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Transformed or Conformed? (Pandemic Thinking)

Scott Kercheville
03/15/20 - Sun AM

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

(Rom. 12:1–2 ESV)

A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. (Prov. 22:3 NLT-SE)

1. CONFORMED: Disasters and trials are always and only bad

TRANSFORMED: Difficulty helps us grow, things often get worse in order to get better

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2–4 NLT-SE)

I will raise my fist against you. I will melt you down and skim off your slag. I will remove all your impurities. (Is. 1:25 NLT-SE)

2. CONFORMED: This is out of control

TRANSFORMED: God is in control

Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts. The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned. (Rev. 8:6–7NLT-SE)

3. CONFORMED: If God is in control, he is a terrible God for doing these terrible things or for allowing them to happen

TRANSFORMED: Partial disasters and judgments are a gift from God to humble us before the final judgment (they are a “dress rehearsal”)

 About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.” (Luke 13:1–5 NLT-SE)

Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. His subjects ground their teeth in anguish, and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. (Rev. 16:10–11 NLT-SE)

But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.(Rev. 9:20–21 NLT-SE)

4. CONFORMED: It’s every man for himself

TRANSFORMED: Consider other people more significant than yourself

 “The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you. The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children. He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring—the flesh of one of his own children—because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. The most tender and delicate woman among you—so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot—will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter. She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. (Deut. 28:53–57 NLT-SE)

  Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,  he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.  (Phil. 2:3–8 NLT-SE)

CONCLUSION: Trust and take joy in God no matter the circumstances

I trembled inside when I heard this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us.

 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,

 yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

 The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. 

(Hab. 3:16–19 NLT-SE)