The Power of Truth: You Must Think Like Jesus
George Barna’s book, THINK LIKE JESUS, is a devastating reality book, in a truer sense than the present menu of reality TV shows of the gross and the unusually weird. The facts are hard to deny when they stare you in the face. The truth is 90% of those in America who claim to be born again probably are not, but are deceived hypocrites like Judas Iscariot and will be stunned to find their place in the Lake of Fire.
By careful analysis about seven million people in the entire nation actually take the Bible seriously and read it and obey it.
The best case scenario would be that many are confused and deceived and do not “bear fruit” because they are immature, but the shocking reality is many want a free ticket to heaven without any obligation to change lifestyle or life direction.
So the alarming thing is most church goers have more in common with Judas than with the other disciples.
While the 11 apostles repented of their old sins and followed Christ, Judas followed but never stopped being a thief. [John 12:6 “This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.”]
When the fiery trial of Christ’s arrest and crucifixion came all ran, but Judas before hand went to his enemies and sold him out. [Matthew 26:15 “and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.”]
The differences between the saint and the sinner are clear, Peter cried and confessed his failures, but Judas gave up and quit. [Matthew 27:5 “Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.”]
Do works get you into heaven?
NO! You cannot buy or trade your way past the Righteous Judge. But, your works prove what you have, eternal life or eternal death, because lost people cannot obey God, and only those filled with God’s grace do. Romans 8:4 explains, “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
You might be able to interpret this statement to make excuses for the vast majority of so-called Christians by saying, “Christ made me righteous in God’s eyes, therefore we do not have to change because no one is perfect.” And if it was an isolated verse, maybe you could, but wait there’s more, Paul explains.
Romans 8:6-9
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. [7] Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. [8] So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. [9] But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
Therefore, thinking like Jesus is not optional, it is mandatory and proof of life.
Thinking like everyone else in this world proves death is still the present and future reality of all disciples of Judas, even though they believe they follow Christ, not Judas. Remember Judas did not make it to heaven! Thinking like Jesus means understanding God’s way, and the evidence of this changed mindset proves you have new life. Not only that, it bears fruit, a real change of life, which is the fruit of God’s holy presence inside a real follower of Jesus.
Our Lord explained it using a story of farming:
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. [20] But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; [21] yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. [22] Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. [23] But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” [Matthew 13:19-23]
Summation: Therefore here are three clear signs of carnal mindedness that lead to eternal punishment and death:
1/ continued disobedience to the Lord’s clear commands in at least one area
Like Judas, you may be around Christ and claim to yourself that you are a Christian, or used to go to church and pride yourself in the hope that you are as good as those people and are going to heaven. BUT HEAR THIS, continued bondage to a sin only proves your hopes are false. You are still thinking and acting like Judas. You see, a person who receives the grace of God can say like John, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burden-some.” [1 John 5:3] No you are like Judas, if you do not stop disobeying God in that one sin you hold to, even though it seems insignificant to you.
2/ when trials or persecutions come the carnal person will sell out Christ or his followers and side with or even help the enemies of Christ
Like Judas, even if you are or were a faithful “church attender” for years, when the day comes and you get a chance to give up because of hard times and circumstances [tribulation], or people or family pressure you [persecution] and you quit serving Christ, you finally prove your real heart and carnal mindedness. The true child that is pushed around and gets hurt runs to their parents for help, the orphan has nowhere to run and gives up like Judas.
3/ when the carnally minded fail Christ they do not confess, repent and return – instead they quit the Lord and his church
All the disciples failed Jesus, but only Judas quit. Proverbs 24:16 declares, “For a righteous man may fall seven times, And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.” New babies learning to walk fall many times at first, but keep getting up and starting over. But within a short period of time they master the art of walking and rarely fall after the baby stage. “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” [1 John 3:9]
All the disciples failed Christ one time, but search diligently you won’t find they thought like or lived like Judas. All eleven died for their Master, without exception. Only Judas, who never changed his carnal mind, sold out and quit the Lord.
Application: How about you?
Are you sitting home on Sunday instead of obeying the commands of God and serving Him inside His local church founded and created by Him? Even if your local church is small in number, where two or three are gathered in His name, He promises to be with you because you are obedient.
Hebrews 10:22-27 commands: “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. [24] And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, [25] not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. [26] For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, [27] but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”
Stop making your excuses and get up and faithfully join the saints every week. Stop judging them and help them. Or stop lying to yourself, that what you are buying with the extra money you get for working on Sunday is necessary, it is not enough to make up for your obedience to Christ. Instead THINK LIKE JESUS!
Or stop telling yourself it is your only day off. Well, if you were working obviously you would not be able to join together with the church. Instead THINK LIKE JESUS! Or stop excusing yourself that you cannot find a church that meets your list of demands, you hypocrite, God tells you to love your brothers. Acts 2:42 is your instructions from the Lord, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
INSTEAD THINK LIKE JESUS! Prove you think like Jesus and love those He loves by committing to them, by faithfully studying God’s Word with them, joining them in friendship and fellowship, taking communion with them, and praying with them. Remember this warning from 1 John 2:19: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”
Now where will you be this weekend? If you are already faithfully attending church meetings, why not make the complete step and be a narrow road follower of Jesus everyday. Be the church, do not just go to a meeting. Where will your thoughts and actions be today? The greatest fear I have is not those who quit the church already, it is for those who quietly follow Judas Iscariot and do not THINK LIKE JESUS!
We are convicted criminals before God because we all have broken His Law. Sin is an act of rebellion or neglect, breaking God’s protective Laws. We have dark criminal minds in God’s view and we were born with such sinful nature that judgment hangs over our heads.
He floods us with truth and spiritual understanding and the old way of thinking must be choked out and killed. The old way of doing things must be ruined and destroyed. Change, real change is the goal! Impatience must be smashed. Selfishness must be rooted out and dried up. The old satanic dragon life must be destroyed.
Stop resisting the circumstances He brings that do not fit into your dreams. Change your dreams!
Spanking always relaxes a rebellious screaming child. Please understand, the more you resist the grace of God, the more He will discipline you for your good.
C.S. Lewis wrote the famous series, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. This allegory depicts Jesus as Aslan the mighty Lion. After he sacrifices His life for the world and is raised from the dead the story continues with many Christian lessons. One expresses how Aslan had to use His claws to deeply cut and hurt one of His little ones. God destroyed the old dragon life by painfully peeling off the outer layer of dragon skin to free the true new nature given through the Holy Spirit. Make no mistake, true change is painful, but like all mothers know, the pain of delivery is nothing compared to the joy of their little newborn baby.
In fact, the word character comes from an ancient word for engraving. Craftsmen used hammers and sharp tools to permanently change the characteristics of a piece of leather or metal with decorative shapes or letters. Believe me, God’s craftsmen are around you everyday pushing you and hurting you for your good by engraving God’s character design on your personality.
Will you turn in bitterness and anger at your circumstances OR surrender completely to His sovereign hand of purification and artistic character development? Do you still think like a selfish child? “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” [1 Cor. 13:11].
This means that Paul had to humble himself and ask forgiveness for things he did against someone. He had to repair his relationships and make things right. He had to give things back that he borrowed from them, pay back loans given to him, repair people’s reputations if he spoke ill of them, etc.
A dirty conscience will wreck you because unconfessed sin leaves you in conflict with God and without direction or protection from satanic traps set in your path to defeat and harm you. And not only that, unconfessed sin is a disease that harms your body, soul and spirit.
In Heb 12:2-4 we are told to follow Jesus… “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, 
Two of my sons are good examples of this principle. Driving can be dangerous if you do not keep your eyes on the road. Back When my oldest was learning to drive in our church parking lot that had many pine trees to keep the lot cool, well, he got his eyes on something on the floor that he tried to pick up, and you guessed it, he got off course and hit a tree!
1/ Clear your conscience by making a list of your unconfessed sins. List the people you have hurt or offended according to their word, not yours. It is not important that you think things are okay and forgotten, it is over only when they say it is forgiven and forgotten.
For example, I assume you like drinking out of a clean glass, don’t you? So think about this… Do you leave dirty dishes all over your house and find one to drink from? Or do you grab one and quick rinse it out to drink from, or do you like your glasses stored clean in the cupboard?
So plead for mercy from the Lord Jesus, remember saying your sorry to others is never good enough for them, make restitution to them, and make sure your conscience is cleared and in good condition again. You were not made to live under the constant stress of guilt.
Like the wedding ring is to a marriage, baptism is to the church. It is the beginning of a new union with the community of the narrow road followers of Jesus. It is publicly proclaiming the change to the whole world like the wedding ceremony announces the husband and wife a new family. In a marriage two families join in a whole new connection. In baptism, the new allegiance encompasses more than just Jesus and me. It unites you with the local church for eternity.
The Bible speaks only of believers being baptized. The Great Commission says “make disciples… baptize them…” Obviously disciplined followers of the Lord Jesus are the only ones eligible for baptism. This means only those who have professed their faith in Jesus Christ for the pardon of their sin.
1.
The very word baptism means immersion. The Greek word “baptizo” is not translated but brought into the English language. A different word is translated sprinkle. In ancient secular Greek writings that have survived until today “baptizo” always meant to be submerged under.