To Think Differently, Pt. 2

Wayne Matthews

July 11, 2015

The title of today's sermon is To Think Differently, and this will be Part 2.

The purpose of this sermon series is to explore what it really means to think differently.

Repentance is an inward sign, and then what's revealed from that, this inward sign, this inward thinking, is an outward sign of a change of thinking that is taking place within us. So repentance starts within the thinking, to think differently, which is what repentance means, or what "repent" means. So this change of thinking internally will actually be demonstrated by an outward sign of this change of thinking that is taking place. The way we make this change of thinking is through the gift of God's holy spirit, and is based on genuine spiritual repentance. Repentance is to think differently. We must have our thinking transformed.

We've been through past sermons which outlines that this is the very purpose of life. God's desire for us is that we choose to change our thinking, to think differently than our natural state of mind because our natural state of mind is carnal. It is selfish. So we have this potential of changing our thinking, and that's God's desire for us, because He desires to give us life in Elohim, and it can only take place through the transformation or the changing of the way we think, from our natural thinking to godly thinking.

Now, a good example of a transformation of the way a person thinks is found in Job 42:1. We see through the book of Job where Job was put in situations where he had a mindset, where he believed that he saw God. Now, the world believes they see God and they understand God, that they know God. The truth is that Job did not know God and the world does not know God, but God intervened into Job's life to give him sight or give him understanding so that he could see on a spiritual level. And we'll pick up the flow or the end of the story of God working with Job so that Job came to this repentance, this thinking differently. And this is what Job came to see at the end after he had been humbled, and he realized (he was given this spiritual sight to realize) his true condition and how he was compared to God and what he is compared to God. Now, we can take this on board ourselves because it applies to us, brethren. We, like Job, were carnal and selfish, and we thought we knew God. Well, God called us and He revealed Himself to us through the power of His holy spirit, through his spirit dwelling with our spirit so that we could see spiritually. The world doesn't have that opportunity at this point in time, but we do. Well, Job has been through the experience we have been through. The only difference is that Job has lost a lot in his life on a physical level and he has suffered greatly to come to see his true spiritual condition, what he is really worth.

Job 42:1—Then Job answered the Eternal and said: I know that You can do everything. Well, this is something that we come to see over time, that God has planned everything. Everything in minute detail has been planned. So God knows the end from the beginning. Well, Job now has come to see that he knows that God can do anything, God can do everything; it's God's power. He is almighty. He is the Eternal God. So what Job is saying here is that there is no limit to God's power – none whatsoever! There is no limit that we can place on God because God is almighty. And that no purpose, which is "no thoughts," no one that can have a purpose in life or a thought or a desire, that no purpose can be withheld from You. So whatever God has purposed, it will happen, and there is no purpose, there is no thinking within mankind or the angelic realm that can be withheld from God. It's absolutely impossible because God knows all things. God knows the nature of mankind because He created it. He knows the very fact that every thought and every intent of man is continually evil because he's selfish! There's degrees of selfishness. There's degrees of evil. Sin is sin, but there is depths of evil that a person can go into, which is a progression, that things start off small in the mind and develop, and if allowed to continue they become truly evil to the point of being set. So there are degrees of the depth of evil that a person can go to. Well, God knows all of these things. God knows all thoughts. God knows what's going on in the minds of mankind and He knows what's going on in the thoughts or the thinking or the purposes or the desires of the angelic realm.

Verse 3—You asked, so what Job is saying, "You've asked me," Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Well, that was Job. He was in a state of having certain knowledge, but it was all on a physical level. Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, so he had this physical knowledge. Well, to have understanding is a spiritual matter. So Job might have knowledge of God, but to understand God, to understand what God is, God's intent, motive, and purpose is a totally different matter. It requires God's spirit to understand.

Now, Job is saying he uttered things that he did not understand. He didn't understand the spirit of the matter, for example. Things too wonderful for me, because they're spiritual in nature, which I did not know. He did not understand them to the degree he could now, and therefore, really he didn't know. He had some knowledge, but he did not really know those things, because to know something is to have the knowledge of it with a depth of understanding. Then it moves to greater understanding, and then the implementation of that understanding is then wisdom. That is living wisdom. So we may have the knowledge of God, who God is, and then we understand God, God's will and purpose, His intent, His character, His nature, how He thinks—that's great to have because it requires God's holy spirit—but now for us, to live wisdom is something different. We have to take what we know of God, take what we understand about God and what we understand God requires of a human (of us), now, wisdom is to implement it, to live and to think like God does, to think differently. To think differently and to implement it into our life is actually living righteousness. We become righteous because we have the thinking of God, and therefore, we think like God, we live it, we actually do it. That is wisdom. That is righteousness.

Verse 4—Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, I will question you, and you shall answer Me. So God has said, "Well, I'm going to question you, and you will answer Me."

Verse 5—I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, which is as the world does. They hear of God, but they don't understand Him. So they can hear God, what God does, but people can't understand it because they don't have God's spirit. And Job is saying, but now my eye sees You, which is spiritual in nature. He sees God as this Great Master Potter. He sees God as almighty and that nothing can be withheld from God. Now, by nature, mankind limits God and by nature, brethren, we will limit God – because it's natural. We don't give God the glory. We don't give God the thankfulness that we should because of who He really is, because we only see God dimly. We see aspects of God, but this continual revelation has to take place within our life. We begin to hear about God and God's ways then we begin to "see" God, and when we "see" it, we "see" His righteousness. We "see" God in His true way of being, which is almighty, all-powerful, nothing can be withheld from Him, and His character is love. It's the complete opposite to mankind's.

So now Job is saying, "Well, now I see You!" He starts to see something on a spiritual level. He starts to see the glory that God really has. So he hasn't seen God on a physical level, he sees God on a spiritual level. And when we do, when we get to this point, it creates humility in the mind. We begin to think differently. Yes, we thought we knew something. Well, we knew nothing! Now we start to grow in knowledge, we grow in understanding, and we grow in wisdom, this righteousness, this thinking like God. Now, when we do that we "see" (because of God's great power in us), we "see" ourselves as we really are.

Verse 6—Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. So this is conversion. We're just a piece of clay; we're from the dust. And compared to God, who is almighty in spirit and who has such an incredible character and such incredible intent and motive, desiring to have a family, what are we? Who are we? How could we compare ourselves to God? What a great gift that God is giving. He's taking something that is nothing – from the dust – and He's going to give it the opportunity to enter spirit life forever and never be able to sin. So we're going from something physical (dust that sins, that is selfish) to something that is spirit, that cannot sin and will always think the right way. We'll always think righteousness. We'll always think differently than the natural carnal mind.

Therefore, brethren, when we "see" ourselves as we really are – as carnal, as selfish – yes, we will despise our selfishness. So Job is saying, "Therefore, I abhor... I abhor myself... I despise my own selfishness." What a terrible thing to be, is selfish. How ugly is selfishness! But that's our natural state! But he says, and he repents; he thinks differently. So he repents in dust and ashes as an outward sign, a demonstration of his change of thinking. So now his thinking has changed. He begins to think differently. Now he is demonstrating something. And what's he done? He's repenting. He's now on the path of conversion. He is desiring to be different. He wants to think differently.

So Job's conversion is exactly what is taking place within members of the Body of Christ, and it's what's going to take place within the thinking of mankind during the Millennium, and in particularly the last Hundred-years, that people will be given the opportunity to think differently. And they're going to come to this place, this state of mind which starts in verse 5. "I have heard of You," Yahweh Elohim, "by the hearing of the ears," by knowledge and different things, "but now my eyes 'see' You!" God is going to pour out His holy spirit so that people can see on a spiritual level, things we now "see"! And imagine how much more is to be given during the thousand-years and the Hundred-years. Well, we "see" now, brethren, certain aspects. We think differently now about life. Well, that's what's going to happen in the future, therefore, they will despise their own selfishness. Just like we don't want our selfishness, well, they, too, are going to despise their selfishness and they're going to repent. They're going to start to think differently, which is this conversion that is going to take place within their thinking.

Hebrews 3:12—Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. So, brethren, we're being warned here to beware. Now, what are we to beware of? Of an evil mind, which is this evil thinking. It's this evil intent that we will have within our minds. And what creates this evil motive or this evil in us? Well, we don't believe God. We do not believe God. So to beware we are to be aware about the way we think, we are to continue to focus on sacrificing ourselves. And this warning is about stay focused on sacrificing on self, stay focused on God's plan of salvation, because it's only achieved through the sacrificing of self, this thinking differently, which is based on repentance, "lest there be in any of you," in any of us, brethren, "an evil heart," this evil thinking, "of unbelief," where we are unfaithful and we no longer believe God. So this evil mind dwells in the natural carnal mind because they don't believe God.

The natural mind of selfishness does not believe God, and it cannot be faithful to God because it can't see on a spiritual level. Well, this evil mind or this evil heart, this evil thinking dwells in all humans. Now, this is something for mankind that they would not agree with. They wouldn't say, well, they're all evil. But the reality is God is saying that all human minds have an evil intent. They're selfish and they do not believe God. So we have to be careful that we don't stop fighting and that we don't return back to our own selfishness, which is this evil heart. So we're being warned here that this not be found in us, this evil thinking, this doubting God, or won't believe God, we won't believe God anymore. So to stay in the truth, to stay in the faith we have to believe God, and if we believe God we then have to be faithful to what God has given us. So these people being warned here, the Hebrews are being warned, not to return back to a carnal mind. Don't doubt God. Stay in the faith, believing what God has placed in the Church. And the warning is they would be considered evil, "having an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the Living God." So they're going to withdraw from overcoming self. They're going to withdraw from believing God. They're going to withdraw (pull-back) from believing what God places in the Church. Now, if they do that and if we were to do that, brethren, God would consider us returning back to this evil heart or this wrong thinking or this thinking naturally, which is thinking selfishly because the natural mind is false. It grows up in a way of being false. Its whole development is based on lies and deceit. That's natural!

Now, there are many examples of this evil heart which takes place in the world, this evil heart of unbelief that we could have by departing from God, by departing the Church, or departing from believing God, what God is placing in the Church. Well, this thinking differently has to take place within our minds because we are focused on overcoming and denying self, denying our own selfishness. Well, one of the things that the natural mind does is the exercising of this evil heart or this evil thinking. It exercises it by nature.

Now, one of the clear things that we can see where we think differently than the world is, for example, Hollywood, where there are false images that are put up. Now, these false images that are put up, mankind looks to them and mankind desires to be like them. But when you go back to the reality of who the person is, no matter what actor or actress it is, everybody, the producers, this is all about money and it's all about deceit and lies. It's very political in those environments. If anyone's ever been involved in acting, it's vicious. It's like politics. This is dog-eat-dog. This is cat-fighting-cat. This is actually evil because their motives and their intents are selfish. Everything is about self.

So when we see the magazines where they have what's called "male magazines," they have "female magazines," but it's all about what is considered a false image that they're portraying. It's all done on pride. And we should be able to see these things, brethren. That we can "see" that the excess make-up and the photo-shopping that takes place within all of the images of male and female, all the plastic surgery, all the enlargement of body parts, all of the trimming of things, the way eyes are lit up, all of this is about a vanity. It's all about pride and it's all about, "Look at me! I'm better!"

And there are people, because of the natural carnal mind, that desire to be like somebody else. For example, one of the royalties in the UK, whenever they wear a particular dress, that dress sells out around the world within a matter of days or within hours sometimes. Why? Because people want to be like someone else. They're getting something back from it. It's a vanity within the mind. So they see somebody that's wearing a particular garment, it's sold out. You couldn't get that garment straight away. Well, why is that? Because people like to follow others or to draw something back to be like them so that someone would comment and say, "Ah, this is the same garment as 'such and such' wore." It's taking to self. So Hollywood, through the movies, through all the magazines and the images, this is all false brethren.

Well, we think differently. We see this. We know that pride is driving these industries. All of these industries are driven by pride and it all comes from an evil mind, an evil heart. It's evil thinking because selfishness is evil. Well, we, brethren, have to get to a point of not tolerating sin in our life, not tolerating that type of thinking in our life. We have to think differently! So, we don't go out and have plastic surgery for the enlargement of body parts because of perceived beauty... perceived beauty. And we don't go out and get involved in things where it's stroking pride or the ego because it's just vanity, the lifting up of self. So we, brethren, are the opposite. We think differently. We're out to destroy our selfishness, whereas the world isn't. The world's about building self up. It's about pride.

Well, we, brethren, think differently. We're about humility, which is powered by God's holy spirit because there is a humility in the world which is false, based on pride. It's "look at me!" And often on a TV program, or someone will say in the news, "Oh, that person is so spiritual!" Or, "That person is so humble!" They have no understanding of what is spiritual. They have no understanding of what humility is. Because to be spiritual is to take on the mind of God. To be truly spiritual in nature means they have to have the thinking of God – right thinking. They'll have to think differently. They've not been called to it at this point in time, and their time will come. But for us, we've been called to be spiritual now. And to be spiritual is to be humble! It's not to push one's self forward. And to be spiritually minded is definitely not to tolerate sin. We should be getting rid of sin out of our life. So when we find sin, by God revealing it to us, we should look at ourselves, look at our motives and intents, and then to think differently is to repent, to change the way we think so that our thinking matches God's thinking.

Now, a calling from God starts with this process of thinking differently because we're in a natural carnal mind of selfishness. God calls us and we get this spiritual sight. So we've had this evil mind, now God is going to change this mind, this evil thinking that we had. It's got to be changed from evil thinking to righteous thinking, from darkness to light. And God uses those words, of "darkness" and "light" so that we can know and so that we can see, so that we understand something on a spiritual level. The natural carnal mind of selfishness is in darkness. It has no righteousness in it. None! Zero! Zilch! That's why it's in the darkness! Well, we've got to move from the darkness to the light. Now, that process of moving from darkness to light has to be powered by God's holy spirit. And how does it start? Well, we know, brethren, it starts with a calling. So we have to start from this calling where we're in the darkness, in selfishness and pride and vanity. God reveals the darkness in us, the evil in us, the sin in us. And we have to, then, take on a desire to not tolerate sin in our life, and we want to change our thinking. And we want to change our thinking to righteousness and righteousness is the thinking of God.

So we're on this path of thinking differently. It is very important, brethren, that we do not draw back from righteousness because people have done it. There have been thousands that have gone before us that have drawn back from righteousness. And by that, I'm saying, what happens is that once we are drawn out from the darkness, from evil, from this evil thinking, this self-righteousness that we have and the pride that we have, well, we're drawn out of that into righteousness, into thinking like God, into yielding to God's holy spirit. But if we stop yielding to God's holy spirit, if we stop yielding to righteousness, the thinking of God, what happens? We're drawing back. And we draw back from thinking like God. Well, there's only two ways to think. There's either thinking selfishly (carnal) or there's thinking like God. There's no grey area. We're either right on a spiritual level with God, in unity with God, at one with God, or we're not. We're actually thinking selfishly, we're thinking naturally. So the most important thing here, brethren, is we do not draw back or go back to natural thinking, selfish thinking.

Now, we have selfish thinking by nature, and it takes years and years to draw out of, to come out of the darkness. And that's conversion. It's the transformation of the mind. We have to move from selfishness and pride to righteousness and living wisdom, to have this understanding and then implement this change of thinking into our life.

1 Corinthians 2:11—For what man (human) knows the things of a man, natural, man's way of life, except the spirit of man which is in him? So mankind has knowledge about natural things, and this knowledge that they have, or any understanding, is all physical and it all comes from the fact that God has placed a spirit in man. It's a spirit in man that enables him the capacity to think and to reason. So, "What man knows the things of a man except the spirit of man which is in him?" And that's humans. That's the question that's being asked. That's the only way a person can know something is by the spirit of man that is in him. It's all natural and it's all physical. It cannot know anything on a spiritual level. It cannot see spiritually. Even so, no one knows the things of God (Yahweh Elohim) except the spirit of God. So we have to have now our thinking transformed from this natural state to this thinking like God, and it requires God's holy spirit. We have to change our intent. We have to change our motive. By nature mankind knows things, has a motive and intent by the spirit that is in him. That's what happens. That's how he thinks. But we, brethren, we know things of God, we know God's intent, we know God's motive because God's called us to have it, and it's all powered by God's holy spirit. So that's what separates the two. There's mankind, then there's God's people, the called out ones. They're called out to think differently.

Verse 12—Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, or "which is of God," because it's God's holy spirit, it's God's thinking. So we're no longer thinking like the world. We don't agree with the world. We think differently, and it's all done because of God's calling to us and God placing us into a body, into a relationship with Him, and we have God's holy spirit and it has come from Him, therefore, we think differently. Continuing on... that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. So God has given us this spiritual knowledge. God has given us this spiritual understanding, and God has given us wisdom if we choose to implement the change of thinking in our life. God is willing to share truth. God is willing to share His mind, His thinking with us, but we have to now agree to do it. We have to yield to it. So the world has a different spirit. It has human nature. It has selfishness. We understand there's an evil spirit world that broadcasts to the mind of mankind, and mankind is deceived. The whole world is deceived because of mankind's own selfishness and the broadcasting of evil, evil intent, and evil motives into the mind. Because those evil motives are selfishness. And man, by nature, is selfish. So when Satan broadcasts, he is communicating to the mind. The mind is on the same channel as what Satan broadcasts, so it's a willing and enabled receptor receiving it. It receives the signal. It receives the broadcast.

But the spirit of God is different. We have received a spirit of God which is dwelling in us, which is the thinking of God, which is completely different than Satan's thinking, and which is completely different than the natural carnal mind's thinking. Because God's spirit, God's thinking is righteousness. So we have to tune into God's holy spirit, what God is communicating to our minds by His spirit. Now, if we do that, "that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God," because it all comes from God. We have to agree with God's way of thinking, and it's been freely given to us if we're willing to fight the battle, if we're willing to not tolerate sin, and desire to have this relationship with God. Well, God is willing and desiring to pour out His thinking in our thinking, and we have to yield to that thinking to take on this righteousness.

Verse 13—These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the holy spirit teaches, because it's the mind of God, it's God's power that is communicating to the mind these matters which are spiritual, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Because the only way a person can have spiritual knowledge and understanding is powered by God's holy spirit. And it's not an education from man's ways, all the universities, all of the seminars and all the different things that they do and all the religious studies. There are people that can recite the Bible, basically, word for word, but they have no spiritual comprehension of the intent of God's word. They don't understand the motive of God's word. Now, to understand the motive and intent of God's word, we understand, that God's motive and intent is love. It's spiritual outcome. It's not about physical outcome, it's all about spiritual outcomes. God's intent and God's desire is that we come into His family, and the only way that this can happen is that we have to come into unity of thinking. We have to think differently than we do from our natural state. Well, by the power of God's holy spirit that's what teaches us these things of God, comparing spiritual things with spiritual – God's word. We begin to see things on a spiritual level. We begin to see our own intent and we see God's intent. So, God's intent is to love His creation. Well, that's what we have to come to see.

But the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. The natural mind (humans) by themselves cannot "see" anything spiritual, and it cannot receive the things that are spiritual. So there's no point in us going out there trying to convince somebody of something of God. God has clearly said that the natural mind does not receive, cannot understand, it cannot even implement these things based on a correct intent—God's intent and motive—cannot receive the things of the spirit of God. So the natural mind cannot "see" these things, but, what does the natural mind do? "For they are foolishness to him." The natural mind thinks the things of God – Sabbath-keeping, Commandment-keeping in the spirit and truth, the intent of the law – it's just foolishness. You're being an idiot. Because you won't get ahead in life. You'll never acquire a lot of wealth. You'll never get because we're opposite. We do things in humility. Well, to get things you've got to have a level of pride. You've got to lift yourself up. You've got to trample others down. You've got to create false images. You've got to make yourself beautiful as the world sees beauty, but true beauty is humility. True beauty is righteousness, thinking like God.

So we can have all these different physical things that Hollywood does and mankind puts up as being beautiful and wonderful and people desire to be like that. Well, it's all driven by pride, and we're the opposite. We don't want to lift ourselves up; we want to think like God. Well, they see us as foolish. We're just foolish. We're just foolish people. Because the things of God are foolishness to mankind, nor can he know them, mankind can't understand the way we are, they cannot understand righteousness, they cannot understand humility, because they are spiritually discerned, because they are the thinking of God. Now, mankind rejects the thinking of God and he cannot take on the thinking of God, because God has to call a person into a relationship to enable him to be able to think like God because it's done by God's great power. A calling, repentance, baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and then the power of God's holy spirit, the power of God's thinking in a mind where we can then yield, choose to yield to God's thinking, therefore, we'll be transforming the way we think.

Verse 15—But he who is spiritual, who has God's holy spirit living and dwelling in him, judges all things. Now, what does that mean? Well, we discern, we examine things by using God's word or God's thinking, God's righteousness as our guide. We make decisions based on the intent of something. Because some things are lawful but the intent behind the action could be wrong. For example, being generous is lawful and it's a right thing, but if we were to give with a wrong motive and intent, it's actually an evil mind, it's evil thinking. We judge things on a spiritual level. So just giving is not just what is required, because there are thousands of people that give, but they give to get. So we can give and have an outward appearance of being generous, and gentle, and kind, but the discernment that has to be made, the examination of the intent is the most important thing. Why are we doing what we're doing?

So, verse 15—But he who is spiritual discerns/judges the intent of all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one, because no one can work out a person's motive and intent. Nobody can work out a person's motive and intent. Only God can! So we shouldn't be judged by others and we shouldn't be judging others because we do not know motive and intent. We think we do because of our human nature of pride, but the reality is we do not know why people do things. Now, God does, as one of the fruits of the spirit, give discernment of spirits to some people. Not everybody has it. Some people are able to discern an intent or a motive based on a spiritual level, this righteous judgement because it's based on God's word, and God gives that as a gift. Others have the gift of prophecy. Others have the gift of spiritual understanding. So all of these various things, God gives. Well, we don't all have the gift of discernment, but we, brethren, should be able to judge things based on an attitude. And it's about judging self; judge ourselves about our attitude towards things. What's our motive? What's our intent? Why are we doing what we're doing?

So we are to be spiritual judges. We're to examine and discern things based on God's word. So everything we do, we should look at our motive and intent, to see if it is in unity with God's way of thinking. And no one should judge anybody else. We do not know the relationship that a person has with God. We can just do the best in the sense of making our decisions believing that we take it to God and then we make a decision based on our intent being right. Our intent is no harm to another person.

Verse 16—For, Who has known the mind of the Eternal that he may instruct Him? Who is it that we could turn around and tell God how to do things? Well, none of us. We could say this is what was happening to Job. "Who has known the mind of the Eternal?" Nobody. We know aspects of God's thinking but we do not know His real thinking in the sense of everything, because He has eternally existed. We know God's motive and intent. God's motive and intent is to create a spiritual family, therefore, people can misinterpret God's motive and intent because they take it back to physical, when God's motives are all based on spiritual outcomes, what is spiritually best for somebody. Hence, when Job gets boils, when Job's family is destroyed because God allowed it, allowed Satan to do those things, God's intent was spiritual, to have Job's mind transformed, to have Job's mind think differently. And it was all done through physical things. People could look at the story of Job and say, "How incredible is that, that God, this hard God from the Old Testament allowed Satan to attack poor old Job and Job lost all his family and he gets these boils!" because they're looking at it physically. And that's what happens to us, brethren. If we're not careful we tend to look at things physically rather than spiritually. Well, who is it that has known the mind, all of the thinking of God, God's righteousness, that the person may instruct God, tell God how to live or tell God how to do something? It's just insanity when you really understand God's plan and the way God really is. But we have the mind of Christ. Now, we have the thinking of God. We have access to the thinking of God. We have God's word in the Bible and we can read it, and powered by God's holy spirit we can come to understand it and then to live it. Now that is having the mind of Christ, enabling us to live righteousness, enabling us to live wisdom. That is the righteousness of God. That is the mind of Jesus Christ.

Now, because we have the mind of Jesus Christ we know our intents (our selfish intents are all carnal and selfish), but we know Christ's intent. It was based on righteousness. God's intent is righteousness. God's intent is all spiritually motivated, all for the good of His creation. It's righteousness, no evil thinking, no ill will. So we, brethren, we have (if we have God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us), we have the mind of Christ. We have access to it to implement this righteousness, this thinking differently into our life.

2 Timothy 2:3—This is Paul writing to Timothy, an elder of God's Church. Paul to Timothy, You (Timothy), therefore, must endure/share hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Well, we, brethren, we must share/endure hardship as a good soldier, which is someone that is willing to enter into a battle. Because a soldier is designed to go into battle, and we're soldiers of Jesus Christ, so we're going to have to learn to battle our own selfishness. And we're going to endure, we're going to share in the hardship, the hardship of overcoming ourselves.

Verse 4—No one engaged in warfare, and this is talking about a warfare against sin, because that's what's really taking place as far as something on a spiritual level. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, which is going back into this world, which we've looked at before. We have to come out of the darkness into the light. None of us that are engaged in this warfare, this fighting against sin, fighting against our own selfishness, gets ensnared or gets entangled again with the affairs of this life, back into the world, back into our own selfishness, that he may please Him, which is God the Father, who enlisted him, because we've been chosen by God to enter into a battle. This is something on a physical level. The person's now been enlisted into the army, and he's been enlisted as a soldier. Well, we, brethren, have been enlisted in a battle because God the Father has called us and He has enlisted us, He's called us as a soldier, someone that's going to enter into this battle against ourselves. And Paul's using a physical analogy here pointing to something spiritual.

Verse 5—And also, if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. So this is a good point to come across when we look at it on a spiritual level. If you look at it on a physical level, well, we enter a race, there's certain rules. There's a hundred meters and you've got to stay in your lane, for example. Well, if you break any of those rules you cannot be crowned as the winner of the race because we've broken the rules. Or if you break at the start and leave too soon, you've broken the rules. Anyone who competes in athletics, you follow the rules. No matter what that sport or that athletic event is, there are rules and conditions. No different for us, brethren, with regards to us and what we have to do. We have entered into a race for our life, really, our spiritual life, and there are rules. And those rules are believing God and obedience, being faithful. Now, if we're not faithful we cannot be crowned, and if we're disobedient we cannot be crowned, and if we're unfaithful, we cannot be crowned. So all of those things, there are rules and conditions. God requires us to think differently, and if we don't think differently than our natural selfishness we will not be crowned with life-everlasting or eternal life, as it says in the Bible, life-everlasting, age-lasting life. It can't happen. It's impossible because there are rules and conditions of entering Elohim.

We've been called to enter Elohim. The only way to enter it is to compete against our own selfishness and follow the rules. The rules are we are to yield to God's thinking, we are to yield to God's holy spirit.

Verse 6—The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops.

Verse 7—Considering what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things, to comprehend these things on a spiritual level.

Verse 8—Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, what he was saying, what he was preaching to them, (verse 9)  for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, because people believe he has this evil mind. As we have read before, we are considered evildoers because we are fighting against ourselves and we're different, we're thinking differently. Because we think differently and we're Sabbath-keepers, people think we're weird, because we're not elevating ourselves, we're not following the fashions of the world and all the images of the world, and we're not doing those things. Therefore, we're going to suffer trouble and people are going to persecute us because of righteousness, because we're thinking differently. ...even to the point of chains, where he was chained and put in prison, but the word of God is not chained, because he is continuing to preach the gospel, the good news of the Kingdom of God. God's word has not been shackled. It hasn't be restrained.

Verse 10—Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, for those that are called out from this world, for the brethren, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Jesus Christ with eternal glory. Because there is a salvation that is coming to 144,000. We know Jesus Christ has been given this eternal glory, but there is another group, 144,000, that will and have already obtained salvation. It's guaranteed because God has sealed them. Therefore, they have not actually inherited it, but they have it. They have actually obtained salvation, but they're yet to be given that gift of life. Well, we, brethren, we continue because we can obtain the same thing. We can obtain salvation in a time-order. The gospel of the Kingdom of God is a different way of thinking. Man doesn't think about Jesus Christ returning, God sending up a government with 144,000. No one's out there talking about it and living it. They're too busy looking after their own selfishness, trying to elevate themselves, trying to be like somebody else, or trying to create an image that others will follow, or create twitter accounts or facebook accounts where they'll have all these people following them. It is all vanity and pride and selfishness. It's all evil thinking, evil minds.

We've been called "to come out of her, My people." God wants us to leave the world behind, not go back. So we're soldiers and we can't go back to the world because we're too busy fighting self. We're too busy thinking differently, striving to take on righteousness, striving to take on the very thinking of God in all matters, in everything! We're striving to examine our motives and intents in everything we do and everything we say.

Verse 11—This is a faithful saying… This is referring now about baptism: If we die with Him, in baptism, we've had our sins forgiven, we shall also live with Him. Because? We walk in the spirit of God, we walk in the spirit of a matter. We take on the thinking of God. We take on righteousness. Therefore, we're alive! It's not just physical, our spiritual life is actually alive! It's alive because we're thinking like God. When we think like God we're alive spiritually. If we don't think like God, we're dead spiritually.

Verse 12—If we endure, which is we endure to the end, whatever that end is for each and every one of us. "If we endure," which is the key to life. It's like running a race. There's no use entering an endurance race, which is what a calling is like, it's about enduring to the end. You can't give up half way. You can't give up at 99.999 and stop just before the finishing line. No, we have to endure to the end. We shall also reign with Him. So if we endure this overcoming of self, this transformation of the mind, if we discipline the self, if we put the self to death, we deny our selfishness, we take on humility, we take on righteousness, we take on the thinking of God and endure during this whole period of suffering – because when we deny self there's suffering – the promise that God has given us, "We shall also reign with Jesus Christ." The 144,000 will reign with Christ. They have already been sealed. They are set. But there is more to follow in a time-order.

If we deny Him, if we deny God's spirit, if we deny, He will also deny us. So if we deny Jesus Christ, if we deny God's spirit living and dwelling in us, He (God the Father) will deny us, because He can't live in us, we're not the temple of the holy spirit, God's not living in us. He can't allow us to enter Elohim because we think differently than He does. Whereas our goal is to think the same as God. We're to think differently than our selfishness.

Verse 13—If we are faithless, in other words we don't believe...we don't believe. Now, if we don't believe, we have an evil mind. We have an evil heart (as the Bible says), evil thinking. "If we are faithless," if we do not believe God, He remains faithful, because God's faithful with His promise, what He wants to do for us. He's still faithful even though we're not. He is faithful to what He has laid out in His word. He has promised us spirit life if we are faithful and endure to the end, if we take on this different way of thinking than our normal, natural mind. He cannot deny Himself. God provides us His spirit so that we can be like Him. Well, God will not deny Himself, because if we take on God's thinking He won't deny Himself. We'll be able to enter Elohim as He has promised. So He is faithful in what He has committed to, but are we going to be faithful to what we say, to what we do, to our thinking? Well, we, brethren, we're going to deny ourselves and we're not going to be faithful to our thinking. We're going to be faithful to God's thinking. So we have to take on God's thinking. We have to believe what God says. And He says that He's going to transform us through the power of His holy spirit, and then we will enter Elohim.

Continuing on, verse 14—Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, don't get engaged in things that are irrelevant, to the ruin of the hearers. So we're not to get into word battles about what is being said or what we think is being said. We're not to get into debate about things because it's just a vanity; it's about pride. When we get into arguments or debates about matters, what we're really saying is, "I'm right, you're wrong." And we get into these word battles because we're just wanting to be proven right. We were right in our own eyes. We won't back down. We won't back down because of pride.

Verse 15—And this is Paul writing to Timothy...Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Now, if we're laboring in the truth, if we're dividing the word of God correctly, we're taking on the mind of God, we will be living wisdom, we'll be applying these things that we hear (what God has placed in the Church) into our life. For example, we have been told that one or two drinks, one or two glasses is sufficient for anybody. Are we going to take that on? Are we going to apply that into our life? Or aren't we? It's our choice. We don't have to – free moral agents. But if we're led by God's holy spirit and we're being faithful to God, we're not being faithless, and if we're allowing God's holy spirit to come into our minds, we won't be striving about, well, maybe two and a half's right or three, because this is striving about words. We're striving about things that are irrelevant. God has said through His apostle that one or two drinks should be sufficient. One or two glasses should be sufficient for anybody. We're using balance. Now, why is it sufficient for anybody? Because we need to be alert. We need to be aware of our spiritual condition. We have to be on guard against our thinking because if we have too much alcohol our minds are not aware. They become dull of hearing. And guess what? Sin enters. Sin enters into the thinking first! It's not just the action; it's the thinking. So we have to be very careful.

So we have to "rightly divide the word of truth." What we are told, we have to apply it into our minds. We labor against ourselves. We labor for God because we're taking on this thinking of God.

2 Timothy 3:10—Paul talking to Timothy: But you (Timothy) have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, which is the way that he lived his life, purpose, so he had the same intent as what Paul did, faith, he believed what Paul believed, longsuffering, so now he's going into these areas where he is similar to Paul, which is saying, "You've carefully followed these things. You've taken on this suffering," which is this patience, you're longsuffering in this, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. So Paul had suffered all of these things for the gospel, the gospel of the Kingdom of God; for the word of God, he had suffered all these things. And out of them all God delivered me (delivered Paul).  Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Jesus Christ, which is what we do, will suffer persecution. This is a fact, brethren, because we think differently. But evil men, that's evil minded men, evil thinking men because of their selfishness, and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Well, deception is the natural carnal mind. Selfishness, pride drives all these things, falsehood, vanity, deceiving and being deceived.

What's Hollywood? Hollywood is a deception. The photos from the magazines that are printed are deception. They are deceiving and they're continuing to deceive. Their image is not reality. And yet mankind, because of his thinking, wants to follow these things. Certain looks that men may have, certain looks that women may have, people desire to follow them, yet they are just a deception, the photo-shopping, you know, the falsehood of the whole thing. People want to follow the lifestyles that are portrayed within the movies, so women have a false view of what a man is, and men have a false view of what women are, because of Hollywood, because of the deception of the mind, because of the vanity, the images in the magazines. So when you take all of that away, if you take all of that away, the thinking within humans would not be as twisted and perverted as what it is because they wouldn't have the opportunity to have these things enter their mind. Hollywood portrays certain things as a way of life, but it's not real. It's all false. Many of the TV programs believe that this is the way a man and a women should act together before marriage. It's all a lie. It's all a deception. It's all falsehood. It's evil thinking. This is exactly what is happening to our society – deceiving and being deceived. The whole world is deceived and we should not be involved in these things, and we should not be thinking the way they think. We should be thinking differently.

Verse 14—But as for you, as for us, brethren, continue in the things which you have learned, from the Church. We're learned the truth from where? From God's Church. The truth doesn't exist outside of God's Church. So when somebody leaves the Church, they're leaving the truth, they're leaving a relationship with God. Well, we should continue in the things we have learned. We have 57 Truths, we should stick to those. We shouldn't be going outside of them, because if we go outside of them, we will be being deceived. If we come up with these different theories of men, the thinking of the natural carnal mind, we're being deceived, because the truth is in God's Church and the truth comes into the Church through Jesus Christ, through an apostle. So we should continue in the things that we have learned, and been assured of, which is all about the hope that lies within us, knowing from whom you have learned them, which is from God's Church.

I know for a fact that I learned things through God's Church from an apostle, and because of the mercies of God, I have been able at this point to continue in those things that I have learned. Well, you, brethren, no matter what time you were called into the Body of Christ, the Church of God, whether it was in the era of Philadelphia, or whether it's the Church of God—PKG now, there are things to be learned within the truths, the 57 Truths we have, in the spirit of things. And there's deeper understanding to be gained in those things, and there's wisdom to be had in those things in the sense of implementing these things in our life. We know where we have learned them. We've learned them from the Church of God and we've learned them from God the Father through Jesus Christ through an apostle. And we're in the Church learning the truth. Well, we have to continue in those things.

Now, some of the truths that we have, which are just simply things where we think differently, where we are thinking differently than the world, many of those things we have knowledge of. And I'll use an example: the rightful role of women in our society, or the role of a woman in marriage, or the role of a woman within the Church, which is they can be ordained within the ministry, for example, and the way the man thinks about a woman and a woman thinks about a man. Well, we might know those things. We might have a level of understanding of those things on a spiritual level because they're spiritually discerned. But, the reality is, are we living those things yet? Have we actually implemented this change of thinking into our life? Because, yes, we know about those things. We know there's no difference between a man and a woman on a spiritual level – none whatsoever. Both are equal in the eyes of God. Physically, yes, one's stronger than the other. Physically, one is more beautiful than the other. Well, we've learned these things and we know these things, and we're continuing in these things. We know them, we might understand them to a degree on a spiritual level, but are we implementing them? Has our thinking really changed? If our thinking has changed, has our behavior changed? Do we live it?

Well, that's the key, brethren. Knowledge is knowledge. Having an understanding is wonderful and exciting, to have God's spirit and understand these things, but to do it is the wisdom. To do it is the thinking differently. It's the implementation of this different thinking that God is looking for.

Verse 15—and that from childhood, talking about Timothy, you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation—how?—through faith which is in Christ Jesus. So Timothy had an advantage. He was brought up in the scriptures, and these scriptures, the ways of God, the thinking of God makes us wise, gives us the knowledge of salvation, how to be saved. Well, how are we saved? Through faith. Through believing God. By not being faithless. By being obedient. By yielding to God's holy spirit. By believing the truth. By believing God. "Which is in Jesus Christ." So it's all enabled through, it's powered by Jesus Christ because without Jesus Christ we cannot be saved because we're still in our sins.

Verse 16—All scripture is given by inspiration of God. All scripture is from the mind of God. All scripture is given from the thinking of God. All scripture is the way to think differently. All scripture is the way to think differently than the natural carnal mind, but it is based on intent, motive and intent. Because God can say something and man can take it and read into it anything he desires – his own selfishness, something he'll gain from it, making him more righteous in his own eyes, self-righteousness, for example. But scripture is being given by God, by the inspiration of God because it's God's thinking. It's God's motive and intent behind what is written that is the key.

And, this scripture that God has inspired, God's thinking that has been revealed in God's word, is profitable for doctrine, it's a way to test a person's thinking. It's "profitable for doctrine," what we believe, and proof, or for proof, for correction, so we can be reproved or corrected by it, but we can also prove God's motive and intent behind something because we have God's holy spirit. Someone without God's holy spirit will not "see" that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, it's the thinking of God. They actually disagree with God. For example, things about, like, the death penalty or marriage, for example. You know, people say now-a-days that they have a family, that a man and a man living together, that they are deemed by society as "family." No, they're not. They’re two men breaking God's law if they're in a sexual relationship. Two women in a sexual relationship together are breaking God's law. They are not a family! Their definition within society might be that, but under God's law it is not. It requires a man and a woman to be in a sexual relationship after marriage. That's a family! Because they have the potential to create a family, to educate their children in the ways of God. That's a family because they're yielding to God. But others aren't, because God has deemed it that they're not a family. Two men cannot have children of and by themselves. They can go and adopt them or, you know, take them from other people. Two women cannot breed a family. It's impossible. They need a man. Just like two men require a woman to have one. To go against God's word, they're denying the truth. They're denying God's word. They're denying that all scripture has been given from God's thinking by the inspiration of God. Because God's plan and purpose for mankind is to enter Elohim, and God's desire is to have a family! So God's word, "all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof," or proving God's way of life, "for correction," for instruction in righteousness, God's thinking, to learn how God thinks about a matter, to take on this different way of thinking than the natural mind, to take on the thinking of God, that a man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work, to be spiritually complete. "He may be mature" in God's word, "thoroughly equipped," so he's got everything he needs. He's got the tools that are necessary, which is based on God's word, "for every good work." So he can watch his intent and everything that he does is by the inspiration powered by God's holy spirit so that his motive is good, so there are good works because he's yielding to God's word. He knows God's word because he's studied them when he was a child. He now has the understanding because the power of God's holy spirit, now he is to live it. He's to implement it into his life and then, because of his example, he is fully equipped for every good work.

We'll finally go back to Matthew 5:6. I hope you haven't been holding your place for a couple of weeks. You may have been. Matthew 5:6—Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, so blessed is anybody that is seeking God's view on the way to live. Blessed is anybody, fortunate is anyone who is hungering and thirsting, which is seeking, they're putting out effort because they're hungry and thirsty for God's way of thinking, for righteousness, God's mind in us. So we should be desiring God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us. We should desire to examine our motive and intent so that it is in line with God's word. For they shall be filled with God's holy spirit. So if we desire righteousness, if we seek it, if we repent and stay in the state of humility and repentance, because repentance is this thinking differently, we want to think like God, God says and God has promised in His word that He'll provide to us His holy spirit. We will be filled with the thinking of God if we are yielding to God's holy spirit in our life.

Verse 7—Blessed/fortunate are the merciful, which is the just. Because to be merciful is to have the mind of God, to have the thinking of God, which is justice, true justice, to view things on a spiritual level. For they shall obtain mercy. They will obtain justice from God. Because God is all merciful, God is merciful to those that desire to repent. Now, God, in His mercy, will destroy sinners. Unrepentant sinners will be destroyed. That is an act of mercy. Well, mankind sees mercy as locking somebody up for fifty years, life without parole, as mercy, because he might repent. Well, God's mercy is that if you won't repent and you refuse to repent or you set your mind against Him, in His mercy (He's going to be merciful to you), He will destroy you forever, never to have life ever again, to have no conscious thought, to have no thinking, because we refuse to think differently. We refuse to repent! So, "blessed/fortunate are those that are merciful," who are taking on the mind of God, who are implementing God's thinking in their life, "they will obtain mercy." Well, what is that mercy they would obtain? They will obtain Elohim, which is this ability to think mercy forever, to think justice forever. They will obtain eternal life, the thinking of God forever.

Verse 8—Blessed are the pure in heart, now, this scripture, brethren, is very important within our life. We are so fortunate if we are sincere in our motive and intent. Because someone that is pure in heart, it is pure. Now, we look at it. God's word is pure, God is pure. To be pure is not to be unclean, to be clean in thinking. So fortunate is anybody who is pure in heart. Blessed is anybody who takes on righteousness, the mind of God. God is pure in heart. God is pure in motive and intent. All of God's motives are pure. Now, we can live this. The way we live is to have a pure, sincere, honest, clean intent. No ill will at all. We take on the mind of God. So if we are taking on the mind of God, we are fortunate, we are blessed. Well, we've been called to this! So how blessed are we? We are blessed, brethren, because we are pure in heart. We have this potential to be pure in heart, to be sincere, to have pure motives, clean motives, pure intent, clean intent. In other words, no ill will to our neighbor, no ill will, no sin. Our intent is not to sin. So we are so fortunate. And what's the outcome? For they, those that are pure in intent, shall see God. Isn't this a marvelous scripture? We will see God. Well, we "see" God now because we "see" His motive and intent because of a spiritual matter. We see God on a spiritual level because we see God's character. We don't see God in a shape or a form, we see God now on a spiritual level because we "see" who God is, we "see" God's plan of salvation, we "see" the way God thinks. Now, this is a great blessing!

"Blessed are the pure in heart," blessed are those that have a sincere intent, "for they shall see God!" Well, we "see" God's motives. We "see" God's intent. And so we are blessed to be able to "see" it. The world can't see it – absolutely impossible.

Verse 9—Blessed/fortunate are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Now, if we look back at all these blessings that we are going through here, they're all to do with taking on the mind of God. And if we take on the mind of God, we're fortunate, we're blessed, we've been called, and to be thinking like God is an incredible thing. The reward is we will see God, we'll obtain mercy, we will be filled with God's holy spirit, we will inherit the earth, we'll be comforted, we'll be in the Kingdom of God and be called sons of God. They are all spiritual rewards. So, blessed (fortunate) is anybody that is taking on the thinking like God, which is a peacemaker, who makes peace. Not as a "peacekeeper," a "peacemaker," because we desire to be at peace. We desire to be at peace with God. How are we at peace? For anybody to be at peace on a physical level or a spiritual level it requires the thinking of God. It requires the thinking of God.

So if you are a particular sports fan and you may like cricket or rugby league, or one of the other sports that are around in the world, well, if you want to be at peace with somebody, you join one team and you barrack for the one team and you think like that team. You're in unity with that team. Now, when you play in opposition in the sport, what happens? Well, you don't become peacemakers. You become at war with each other, you battle each other and you try to destroy, you try to get, you try to pull down, you try to beat them. You don't try to lift them up. You actually try to beat them, to win so that they lose. Well, that's not peacemaking. That's not peacekeeping either. It's none of those things. It's actually competition, the spirit of competition, the spirit of destroying, the spirit of being "better than."

Well, God is saying here it's a way of thinking. Blessed (fortunate) is anybody who has this way of thinking, which is a peacemaker. And the way to make peace is to be in unity of spirit or unity of thinking. So we're going to be at peace. We're going to be peacemakers when we make peace within our own thinking and we think like God, we think differently than our selfishness. We think like God. Now, when we think like God we become peacemakers. "For they," anybody who thinks this way, "shall be called sons of God." They will enter Elohim. Well, we're now begotten sons of God, we're striving to take on this way of thinking, this peacemaking, because we want to be at peace with God, we want to be in unity with God. Well, if we continue and endure to the end and we're sincere in our motives and intents, we will inherit Elohim. We'll be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Well, why are they persecuted? Because they believe God! They believe God. They have the faith of Jesus Christ. They have the faith in Jesus Christ. And what will happen? We will be persecuted because we're taking on this different thinking for righteousness' sake. For taking on the mind of God we will be persecuted. Well, God says, "Blessed (fortunate) are we if we are persecuted for righteousness' sake." If we are persecuted because we believe God, we believe that this word, the Bible, is inspired by God. We believe it! We are striving to fight against ourselves. We're striving to deny ourselves. We're striving not to tolerate sin. We're striving to have a right motive and intent. We're striving to be merciful. We're striving for righteousness. We're hungering and thirsting for it. We're striving to be meek, to be humble in our attitudes. We're striving to be repentant and we're striving to be humble in everything we do. We don't want to lift ourselves up in pride. Well, we're blessed. If we take those things on and we do them, we're very blessed. We're so fortunate if we're persecuted because of this righteousness we're trying to take on. Because we believe God, we will be evil spoken of. We'll be seen as weird. We'll be rejected. Well, that is a marvelous and wonderful blessing because we're suffering as Jesus Christ suffered.

And what's the outcome? What's the outcome if we are striving to do all of those things? For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. The reward is life in Elohim, the life in Elohim forever. What a reward!

So we are fortunate, brethren, if we're striving to think differently because when we go through Matthew 5:3-10 so far, we realize that all of this is about the thinking of God. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." "Blessed are those that are humble." Well, what's humility? It's a way of thinking. “Blessed are those who mourn." "Blessed are those who are repentant." What is that? It's a way of thinking. "Blessed are the meek." What's that?  A way of thinking. Those that hunger for righteousness – well, it's a way of thinking. We have to desire to take on the mind of God. To be merciful is a way of thinking. To be sincere in heart (pure in heart), pure in motive and intent, well, it's a way of thinking. Because the natural carnal mind is not pure in its intent. It's absolutely impossible...absolutely impossible. It might look pure at times and it might look sincere, but deep down it's actually evil because it's selfishness. Satan's thinking is selfishness. He is evil and the evil spirit world is evil, because of the way they think. They think it, they understand what they're doing, and they do it! They live it. They live evil. Their intent is evil.

Well, we're fortunate if we have this change of thinking, this thinking differently. If we become peacemakers we think differently and we're going to be persecuted for all that, and the reward is we're going to enter Elohim, because God says if we change our thinking by doing all of these things as listed in Matthew 5, we are blessed because we've been called to this and we're transforming our thinking, we're changing the way we are, we're seeking God's thinking, we will inherit the Kingdom of God.

Verse 11—Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, so we're very fortunate, brethren, if we are reviled, if someone has a go at us because we're taking on God's righteousness, taking on the mind of God. If we're Sabbath-keepers, we're paying tithes, giving offerings, and someone has a go at us for it? This is good news. If we take this reviling and the persecution, if they want to lock us out of the house, if they want to do all sorts of things to us and they want to sack us from our employment, no matter what it is, God says, "blessed (fortunate) are we when we're reviled and persecuted," and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, because it is false. It's a lie. What they're accusing us of is falsehood. But we're not, we're taking on righteousness. It's not false! We're taking on righteousness. What they are saying, this evil against us, and they say against us falsely, because it's all a lie – they don't know it. They don't think it's false. They think it's true, but they don't understand. We're taking on the thinking of God, we're being persecuted for it, we're being so blessed because of it. And they say all these things against us, which some of it can be true because they can say, "Oh, you're a Sabbath-keeper. You're an idiot!" That's true! We're a Sabbath-keeper, but we're not an idiot. So it's still false. ...for My sake, for the sake of Jesus Christ, for God's sake. If we're doing this because of the sake of Jesus Christ, because we're followers of Jesus Christ, we believe Jesus Christ, we're faithful to Jesus Christ, what should we do?

Verse 12—Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, where it's being held. The position that God has allocated to us is being reserved for us. We should "rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven," where it's being held. ...for so they persecuted the prophets, which were sent by God because it was God in them, God doing the works through them, who were before you. So we, as members of the Body of Christ, the Church of God, are blessed every time somebody comes out with lies and exaggerations about us. We should rejoice and be exceedingly glad when we are persecuted because we're persecuted for righteousness' sake. So we shouldn't take any of those things personally, brethren, because that's just simply pride. We should take those things and turn to God and be thankful for our calling, that we have this opportunity now. And the mockers, and those that revile us now, and those that persecuted us now, one day they will see their error, and the vast majority (not all), the vast majority will repent. They will repent because they will think differently. They'll be given the opportunity to think differently and they will remember what they said, they'll remember what they did, they'll remember the persecution of these "weird people," and all of the kinds of evil that they speak against us falsely. They will remember it. It just doesn't leave a person's mind; they'll remember it. But, God willing, they'll be given that opportunity during the Hundred-years. Some that may be reviling and persecuting us now may live into the Millennium where they will have to change their thinking. They'll have to change their thinking about God's Church, about who we really are. We are what we are because God is transforming our thinking.

Well, let's rejoice, brethren, and let's be exceedingly glad for our reward is being held for us, which is life in Elohim. And why should we do this? Well, guess what? Everybody that has taken on the thinking of God, anyone that is taking on the mind of God, the righteousness of God, anybody that has had pure heart, who has been a peacemaker, who has hungered and thirsted for righteousness, anyone who has been repentant, all based on God's holy spirit, has been persecuted just like the prophets were because they were taking on the mind of God, and therefore, they did not fit into this world.

So we have to come out of the darkness, we have to come out of this world into the light. And, now, this is a marvellous and wonderful opportunity that we have. We have to endure to the end, as Paul wrote to Timothy, we have to continue in the race. We have to fight against ourselves. We're soldiers. We're soldiers for Jesus Christ, and our battle is our self. Our battle is our self, our selfishness. So, let's continue, brethren, to fight against our selfishness. And it can be achieved, and it can be done, and there has been many that have gone before us that have achieved it, 144,000 that have already achieved it. Some are alive today. But what has been achieved is they are not going to give up and they will endure to the end and the transformation of their thinking is still taking place now. The vast majority of the 144,000 are now dead and in the ground. They'll be resurrected to righteousness! How incredible is God and God's plan?

Verse 13—You, talking about members of the Body of Christ, those that are taking on this thinking of God, You are the salt of the earth. Now, we're the salt of the earth because we have the truth and we have the thinking of God. Now, if we have the thinking of God and we have the truth, we are the salt of the earth, because of the way we live, we have God's spirit, we have the truth, and we live it, we implement it into our life – we're living wisdom. ...but, so this is the "but," so this is the difference, but if the salt loses its flavor, so we know a piece of salt has a flavor. Put it on the tongue and it has a nice flavor. And particular salts that come from certain locations are rather good for the human body, whereas, other salts aren't because they've been so processed and broken down that they're not necessarily good for you. But some salt is very good for the body. Well, "if the salt has lost its flavor," in other words, it's got no taste and it's got no value in it, what good is it? ...how shall it be seasoned? Well, what value is it? It's lost its flavor. So it's referring to members of the Body. We, as the salt, have the truth and have God's spirit, and we're implementing these changes into our life, we're thinking differently. Well, if we've lost the truth and if we've lost God's spirit, and we've lost this thinking differently – we don't think righteousness – what value are we if we've lost all that? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Now, we can see from this, brethren, that we, brethren, need God's spirit, we need the truth, and we need to be taking on the mind of God in our life. We need to be enduring to the end. We need to be overcoming. We need to be flavored. And to be flavored is to have all of those things. And if we don't have those things in our life, we are of no value to God – none whatsoever! Why? Because He cannot give us the gift of eternal life. So we have to be flavored, like salt is flavored, to inherit Eternal life. And if we've lost God's spirit, we've lost the truth, we're of no value to God. We have to have God's thinking.

Continuing on, verse 14, which is the same type of thing with just using a different analogy from salt, which is now light. You are the light of the world. So we're living this way of life. We have God's spirit. We have the truth. We're implementing it into our life. We are taking on righteousness, therefore, we're going to be different. We're a light to the world by the way we live, our example of who we are and what we are, even though they don't know it and we'll be persecuted because we are the light.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, which is referring to a way of life, the way we live. So, when a city is set up on a hill, you can't miss it. You can just see it. The lights are on and you look up at it. It can't be hidden because it's so bright and it's so beautiful because it's up on top of the hill. It's obvious! Well, our way of living, living righteousness, should be obvious to the world. We're different. So, yes, when we're ridiculed and mocked that's why we should rejoice, because it's actually evidence (it's proof) we're taking on the thinking of God. So if someone calls us weird, if we're rejected because of righteousness' sake, it's evidence, it's proof we are the salt and we are the light. We're the light on the hill and the salt of the earth because of the way we're living. We're implementing those changes, the change of thinking into our lives, and therefore, we're living it.

Verse 15—Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, so no one would light a candle or light a light, an oil lamp, and then put it underneath a basket to hide it. The purpose it's lit or the light is there is so that it can be seen. ...but on a lamp stand, so it's going to be obvious it's out and giving off the light, and it gives light to all who are in the house. So that's the example, brethren, is that we should reflect Jesus Christ in our life by the way we live, not by just the words we say because we know that words spoken can have an evil intent. Words spoken can come from an evil intent, therefore, it's not just words that are spoken; it's the intent behind the words. And our life is the way we live, so if we say something we better do it. We have to live it. We have to implement it into our life.

Now, that's why we're Sabbath-keepers, because we've had our minds changed, we've had our thinking changed to think like God. We understand the purpose of the Sabbath, why the Sabbath, and the beauty of the Sabbath and how we can be educated in God's way of thinking on the Sabbath. So we shouldn't hide as Sabbath-keepers. If someone asks us a question about the Sabbath, we should be bold and confident, that we explain the Sabbath to a person. Now, if they ask because they have an evil intent, because they just want to put us down, "we don't answer a fool according to their folly," but we answer somebody if their intent is to learn. If they desire to know the truth, well, we give an answer. We don't give them the whole lot, but we give them an answer.

So the light that we have, which is God's truth in us, which is the mind of God in us, the thinking of God in us, we don't hide it, but we put it out to be seen when we are asked for a reason, for the hope that lies within us. So we give that example. The best example we can give is by living it, by doing it. And if someone actually asks us verbally to explain it, we should be prepared to give an answer for someone who desires to know of God's way.

Verse 16—Let your light so shine before them, by our actions, by our example, that they may see your good works, so they can be seen because of what we do, our obedience to the truth, for example, our obedience, our understanding of the 57 Truths that we're implementing into our life. So men don't treat women as less, and women don't treat men as better, which is a problem within our world. So, brethren, we have to live the truth, and we're to do it through obedience to God's word and we live an example of obedience, and faithfulness, our living, believing God. ...and glory your Father in heaven. Because all the credit in the future will be given back to God the Father. So we should live a life as reflecting God's thinking in our life. And at some point in time in the future men (and women) will glorify God who created this new way of thinking in us.

Verse 17—Jesus Christ speaking: Do not think that I came to destroy the Law and the Prophets. So Jesus Christ didn't come to get rid of the law and the prophets, what they had said through God's word, the truth. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. And that word there is "to render perfect, to magnify the law, to make it perfect." Because the law and the prophets, when they were written, they could only be understood on a physical level. Well, Jesus Christ came to reveal the intent of the law and the prophets, what they said and what the intent was. Because it was God the Father that gave the law. It was God the Father that worked through the prophets. So it was God in the prophets that gave the writings. "All scripture is by inspiration from God." Well, Jesus Christ said, "I didn't come to destroy it, to get rid of it, to overrule it, to throw it away, but to fulfill it," to render it perfect, to magnify it, to explain it, to explain the spirit of the law, the intent behind the actions.

For assuredly, I say to you, until/till heaven and earth pass away, which they haven't, they're still out there, one jot or one tittle, the smallest component, will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled, until all comes to pass, which is something that will follow in time, which is at the end of 7,100 years when there will be no need for the law because once everyone is in Elohim there is no need for a law, there's no need to point to what sin is. And the word of God will be in each and every person that is in Elohim. And the angelic realm that supports God's way of thinking will exist. So nothing's going to change with regards to the law and what has been written in God's word until the end of 7,100 years. And then, once Satan and those that are set against God are destroyed, well, then comes the end. All has been fulfilled, and therefore, nothing is going to change with regards to what the intent of the law is. And that's because everyone in God's family will be living God's way of thinking.

Verse 19—Whoever, therefore, breaks one of the least of these commandments, the smallest component, and teaches men so, by living it... If they teach it by the way that they live, not alone just words, but the way they live – they're living in adultery, they're living these things that they shouldn't be doing, having idols and other things with regards to Sunday worship and lying and the movie world, all those things, they're living it, so they're breaking the law by living and magnifying evil in the movies, because they magnify adultery, in the main, or they magnify murder, and they make it almost like it's justice and man's justice is demonstrated, "and they teach men so," through the movies and by the way people live, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, who lives them, lives the commandments and their intent, the spirit of the matter, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of God, in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees… because their righteousness was self-righteousness. Theirs was about pride. Theirs was about vanity. Theirs was about image. Theirs was about falsehood – it's all a big lie.

Verse 20, again, For I say to you, that unless your righteousness, which is the spiritual intent of a matter, exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, because their intent was pride, you shall by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven. So, brethren, we have to take on the righteousness of God. Our righteousness has to be replaced with God's righteousness. Because that's what verse 20 is saying, we have to get rid of our self-righteousness and take on the righteousness of God. So righteousness needs to be exceeded. Our self-righteousness needs to be got rid of, exceeded by godly righteousness. And if you don't do it, "you will by no means enter the Kingdom of God." You will no means enter Elohim. So unless we learn to think differently than the way we do, our own selfishness, unless we can get rid of it and take on godly righteousness, "we shall by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

We'll end Part 2 there and pick up Part 3 shortly.□

Table of Contents

Chapter 1