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We're beginning a brand new series today called
The Door. Everybody say The Door. Door. It should
be a four -part series, but we'll see what God
wants to do, right? You just never know. But
The Door. Before we begin, let's turn in our
Bibles to Ephesians 1 .19. Up on the screen,
I'm reading out of the New Living Translation,
unless otherwise noted, okay? So let's begin.
I also pray, this is Paul, I also pray that you
will understand the incredible greatness of God's
power for us who believe him. It's good, right?
I pray that you understand. This is the Ephesians
1 prayer that Paul prays, and he's wanting us
to understand something. And I would encourage
you. to read this prayer. We've done this a few
times as a church body, but read Ephesians 1
and Ephesians 3 just for light and understanding
of God's word to be shown on you, for you to
really get, because there's a lot that needs,
you know, there's a lot that we need to know
that's not just, you know, just out of our heads.
But he's saying here, I pray that you will understand,
everybody say understand, the greatness of God's
power for us who believe. So this tells us that
God's power has direction, everybody say direction,
and purpose. Has direction and purpose. What
does this verse say? It says God's power is directed
towards who? Those who believe. God's power has
direction for us. It has a purpose for those
who believe. Who's a believer in the room? Amen.
And then what is this saying? It's saying that
when we invest our belief, faith is simply an
investment of our belief. We could boil it down
to that. But when we invest our belief in the,
not in the things of this world, but when we
invest our belief in God's word. When that carries
more weight or more value to us, our understanding
of who he is and the greatness of who he is and
his power working builds on the inside of us.
Amen? The purpose of God's power for the believer,
we'll include that in, is to what? To accomplish
God's will in the earth. God's accomplishing
thing is in the earth. He's accomplishing things,
and he wants to accomplish things through each
and every one of us. Amen? So his power has a
purpose, to accomplish his will, to carry out
his plans and purposes, heaven's business in
the earth. Now I want us to turn to the Old Testament.
In Genesis, we find a familiar story, often referred
to as Jacob's Ladder, and it reveals a truth.
Let's read. Jacob found a stone to rest his head
against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he
dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth
up to heaven. I want you to notice that it begins
in the earth. Everybody say earth. It reached,
he said this specifically, he says earth up to
heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up
and down the stairway. And at the top of the
stairway stood the Lord. Then Jacob awoke from
his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this
place. What an awesome place this is. It is none
other than the house of God. Everybody say house
of God. The very gateway to heaven. Everybody
say gateway. Notice this distinction here that
there's the temple, the dwelling place of God,
heaven, right? And then there's a gate. There's
a staircase coming down from heaven where angels
are going up and down, carrying out the business.
So this word here, house of God, is in the Hebrew.
In Hebrew, it's bayeth. I probably slaughtered
that, but I'm just going to try it. But there's
the word, and it means house. It means household.
It means temple. It means dwelling. The gate
here is shahar. It's meaning there is an opening,
a gate or a door between heaven and earth, between
the spiritual and natural realms. Now, Jacob
saw angels moving from the temple dwelling place
of God through this door, we could say. to accomplish
God's work in the earth. And this is ultimately
a New Testament reality. This is a shadow of
a New Testament reality for the believer. Where's
the temple and dwelling place of God? We know
in Revelation 4, 1 through 2 says this, Then
as I looked, this is John, Then as I looked,
notice that he had to look to see. And there's
many things in this life, spiritual things, spiritual
truths, that you need to pay attention to and
you need to seek after to find. So he had to
look before he saw. But as he looked, he says,
I saw a door standing open in heaven. And instantly,
I was in the Spirit. This is key here. He's in
the Spirit. Everybody say Spirit. And he sees
something. He saw a throne in heaven and someone,
God, standing on it. Amen? God is where? In heaven.
But where is he also? 1 Corinthians 3 .16 Do
you not know that you are the temple of God?
And that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Look
to your neighbor and say, the Spirit of God dwells
in you. Amen. So it's important what John saw
in the Spirit, the throne room of eternity, and
inside of you, the same Spirit that raised Jesus
from the dead is what? Alive on the inside of
you. God dwells in you. His Spirit is in you
to connect you to the throne room of heaven,
to give you access by the blood of Jesus, as
we've talked about. So God is in you. You are
the temple where God the Holy Spirit lives. Amen?
And that's why we've called this series The Door,
because there's a great power that God is doing
in the earth, and He's wanting to do that through
His people. His work and his plans and his purposes
in the earth will be accomplished through you.
We are the door, but what specifically is the
door? What is the door between the spiritual
and natural realms? Remember that Jacob's ladder,
there was the opening of heaven, but then there's
also the gate. Where is this located? It's in
us, clearly. Let's continue reading. When we
turn to Matthew 16, 13 through 19, we'll see
more truth about this. It's a very interesting
story. We'll go through it each week. But there's
a lot of spiritual truth here. When Jesus came
into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked
his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I,
the Son of Man, am? So they said, some say John
the Baptist, some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah
or one of the prophets. He said to them, but
who do you say that I am? But who do you say
that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said,
you are the Christ, the son of the living God.
Amen. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed
are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father who is
in heaven. Flesh and blood. He didn't get this
from another person. He didn't get this in his
own head or his own imagination. Jesus says,
it came from my Father who is in heaven. Think
about it. Verse 18, And I also say to you that
you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it. Now I know we've done, we've went
through this passage some, and we've talked about
this before, but just to remind you, Peter's
flesh is not what the church is built on, even
though a lot of the body of Christ, kind of believes
that. But that's not what he's talking about
here. When you look at it, he's saying this rock
that he's referring to, Jesus says on this rock.
He's not saying on you. It's not flesh and blood
that revealed this to you. He's saying on this
rock. The rock is the revelation of what came
forth through Peter. It was the revelation of
Jesus being the Son of God. It's the rock of
the revelation that he's the Messiah, he's the
promised one. And also the method of delivery.
Flesh and blood, no, the Father in heaven has
given this to you. So the rock is the Messiah,
that Jesus is Lord, and then also the act of
divine revelation. We've been going through Galatians
1, and we've been talking about divine revelation
in our life group. And here it is again, over
and over through Scripture. But the rock is the
rock of the revelation and the method of delivery.
And then that's how he is going to build his
church. Not the building, not the programs, but
the people of God will be built on this foundation
of not a person, not flesh and blood. We will
be built by our testimony, the words that come
out of our mouth that Jesus is Lord. And the
fact that it didn't come from us. This message
is from him. It's a divine truth. And that's
how the church will be built. Amen? So we see
here that Peter's door, you could say, is open
to God's power. And divine truth flows out of
him to accomplish God's purpose in the earth.
Okay? When you think about it, who was hearing
this? He had people around him hearing this.
This wasn't just, you know, just words and just
a little side conversation with Peter. God was
wanting to show his disciples and everyone around
them that, look, Jesus, I am the Messiah. I am
the coming one. I am here. And he wanted to show
them that this is not You know, this is not man's
made -up imagination on how to save themselves.
And then it continues in verse 19, reveals another
truth here, and I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven. A lot of times
we just read through this and don't want to stop
and... Think about what it's saying. Let's look
at this. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven. This is not referring to the throne
room of heaven, but just the spirit realm when
we look at the word and its actual meaning. It's
saying that what you bind here on earth in the
natural, it will be bound. Spiritual things will
be bound. What you bind in the spirit, right?
Whatever you loose in the spirit on earth will
be loosed in heaven. Excuse me. So there's things,
listen, there's things available to you. There's
things for you. There's spiritual realities that...
We have authority that God has given us authority
over. As it says, we war not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities and the powers
of the evil one. This could be referring to that
also, this principle. What are keys? God gives
us keys. That means he has given his people the
method, the ability, and the authority to open
and close a door of spiritual influence in the
earth. A lot of times we want God to just kind
of like zap and do things. But he's given us
the key to bind and loose things in our lives.
A door, you could say, between the spiritual
and the natural in which he wants to do things
through. He wants to carry his plan, his purposes
through each one of us. He's given us the keys
to do that. He's given us the ability. He's given
us the method and the authority. Continue reading
in verse 21. From that time, Jesus began to show
his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and
suffer many things from the elders and chief
priests and scribes and be killed and be raised
the third day. Then Peter took him aside. and
began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you,
Lord, this shall not happen to you. Can you imagine
that? Jesus is saying something, a prophetic
word about what will take place. And all of a
sudden, Peter's like, Jesus, no, no, no, no,
no. That's never going to happen to you. Don't
say that. You know, I can see this from like
a human reasoning side. You know, Peter, he didn't
want to think that the one he loved would suffer
and die like that. Our human reasoning often
gets in the way of what God wants to do. Because
it doesn't quite fully make sense to us here
on this side of heaven. But it's never innocent.
Listen, it's never innocent to say God is wrong.
And that is word will not happen. It's never
innocent. When we stand against it, we're actually,
let's keep reading. What does it say? But he
turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.
You are an offense to me. Now, did Peter turn
into Satan? No, he didn't turn into Satan. But
his door was open to the manipulation and deception
of Satan because really that's the power that
Satan possesses. He doesn't have power over you.
He just has power to manipulate and deceive you,
to convince you that God's word will not happen
in your life. He comes to steal, kill, and to
destroy the word in you because if he can steal
the word, he can steal your future. If he can
steal the word, he can steal every good thing,
and it will eventually destroy you. He said,
get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me.
I mean, that's a pretty bold statement, right?
To call someone Satan. No, but Jesus knew his
mission. He knew his purpose in the earth. He
knew what he was called to do, what he was going
to carry out. And he recognized that, hey, this
is a lie from the pit of hell. He's saying, get
behind me, Satan. You're an offense to me. So
Peter's door, he's open to the power of Satan.
His manipulation and deception then flows out.
And why does this happen? Scripture tells us,
he continues on in verse 23, Jesus tells Peter,
for you are not mindful of the things of God,
but the things of men. The Greek word here means
to think, to set one's mind on, to have a mindset
of. So you see from this story that you are empowered
by what you set your mind on. That's what will
have influence in your life, is what you have
your mind on. Your mind does not generate the
power that some will have you believe. Your mind
doesn't generate this power. It opens the door
to either the power of heaven or the power of
hell. It opens the door of influence over your
life. Because you are empowered by what you set
your mind on. Your mind is the door to spiritual
powers. And we decide which power influences
our lives. We are the door of influence in us,
but then it's also the things that happen in
us. Listen, it impacts those around us. This
is how evil is carried out in the world. It's
not Satan, like, jumping on people and forcing
them, you know, unless they're... But even then
we see that it's like they're being manipulated
and deceived and they're opening the doors of
their hearts and their minds to being deceived
and to carry out whose will in the earth, Satan's
will in the earth. And that brings evil to people
and evil in the world. And it impacts the world
around us. So how do we open the door? How do
we open our door, our mind, to the power of God?
How is this accomplished? Well, we must continually
direct our thoughts and desires away from earthly
things, right, to the things of God. We must
direct our thoughts. Did you know that you have
self -control, that that's a fruit of the Holy
Spirit? You have control to direct what you think.
You can't control every thought. that, you know,
buzzes in your head, but you can control which
one stays there. You can't control how many birds
fly over your head, but you can control which
one, you know, makes a nest in your hair. Right?
You must continually direct your thoughts and
desires to the things of God and away from the
things of earth. And then this gets us to our
main text here on how we apply this truth. In
Romans 12, 2, it says this, And do not be conformed
to this world. Do not be. It's a command. Do
not be conformed to this world. Be in the fashion,
in the likeness. That's what that word means,
conformed. Don't be conformed to this world,
but be transformed. Everybody say transformed.
How? Is God zapping you with it? Is it just hitting
you by chance? Is the power of God, is transforming
power of God just falling on you? Or how does
real transformation, how does God transform you?
How does the kingdom of God operate and bring
transformation in your life? It's through the
door of your mind. A renewed mind. Our mind's
renewal then determines our exposure and experience
of God's power. To the level of your renewed
mind is the level of your experience of his power
in your life. Most people won't. God to just
intervene in their human affairs, and they only
turn to Him in crisis. And then they get mad
when they don't see God's power fall and change
the circumstance. When God has given us a key
to change the circumstance, He's made it available
to us, to all those who are in Him. He's not
holding out on His children. Just like you wouldn't
hold out on your children. Whatever you bind
on earth will be bound in heaven, in the spirit.
Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven. He's given you the keys, given you the
method, given you the authority. And this is
connected to our minds. This is connected to
our renewed mind. This word transformation is
the Greek word metamorphou. It means to transform
or to change form. It's meaning God's power to
change temporal things. Do you realize, I mean,
a lot of people don't doubt God's power and his
ability. But we need to know that his power is
for the believer, as we said in the beginning.
His power is for you, for you to understand it,
right? His power is to change temporal things.
And I hope this encourages you as much as it
does me. But temporal things, listen. Things
that are temporal, we could define them as subject
to change. The things in this earth, the circumstance,
the immovable things, the impossible things,
listen, are subject to change by the power of
God. The gates of hell cannot prevail against
the power of God. The gates of hell can't prevail
against the people of God because the power of
God flows through the people of God. You are
the temple. You are the door in which God does
his business and heaven does its business in
the earth. And when you see something that the
enemy loves to deceive and manipulate and make
you think all kinds of things like this can't
be changed. You need to laugh and say, if it's
temporal, if it's not an eternal thing, it's
subject to change in Jesus' name. I take it captive
to the obedience of Christ. I cast it down. I
have authority. I bind you. Come on. Subject
to change. This word, this metamorphoo, is not
just referring to the natural change. Like we
get our English word metamorphosis, talking about
the change between a caterpillar and a butterfly.
And we see those things can naturally occur in
the human life, in our lives and in our surroundings
by the power of God. We can see things restored
to the natural order of things. We see restoration,
we see healing. It's a restored to God's original
plan and will, right? What enemy has stolen,
it's being restored. It's being made whole by
his power. These are incredible things, but it
goes on. This transformation, it goes on. And
we see it here at the transfiguration of Jesus,
this same word, this Greek word is used. And
listen what this says. Now after six days, Jesus
took Peter, James, and John, his brother, and
he led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
Why would he do that? Because sometimes you need
to leave the things of earth alone. You need
to get away from them in order to experience
the higher things. God calls you up. He's calling
you up today. to a higher revelation of transformation
power. Come on. Can you imagine Jesus just saying,
come up here. Come on. Let's go on a trip. In
Revelation, he's like, come up here. Come on.
Come on up. And this happens in the spirit. It's
not a physical thing. You can come up higher
wherever you are. Because if the Spirit of God
is in you, you have access to the throne room
of heaven. You are seated in heavenly places.
You are seated with Him at the right hand of
the Father. That's not far from you. It's not
far from you, and it's not foreign to the believer.
Don't let Satan convince you that it's foreign
to you. Because we all have heard from God. If
you're a believer, listen, if you're a Christian,
you have heard from God. You want a word, like
all these things, you want the clouds to open,
you want the ground to shake. No, if you're a
believer, a genuine born -again Christian, You
have heard God and felt the weight of the reality
of divine revelation come on you, the weight
of the cross, the weight of the resurrection.
So stop acting like it's foreign to you and God's
holding out on you. The same way that you heard
him then is the same way you will hear him now.
There are exceptions. There are exceptions, like
we looked at in the life of Paul. But he was
a very extraordinary man on passion for God,
but with the wrong doctrine. And in his zealousness,
God zealously sought him out and called him out
by his marvelous grace, right? Just like he calls
each one of us out by his marvelous grace. It's
the same method, same thing. Come up high on
the mountain by themselves. He led them. And
God wants to lead you. And he was, Jesus, was
transfigured. Here's this word, metamorphue,
before them. Get this, his face shone like the
sun. And his clothes became as white as light.
Symbolically, the face represents your identity.
Your clothes are what people see. Your testimony.
Everybody say identity. Everybody say testimony.
What is being transfigured here? What is being
changed? His identity. His testimony. And behold,
a bright cloud overshadowed them and suddenly
a voice came out of the cloud. Woo! This is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him.
Don't forget, Jesus lived a life as an example
for you and I. Transformation is available, but
it's more than just... natural things being restored
to their original order. The transformation available
is the freedom from this world. Free from the
world's destruction and consequences and just
the way it works. We don't have to accept that.
We're free from this system. We're a peculiar
people, a royal priesthood. Transformation, too,
it goes on. It's changed into God's very image.
We are image bearers of Christ. Amen? We are
in Him. And we carry His image to experience
the glory of God, to be manifest and demonstrated
in our life as a testimony. The glory of God
and the realities of heaven on display in your
life. That's the transformation available to
us. But renewing our minds, listen, is how we
open the door. Remember what the verse said.
You will be transformed. Why? Because that's
my will. Everything that happens in the earth
is not God's will. Right? Everything that happens
in the earth is not according to God's will.
We renew our minds. Listen, it opens the door.
Because see, there's what God wants to do. There's
heaven's side and there's our side. And that's
why he's called us and that's why he's indwelled
us to empower us to co -labor with him. We're
called to be co -laborers with him. You're not
carrying out the work. His yoke is easy. His
burden is light because he's providing it all.
free moral agents. That means he respects your
decisions. God respects your decisions and your
desires. So he asks us to come and enter into
his life. He asks you to yoke up with him. He
asks you to open your door to him and allow his
power to radically transform your life. And through
this series, this is what we're going to be talking
about the next three weeks. We're going to discuss
more and more on how to renew our minds and allow
the power of God to flow through us. But I just
want to quickly say, and I'm done, to renew our
minds, we must daily take control of our focus.
Get our minds off the things. We can't be more
mindful of the things of this earth than we are
the things of heaven and expect to see the power
of God on display in our lives. We must daily
take control of our focus. We must direct our
imaginations. direct our imaginations, our thoughts,
our calculative future probabilities of what
we think will happen. God uses those things to
create. He wants to do a new thing in you, and
we're going to talk about that. And to renew
our minds means that we align our words also
to the reality of God's Word. Each one of these
things, our focus, our imaginations, and our
words, listen, we have to yield them to Christ.
We have to submit them to him and say, you must
obey what the word says. Because when we don't
listen, we're being used of the enemy. It's not
innocent. It's not an innocent thing. When our
words, when our thoughts, when our imaginations
are contradicting the very word of God, it's
up to you to say, get behind me, Satan. And to
be quiet is to let Satan break through the door
and come into your life and start wreaking havoc
on everything. the lives of others, the world
around you. God's a gentleman. He respects your
decision. The enemy has come. He's roaring like
a lion, and he's ready. As soon as you give him
a crack, he's busting through like my 70 -pound
labradoodle. If I give her a crack at the door,
she's busting through. But the good news is this.
Listen. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven. He's given you the keys to the kingdom
of God. He's given you the keys to the spirit
realm. But you must choose. You are the temple.
Your mind is the door to spiritual influence
in your life. So you choose which power has access
to your life, your family, and the world. I'm
going to ask you and I'm done. Will you carry
out God's purposes? Will you carry out God's
purposes or Satan's? His plans for you are good.
His plans for you are life and life to the fullest.
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