TRANSFORMATION and RENEWAL OF MIND

An extraordinary transformation and renewal of your mind is called for by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. This revolution is expressed in the beatitudes, and the Lord's Prayer, in the lilies of the field, in the house that is your character built on the rock.

Christ had gathered a following and was ready to at last present the revolutionary message He had come to deliver from heaven. It was a revolution from the message of the Pharisees and the Sadducees who were the churchmen of that day. Theirs was a religion in which the divine pattern had become submerged in outer ceremony. Jesus's revolution was about the transformation and renewal of mind. To let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.(Philippians 2:5).

Clearly He expected His people to understand the divine pattern. He began with the 8 beatitudes as the powerful introduction to the Sermon of sermons in the form of the Sanctuary Pattern.  Then He gave the expansion of the Law to include our accountability for our thoughts. Then the Sanctuary pattern again in the form of the Lord’s Prayer. So the Law here was powerfully expressed by being surrounded and kept by the divine Sanctuary Pattern, which always points to Him.

The beatitudes point to this deepening pattern of Christian experience. Christ uses the terms wretched and poor in describing us in Revelation 3:17, even though we often think all is fine. As we come to Jesus however, we begin to realize how deeply stained we are by sin and we mourn as we see the suffering we have caused Jesus on the cross (Altar of Sacrifice). Thus meekness develops and a purposing in the heart towards Jesus and our need for His righteousness. We hunger and thirst (Lavar of water/baptism/Justification). Then we study the Bible, are inspired by the leading of the Holy Spirit and we pray for others in intercessory prayer – we become merciful as we see the spiritual aching in others – and purified in heart as faith is refined in the fire of affliction (Holy Place/Sanctification). As we begin to reflect the light of Jesus Christ in our lives, and walk with Him, we bring peace to others and we will be persecuted by the world as He was (Most Holy Place).

Christ explained there was far more to the Law than a mere outer expression but that there was also an inner accountability for our thoughts. He explains we are responsible for all of our angry thoughts and lustful thoughts, just as much as if we carried them out. This was a revolution pointing to our need for a transformation by the renewing of our mind. The very first verse after the Sermon says: The people were astonished at His doctrine.

Wow! – Here Christ says there is more to an outer keeping of the Law - that we must also gain an inner control of the thoughts. Which is what Paul says: Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:5). Did you get that? He said every thought. This New Covenant then is all about being transformed and renewed in your mind (Romans 12:2).

The first miracle Jesus performed is such a powerful illustration for this revolution. It is full of symbols. The marriage ceremony is a celebration of love and faithfulness. Here the bride is representing the church and the bridegroom Jesus. Wine represents doctrine in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The wine of Babylon is the false doctrine of confusion and apostate religion. The old wine of the Pharisees had run out and Jesus provided new wine that was better than the old wine, out of water the symbol of ever lasting life.

“Right Thinking is the only security for any soul” (EGW 2MCP 659.2)                          
  “In the Sermon on the Mount Christ presented before His disciples the far-reaching principles of the law of God. He taught His hearers that the law was transgressed by the thoughts before the evil desire was carried out in actual commission. We are under obligation to control our thoughts and to bring them into subjection to the law of God.” RH, June 12, 1888.  {2MCP 658.1}

“He came to give men and women complete restoration; to give them health, peace, and perfection of character.” (MH 17.1)                                                                                  

  “You should control your thoughts. This will not be an easy task; you cannot accomplish it without close and even severe effort. Yet God requires this of you; it is a duty resting upon every accountable being. You are responsible to God for your thoughts. If you indulge in vain imaginations, permitting your mind to dwell upon impure subjects, you are, in a degree, as guilty before God as if your thoughts were carried into action. All that prevents the action is the lack of opportunity.” {AH 334.4}

The main point of the Sermon on the Mount is that you are accountable for your thoughts - To keep your thoughts and actions righteous through the Sanctuary Pattern which provides your connection to God. The conclusion to the sermon is that your character must be built on this solid rock. And we know that your character is formed by habits, by actions, which all have their origin in your thoughts. Therefore it is most important to control the thoughts.
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This publication clarifies the powerful pattern for right thinking that God has supplied to those thirsty enough to seek it. It is nothing secret. God’s Matrix for Your Salvation is evident in the First Four Commandments, the Last Supper and the Lord’s Prayer, even in the structure of the New Testament. It is amazing that all major scriptures in the Bible include this divine pattern. Even more amazing is that the Jews missed it and Christianity has missed it. God’s remnant people are embracing it.