Elisabeth Elliot: And may I pause here and ask you today, "Is there one thing that you have decided not to do because God forbids it? And is there one thing that you have decided to do because God commands it?"

Lisa Barry: Interesting questions, don't you think? It makes me wonder how much of my obedience to God is merely a carryover of how I would choose to live anyway. In other words, am I also being obedient to God when it causes me discomfort? Am I being obedient to God, even when my feelings are wildly pulling me in a sinful direction?

All this week, Elisabeth Elliot is challenging us to make renewed minds a priority in our lives, to reject what the world says is valuable and align ourselves with God's value system. That's our topic for today, and here's Elisabeth to get us started.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That's what the Bible says. "And underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, talking again today about a renewed mind.

I was reading from a little leaflet by A. W. Tozer yesterday, a leaflet entitled EXPOSITION MUST HAVE APPLICATION. How I do thank God for brilliant minds! The rest of us need to not only thank Him, but to hearken, to listen, and to ponder what God is saying to us through those servants to whom He has given brilliant minds, deeper understanding. Servants whose lives witness to His power. I think of A. W. Tozer as one of those.

He writes, "By far, the greater portion of the Bible is devoted to an urgent effort to persuade people to alter their ways and bring their lives into harmony with the will of God as set forth in its pages." May I pause here and ask you today, "Is there one thing that you have decided not to do because God forbids it?" Is there one thing you have decided not to do because God forbids it? Is there one thing that you have decided to do because God commands it? Think about those two questions. I'll go on from Tozer's writing.

"What is generally overlooked is that truth, as set forth in the Christian Scriptures, is a moral thing. It is not addressed to the intellect only, but to the will also. It addresses itself to the total man and its obligations cannot be discharged by grasping it mentally. Truth engages the citadel of the human heart and is not satisfied until it has conquered everything there. The will must come forth and surrender its sword. It must stand at attention to receive orders. Those orders it must joyfully obey.

Short of this, any knowledge of Christian truth is inadequate and unavailing. Bible exposition without moral application raises no opposition." I think what he means by that is I could sit here and read the Bible to you all day every day, but you wouldn't do a thing about it except perhaps think that it sounded nice, unless I tried to help you to see the applications, which in our ordinary lives in this particular century, need correction. We need instruction and correction in righteousness.

Tozer says, "It is only when the hearer is made to understand that truth is in conflict with his heart that resistance sets in." If God tells you, "Don't resist an evil person," what does your heart begin to say to that written Word of God? If God tells you husbands, "Love your wives as Christ loved the Church," what does your heart tell you? How can you apply that truth?

"As long as people can hear orthodox truth divorced from life, they will attend and support churches and institutions without objection." That's interesting, isn't it? That's Tozer talking. "As long as people can hear orthodox truth divorced from life, they will attend and support churches and institutions without objection. The truth is a lovely song, becomes sweet by long and tender association. Since it asks nothing but a few dollars and offers good music, pleasant friendships, and a comfortable sense of well-being, it meets with no resistance from the faithful. Much that passes for New Testament Christianity is little more than objective truth sweetened with song and made palatable by religious entertainment."

I don't know exactly when A. W. Tozer wrote this little leaflet, but I'm sure that it must have been at least 20 years ago. In those 20 years since then, we have certainly seen churches arise which really don't ask very much but a few dollars. They offer good music, pleasant friendships, kind of like a social club, and a comfortable sense of well-being. The word "sin" would hardly ever occur in a sermon. And those flat, straightforward, unequivocal commands, such as you find in the 12^th chapter of Romans: "Bless those who persecute you, live in harmony with one another, do not be proud, do not be conceited, do not repay anyone evil for evil," etc. Check it out. That's Romans 12. Just read the whole chapter. As long as those things are not clearly stated and practically applied, they are not going to resist whatever that church teaches.

"Much that passes for New Testament Christianity is little more than objective truth sweetened with song and made palatable [with what we're seeing more and more of today]-religious entertainment. Probably no other portion of Scripture can compare with the Pauline epistles when it comes to making artificial saints." Hmm. No other portion of Scripture can compare with the Pauline epistles when it comes to making artificial saints.

"Peter warned that the unlearned and unstable would wrest Paul's writings to their own destruction." Wrest is W-R-E-S-T. I think it's an Old English form for the word "wrestle." They could wrestle with Paul's writings until they themselves were destroyed.

"We have only to visit the average Bible conference and listen to a few lectures to know what he meant. The omnibus thing is that the Pauline doctrines may be taught with complete faithfulness to the letter of the text without making the hearers one whit better. The teacher may, and often does, so teach the truth as to leave the hearers without a sense of moral obligation.

One reason for the divorce between truth and life may be the lack of the Spirit's illumination. Another surely is the teacher's unwillingness to get himself into trouble." How well I identify with that worry. I don't like to get negative letters. I don't want people telling me that they think I'm too harsh and too straightforward and too blunt and too this and too that. Am I unwilling to get myself into trouble by speaking the truth of God? I need your prayers.

Tozer says, "Any man with fair pulpit gifts can get on with the average congregation if he just feeds them and lets them alone. Give them plenty of objective truth and never hint that they are wrong and should be set right and they will be content. On the other hand, the man who preaches truth and applies it to the lives of his hearers will feel the nails and the thorns. He will lead a hard life, but a glorious one. May God raise up many such prophets. The Church needs them badly."

Let me read you some more from Romans 12, just to give you some hints as to where you may need to apply the truth of God. These words are the truth of God. "Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, 'It is Mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord.

On the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love." Is there a lot of brotherly love manifest in the church you go to? Perhaps not. What can you do about it then? You yourself must be obedient to this command.

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality."

Do you refuse to practice hospitality because you don't want to have to clean up the living room or sweep the front porch or have a perfect meal? You want to have a perfect meal and you decide that you can't do it, so you feel that you have a right to be disobedient to God's Word. Practice hospitality.

Exposition must have application. May God give us grace to seek how to apply the words that He has given to us today.

Lisa Barry: The truth sometimes hurts, but it's so refreshing, isn't it? That talk was both humbling and encouraging for me at the same time. Humbling because there are times in my Christian life when I choose the easier road to avoid discomfort. It was also encouraging for me because there have been times when I spoke the truth, even when it made others uncomfortable. I need to remember the things Elisabeth said today, and maybe you do, too.

If so, the best way I can think of is to purchase a copy of the tape. It's called A RENEWED MIND. The cost is $7. You can send that, along with your request, to Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. Or call us at 1-800-759-4JOY. That's 1-800-759-4569. Gateway To Joy has been a production of Back to the Bible.

We'll hear more challenging ways to renew our minds tomorrow, so be sure and join us then for another Gateway To Joy.