The Word of Reconciliation

All things are from God, who has reconciled us to Him by Son Jesus Christ. And He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God is reconciling us through Christ, not just us, but the whole world is reconciling the whole world. And therefore, He's not imputing our sins and the world's sins to them. But He has committed to us, as God's people, the word of reconciliation.

This is a paraphrase of two verses in the Bible. Do you know which verses are those?

Do you understand what this means? Okay, so if you turn with me.

If you turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, it's always important to have the sword with you. If you don't have the sword with you, then you're very exposed. Anyway, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, and verse 18 and 19. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 18 and 19. That's where I read it from.

God has reconciled everything to Him through Christ. We have the ministry of reconciliation, not only to us, but the whole world.

And He has given us, as these people, this word of reconciliation.

Put it in another way. We have sinned. Which one hasn't sinned? Which is end up? And then... no, there's nobody out there now. Okay, we're all sinned. We're all, in other words, have disappointed God. Have we? I mean, we let God down. We disappointed Him. More than that, we probably actually insulted Him by some of our actions. We actually turned ourselves against Him. In other words, we became the enemies of God. That relationship was broken. And not only the enemies of God, we became our own worst enemies. Why? Because we have, quote unquote, killed ourselves. We've condemned ourselves to death. So we are our own worst enemies. And of each other. And of each other. So, brethren, today, I want to talk to you about the word of reconciliation, which is entrusted to us.

As I said, we all have sinned. We all condemn to death. We know the wages of sin is dead, so Romans 6, 23, so that's where we will. And we all will die. And once you're dead and I'm dead, that's it. We're dead. I can't resurrect myself. I can't bring myself back to life. I'm dead. There's no way I can get back to become a living being. It's like there's a chasm, or a big valley, a big divide. And once I've crossed there and I'm dead, there's no way for me to get back. No way.

The only way to heal and to fix that is through Christ. The only way is pay for us to get back to life and to have to be reconciled with the Father. Christ came to earth. It was across that chasm, that divide, that... He crossed that divide. He paid the price of death so that you and I can live again. So that you and I can be reconciled with the Father. So, ultimately, in the end, what is done? He's abolished the greatest enemy of all, which is death. Ultimately, that's what he will do. That's what it is. The process is the ultimate enemy, death. So he died as a substitute for us. So that you and I can live again. Can start to be reconciled with the Father.

So what is reconciliation? What is reconciliation? Say for instance, there is an argument or a fight or a disagreement between you and a friend of yours. And...

And you go in different directions. What is reconciliation? Is it just kind of a we'll get along? We'll just kind of get along. We just kind of keep going and get along. No, that's not reconciliation. Reconciliation is to restore that relationship. For instance, between God and us, which is a father-son relationship. Between Jesus Christ and us, which is a brother-to-older brother relationship. With obviously, with the proper respect to the older brother, and the worship to the older brother for what he's done for us.

So what God is doing is bringing us into a relationship within. Think about it. A relationship within. So point number one in reconciliation is that... Now, take note of this. Jesus Christ came, paid the price, and went back to the father. That is point number one of reconciliation. Jesus Christ came from the father, paid the price, and went back to the father. That's what he did. Very simply, that's what he did.

He has now paid the price of reconciliation. He paid the wages of certain, which is there for us.

Now, I've got a question. Is now reconciliation complete?

Are we now fully reconciled with God? Because he's done it for the whole world, right? Is the world now reconciled with God? But he's paid the price?

So the answer obviously is no. Why? Because there has to be a response from us to him.

You see, as I say, it takes two to tango.

For you to heal a break in a relationship, both parties have to do something.

Both parties have to do something.

But now, I want you to think about something very important here.

Who was the party that was insulted? In the relationship, for instance, between man and God. And when I say man, I mean man and woman, of course. I mean humanity and God, between Adam and even God. Who was the party that was insulted? Who was the party that was disappointed? Who was the party that was let down?

It was God, of course. Right. It was God. It was God. God is the party of those two, between man and God.

God was the one that was treated wrongly by man or mankind or man and woman. Now, think about what God has done by his actions.

He is the one that we have done wrong against.

Right? He is the one that we've done wrong against. But he is the one that initiates the healing of the relationship by doing his part first, by sending his son to die for us. By his example, he shows as an important principle that yes, both have a responsibility to heal, but he shows, or to reconcile, but he shows an important point by his example that the one that is or has been offended or hurt or let down or disappointed by his example, he shows, is the one that initiates the healing process of that relationship.

Now, let me give you an example. Now, you have an argument with a friend of yours, and you've done nothing wrong. But maybe that friend or a person came and did something and hurt you.

What is your natural human reaction? He better make it right before we actually go further. Right? That's your natural human reaction. Is that the reaction of God towards us?

Imagine if God had done that. If God would expect us to kind of get it right, and then he would do his best. I tell you, there'll be no hope for us. No hope for us. But he, as the one that was hurt, he took the first step. The name?

Look with me, please, to Romans 5, verse 8. Romans 5, verse 8.

Romans 5, verse 8 says, But God demonstrates his own love towards us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Think about our relationship again between us and somebody else. Somebody upsets us. Make us really upset.

And because of that, we want them zapped, quote-unquote. We want them punished. We want them to get justice. Isn't that normal? Isn't that natural?

And punish deeply. And therefore, we want some action to fix it. And we want that person to change or at least apologize.

Now, sure, the situation needs to be fixed. But look how God goes about fixing the situation. You see, God wants to fix the situation, but his approach is different.

You see, look at how he deals with us.

He wants our relationship to be healed, right?

And he is the one that has been hurt. He sent his son to die for us.

Does he want to fix that relationship problem? Yes or no? Yes.

But his approach is very different than our natural carnal approach.

Very different.

By his example, by what he has done, he puts responsibility on the one that was hurt to initiate the healing process. Wow! I think that's big. I think that's big. That is difficult for you and I to grasp.

Why is it difficult? Why is it difficult for you and I to grasp that? Because you and I want that person to understand something wrong against us. We want that person to change. We want to change that person. You want, you and I want, in other words, that person to get what they deserve.

And so, only once they change, are we happy to reconcile.

Imagine that was God's approach.

Now, look at it another way. We feel, therefore, by taking the normal carnal human approach, we feel that the other person, the one that offended or that hurt or did the wrong, we feel that that person has to heal us first.

Why? Why do we feel that? Think about it. Why do we feel that that person has to heal us first? Do you know why? Because our pride has been hurt. Our pride has been put down. Look at what it did to me. I'm going to fix him or her.

And here is the root of the problem. Think about it. Here is the root of the problem of lack of reconciliation in this world. Pride. Lack of humility. You see, others have wronged us. We, therefore, feel they're going to do the first move because they've hurt our pride, our self-esteem. That is the problem. Now, what is God's motive towards us? What drives his actions? Look at Romans 5 verse 8.

God demonstrates his own love towards us. What is his motive? What is the driving, the engine? His love. Not pride. Love. God's got no pride. His pride is not hurt because you and I have sinned.

But he's not loved. So his action to you and I is love. That is a key area for us to imitate God. What is our motive?

Or at least, what is it that our motive should be? The driver, the motivator of our actions and reactions needs to be outgoing, concerned for the other person. How did they offend us first? They are my enemies.

Don't we remember the Sermon on the Mount? So let's turn to the Sermon on the Mount, but not in Matthew. Just to make it different, let's go to Luke. Okay, so let's go to Luke chapter 6. To the Sermon on the Mount. Luke chapter 6.

First, it talks about the attitudes and then it magnifies the law.

And look at Luke 6 starting in verse 35. Luke 6 verse 35. But love your enemies.

You see, the motivator is love. The enemies are those that have offended against us, that have hurt us, that have put us down. Do good and land, and hope for nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you'll be the sons of the Most High. Why will it be the sons of the Most High? Because it will be in His image. What do you mean in His image? I don't mean fingers, hands, toes, nails, face. His image is His character. His character is love, and will be like Him that has got a loving character, not an arrogant, powerful character. Sure, it will be in that image, or be a spirit being in that image, but even more important is the spiritual image of the Father that you and I need to imitate. In which Christ has given us an example to be. And He says, you will be the sons of the Most High. Yeah, because it's like faith, like Father, like Son. That's like, you know, will be like Him, the way we behave. For He's kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is also merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not. In other words, don't have that critical attitude of criticizing this person for what He's done, and He's done this, or She's done this to me, or whatever heaven, blah, blah, blah, and therefore our relationship is broken. And by relationship, I mean a brotherly relationship. I don't mean anything else. I mean a godly, brotherly relationship. That's what I mean by this. And He says, condemn not, and you'll not be condemned. Forgive and you'll not be forgiven. Give and it'll be given to you. Good measure, press down, shake them together, and running over will be put into your, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. Easy? No. Nobody's saying it's easy. Why? Because we've got human nature. Because we've got human nature. We've still got pride in us. So, brethren, you and I need to look at how God deals with our sins, and how He deals with it. It's motivated by His love towards us. And that, that, how He reacts, that is the ministry of reconciliation.

That is the word of reconciliation that is given to us.

That is how God is reconciling us to Him.

Go back to Romans, please. Romans chapter 2, verse 4. You see, because what God is doing through His goodness, He's teaching us a lesson. And the lesson He's teaching us, we can see that in Romans chapter 2, verse 4, says, all to you despise the reachers of God's goodness, and forbearance, and long suffering, patience. He's patient with us. I mean, we do wrong and we repent, but then we trip again and says, oh, Father, it's me again. I tripped again, and He forgives us again because He's long suffering. He's patient. He's goodness. That's what grace is all about. That's grace. I mean, you think about the word grace means this. It's just that patience and long suffering and goodness and favor towards us. That's what grace is all. It encapsulates all that. It says, not knowing that the goodness of God, this gracious divine favor, loving favor of God towards us, leads us to repentance. It's all motivated by love.

How did you and I come to repent?

Because of God's goodness. Not our goodness. God's love and mercy towards us first, giving us the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, because we realize we cannot repent by ourselves. God has to extend that love and mercy and kindness to us, and that leads us to want to repent, to want to not let Him down. That's what it is. Like when I speak to my children, quite often when they were young and they did something wrong, and they say, I'm going to have to smack you, I'm going to have to correct you because you did something wrong, because you've actually disappointed me. You've disappointed me. And then I say, because I show them love, they say, Dad, I don't want to disappoint you. That's what you want to try and do with child rearing, to bring that love to when the hearts of the fathers towards the children and the children towards the fathers. That's what we're going to do. That is the word of reconciliation based on the engine, on the motor, on the driver, which is God's love, a Godly love.

You see, God's pride is never hurt. Why? Because it doesn't have it. So it can't get hurt because it doesn't have it.

And because of that, he set an example, and he sent us, his son, to die for us. And what we have to do, we have to repent from that proustful, arrogant, lacking in humility, stubborn heart, you hurt me! Yeah, maybe I did, I'm sorry.

I'm not perfect. None of us is perfect. So continue reading in verse 5 of 2nd Romans, Romans chapter 2. 2nd Romans chapter 2. But in accordance with your hardness of your impenitent heart, in other words, of your pride, your arrogance, your stubbornness, people are stubborn! They go, I will not do it! That's enough. I can see myself there. I'm stubborn! You are treasuring up for yourself wrath! So if we don't break that pride and that arrogant and become malleable and teachable and meek in God's hands, we then are treasuring up for ourselves wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. But God is passionate. God gives us time, and with his life, there's hope because he's given us time. So let's use this time to change.

Continuing in verse 6. Who will render to each one according to his deeds? So God ultimately will reward everybody according to his deeds. So they will be righteous judgment. Eternal life to those who are patient, continuous in doing good, sick for glory, honored and immortality. So there's nothing wrong in seeking for glory, seeking for honor within God's way. But to those who are self-seeking, that's for selfish motives, and who do not obey the truth. You've got to obey! It's not just believe, you've got to obey the truth. But obey unrighteousness, to them there'll be an indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every human being, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also the Greek. In other words, there's no partiality of God with everybody, but glory, honor and peace to everyone who seek who works what is good to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there's no partiality with God. There's no discrimination with God. They all be treated equal. Man and woman, Jews and Gentiles. Oh! Oh! You see brethren, as it says elsewhere, mercy rejoices against judgment. That's what it is. When we have mercy against others, the day of judgment will be a piece of cake because we've been merciful and we know that we're going to get mercy back. So we don't fear the day of judgment. So, is that all that God did for us? What was the point? Number one that I mentioned again? Jesus Christ came, paid the price and went back to the Father.

He sent His Son. We see His goodness and now we can be reconciled to Him. Is that all He's done?

Now, what is done is huge. It's gigantic.

But the question is, is there enough to reconcile us to Him? Having now paid the price of our reconciliation, in other words, taking the first step, is the reconciliation now complete? That's what I asked early on. Is the world now reconciled with God? He's done that for everybody. Is reconciliation complete? No, because there has to be a response from us. We must repent. So what's our response? Repent. Remember, I go through counseling for baptism. I say, repent and fight for the conditions for baptism. Repent. So we then, we baptized. Is that it? Now I made it! I'm in, in!

Many think that baptism is the end of the road.

Now, no, baptism is not the end of the road.

No, baptism is only the beginning of the road. No, baptism is not the beginning of the road. Baptism is only yours and my first step. He said, now we know, and now we commit to God, that we're going to do our, try to do our best. I realize I have messed up and I realize I messed up. Now, I'm going to try to do my best. I'm going to try to put you first and I make that commitment that till I die, in fact, for eternity, that's what I want to do. I want to put you first. I want to do what pleases you. Does it mean that I'm perfect? No. Does it mean that now I've done and I'm finished the road? No, it only is the first step. It's the first baby step.

Why? Why is it only the first baby step?

Because you and I have human nature.

We still are sin. Human nature is corrupt is sin. You and I still are sin. You know our corrupt nature. Remember, when I counsel for baptism, I say you've got to repent of two things. Remember what those two things are? Repent of what you have done and repent of what you are. I fear that many in God's church have not yet fully crossed that.

Yeah, maybe we've repented of what we've done, but have we really repented of what we are? Now, does it mean that when you baptize you fully understand this? Well, you understand a little bit because it's only the first step. But as you now are baptized, as you go along, God reveals to you and you start seeing more and more and more. And that's why when I counsel for baptism, I recommend, make a note of what you're repenting. And then 20 years down the road, you make a note of what you are. And then you look back and say, wow, have I changed? Because you've got a record of what you thought and did, whatever it is. That's why I say write it for yourself. So you can look back and say, wow, I have changed. So if you have the opportunity to do that, it's good. I wish somebody had told me to do that because I never did that. But it would have been nice for me to, but I can see some of the things I did. And I can see there's been a lot of change throughout these 40 years of being in the church and being baptized. You see, because we have human nature, because we are human nature, we are human, and we've got human nature. And that's what we're going to repent of, what we are. We are still on the side of the enemy, of the adversity, because we are sin. We still not reconciled completely.

You see, some people think Christianity is now in doctrines, it's knowledge. Oh, I know these dates, and I'll verse, and I'll go into all these things. And you get all this knowledge on the internet, and verse, and that, and yada-var. Is that Christianity?

Yes, there's a basic doctrine, it's important, but there's a lot of knowledge out there that actually is irrelevant for our salvation. And knowledge pops up, kind of gets that pride going. Oh, others, they say, oh, now all you need to do is believe in Christ, and you're saved.

Do we have to believe in Christ? Yes. But is that enough? No, there's more than that. You see, if you are deceived into thinking that's enough, then you're kind of not running the whole race.

Oh, well, we get into the church, you say, okay, we've got the knowledge, you've now got the basic doctrines, we've repented of what we've done, we believe, and we keep the Ten Commandments, we keep the Sabbath. I'm okay, Jack. Is that it? No, that's not enough.

That's not enough.

Let's go back to 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18, when we started. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled unto himself through Jesus Christ, and is given as the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing the trespasses to them, and as committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now, continue, verse 20. Then we are ambassadors for Christ.

Now we need to understand what is an ambassador. Now an ambassador represents that country. For instance, the ambassador of Germany in the States, it better represent Germany properly and accurately. And it better not vote in the States, because he might lose his nationality. Right?

The ambassador of Japan better represent Japan correctly. For instance, when he goes to the United Nations or whatever it is and represents Japan, he's going to represent what Japan says correctly. Brethren, we are ambassadors for Christ, for the kingdom of God, for the government of God. We better represent Christ correctly.

If we, by our actions, by calling ourselves Christian, and we're not representing Christ properly, what are we doing? We are taking his name in vain and therefore breaking the third commandment. Full stop! As simple as that! So if you call yourself a Christian and you're not really being able like Christ as a true ambassador, as he says, yeah, for Christ, let's be careful. I will represent. So it goes on. As though God was pleading through us, we implore you! We implore you! I mean, that is saying, please, I beg you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God! Oh, wait, wait! Hasn't God done at all? We're not reconciled. No, he says, I implore you, be reconciled to God! So there's something you and I need to do.

For we made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So we are to become the righteousness of God. We are to represent the righteousness of God through Christ in him. What do you mean, in him?

Let's just backtrack a few verses. In fact, the verse before we started reading, which is verse 17.

In verse 17, he says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, so it's talking about, let's become the righteous of God in him, and he says, therefore, in verse 17, if anyone is in Christ, what is it to be in Christ? He's a new creation. All things have passed away, beyond all things have become new.

What is this new creation?

Now, a new creation, a creation, is a complete change. How does God do that for us? For us to become a new creation? Let me give you the answer, straight up, and then you'll see. The answer is, he gave us his holy spirit. He put the divine nature in our minds and bodies, in our corrupt human nature.

And now, with the help of his nature in us, which we receive of the baptism, he gives us his mind, he gives us his power, he gives us divine nature, albeit just a little seed, which we must grow like a plant grows. We plant a seed and then it grows, until it grows bigger and bigger and bigger. That's what we've got to do. We're only getting a little seed. We've got to grow that seed. We've got to water it. We mustn't quench it. We've got to allow it to grow. It's only the first step when we baptize. We receive that after baptism through the laying on our lands, and that's only the first step. We're going to grow. Now, what do we have? We have the mind of God in us. Where do we learn that? In 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Go back just a few pages. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

Look at verse 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 15.

I beg your pardon? 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 11. For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man, which is in him? How is it that you behave as a human being? Because you have a spiritual essence in you, which is the spirit of man in you, that makes you be a human being, to react like a human being. Even so, no one knows the things of God, except the spirit essence of God in us, which is God's mind in us. So, it's in us, and therefore we start understanding the things of God. Initially, before baptism, it is around us. It's guiding us. After baptism, it's inside us. That's the difference.

Verse 12. Now we have received, after we baptize, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God. That spirit, that mind, that essence, that capability, that genetic code that makes us have the genetic code, the approaches, the thinking of God. That we might know the things, continue reading in verse 12, we might know the things which have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak not in words of which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. They don't have God's Holy Spirit, and they don't have the Holy Spirit. They just don't grasp it. So, people in the world don't grasp it unless God's Holy Spirit stops working with them, and they start understanding it. The Holy Spirit is given to us by God. You see, God forgives us. He's given us Christ. Christ forgives us. But he does not accept us the way we are. We have a lot of work to do. Some say, well, all we have to do is accept Jesus Christ, and they do that and say that in great sincerity. And they stop there because their false ministers told him that. Those false ministers, some of them know a lot better. They've got something to answer if they know better. If they sincerely deceive, well, that's a different story. But a lot of people are just sincerely, and they just deceive sincerely, and that's okay. God will forgive them because they're just sincerely wrong.

Now, we understand that we've got to repent. So, we've got to go beyond just believe, but we've got to repent. See the two conditions of baptism, believe and repent. So, we've got to go further. Repent of what we've done. So, they now keep the law, and they get baptized in Jesus' name by Jesus Christ's authority. But is that it? No. Because Christ realized that being baptized was not enough. So, he went back to the Father. Remember? He came from the Father. He died, and he went back to the Father. Why did he go back to the Father? For many reasons, but one of them was to do what? John 16 verse 7. Let's look at this one important reason why he had to go back to the Father. John 16 verse 7. This is in his discussion with the disciples, just after the changing the symbols of the pasa over and the foot washing before he died. John 16 verse 7, he says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away back to the Father. Because if I do not go away, the helper, which is the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send the Holy Spirit to you.

I'll send it as it should be. Why is it him? Well, it's like in Portuguese, you know? The table is feminine. I mean, you would think that table is feminine, but in Portuguese, if you refer to a table, it's she.

If you talk to a watch, in Portuguese, it's he. He's a watch, a watch, the watch, it's he. It's not a person, it's he. It's just a grammatical thing of the language. In Greek, that's the way it is. So they translate it that way, because it's a Greek linguistic thing. It's not that there was a person, like the watch is not a person, the table is not a person, it's a thing. But in that language, in Greek, like in Portuguese, and a lot of romance-style languages, you know, the things have quote-unquote sex, quote-unquote, not the way, but you know, we're the masculine or feminine. So he says, yeah, the help will not come, but if I depart, I'll send the Spirit to you. He's referring to the Spirit. I'll send God's Holy Spirit to you. Why? Why?

Because he understood he had to take also a second step for reconciliation to occur. The first step, he had to die for us. He came down, he died for us, he went back. The second step is, he gave us his Holy Spirit. Now, he has two important steps in reconciliation. Number one, he, as the offended party, as the one that was hurt, initiated. And number two, he, as the offended party, gave us the tools, the help, the strength, the capability, the mind, the technology, quote-unquote, in spiritual terms, to help us overcome.

You and I need to receive God's Holy Spirit. We need to receive God's Holy Spirit, or else you and I are handicapped, and we cannot progress effectively on this road. We need that help.

It's like, for instance, if I tell you, yeah, in the air, there is a website somewhere, okay? And you just need to look on that website. Can you look on that website just like that? Or do you need the tool that will get you onto the internet with a little PC, or a little iPad, or a little intelligent phone, or whatever it is, to get the internet? And look at that! You need a tool! Otherwise, you're completely unable to get that information on the web. What is the tool, spiritually speaking, that God's giving us to be able to have access to through reconciliation with God? God's Holy Spirit. That is the spiritual technology that, quote-unquote, I'm just putting in modern terms for young people to understand. I'm just putting it that way. It's the spiritual helper. It's the spiritual enabler that helps us to bridge that gap. He's bridged that gap. Step one, he came to us and took us out of the grave. Number two, now we've got to go further. And the only way to cross that gap is with the right spiritual tool, which is called the Holy Spirit, which is power in his mind. So now, we've got God's mind in us. So we've got this corrupt human nature, and we've got God's mind in us. Now, instead of us just being the enemies of God, he brought God's mind into our mind. So now this animosity is in our mind, and there's this war in our mind and this conflict in our mind between our human nature and God's divine nature in our mind. We now have the mind of Christ in us, the mind of God through God's Holy Spirit. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Keep your finger there on John, because he's going to come back to it. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 15 and 16. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 15 and 16. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 15 and 16. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet himself is rightly judged by no one. So if you are spiritual, if you are spiritual, you evaluate all things and you make decisions with God's Holy Spirit, and you do the right thing. And therefore, when you do the right thing and you're judging yourself, you're not judged by others or by God, because you have made the right choices.

For he who has known the mind of the Lord, for who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. How? By God's Holy Spirit in us, we have God's mind, we have the mind of Christ, and we now have received his nature in our mind, and now what we got? Two natures in our brain. With God's Holy Spirit, we got two natures, and therefore, where is the war? In the end. And before you baptize, you're already getting a little bit of that war, because Christ, the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you things, and now you're fighting that. And you might say, ah, no, I don't want to be baptized, or whatever it is, I don't want to do this, whatever, I don't want it, because you're fighting God's Spirit, and God's Spirit says, do it, because that's the step. But once you're baptized, that now gets you, and what I'm saying, it's even going to get bigger. You're going to have more mental conflicts in your mind. Once you're baptized at the beginning of the road, you're going to have a lot more to overcome. God's going to show you a lot more things to grow. And you know what? We all have to go through it, sooner or later, because if we don't go, take it for us. God has seen that this is the right time for you to be called into charge, and you have to have the faith that He knows when it's better for you, and do it for others, it'll be another time. So, we have to be receptive to His nature. We are at this wall. This wall exists in us. And so, if we go back to John 16, where we were a moment ago, John 16, we read verse 7. It says Christ had to go, and He sent the Holy Spirit to us. But let's now read verse 8. And when He has come, when God's Spirit has come to us, God's Spirit will convict the world. See, in the end, it will be the whole world, but He's not doing it yet to the whole world. So, He's convicting now a few. When the world tomorrow, when the Kingdom of God is reigning on earth, then you convict the whole world. But now He's convicting us in a few of ones that He's called, of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. He's convicting us that we have served. He's convicting us that we become right. And He's convicting us that it's going to be a judgment, and we've done it before. And if we do it and get it right, then mercy overcomes judgment. Then that judgment will be like a piece of cake, because we're right with God. See, the war now has become internal.

You see, what has happened is God has given us His Holy Spirit, and by giving us His Holy Spirit, we now have this lot of human nature and the little seed of God's Holy Spirit. And as we grow in the church and the Holy Spirit grows, hopefully the human nature starts going smaller, but this war continues in our mind as we grow spiritually over time. And it becomes more like God, like the sons of God, and it will become more not just human nature, but more divine nature.

Look at 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1.

2 Peter chapter 1.

Simon Peter. 2 Peter chapter 1. Simon Peter, a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power, in other words, as His Holy Spirit has given to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness. God's Holy Spirit has given us all the tools, all the spiritual technology that you and I need to overcome through the knowledge of the emucolus by glory and virtue, and by which He has given to us, exceeding great and precious promises, that through these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through us. So, as we grow, we escape in this corruption and the divine nature gets bigger and we become more like God. It's not that we've got another person inside us, but we've got an additional genetic code working with us. Our genetic code, in a sense, has changed. Our spiritual genetic code has changed, and now we're working and growing and overcoming. And therefore, there's a war. You read Paul in Romans, he says, there's a war. You know, Romans 7, it says, I wish that I will, but the things that I want to do, I do. And why? Because he had this desire, he's this world of human nature, and he's fighting against it. He's the apostle of Jesus Christ, and he himself was in this mental war inside himself. And then he says, who's gonna rescue the me out of this? But thanks to God, thanks to Christ. And then later on he says, we are the children of God. We are the sons of God, because we've got God's seed. Just like you and I have your physical dad seed in you, and you became a son or a daughter of your dad physically, you've got the seed of the father, which is God's early spirit, and now we become a true son of God. Not adopted, a son of God. And so now we've got the genetic makeup of God, our father, and so we're in this war. We're in this war. And we have to overcome these desires. And we're gonna solve these conflicts with ourselves, and we're gonna become more and more like God. And that's why when you talk about the fruit of the Holy Spirit, one of the characteristics you know is love, joy, peace. One of them is self-control, because you're using God's Holy Spirit to control yourself and to grow. That's when he talks about a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. It's God's power, the love is the driver, the motivator, and that sound mind is that self-controlled mind with God's only spirit that is overcoming and controlling in a sound manner. And so now, now with God's help, we are in that road of reconciliation with God. Because we are changing our nature, our hearts and minds with the help of God's only spirit. We're circumcising our hearts and minds with God's only spirit. We're changing that, and therefore we're reconciling with God. And as we're reconciling with God, we're reconciling with ourselves because we're winning this war in our minds. And as we learn to reconcile with ourselves, we can then apply the same principles in reconciling it with others.

So let us repeat. God, as the one we insulted, as the one we hurt, as the one we offended, it takes the first step. Jesus Christ dies for us because of his love. While we, it seems.

Likewise, we need to take the first step towards us, then hurt us. If we're going to imitate Christ, if we're going to imitate God, we need to be prepared to do that. Then, as we respond, God takes the second initiative, through the power of his Holy Spirit, to change our minds. And he puts the war in our minds, so instead of the war being external, it's now internal, and now continuously, day to day, step by step, we are fighting our human nature, overcoming and changing. So again, repeat. The steps that God has done for proper reconciliation is number one. Jesus Christ took the first step and died for us while we were still sinners, and two, he put his mind in us while our minds were still corrupt with human nature. After, obviously, we repented and we said we need your help, but we're still imperfect. We're still imperfect. So he had to pour out his Holy Spirit on us. He had to put his divine nature on us for us to walk on this road of reconciliation, and with his help, reconcile ourselves. And as we reconcile ourselves in our minds, we're reconciling with God because we have God's mind, and we're learning a lesson how to reconcile with others. So what is the reconciliation lesson between us and others? The reconciliation lesson is that, number one, you and I need to take the first step, even though we may be hurt by other people, and we may be disappointed and saddened and whatever it is by other people, we've got to take the first step like God did.

Even if they have not yet repented, we've got to forgive. Like he says, forgive, seven times seven is seven, on the same day. So there's something about that. No? And two. Number two. So that's the first one. We've got to take the first step. Number two, we've got to realize that only God's mind in the other person, through God's Holy Spirit, can convict that person to change.

Because it's that person who's going to change himself or herself. You and I can change nobody. You can't even change your spouse. You cannot change your spouse. Don't try.

We can't change anybody. We can only change ourselves. And God has given us the Spirit, as we radiate, as we repeat it, He's given us the power. He's given all things that we need to change ourselves. He's given zero to us to change somebody else, only to change ourselves. So we realize that only God's mind will change the other people. And even Christ, as a human being, realized that. So he had to go to the Father to save God's mind. Think about that. He couldn't do it to a single human being. He couldn't change these phatuses. He couldn't. He had to go back to the Father to save the Holy Spirit to even change his apostles, because they all ran away when he was being crucified. They all ran away. So they need the God's Holy Spirit. And you realize that. And so when we deal with other people, we've got to realize that we cannot change other people. Only God's Spirit can change. Therefore, what is our role on the second step? What is our role in the second step? The first step, we've got to take the first step, which is forgive. And even if they haven't repented, what is our role in the second step? Because we realize that only God can do it through His Holy Spirit. So our role is explained in Matthew 5. I read that earlier, but let me read it again. But now from Matthew 5, which is the sermon in the Mount. Here is our role, Matthew 5, for the second step. Matthew 5 verse 44.

Matthew 5 verse 44. But I say to you, love your enemies, lest thou do curse you. Do good to those who hate you. So that's the first step. And pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Why do you pray for your enemies? Why do you pray for your enemies? Do you pray for your enemies to say, God, stop them! Stop them so they get the lesson! No, you pray for your enemies to say, God, please, for the power of your spirit, convict them of the sin. Please help them to see what's wrong.

Please help them through your spirit to change them. That's why you pray for your enemies. Because the motive is love for your your brother, which happens to be your enemy temporarily, but it's your brother or sister. Pray for them that you may be the sons of your father in heaven, in other words, so that you are like him in character. Now, this requires humility. This requires you not to be proud. This requires you to take the first step, like Jesus Christ did, which requires humility, to forgive others while they're hurting you and offending you, and praying for them while they're enemies, that God's Holy Spirit may convict them in God's due time.

That's God's will. Because God knows better. Sometimes we think, well, it's our time. Well, God knows better when it's the right time for the ultimate greater benefit of the other person. For the ultimate greater benefit of the other person, God knows when is the right time. You see, God's got a lot of time. God is not saying, oh well, the person is dying.

God is going to resurrect him or her. He's ready to pay for it. And he's got a lot of time. He's not rushed. So he knows when it's the right time for the better of that person. So you and I, as part of loving our enemies, we pray for them. That second step is we pray for our enemies so that they may come to see, be convicted by God's Holy Spirit, according to God's will, according to his time. Now, with that in mind, that requires a lot of faith and trust in God to pray for your enemies. For that, because you know God's going to do it, because God loves them.

God loves them. So that requires a lot of faith and trust in God. And so, to conclude, I want to read with you Psalm 37. Just a few verses in Psalm 37, because it shows what sort of faith in God we need. Psalm 37. We're going to start reading from verse 5. Psalm 37 verse 5.

Lovely Psalm. Well, let's just read from verse 5 through 9. Commit your way to the Eternal. Trust also in him. And he'll bring it to pass. You know, just add confidence in him. You'll make it happen. And he'll bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the known day. Rest in the Lord. Just take it easy. Be calm. Just leave it up to God.

Just be patient. Have peace. And wait patiently for him. Oh, it's so easy. When is that person going to get it? Wait patiently for him. Wait patiently for him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way. Don't fret because this person, even though he's doing wrong and he's making a lot of money and getting rich, doing things wrong. Don't fret. Calm down. Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Seize from anger. Don't get upset.

Don't get your blood pressure up. Don't allow that. Keep it calm. Don't. And for sacrifice, do not fret. It only causes harm. It's going to give you a stroke or whatever. Just relax. Calm down. For evildoers shall be cut off. If they don't repent, finally, when God starts dropping the penny, they don't repent. Ultimately, the end result, they'll be cut off.

But those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. They will be, in other words, in the kingdom of God that will be rooted on the earth. This is the word of reconciliation.