God's Plan for Regeneration

Speaker Norbert Bohnert discusses God's plan for regeneration and the challenges of navigating through the abundance of information and misinformation in today's world. Norbert emphasizes the importance of trusting in God and looking to Him for guidance. Norbert also highlights the distinction between those who are born of God and those influenced by Satan. The speaker encourages listeners to embrace a positive mindset and to understand their role in the process of regeneration. Today, brethren, I'm great to talk to you on God's plan for regeneration. That's the title of my message. And to begin this message, let's turn to the Scriptures in Matthew 19, verse 28. And Jesus said to them, Truly, I say to you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Mary was speaking to Peter and the disciples, and this is the statement he made after Peter in verse 27 had answered him and said to him, Behold, we have left everything and have followed you. What then shall be for us? So they asked him that question, and he followed with verse 28. In this world today, regeneration, and that is what I'm going to concentrate on. What is the regeneration referring to as Jesus made that comment to the disciples at that time? As an introduction leading to this, we know that in today's world, we receive a lot of information. We receive a lot, we read, we are able to read it, we are able to hear it through many channels available to us. And it becomes difficult to sort through all the information out there and to know what is useful and what is not. We try to establish that, but it's very difficult in this world today, and we are left in a dilemma that we really don't know what is true and what is not true from all the information and the media sources that we have available to us. A lot of knowledge, as many of us have determined, is out there. It's usually produced by some type of an agenda. It's manufactured and packaged for an intended purpose, whatever that case may be. And we are not privy to a lot of the sources of the material that we hear, and so knowing what is actually true in this world and what is fake is sometimes nearly impossible. It has the effect of turning us at times into hardened skeptics, and we have all doubts and reservations because we cannot sift through all the material and stuff that we see happening in here today in this world. We always must ask ourselves, is this the absolute truth? We have doubts, we have reservations, and with that skepticism. And that's a frame of mind that mistrusts. It must mistrust ideas, and it also mistrusts people. It produces a strong field of negativity in this world, and we see it all over. We can be very, very well aware of that as we are out in the world today. There are many times that we can hear something through the media and other sources and truly ask ourselves, is that the truth or is that not the truth? The world is heading in a terribly negative direction, and we know that Satan is a liar. He is the father of lies. He does not stand in the truth, and he has a healthy hand on this society and the environment as it stands at the present time. Brethren, we all know that we cannot change the course of the world, and that God is in total control. So what are we to do? So what are we to do? It seems to me to be an environment perfectly set up to produce an attitude of not being hot nor cold, a little bit indifferent. And the more we become skeptical and mistrust, the more we will withdraw into ourselves. By that I mean mentally we withdraw into ourselves and we begin to trust ourselves. We get to the point where we can say, I am rich and in need of nothing because I am trusting in myself. Have we ever had thoughts like that, brethren, or experienced that type of situation in our lives? The person becomes to the point that he only trusts himself. This, brethren, can be dangerous and potential for some profoundly serious spiritual malfunctions given in the negative environment that we live in. So today I want to give you some positive direction with the intent of unifying and strengthening and not allowing that skepticism to come between us as individuals because it can develop an attitude of mind that we do not trust each other. We know that God has called out in Ecclesia a group of people in this end time, in this end time negative environment that we live in. He knew well what the environment was. And we have to be careful that we do not gain an attitude of mind that we do not trust each other. Daniel was told at the time of the end, none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. So it is possible to understand what is going on around us, brethren. Yes, our social environment is heavily negative, but as Christ so clearly stated prior to his death, they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. And then he asked the Father to sacrifice them by their truth. Your word is truth. The Ecclesia operates by a vastly different paradigm than the world does. And we all are aware of that and also part of that. So if we lift our eyes from the swamp of Satan's lies and deceits, we need to look wholeheartedly at what God is doing and gain a positive momentum in our own lives. Even if the times are difficult, as we see now, this is very important that we look to what God is doing and gain that momentum, that positive momentum in our own lives. Let's read that Matthew 19, 28 again. And Jesus said to them, truly I say to you who have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what is going to happen, brethren. There will be individuals that can sit on thrones and oversee the twelve tribes of Israel. This is not the point I'm trying to draw to your attention here, but rather to this is the word and the term regeneration. Christ said in the regeneration, when I return and I sit on my throne and the kingdom of God is administered over this earth, then this is what is going to take place, brethren. No ands, ifs or buts, not questions asked. There will be a regeneration. So just so we don't stop here and think this is only to do with the twelve disciples at that time, we are included in this total concept, brethren. We can be part of that program. Go down to verse 29, and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold and shall inherit eternal life. But many of the first shall be last, and the last first. We have read this many times. This then, brethren, clearly indicates that we are included in this whole concept of regeneration. And the regeneration of something marvelous is going to take place. And what I'm trying to draw to your attention this evening to hear is that our role in this regeneration that Christ is addressing will involve what we are doing now. Verse 30 envelopes the present. This is God's positivity, brethren, a positive direction that we can all embrace and remove any skepticism and give us some positive momentum of what comes in the future. The wise shall understand. Let's turn to 1 John 5, verse 18. 1 John 5, verse 18. 1 John 5, verse 18. We know that anyone who is begotten by God does not practice sin. For the one who has been begotten by God keeps himself by the power of God, and the wicked one does not touch him. The delineation between the Ecclesia and the rest, which is made noticeably clear here as John comes to an end of this first epistle, that's an immensely powerful delineation between Satan, the liar, the father of it, the one who inspires all this misinformation, false information, half-truths, and so on and so forth in this world today. There is a clear line being drawn here between those born of God and those born of God and those influenced by Satan. Verse 19 to 20. We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one. We all know that, and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding so that we may know Him who is true and we are in Him, who is true and in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and the eternal life. The wise shall understand, the wicked will not. We are given some understanding that we are expected to take and work with. In verse 20, we know that the Son of God has come. The world we know is influenced by a father of lies, and there is no truth in the father of lies, namely Satan, and we need to really appreciate what God has given us, each one of us, to allow us to be separated, so to speak, from the works of this world. The word born, here being used, born of God, is genoa, geneal, to procreate or to regenerate, to be begotten by God's Holy Spirit. We are begotten by God's Holy Spirit, and there is something different, quite different about an individual who is born of God and an individual that is not born of God. God called us, and that is a blessing in itself, that we can be part of that ecclesia. This in itself is a work of regeneration. We are given understanding outside and apart from the Satan-influenced negativity, that negative field that is being produced worldwide. Let's turn to Isaiah 57, verse 15. For thus says the high and the lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, even with the one who is of contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. We start off here from the position of God's perspective. This gives us an introduction, brethren, to the greatness of God that is impossible for us in human terms to really fully grasp. We look through a glass very darkly when we look at God. This is the great Creator God, the Almighty God, El Shaddai, that we are talking about here. He inhabits eternity. And we understand that, brethren. We are able to understand that, and God has given us that understanding. We try to appreciate where God's throne is and all that surrounds that throne, and the majesty and the greatness and the mightiness of that. Moving on, he dwells with an individual. He dwells with individual, a human individual who is contrite, who is humble, and nobody gets to be contrite and humble in the spiritual sense on their own part, brethren, apart from God's involvement and intervention in their lives. God has to be involved, and God is involved. The word contrite could also be crushed. This is an especially important aspect of repentance, brethren, and it is exceedingly difficult to get that across to people, and it is also exceedingly difficult to experience personally. That is why repentance is a process. It takes time, it takes prayer, it takes fasting, reading, studying, and to really grasp what is going on with repentance. God dwells with that individual who has a contrite and humble spirit, and that's what we must all work towards. That crushed aspect is not that the individual does not have any life or any reason to live or any forward momentum in their lives, but you crush the human element of it when God revives that individual. He revives us spiritually. The word revive here is a particularly important word because it plays into regeneration. God is regenerating something to procreate, to regenerate through the spirit that is now in that individual born of God. God dwells with those whose attitude is produced by being born of God, referring to the indwelling presence of God's spirit. The word revise, as it is used in verse 15, means to live. Once the individual kills off the carnal part of self that is produced by Satan's environment and Satan's mind, God then comes along to give life to that person while they are still a physical human being. To revive, to give that life. Returning to God, it says in Psalms 147, let's turn to Psalms 147 verse 3. Psalms 147 verse 3. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Here as we go through a genuine repentance process, we become brokenhearted. As we become aware, we become aware of our shortcomings, we become aware of our sins. It's that growing awareness within the concept of repentance of just what we are and that awareness never stops developing. No matter how long you have been baptized, there should be a growing dimension, a growing awareness in each of our minds as to what we are. And I would suggest that the longer you have been baptized individual, the deeper that appreciation should be. It needs to be there in our relationship with God. It needs to be there, but he heals. God heals the brokenhearted and he binds up their wounds. He revives us and he gives life back to us. It is a process of renewal and restoration. So I stress three words there. Process, it's an ongoing step, step-by-step process of renewal and restoration. To help us see this with a motivational understanding point of view towards that of regeneration, let us cover some main points. God firstly is going to restore or regenerate Israel, brethren. God is first going to restore or regenerate Israel. Jeremiah 24, verse 5. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, like these good things, so will I acknowledge the exiles of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. God is talking about a corrective period, a punishment, a captivity, that in an extremely negative scenario as they go into this situation. But it is interesting, God says, for their own good. God is doing something incredibly positive through it all. Through this extremely negative period of time in which they are living. We must know that God is also doing something. If God is doing it, we know it is positive and it is good. And we must keep that in mind. Verse 6, for I will set my eyes on them for good and I will bring them again to this land and I will build them and not pull them down and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Verse 7, and I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God for they shall return to me with their whole heart. They will become born of God, if we can put it in New Testament vernacular, rather than that is going to happen. So it becomes noticeably clear and definitive that the process that God is going to do with his people is clearly stated. Ezekiel 11, Ezekiel 11, Ezekiel 11 verse 17. Therefore say, thus says the Lord God, I will even gather you from the people and assemble you out of the countries where you were scattered and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come there and shall take away all its detestable things and all its abomination from it. And I will give them one heart and I will put a spirit within you and I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh. So they go through a process of identification of those things that have been an abomination to God. Those things that were detestable, they deal with. They get them out of their lives. Then they come into a born of God relationship. Verse 19, and I will give them one heart and will put new spirit within you and I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh. So that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them and they shall be my people and I will be their God. So brother, here we see a process of restoration. What we are going through today is part of also that process. The negativity that we see around us that we talk about is a part of the decline and the degeneration of God's people. And that's for an exceptionally good reason. They have rejected God. They have turned their back on God. They vilify God and they misuse God's name. And God for their good is going to let them go into captivity. And in that captivity, they will come to identify who they actually are. Israel does not know who they are today. They are lost. They are lost to themselves as well as simply lost to the world. They do not know who they are. But through captivity, God will bring them to their senses as to who they are and why they are in that condition. And at the same time, what his plan and purpose is for that full restoration so that his plan of salvation can go forward. It does not get much more positive than that, brethren. But this is the negative stage as we go into that decline prior to that captivity. For Israel, it will be a process of growing in understanding and that understanding being processed into walking in God's statutes and judgments, God's law. An awareness of growing into a family relationship, it will be changed attitude towards God. It will become a regeneration. Paul would have written this process as recording all things to himself. Same thing, just another way of saying it. Shortly after the day of Pentecost, Peter spoke of this regeneration in Acts 3. And there is a discussion going on here after a man had been healed. Let's go to Acts 3 verse 19. Therefore, repent and be converted in order that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Conversion, converted, there's a part of the process that we have to go through. There's a part of the process that we have to go through. And I stress, it's only part of the process. Blotted out. We all understand that part of it. We go through it very personally with repentance and baptism. Let's read verse 19 again. Therefore, repent and be converted in order that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. So what I'm saying here with Israel will come is a future thing to look forward to. We are going to get to the point of understanding that this is part of the process today of regeneration. Verse 20, And that he may send him who was before but proclaimed to you Jesus Christ, whom the heaven must indeed receive until the times of restoration of all things, of which God has spoken by the word of his holy prophets since the world began. All things have to be and are to be restored. There is a regeneration of what God's plan and God's purpose is. What he intended from the beginning. Restoration of all things when the Son of Man sits on the throne in his glory. The point is clear that there is a need for regeneration. Israel had decayed so much. It has to be renewed and restored. In its decay, as I say, it generates an incredible amount of negativity. Brethren, we are also in a decay period in our lives. What is our focus? With all this knowledge that comes to us every day and every way, and you can only slow it down, you can't really stop it completely unless you maybe go out and live as a hermit somewhere with no Wi-Fi, no signal on your phone, and you have nothing. You can avoid some of that, of course, but we, brethren, are not meant to live that way. We are going to pick up some knowledge that is out there that is creating a negative feel. Because there is no way we can sort through it all, and there is no way that we can know exactly what is true and what is false when we hear it. So I ask the question, what is your steady diet, your steady mental diet? Is it from the negative feelings that we get, or is it from God's positive feel? I think this is a reasonable question to ask of ourselves. In Deuteronomy 30, verse 6, we see God's intention. I thought I would mention this because it does give us God's incredibly positive intention long before any of this other negative stuff comes into place. Here is what God had in mind. Deuteronomy 30, verse 6. Deuteronomy 30, verse 6. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul so that you may live. And brethren, if you were born of God, your heart has been circumcised. Here is God deep in the Old Testament preparing Israel to go into the land of promise. It is God's intention for man to be born of God. You know everything went off the rails. Everything went south. And so there is some need for restoration. And with that restoration, regeneration will come. One other factor we should also throw in here, on a little larger scale, is simply the earth itself needs to also regenerate. The earth needs to regenerate. As we have just gotten over Pentecost, the upcoming Holy Days, they lead us through a series of events that are yet to happen in the future. When you get to Trumpets and go forward from there, they are all future. Then there are some terrific things that are going to take place on the face of the earth, as we all know and understand. There is not going to be a total bohu, tohu and bohu of Genesis 1, where there is simply no ability for life to exist. There will be human life, but it is going to be pretty tough. After droughts, the famines, pestilences and earthquakes, one-third of the important things relative to live on this earth will be destroyed. One-third of all those things that help support life on this earth are simply destroyed one way or another. The earth itself will need regeneration. And it will need renewal and restoration. Isaiah 35 Verses 1 and 2 The wilderness and the desert shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it. The excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our God. This earth will become a wilderness and it will be a wasteland, brethren. And there will not be that many human beings on it. Speaking to where we are today. How does this all happen? Well, it happens by a divine fiat. A formal authorization. A proposition. A decree at the flick of a finger. Isaiah 55 Isaiah 55 Verse 12 Isaiah 55, verse 12 For you shall go out with joy and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break up before you into singing. And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn, the fir tree shall come up. And instead of the briar, the myrtle tree shall come up. And it shall be to the Lord for a memorial. For an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off. These trees, of course, will take time. That is not a divine fiat. It is a changing regeneration of the environment that we, mankind, will be living in. It is going to take time for these things to come into place. Isaiah 61 Isaiah 61 Verse 11 For as the earth brings forth its bud. And as the garden causes that which is sown to grow. So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to grow before all the nations. Here is the principle of a garden. The earth bringing forth its bud. And it must be put into a condition where it can regenerate. The desert will blossom as a rose. A plant at a time. Not instantly. Ecosystem can regenerate. So the point I want to make here is that it flows on into us, brethren. It is a very important stepping up point for us to appreciate what God is doing now. That is, that when man aligns himself with God's law. And that includes the laws governing the environment. And there are laws governing our environment. Some of the things that are happening right here locally to us because of man's transgression of God's laws of agriculture. It is not simply the moral laws that we are talking about. There are laws of how the environment should be managed. How proper stewardship should be put into place. When man aligns himself with these laws, the earth will regenerate over a period of time. Again, another positive forward view. So, brethren, I want to emphasize the point is that it requires alignment with God. And that brings us to the apprecia. God's work of regeneration has begun in us. Luke 19, verse 10. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. Speaking here of Christ. It is Christ speaking, but about himself to this degree. He is saying, I have come to begin a work of regeneration. To save that which was lost. Immediately you could probably inject in there and say he is talking about the lost and tribes. But he isn't. Matthew 9, verse 13 makes it perfectly clear what he meant. Matthew 9, verse 13. Now go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He came to save sinners and to call them to repentance, brethren. That is the lost group to which he is pointing. There is a larger picture here than just the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Mankind is in Christ's sight when he makes these statements. When called, that is what ecclesia means, the called out ones. We begin a process of recognition of this fact of what Christ is actually doing. Romans 5, verse 6. We were lost at one point in time. We were the ones who were lost. Romans 5, verse 6. Romans 5, verse 6. For even when we were without strength at the appointed time, Christ died for the ungodly. Christ died for the ungodly. He died knowing that we would be able to be called through that process. We come to a personal recognition for the need of regeneration, brethren. We come to see that we are not self-sufficient, that we are not good the way we are. And that is part of the entire process of repentance. It is such an important process, brethren, in our lives. And it is part of the regeneration that is taking place at this particular time in our lives. Of course, you are probably putting two and two together here. At least I hope you are. A negative environment that lacks truth is not conducive to us coming to the recognition of the need for regeneration. The world is telling you, you are good the way you are. That is what we are being told. We are great. We are wonderful. We don't have to change. We can just be ourselves. It has been telling us that for a long time. And now we are seeing the fruit of that where people believe and act on that basis. What has the result been? Well, with the influence of Satan, it certainly has not been good. That is the environment that we live in, brethren, out there. And if we are not careful, we can be influenced greatly by that environment. And if we are not going to be addressing the regeneration process that God has begun in you, we, brethren, can become a group of people who are asleep. It reminds me of the reference in Matthew 25. Talking about a group of people, ten of them, and they are all asleep. And so, you go through this whole scenario of the end time, where Christ goes into great detail of all that is going to take place. You go to the very next thing, and what do you find? A group of people who know about this. They are waiting for the return of the bride group. Jesus Christ. And yet, they are all sound asleep. Why? There is a reason they are all asleep. And I hope we are touching on some of them today. If you are wide awake to regenerate, to have that regenerative process that God is working with us today, you will not be focused on the negativity that is in the world around us. You just won't. You will be focused, and we must be focused on what God is doing. The positive things to look forward to, and what our part is in it, and realizing how much importance that bears on our future. Are we part of those that are asleep? Or are we awake and alive and active and motivated? If you have become truly, deeply skeptical, you will tend to go to sleep. A little bit of self-preservation forms the skepticism. Let us go to Romans 8, verse 2. It identifies that we are the ones who needed to be saved. We were the lost ones. Romans 8, verse 2. Romans 8, verse 2. Because the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death. So, brethren, the key to regeneration here is the law of the spirit. The law of the spirit, life. We have already touched on life in renewal. That word renewal, which we read about in the book of Psalms. There is a regenerative process underway when the spirit of life is in an individual. When that person is born of God. Geneo is in the Greek. They have God's spirit as a living element of who they are as a human being. It is right there. It is part of who they are. So that process, that process of Geneo, the impregnation of the Holy Spirit, we will become born of God. Verse 5. For those who walk according to the flesh, mind the things of the flesh, but those who walk according to the spirit, mind the things of the spirit. You have these two things that you can focus your mind on. The flesh and the spirit. The flesh, the negativity that goes on in your life, in the way of life that is out there, is not going to produce godly life. Verse 6. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. But those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Those in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if the spirit of God is indeed dwelling in you. But if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Verse 10. But if Christ be within you, the body is indeed dead because of sin. However, the spirit is life because of righteousness. So brethren, we are not talking about the return of Jesus Christ here. This is not the benchmark here. The benchmark is daily living today as a human being, as part of the called out ones, the Ecclesia. Verse 11. Now the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling within you. He who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies because of his spirit that dwells within you. Some of you may ask, is repentance and baptism regeneration? The answer is no. It is part of the process. And that is the point I'm trying to make. Just having gone through the repentance process, leading up to you being able to be baptized, you do not sit back on your laurels and just drift and wait for God to return to be in God's kingdom. That is not to be. It is the beginning of a process, brethren. It is a process that never quits while you live physically. It never quits. It grows, it strengthens, it deepens. Regeneration follows from that starting point. It is never and not a static position. Negativity can slow us in our tracks. It can cause a loss of momentum. But because we are still human and carnal, that could easily happen. It could cause us to wander off on tangents and do all kinds of silly and sometimes stupid things that don't produce the mind of Christ. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. Therefore, if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And that is not an instant in time, brethren. This is a process. Replacing the old with the new over a period of time. A period of regeneration. Ephesians 4, verse 23. Replacing the old with the new over a period of time. A period of regeneration. Ephesians 4, verse 23. And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind. The spirit that God has given us. That spiritual birth that takes place when the Holy Spirit becomes part of our being. Verse 24. And that you put on a new man, which according to God is created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. This, brethren, is the process of regeneration. Of growth. Of development. Christ is creating in us. Christ was the creator of what exists now. Of the heavens and the earth. Christ is the one who created mankind. Christ is the one who is still to this day creating. He is working. He and his Father are working. And their work is a work of creation. And you, you and I are a creation in the process of what God is doing. Satan's negativity and evil around us is always meant to stop that momentum. To produce fear and uncertainty. And to become frozen in place. And I do not need to tell you as you can see it. And be aware of it. Of what is going on in the world today. The negativity. The evil which is prevalent in our society today. You can call it a pandemic or whatever you want. It has an impact on relationships. It had an impact on the churches of God. As people get embroiled in that negativity that exists. The conspiracy theories so to speak. And of what has that accomplished. This causes nothing but division in the churches. Colossians 3 verse 10. Colossians 3 verse 10. And have put on a new man who is being renewed in knowledge. According to the image of him who created him. That is the process that God is working with us. Brethren we know that God provides all knowledge. The wise shall understand. And they will take that understanding. And they will use it to build concepts. To build momentum. To build that new man. To be motivated to doing what is right in God's eyes. To live God's ways. Renewed in that knowledge according to Christ. Christ was the one who created man in the image of God. He is in the process of regenerating. In each member of the aphasia. Which we are a part of. According to that original creation. Brethren he is regenerating. Paul said to the church in Rome. That the process is a transformation of the mind. Romans 12 verse 2. Romans 12 verse 2. Do not conform yourselves to this world. But be transformed by the renewal. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In order that you may prove what is well pleasing and good. And the perfect will of God. This transformation of the mind takes focus brethren. And it takes effort on our part. It takes knowledge to be able to transform that mind. And repentance is a part of that process. But it is not the whole deal. Baptism is a part of the process. But it also is not part of the whole deal. Regeneration is the life of God in a person. The creator creating. We need to see this process with great clarity. And resist and worldly focus. That worldly focus that disengages us from the particularly important process. Paul personalized this process for us in Titus 3. Maybe it would be helpful if we start to read a few scriptures into Titus 2. To get to what Paul had on his mind. To get to the point that I want to make. Titus 2 verse 11 and 12. Titus 2, 11 and 12. For the grace of God which brings salvation for all men has appeared. Teaching us that having denied ungodliness and worldly lusts. We should live moderately and righteously and godly in this present world. That is an instruction for us. Paul understood the negativity of the present age. And he addressed it in this letter to Timothy. 2 Timothy 3 verse 1. 2 Timothy 3 verse 1. Know this also that in the last days perilous times shall come. Paul knew. He understood. He was not Pollyanna but what the environment would be like. In this present age it's teaching us that we should not follow the trends. The negative trends that are so prevalent out in this world. Led by Satan. Verse 13. But wicked men and impostors shall become worse and worse deceiving others. And being deceived themselves. So here it is clearly stating. It is right out there in front of us in the scriptures. An image we can see. And it is something we desire. It is something that motivates us here as we look. Jesus Christ returning. And the beginning of the regeneration for Israel. The regeneration for mankind. The regeneration of the earth. And you are a part of that brethren. Because you have been regenerated by the time Jesus Christ returns. Verse 14. But as for you continue in the things that you did learn. And were assured of knowing from whom you have learned them. That is where he is coming from. Let's read Titus 3 verse 1. Titus 3 verse 1. Remind them to be subject to rulers. And to obey authorities. And to be ready for every good work. Brethren it is an attitude. Basically that Paul is getting at here. He knows as I referenced out in 2 Timothy 2.3. Exactly what is going on with the rulers and the authorities. He is not saying they are all perfect. They are all righteous. They are all good. He knows exactly what the problem is. But he is talking about our attitude. If we have been born of God. Titus 3 verse 2. Not to speak evil of everyone. Not to be contentious but gentle. Showing all meekness towards all men. Verse 3. Verse 3. We know that in each environment those things will rise to the surface. And if our food is negativity. These things will definitely rise to the surface. And they are not going to create a new man. They resurrect the old man. Not build a new man. Verse 4. Through the washing of regeneration. And the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Through the washing of regeneration. This is the life that is being talked about here. This is not an instant in time. This is the development that is to take place. Verse 6. This is a faithful saying. And I desire you to strongly affirm all these things. So that those who have believed God may apply themselves to doing good works. These things are good and profitable for men. Do not get derailed from doing good works brethren. Right here in these nine verses good works are referred to three times. That's what's on his mind as he writes this. So in this present age. We are to grow brethren. We are to be thriving in the new creation. Using that power that is given to us. Pour it out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ. Using it. It is stronger than the negative field that is out there. Far stronger if we tune into it and we use it. And that is the Holy Spirit that I'm speaking of. Verse 13. Tells us. Be diligent to equip Zeus the lawyer and a pause for their journey. So that they may lack nothing. Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Looking forward noting that the regeneration of Christ's return. Is a work in progress for the church at this time. It's a work in progress. First Peter. One. Verse 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again. Into unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading. An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading reserved in heaven for us. So brethren if you have that vision. Are you going to go to sleep? Knowing that the bridegroom is going to return. You do not have the exact hour of his return. But all 10 of them all 10 of them as mentioned in Matthew went to sleep. If you really have the vision. You are definitely not going to go to sleep. You are going to stay alive. And active. Verse 5. Verse 5. Who are being safeguarded by the power of God through faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you yourselves greatly rejoice. Through. For the present. If it is necessary you are in distress for a little while by various trials. You will be totally born of God at Christ's return. When you get eternal spirit life. And brethren we can look at that and see that personal side of it. How many of us right here now have personal trials. That we are going through. At this particular moment. A lot of us I am sure. But it is not just on a personal level. In the context of what being written here the world the present age. Is a trial. Is a test. Day in and day out driving through life. And it is a major trial. And I think we can all attest to that. Verse 7. In order that the proving of your faith. Which is much more precious than gold that perishes. Though it is being tested by fire. May be found unto praise and honor and glory. At the revelation. Of Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ comes to sit. On that throne. In all his glory. And begins the regeneration for mankind. A regeneration of the earth. A regeneration of the universe. What an awesome thing to look forward to. But brethren. Please realize that process has begun now. When the father called out. People. Including us. And brought them to Christ. They responded. They became part of that. Ecclesia. The called out ones. And that process. At that time began. It will be fully realized. At Christ's return of course. And remember as we read at the beginning here. Let's go to John. First John. 5. Verse 18. First John 5 verse 18. We know that anyone who is begotten of God. Does not practice. Sin. For the one who has been begotten by God. Keeps himself by the power of God. That Holy Spirit. And the wicked one. Does not. Touch him. So brethren. That negative field that we are living in. That Satan has created. Does not. Have to be a factor. In our spiritual lives. We can. And we have the power to overcome all that. So in closing. I ask you this question. How is Christ's regenerative. Work. Going for you.