when they hear or read God's truth. They can respond to God and ask him to help implement what they learn, or they can turn their back on the understanding of the truth that they've received.

Although he clearly encourages human beings to choose life, according to Deuteronomy 30.19, God does not force anyone to make the right choice. But as we shall soon see, the consequences of our choices are enormous. I just wanted to read that. So we're going to start a series called Going On to Perfection, the Process of Conversion. This is part one, Laying the Groundwork. Let's see where that is stated in Hebrews 6 and verse 1. When we were back at Ambassador College, we were taught that this passage right here is the statement of our fundamental beliefs.

You know, we say, well, we get our beliefs from the Bible. Is there a passage that gives a broad overview of the basic doctrines of the United Church of God? Actually, yes, there is. And it's right here in Hebrews 6. This is what the church is doing. This is what the church is about. These are our fundamental doctrines. Not a complete list, just an overview. Hebrews 6 and verse 1, therefore, it's leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ.

Let's stop there. He's about to list some fundamental beliefs. But he says we're supposed to leave the fundamental beliefs and do something with them. Okay, so let's not just read over that very first statement. It's an important statement. He says we're supposed to depart from, not in other words, not abandon, but go beyond our fundamental beliefs, which he's about to list. And we are supposed to do something with these fundamental beliefs.

Okay, so that's what that first statement meant. Let's read it again. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ. We're leaving them. We're going past them. Reading on. Let us go on to perfection. And that word, perfection, doesn't just mean without flaw. I mean, it does mean without flaw, but it's so much more than that. A lot of people you hear are perfectionists.

And I love those people. I'm not really one of them. So I appreciate them very much. I love having them in my life. I love having them in my congregation. Everything has to be in order. They are a, quote, perfectionist.

That's not what this word means. This word means complete, fully mature, absolutely grown up. It includes without flaw, but it doesn't just mean you're an extremely organized person that never makes a mistake. It means that you are an incredibly mature, loving person with godly character, going on to perfection. Another way to state that is, you are becoming converted, which is a word that the apostles use quite a bit.

So this is the first part of the series, going on to perfection, the process of conversion. Then he says, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation. Now here is the foundation, the fundamental beliefs of the United Church of God. First, we're going on to perfection. What do we use to go on to perfection with? Here they are. Of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God. Of the doctrine of baptisms and laying on of hands. And the resurrection of dead and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. What will we do if God permits? Are you tracking with Paul here? We will go on to perfection.

If God permits, that is what we will do. Not laying again the foundation. So Paul here is talking to those people who have already been baptized. This is your journey after you have been baptized. We are to go on to perfection. Are you converted? How can you be sure? Do your sins show that you are not converted? Because we all make mistakes after baptism, don't we? We all get into an argument with somebody, and we all give in to our lusts.

And I won't list them now because I don't have time. But we all sin. And does that mean we're not converted? Or do they show that we're just not complete yet? And this series is not intended to cause us to doubt our conversion. That is not the purpose of this series that I'm going through. It is for us to start biting our fingernails and going, oh no, maybe I'm not converted. No, the purpose of this is to encourage us to go on to perfection, to strive, to work, to not just sit on our thumbs and do nothing with the gift that God and Jesus Christ gave us.

This is intended to be encouraging.

This is not intended for us to judge other people. Well, I know who he's talking about. I'll clue you in right now and talk directly to you. I'm talking to you, not your spouse or the guy or gal sitting a few rows away from you. And I'm talking to me. This is an individual, personal thing. Judge what you know. Apply it to yourself. This series will prod us a little bit, and we need that. But the last thing I want to do is cause you to doubt that it is God's will that you be in his kingdom. That's what God's doing. That's his whole purpose for you. He's not against you. He's for you. But he has certain expectations that you follow, and he doesn't budge on those. And he doesn't budge on those for your sake, not for his sake. Think about it. He's good. He's eternal. He has life within himself. He doesn't need us, but he wants us. He desires us. And we need to change. So he's not going to budge on what he expects us to do. Don't ever doubt, just because God's rules seem to be rigid and do not change, do not doubt his will for you and I to be in his kingdom. He loves us. These rules are for our benefit. And this series is to encourage us, not make us doubt. If during this series you examine your life and your commitment to God, and you see that you may actually not be in the kingdom, then I hope that this series doesn't discourage you to quit. But the opposite. I hope you decide to join with God and Jesus Christ and become converted. This has always been your choice. It's your choice. I know that some people just get baptized because their spouse was. And if I have to go to church anyway, I might as well become a card-holding member. You know? And if that's you, I encourage you to start over, or actually start, and become converted. But I give this sermon from the point of view of those who are converted, so that we will go on to perfection. If you have not yet made that commitment to God, then hopefully this will help you become converted. But the choice is yours. Deuteronomy 30, verse 19, it always has been yours. It always will be yours. It's not up to the ministry. It's not up to the spouse or your parents. It's up to you. God gave it to you. Nobody can take it away. What did He give to you? Choice. The choice to join God and be converted is yours and yours alone. Deuteronomy 30, verse 19, I call heaven and earth as witness today against you, that I have set before you life and death. Blessing and cursing. And so what does God want you to choose? He gives you a clue to His will right here. He doesn't want you to make a bad choice, but He gives you the choice anyway. He doesn't force you because He doesn't want a pet. He doesn't want a robot. He doesn't want an android. He wants a child. So you have to choose. And He says, therefore, choose life. That is His will for you to choose life. Become converted. Go on to perfection.

Choose life that both you and your descendants may live. We know that conversion is not a one-time event. The world doesn't know that, but it's a process. So I won't spend too much time on that, proving that. Just for time's sake, if you have a question about that, come talk to me afterwards. I'd be more than happy to go through that with you. And prove to you that once saved, always saved, is not in God's plan. But becoming baptized, becoming converted, receiving His Holy Spirit, and then going on to perfection is in God's plan. Conversion is a process. We know the parable of the ten virgins, that not everyone that considers themselves a Christian will be at the wedding feast. So how can you know that you will be there? Consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 7, verse 21. Matthew 7, verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, who utters these words, words are important, but they're not everything. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. That's why we don't even do an altar call here. You know? We don't go, hey, any of you want to be saved at the end of this sermon, come on up and give your life to the Lord. It's not that easy. It's not that simple. It's a lifelong commitment, and you had better count the cost. It's not some emotional decision, like at the end of the football game, everybody jumps up, yeah, my team won! Give a great sermon, yeah, I'm going to give my life to Jesus for five minutes.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does action the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, that word means master. You're the boss. You're my king. You're the Savior. You are my Lord. And they say it. And it sounds like they mean it. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? We're Christian. Cast out demons in your name? Yes, you can cast out a demon in the name of Jesus Christ and not be converted. Because you did it in the name of Jesus Christ, and not because of you, no human being ever cast out a demon. My father has commanded many demons to leave many people. He has witnessed people where multiple voices were coming out of the same person, and he cast them out. But he didn't actually cast anybody out. Jesus Christ did. Nobody stands up against Jesus Christ. There is no demon. There's no group of demons. You can't take all of the demons combined and stand up against the great Jesus Christ. Of course they cast out demons in his name. Does that mean they were converted? Not according to this. We prophesied in your name. Cast out demons in your name have done many wonders in your name. Yes, people have actually been healed in the name of Jesus Christ. Think about it. When I anoint you, do I heal you? Does the oil that I put on your forehead heal you? Does actual physical healing power come through my hands when I put my hands on top of your head? No. I'm not a doctor or a healer. I'm not a doctor or a healer. I'm a minister of Jesus Christ. Who heals you? The Father! Who are we praying to? The Father in Jesus' name. Of course they've done many wonders in his name. He's the Christ. Many things can be done in the name of Jesus Christ, and it doesn't make you converted. Many will say to me in that day, we've prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name, and listen to the response. And I will declare to them, I never knew you, meaning you're not converted. You don't have the Holy Spirit. Depart from me. And here's the clue. You who practice lawlessness, the word anomia, it doesn't just mean you've sinned, it means you're in the habit of sinning. Actually, the word practice is an interesting word. It means occupation. It doesn't mean a one-time event. It means this is what you're known by. People who are known by anomia against the law. They're known to be rebels. They're known to be the kind of person that says, don't tell me what to do. I'll do it my way or the highway. That is not a converted mind. Oh, he's just a, she's just a strong-willed individual. Hey, welcome to Human Nature 101. Human nature is strong-willed, self-willed, self-guided, and on a path to destruction. And people who say to Jesus Christ, Lord, Lord, but practice, in other words, their occupation, is lawlessness. Jesus Christ has nothing to do with them. He says, I never knew you.

Verse 24, therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, again, he states, action, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Brethren, we should take encouragement by that. When life throws its storms at us, we will not fall, as long as we aren't in the category of those who practice anomia, those who are against being told what to do, those who do not follow take action on what God tells them to do. If we are those people that do what God tells us to do, we are founded on the rock, and we will not fall. That should be encouraging, but there is a warning, and we should take this warning seriously. But everyone who hears these things of mine and does not do them will be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, and the flood came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. As Mr. Stetter said, the Passover is right around the corner, and that's why I'm starting this series now. I probably will not finish this series until the Feast of Pentecost, though it'll take a while, and not every sermon I give will be on this series. But, brethren, we need to take careful examination and make sure that we are not the foolish. You can see from this statement in Matthew chapter 7 that there are people who claim to be Christian and prophesy in his name, and cast out demons in his name, and do many wonders in his name. Oh, he's a great servant! And at the end, he says, I never knew you.

What's the difference? God's not looking for lip service. It's not enough just to call him Lord, but to keep his laws and to keep his truth. We don't get to define how the church ought to be, nor how Christians are to behave. You know what, brethren? That's not our call. The converted mind doesn't even try to make that call. But the converted mind tries to conform to God's will. It doesn't try to conform the church to its will. The converted mind is a cooperative mind. God and Jesus Christ have a definite plan that cannot and will not be altered. They determine who is a true member of the church and who will have eternal life. And you know what? That's partly by those who accept the truth and refuse a lie and refuse to lie. Why is truth such a fundamental groundwork of conversion? I mean, you would think we would start with repentance and faith, which we will get to. But we really don't start there.

We start with the truth. That is how you are introduced to God. Satan told a great lie in the Garden of Eden. That lie needs to be undone. And the big part of that lie that's so tempting, so succulent to human nature, is you will be like God. And in a way that was partly true. Knowing good from evil, Satan said. But that doesn't make you like God. Knowing good from evil does not make you like God. Oh, God knows the difference between good and evil for sure. But God is love. You will not be like God knowing good from evil. It's a huge lie. And if you want to start this process of conversion, you cannot trust yourself. Which is what the apostles talked about through every single letter that they wrote. 1 Timothy 3, verse 15. So how do you find the truth? 1 Timothy 3, verse 15. Paul says, But if I am delayed, 1 Timothy 3, verse 15, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God. How does a converted person conduct himself? Which is the church of the living God. The house of God is the church of God. The pillar and ground of the truth.

Brethren, I suggest that we need to change our thinking and revert back to a way that the church used to think about 40 years ago. That you gain the truth together in the church. That the truth is not an individual's journey of exploration. Not that it's wrong to individually explore the truth. But it is wrong to trust your self, your mind, your opinion. The church is the ground and the pillar of truth. What is the church? What is? What does that word church mean? It's the word eclesia. It means the called out ones. Called out by the Father. The Father's special ones are the ground and the pillar of truth. The truth is in the church, not out on your own. It's not an individual journey of exploration. Let me say that again. The truth is not a journey of individual exploration.

The truth is in the church. There is a sincerity in a true Christian. Truth is what a Christian thinks, talks, and acts. The truth is what a Christian thinks, talks, and acts. There is no deceit in the converted heart. There is no trickery.

There is no intent to fool anyone. It's just an open sincerity. When I'm wrong, I admit I'm wrong. I don't try to make others feel like they're wrong or that my mistake was theirs. It's just truth. There's an openness to the converted mind. Is that your mind?

A converted person must be diligent to preserve the truth in them. The converted heart is not deceitful, and the converted heart is careful not to be deceived. Those two things about the truth are very important in the converted mind. The converted mind is not deceitful. You're not trying to trick anyone. And the converted mind is careful not to be deceived.

If possible to be deceived, it's actually very easy to be deceived. If you behave as the Corinthians did. If we, as the church of God, misbehave and create divisions among us, it is extremely easy for the converted mind to become deceived. Action will lead to deceit.

Abberant behavior leads to deceit. You might think, well, if I'm converted, I won't be deceived because I have the Holy Spirit. Not so. That is not so. Let's notice 2 Corinthians 11. This is the church of God, and they were misbehaving.

They were causing divisions, and there was chaos and service. Some people would be over in a corner speaking different languages that nobody else could understand. And other people were getting drunk at the Passover. Some people were eating like a glutton, and other people would be hungry. They were misbehaving. They weren't unified. They weren't together. They weren't behaving like the Ecclesia, the called-out ones. And it was easy for them to be deceived. And Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 2. 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 2. For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. That's a powerful statement. Paul's like, I'm not sharing you with any other spirit. You are converted by God. You will stay converted by God. Don't make me come down there. I mean, that's the tone that Paul is taking here. I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. You've got one Savior, Jesus Christ. He has one spirit and one set of rules. And that's what you follow, he says. But, verse 3, But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrected from the simplicity that is in Christ. How does he draw this conclusion? Verse 4, For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you received a different spirit, which you have not received, or a different gospel, which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it.

People coming in with secret or new, phenomenal truth, as if it were new. And I've heard quite a few since I've been pastor here. Quite a few. And they're not new, they're really old, and the church of God has combated them for generations. Generations. We have combated. It usually happens in two ways. Either you don't need to keep the law, there's that whole category, hits the church of God constantly. Oh, you don't really need to keep the Sabbath. Oh, it's not really that special. It's no big deal to go do this, this, this, and this on the Sabbath. Anybody who says otherwise is just being a Pharisee. And that's one side of this other gospel that comes in and attacks us. It's you don't have to keep the law, but there's another ditch. And that other ditch hits us just as hard. And that is that we need to almost judaize, like the Pharisees did, with Jesus Christ. And they almost make turn us into a Jewish church and not a Christian church. And that has hit us not recently, although it has hit us very recently, it hits us constantly for generation after generation. I've had this conversation with my parents, how back when I was a little baby, it floors me that the arguments are identical. And the church, which is the pillar and the ground of truth, combats it and teaches you, do not depart from the simplicity that's in Jesus Christ. Do not depart from the simplicity that's in Jesus Christ. And yet, invariably, someone comes in with special knowledge and depart from the simplicity that's in Jesus Christ.

How does that happen? Division? Division. That's how it happens. How does a lion attack a herd? Does he just go right in the middle of the herd? Not usually. Usually they wait for one to drift off and not pay attention. Division. To not be with the others. With the ground and pillar of truth. And yet, they go off and graze on their own. And wham! The ambush predator has them.

Read another quote from Transforming Your Life, the booklet. Paul was amazed that these people could so easily turn from his teachings and believe a fraudulent gospel to embrace a deceptive spirit and even accept a counterfeit conversion and Messiah. And in the Church of God, as this applies to us today, stepping out of the quote for a second, remember again, I'll say it again, it happens in two ways. Some people will say there's no need to keep the law constantly attacking us. So we let down our guard, particularly happens on the Sabbath. It also happens on learning, you know, the discipline of loving each other. But other people will say, no, you have to add to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, all of these other things that the apostles absolutely condemned. How do you fall for those things? How do those things trick you if you have a converted mind? Division. Not staying with the group. I'm reading on in the quote. Satan is a master deceiver. Far too many people are easy prey even after they've embraced God's truth. They are enticed by persuasive teachers hawking a counterfeit righteousness. Oh, boy, does that not apply to us. The church is the ground of truth. We must stick with the Word of God, not your personal opinion, your private opinion of the Word of God. And you know what? Not somebody else's private opinion of the Word of God. Oh, he's so smart. He's a great teacher. We should all listen to him. Really? Present that truth in open debate among all the elders, and let's see if that special truth stands up. 2 Peter 1, verse 20. 2 Peter 1, verse 20. We need to get back to this way of thinking, because this is from the Bible. This is not just some church tradition that changes with time, and it's okay to change. It's not okay to change it. It doesn't change. We don't set the rules. We don't make the rules. We were just born, and we get to choose whether or not we follow the rules.

And the rules are for our benefit. To not follow them is to do harm, personal harm to ourself. So, of course, God's not going to flex on these rules. Of course, it's not going to change. That would harm us. 2 Peter 1, verse 20. Knowing first that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man. No individual should be allowed to come into this congregation and preach something different than the church preaches, and let us tolerate it. Well, they'll say something like this. The ministry won't teach you this, but here's the real truth. You know what we should do? We should be polite and lovingly tell them, you should go talk to the minister about that.

For prophecy never came by the will of man. If it cannot be discussed openly in the ecclesia and accepted by all, it should be rejected. But by holy men of God they spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, if you don't believe that.

If you don't believe that God moved his men who wrote the Bible through his own Spirit, that yes, they physically held the pen, but they were writing the inspired word of God. If you don't believe that, you need to go all the way back to the beginning and start, because this is the beginning of the conversion process. Truth. If you don't believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, go all the way back to the beginning and start the conversion process. Honestly, you can have your opinion. I have my opinion. I was trained when I was in training to become a pastor, and they said that we all say the same thing. The ministry says the same thing. We don't all preach an individual truth. And I've seen ministers who do that, and they take people away in their own following, and they start collecting money for themselves, and becoming a little emperor, and building their own little empire. I've seen that happen. They always get squashed every single time, and not by the church, by God. Usually, the church doesn't even have to intervene. They implode. They self-destruct. You can have your opinion. I was taught that you're going to differ in opinion. Just make sure if you give your opinion, you state, warning, the content that I am about to say is my opinion. And make it clear, it's your opinion. Brethren, you can have a differing opinion on many, many different issues. In fact, I have had some really, really good debates with many of you over differences in some pretty major doctrinal issues. One of which, which I'm not going to tell you about because it's private between me and one individual, I'm going to submit to the home office that came from this congregation when the home office has a process to receive it. Right now, we have a process, but it will automatically get shot down. That's actually what that amendment is for on the back table. But I'm at there's you can differ in opinion, and that's the point. But you don't take your personal opinion and start carving out a section of the congregation and take them off by yourself. And you start going through the Scriptures on your own, not including the whole ecclesia of God. Those people that God called out of the world that are the ground and the pillar of truth. No, you go off on your own and have special knowledge. Brethren, that is not converted. That's what we're reading right now. Read it from your own Bible and don't take my word for it.

The truth comes through the church. God said that, not me. The group, the called out ones, the group that is led and taught by the ministry of Jesus Christ. Oh, yeah, and there's another little wrinkle to it. The truth isn't voted on by majority rule. It's not. That's not how the truth comes into the church. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. We can state our opinion. The apostles asked the brethren's opinion many times. They did. But they never, there's not one recorded instance ever of the apostles asking the brethren to teach them the simplicity that was in Christ. Not one time. We oftentimes get this reversed. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11. And he himself, who? God the Father. He himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. That's one title, by the way. Pastors and teachers is all one. Why? Why is there a ministry in the church? The ground in the pillar of truth. Verse 12. For the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry. Why? For the edifying of the body of Christ. It falls to the ministry, brethren, to teach the truth. That ought to be respected. Verse 13. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure and the stature and the fullness of Christ. Does that mean we can't question the ministry? No, not at all. Most of you who know me know that I actually enjoy a good debate. I do. Hey, Rod, you said this. What about, have you thought about it this way? Because I think you were dead wrong. Hey, you know what? I'm actually okay with that. If it's one-on-one in person, as long as you don't mind me saying it back to you, I'm good with that. But we should have a general respect that the truth comes from God, and God set up a church. So the truth comes through the group, the church, and God set up in that church a ministry. It's from God, and it is the ministry's job to teach the truth. A converted mind does not wander off alone by itself, and this is the point. So that he or she can become more converted. Well, I just need some time by myself so that I can become more centered, more spiritually focused, more converted. Nonsense. That is not a converted mind. You are going away from God when you do that. How does Paul say you come to the measure and the stature and the fullness of Christ? Another way to say, how do you become perfected or fully converted? He says, by the unity of the faith. That's right. Division, division, division. When we have division, Satan has a foothold. It is the unity of the faith, which is why there is a ministry. Teachers that protect the truth. Staying together, not running off alone, and having a pet doctrine or two to make you special. How does Paul say you come into the unity of the faith? Through the equipping of the ministry. How do we have the unity of the faith? The ministry. Go back and read it right there in Ephesians 4. If you doubt that, don't take my word for it. Read it again. But some will come in with special knowledge that is neither special nor is it actually knowledge. It's just opinion. And it's usually faulty doctrine that's been battleground in the church for years. It's not new. It's not puzzling. It's not even challenging to the church. And yet it pulls us away so easily.

The church is the pillar and ground for truth. Remember that. Stick with the group. Conversion is grown by being together, believe it or not, not alone. You can't practice your conversion alone. You can't get along with yourself only and think you're converted. You actually have to have other people different than you that rub you the wrong way in order for you to grow, to actually put into action your conversion. Remember Jesus said it's not enough just to call him Lord, Lord, but you actually have to do what God says. Let me ask you, how do you do that if you're not in the group? You've got nobody to practice on. Nobody to upset you. Nobody to step on your toes. Nobody for you to step on their toes. Or you have to apologize, or they have to apologize. You have to serve. I don't want to serve them. I want to serve myself, you might say. I'm tired of serving other people. You know what? It's okay. It's okay. If you need downtime, great. Right? Downtime doesn't include skipping the Sabbath. Downtime is, you know, I need to take a break and listen to, you know, maybe a creek flow or some birds chirping or something like that, and I don't want to hear any people anywhere at any time for a while. That's actually not a problem. What is a problem is saying, I'm not going back to that church. And what we're really usually saying is, I'm offended and I don't want to practice my conversion. I don't want to go on to perfection. I'm tired of growing. I'm going to go take a break from the church? No. God. That's who we take a break from. And that's nonsense. The church is the pillar and ground of truth, and conversion is grown by being together, not alone. How does the church determine the truth? We all should know this by heart. This one's easy. John 1717. Sanctify them by truth. Jesus was praying the night before He was crucified. This was an intense prayer. He said, set them apart. Sanctify means to set apart as something really special. Do you know how special we are to God? God is all about making a family. And in times past, He only worked with a few prophets. But the entire nation that He was working with was actually not converted. Because you'll see back in Deuteronomy, God gives this sigh and He says, oh, that they had a heart in them to obey Me. Which meant they didn't have a heart to obey Him. They were not converted. Only a very few prophets actually had God's Holy Spirit. Very few. And now He has opened that up to an entire church, a body of believers. Do you realize you have that same Spirit in you that the prophets had? God isn't working through just a few prophets now. He's working with you. And when Jesus Christ was the night before He was crucified and praying this intense prayer, He asked God to set you and I apart as something extremely special by saying, sanctify them. You are very special. Do not take that lightly. He says, sanctify them by your truth. How does the church determine what is truth? The next statement, your word is truth. The Apostle Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. It is the responsibility of every single member in this congregation to make sure that every single message that is spoken from this pulpit comes from the Word of God. No one has the excuse of saying, but the minister told me to. Oh, granted, ministers are counted, judged doubly hard for not preaching the truth. But the brethren are held responsible for knowing the truth. Why would that be? Think about that. Why would God hold us individually responsible to listen to every message and go, hmm, is that true? Why would that be?

Because it's an individual relationship between you and God. You aren't saved through the ministry. The ministry does not intercede on your behalf between you and God. You go directly to the creator of the universe yourself, and he expects you to engage with him, to think with him, to speak with him, and to act on his behalf.

How does the church determine truth through the Word of God? The church teaches by the Word of God. And it's here where we learn the Word of God, we practice the Word of God, we ask questions about the Word of God, we test whether or not these things are so. God only chooses a person to receive eternal life who accepts the truth, who repents in faith and makes a commitment of baptism, which is a symbol of giving your old life up and committing to living according to God's truth.

1 Timothy 2, verses 1-4. 1 Timothy 2, verse 1, I exhort therefore that first of all supplications and intercessions and giving thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all who are in authority. I believe Sam gave the opening prayer this morning, didn't he? And what did he pray for? Right? The leadership in this country that we might have peace. Where did Sam get that from?

Right here. I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. The converted mind is an honest mind. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. For, sorry, who will have all men to be saved? And to come into what? So it's God's will that all men be saved. And what do they do when they are saved? Are they just saved?

Is it just a one-time event? Do you just come up and you go, I accept Jesus? No. You go on to perfection. And where does that begin? Notice the statement. Who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth? Today, I've only covered a few things. We've covered that the word conversion means change, and in context of the church, change to become exactly like Jesus Christ. We've also covered that you cannot be converted unless you commit to living a godly life. Jesus said that not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Action is required. And then we've covered that a converted mind is a truthful mind, and it seeks the truth. The converted mind recognizes that the church is the ground and the pillar of truth. A converted mind does not deceive others and is careful not to be deceived. A converted mind seeks the truth in the group and not alone, not in secret, nor in small pockets of division. If it can't stand up to the group, it doesn't stand. That's the converted mind.

God will only accept a person to eternal life who accepts the truth. And God supplied the ministry to teach the truth according to his word. That is the groundwork to begin the discussion of what it means to be converted. You know, we started with Hebrews 6, verse 1, which is the fundamental statement of belief in an overview form of pretty much everything we stand for in the church.

It says, therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, which means become fully converted, fully grown up. The stature and the fullness of Christ absolutely mature. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God, of the doctrine of baptisms and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of dead and eternal judgment.

And this we will do. What will we do? Go on to perfection if God permits. The next time we'll discuss the difference between being called and being chosen. And we may get into, if we have time, repenting in faith and how that applies to the converted person's life every day after you're baptized. The Bible is the story of the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve coming into the family of God.

If you wanted to summarize what the Bible is about, that's it. The sons and daughters of Adam and Eve become the children of God. That's the summation of the Bible. God is working on having a very large family of loving children. But we actually have to become loving children. That's what the conversion process is all about.

During this time in human history, God is no longer working through just a few prophets. But now he's working through a group of called-out ones that we call the church. In the future, he will work with the entire world in the exact same way he's working with you right now. You are here now. You have been invited to be one of the firstfruits. How can you know that you're on the right course? How can you know that God hasn't just given up on you? Oh, everybody else, you know, is okay, but God is sick of me. We can feel that way sometimes, especially when we become divided. You know what happens to us? We get low, and we feel like God has given up on us. God hasn't given up on you.

I don't want to be rude. I want to be encouraging. But really, sometimes you really ought to look in the mirror and just slap yourself in the face.

How can you know you're on the right course? I don't want to leave you with this question unanswered until the end of the series, because that might leave you nervous for months. So let's go to the end right now and be encouraged. This series is to encourage us to go on to perfection. It is not intended to discourage us that God is not on our side. Let's jump to the end. Let's notice what Paul says. To me, this is incredibly encouraging. Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1 will read verses 1 through 10. And there's a reason we're going to read 10 verses, because we usually stop at a certain point and make the point, and we don't finish the thought. Let's finish the thought in this passage. Philippians chapter 1 verse 1. This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ. I'm reading from the New Living Translation, if you'll make that change so they can follow along with me. I'm sorry I didn't say that. There we go. New Living. This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God's holy people in Philippi, but brethren, this applies to San Antonio also. Who belong to Christ Jesus, including the elders and deacons. So this is all of us. It's not just the elders and the deacons, and it's not just the membership. We're all one. There's a unity here. Paul is talking about that unity, and he says, verse 2, verse 3, Again, continuing that theme of unity. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make a request for you. What with agony? No. With all joy. That is super encouraging.

If you ever feel like you need affirmation, read Philippians. If you ever feel discouraged, like, oh, everybody's against me. Can't somebody just say something nice to me once in a while? Yeah. Read Philippians, because it applies to you.

Verse 4, Whenever I pray, I make my request for all of you with joy. For you have been my partners in spreading the good news, the gospel, about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. These are people who love the truth and spread the truth. Verse 6, And I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished. On the day when Christ Jesus returns, and we usually stop there and make the point, God's going to finish what he starts in you. If he started in you, even if you walk away and cop a bad attitude, God's not going to leave you. He's going to be right there waiting for you to come back. If you don't see God around, he didn't leave. You did. Because he's going to finish what he started in you. But you know what? Paul's thought doesn't end there. Verse 7, So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you. How does he feel? For you have a special place in my heart. You share with me a special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in my defending and confirming the truth of the good news. Paul was writing this, and he was in Roman prison, and he was about to be executed. Was he feeling sorry for himself? Was he down in the dumps in blue? No. What was his source of encouragement? What kept him going? What made him feel like his life meant something? You! Pretty cool! Verse 8, God knows how much I love you and long for you with tender compassion of Jesus Christ. Yeah, and by the way, it's not only Paul that feels this way, it's Jesus Christ who feels this way. Verse 9, I pray that your love will overflow more and more. You know what that's another way of saying? Go on to perfection! Be converted! Learn to love other people!

And that you will keep on growing in the knowledge and understanding, because the converted mind loves truth! Verse 10, for I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day that Jesus Christ returns. That is so encouraging that we may live a pure life, brethren. A Christian, a converted person, is not someone that gets baptized and comes to church every week. That's not enough. There is a process of going on to perfection. There is a process of becoming a mature child of God, having the character of God, the character of Jesus Christ, where you cannot be offended, you help other people even when you're down, you love other people, and you reach out to other people, even though you may be hurting, you lay down your life. And that's not like a some one-time heroic event, but that's every day with your time. You lay down your life for other people, and you become converted, and you go on to perfection.