Extreme Mental Makeover! Series

EXTREME MENTAL MAKEOVER

EPHESIANS 4:20-24

INTRO.: The important word in our society today is "makeover."

1. It is a phenomenon that has swept our country by storm.

2. Some people are having radical surgeries, some go on extensive diet and exercise plans, and some are having their hair redone, all in search of that perfect look.

3. Others are having a room in their house or even their whole house renovated!

4. These processes take a while, from a few hours, to a week, to even years.

5. More important than our physical looks and comfort are how we think and act.

6. More than any of these, people need a mental makeover, an extreme mental makeover.

BKGD.: As we see from out text, Paul reminds us that we did learn a different way.

1. As Christians we are to look, talk, and act different from the world.

2. Our acceptance of Christ means we have accepted a new lifestyle.

3. And, as Paul tells us, that new lifestyle begins in the mind.

4. Just as the unbeliever is controlled by his vain, darkened, alienated mind, so the mind of the believer is the place where the control of his new life starts.

5. The mind is not fallow, but fertile soil, and so must be cultivated, or it will become a briar patch of tangled thoughts.

6. Believers are renewed in their mind, and this process begins a whole new life.

I. What is Renewal of the Mind?

A. Where we come from

1. The old man has been put off.

a. The old man was a process of corruption.

b. That old man has been crucified with Christ.

Romans 6:6 – "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin . . ."

Galatians 2:20 – "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galatians 5:24 – "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."

c. The old man has been reckoned dead.

Romans 6:11-12 – "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."

2. It was the old man who controlled our minds.

a. Futile, darkened, and ignorant. (Ephesians 4:17-18)

b. Depraved.

Romans 1:28 – "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."

c. Corrupt.

I Timothy 6:3-5 – "If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain."

d. Blinded.

II Corinthians 4:4 – "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

B. What we are talking about

1. Renewal

a. It is in the continual and progressive voice.

b. Means continually undergoing a restoration process.

2. Mind

a. The mind is the seat of reflective consciousness and intelligence.

Some have compared the human brain to a sophisticated computer, but technology hasn’t come close to duplicating its capabilities. Dr. Gehard Dirks, who holds 50 patents on the IBM computer, said that he acquired most of his ideas from studying the functions of the human brain.

1) Faculty of moral judgment.

2) Spirituality centers in the mind.

b. It is that attitude and disposition which determines behavior and conduct.

1) With the mind we have the power to refocus the way we live.

Matthew 15:19-20 – "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man `unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him `unclean.’"

ILL.: The Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, said, "Our life is what our thoughts make it."

2) Right thinking precedes right action.

ILL.: In my room I have a quote from the great Greek scholar, B. F. Westcott. After I put it up, I was asked by a number of my students what it meant, giving me a chance to explain its meaning. It says, "Right action is true thought realized."