A Principle Is a Prince Over You: Six Marks of a Renewed Mind

Sermon outline

The anointing alone will not make you successful: you must renew your mind with God's Word until it is peaceful, motivated, renewed, willing, right and obedient, so that you make sound choices.

1. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he

   Thoughts of poverty draw you to poverty and thoughts of prosperity draw you to prosperity, and you cannot speak right without first thinking right. Bad choices come from bad thoughts, and bad thoughts from bad seed entering through the eye gate, the ear gate and the mouth gate. The devil does not drive you: he suggests, and you choose, but a mind renewed by the Word says no. Your mind is your greatest asset, so watch what you read and watch, and let young people stand up and refuse what is dirty.

   Illustration: Some in the church believe they can live anyhow and God will still bless them, but a man who lies, cheats and sleeps around may look prosperous and still cannot sleep at night.

   “You have today what you have chosen yesterday and you will have tomorrow what you will choose today.”

   • Proverbs 23:7
   • 1 Timothy 4:2

2. Present your body: you can live a holy life, and the Word works

   Paul did not say 'present your bodies to fornicate and get drunk', but a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, your reasonable service, which means a holy, fruitful and consecrated life is possible by your choice. Every time it seemed to fail, the failure was ours, not the Word's. He is not there to stroke the church but to change it into favoured, successful people with testimonies.

   Illustration: He has the church hold up their Bibles and say, 'The Word of God works for me.'

   “Every time it failed, I failed, not the Word.”

   • Romans 12:1
   • Hebrews 4:12

3. Do not be conformed to this world

   Do not think the way the world thinks: it calls drinking, drugs, sex before marriage and living together 'cool', but it is not. You are made in God's image and your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, so do not do crazy things with it. Whatever your age, you can still make the right choices, and it all depends on your mind.

   Illustration: Christians want 'the sugar candy stuff', but this morning he is giving them vegetables, spinach and salads.

   “You can still make the right choices, but it all depends on your mind.”

   • Romans 12:2
   • Genesis 1:26
   • 1 Corinthians 6:19

4. The unregenerated mind: darkened, blinded, depraved, defiled and dead

   He describes the unregenerated mind: darkened in understanding, blinded by the god of this world, depraved (debased and perverted), defiled so that nothing is pure, and dead, because the mind set on the flesh is death and hostile to God. Such a mind is crippled and makes a person dysfunctional, and the rotten fruit everyone sees comes from corruption inside. That is not the believer's mind.

   “Everything emanates from the internalisation of corruption.”

   • Ephesians 4:17-18
   • 2 Corinthians 4:4
   • 1 Timothy 6:5
   • Titus 1:15
   • Romans 8:6-7

5. Pick your friends well: you become who you join

   When people act strangely towards you, the issues are often theirs, not yours, so walk away from people who do not believe in you, edify you or add value to your life. Age is not proof of wisdom, so look at a person's fruit before making him your spiritual father. Some friends were right for the level you were on, but you must lay aside every weight to go higher. You can speak in tongues all day, but an unrenewed mind still brings poor results.

   Illustration: A neighbour you visit to minister to does all the talking while you do all the listening, and before long you look like twins in the spirit.

   “You sooner or later become who you join.”

   • Hebrews 12:1

6. The regenerated mind: renovated, the mind of Christ

   To regenerate means to breathe new life into, reinvigorate and awaken, and it includes being renovated: a new order in which prosperity, favour and sin are all defined by the Word. Believers have the mind of Christ and a sound mind. Just as a criminal plans his crime in his mind, you can plan a good life of sound decisions. A renewed mind no longer thinks along racial lines or accepts poverty as a family inheritance.

   Illustration: A family where the father, the great uncle, the son and the grandchildren all work in the same shoe factory. There is nothing wrong with honest work, but it need not be a generational vocation: the daughter of a domestic worker could employ twenty helpers in her own business and help them change their lives too.

   “Whatever I now define in my new life, I now define it from the word of God.”

   • 1 Corinthians 2:16
   • Romans 12:2
   • Jeremiah 23:29
   • Galatians 3:28
   • 1 John 4:20

7. 1. A peaceful mind

   Do not be anxious about anything; by prayer and thanksgiving the peace of God guards your heart and mind. A peaceable mind is full of harmony, calm, contentment and rest, and it shows in a peaceable voice at home, because big problems grow from small foxes. Be in church and prayer meetings, because God often solves problems while you sit under the Word.

   Illustration: Sitting in meetings listening to another man preach, he has often found the Holy Spirit telling him 'do that, do that', solving his problems by the end of the service.

   “There's something about being in the presence of God.”

   • Philippians 4:6-7
   • Song of Solomon 2:15

8. 2. A motivated mind

   A motivated mind has drive, hunger, inspiration and vision, pressing on towards the goal. A Spirit-filled believer should wake up inspired, productive and constructive rather than destructive, because the Spirit of God is driving him.

   “You should get up every morning with inspiration that will cause you to perspire in the day.”

   • Philippians 3:14

9. 3. A renewed mind

   He links this mark back to Romans 12:2, the transformed mind that tests and approves God's good, pleasing and perfect will.

   • Romans 12:2

10. 4. A willing mind

    A willing mind is enthusiastic, prepared, ready and happy: willing to come to services and study the Bible. Many are not yet angry enough with their circumstances and have tolerated living from paycheque to paycheque or a struggling marriage until it became endurance instead of enjoyment. Do not leave the Word for last: instead of borrowing from everyone, sow a seed, meditate on the Word and trust God to cancel debt.

    Illustration: A believer with 100,000 rand of debt who says, 'Lord, I'm going to sow a seed, I'm going to meditate on the word of God. We're going to destroy this debt together.'

    “Some of you are not mad enough yet with your circumstances.”

    • 1 Chronicles 28:9

11. 5. A right mind

    The man delivered from demons was found sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind. A right mind is good, honest, honourable, fair, moral, accurate and authentic. He is teaching the church precept by precept so that they can take the Word and solve their own problems.

    “Pastor's not gonna solve every problem for you. I'm gonna teach you the word of God that you may take the word of God and solve your own problems.”

    • Luke 8:35
    • Isaiah 28:10

12. 6. An obedient mind: a mind under control

    God writes His laws on our minds and hearts, so the believer's mind should be compliant, respectful and under the control of the Word. You can disagree with someone respectfully without being rude or abusive. A principle is a prince over you: you tithe, forgive, walk in love and come to church not because you feel like it but because the Word rules you, not what an uncle, a neighbour or the TV says. In time the Word becomes automatic and wisdom flows out of you like rivers of living water.

    Illustration: He calls a boy named Jude to walk in front of him as a 'principle' leading him, asking, 'When the word of God says you ought to tithe, what do you do, Jude?'

    “It's not what they are saying that matters, it's what the word says about it.”

    • Hebrews 8:10
    • John 7:38
    • Psalm 139:14