C. S. Lewis asks the question, have we got rats in the basement of our soul that seem to pop out when we least expect it? What to do? C.S. Lewis has a stab at what it means to 'put off the old behaviours' & 'clothe ourselves in the new' - in Christ. Notes below...
(0:38) The second fable, whose title I made up, is one I can't find, perhaps it's a medieval story given Lewis' reading. It's a common truth though, repeated by many authors, either for good or for ill, that "he wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it'.
(4:02) See verses below on clothing yourself in Christ. Some clothing is done by God, some we are instructed to do ourselves (see Romans 13.14, Col 3.5-15, Matthew 5.3-12, Gal 3.27, Eph 4.24). The Spirit of God also clothed some of the Old Testament saints to do mighty deeds (Gideon, Amasai & Zechariah).
'Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ & do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh' - https://biblehub.com/romans/13-14.htm
'Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness & patience' - https://biblehub.com/colossians/3-12.htm
'You who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ' - https://biblehub.com/galatians/3-27.htm
'Put on the new self which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness' - https://biblehub.com/ephesians/4-24.htm
'Put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth;
put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator;
put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness & patience;
& beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity' - https://biblehub.com/context/colossians/3-8.htm
See also the parable about the man without wedding clothing (usually meaning repentance) in Matthew 22.12 - https://biblehub.com/matthew/22-11.htm
(4:29) The Holy Spirit can do things that seem unexpected. For instance, once the disciples sent to preach were 'forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word' in a certain place. See https://biblehub.com/acts/16-6.htm
(5:08) There are many things that are not wrong (e.g. taking a particular career path), but it may be contrary and wrong for what the Holy Spirit plans for your life.
(6:20) There is not a saviour besides Christ, every salvation is either Christ-sent or will fail to actually save (see Isa. 34.11 'there is no Saviour besides Me'). See also the comments section for more real examples.
(7:03) Christ referred to the nature He created to teach us. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." https://biblehub.com/matthew/6-28.htm
(7:50) Lewis' conversion to Christianity occurred over a period of time
and he went from popular realism (only physical matter exists) to philosophical idealism (something other than the physical things exist, things like beauty, truth, reason & morality exist aside from matter), from idealism to pantheism (there's got to be some sort of mind behind the universe, & values alone can't just exist without some mind conceiving them), from pantheism to theism (God is separate from nature), then from theism to Christianity (Christ is God's Saviour).
If you want a concise treatment of these steps, go to 'Mere Christianity'. The outline of Books 1 & 2 are in fact the story of Lewis' conversion from a 3rd Person's point of view. Lewis discusses various truths as concepts that we can observe, but these were the observations that changed him spiritually, so think of 'Mere Christianity' as a version of Lewis' own testimony which is why it has been so successful (see Dr. Harry Lee Poe's latest book on the
subject).
(8:14) The original broadcast included an additional line to the book:
'If a 3rd Christian joins, there is 81 times as much'. You plus the Three-Person-God is to the 4th power. So it is you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – 4 distinct persons working together. I.e. not 1, 2, 3 but
(1x1x1x1)= 1
(2x2x2x2)= 16
(3x3x3x3) = 81
(8:50) Christ, like us, did not rely on the flesh. See John 2.23 'Many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need
that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man."
The original broadcast had the following words italicised which add to
understanding (shown in CAPS): "OUR FATHER", 'in the place of a SON of
God', 'you realise you are NOT a son of God', 'where the pretense is there INSTEAD of the real thing', 'which AT THAT VERY MOMENT the pretense', 'to 'inject' His kind of life and thought, his ZOE, into you', 'but I often HAVE been helped by other human beings', 'sometimes through experiences which seem (at the time) ANTI-Christian', the spirit of Christ is probably nearer to him THEN than it ever was before', and 'I have been talking as if it were WE who did everything'.
Sub-titles in the 'Listener' article: 'Recognising the Real Giver' & 'Making Pretense into Reality.'
All the videos are great . But this one is extra special. It assists one with living the believing life. Done by providing instructions as to 'how to' .
@jessicaadelinesetiawan6049 Says:
you can do a lo of things with sand but do not try building a house on it
@ResidentGunNut Says:
What was the song at the end?
@BobbyMiller64 Says:
A wonderful chapter. Great illustrations.
@mrm5515 Says:
Thank you! Will be listening to this on several times. Pretty much standard for anything C.S. Lewis.
@cyntheia9801 Says:
All I know to say is "Thank you"
@paulleible5568 Says:
12:24 en garde*
@jadaayebae Says:
so in love with this channel! thank you always
@bubbyadams3597 Says:
Thank you so much for your work, I wish I had found this channel years ago, it is Awesome! I would love to see all your work on the Screwtape Letters, I looks like there are only a few left on youtube? Is there more that exist out there somewhere?
@bestill365 Says:
Jesus killing the natural self with a gun was hilarious 😂
@amorrow1983 Says:
One of my favorite chapters ✝️❤
@WadeWeigle Says:
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve watched this twice so far and with every watching you glean more wisdom from it.
God bless you and what you do.
@keithmaxwell5714 Says:
What particular song/singer is the Lord’s Prayer at the end? Powerful.
@darrenkoch1718 Says:
Thank you for this. I love C.S Lewis and I love how you make it seem as if he’s still here, teaching us.
@talentheturtle Says:
Excellent song!
@dsc4178 Says:
These videos are always so useful, no matter what your life is, you can see this in your life.
@zachw755 Says:
Thank you so much for your ministry. There's so much goodness from Lewis, and God working through him, and your videos and doodles, so to speak, are endlessly encouraging to my heart and soul. God works through them. Thank you for your commitment to seeing these kinds of things through. God bless.
@davidkazira6060 Says:
Thank for this. I love you man.
@jhoelpaco3361 Says:
Beautifully done.
@BillyBulletPewPew Says:
I'm looking forward to the day when the whole book of mere Christianity is made into these doodles.
@CSLewisDoodle Says:
(6:55) Check out one of the few rescues made on 9/11 in the documentary ‘One Day In America’ (season 1, episode 6 “It’s all gone kid”) by National Geographic as an example of God bringing salvation through anyone He chooses. All the rescuers had been told to leave the 9/11 site due to the tremendous danger, and God then sent in Chuck Sereika. He was a lapsed paramedic and drug addict, depressed, with no desire to help anyone at all that day, and only dragged himself out of bed and went to the 9/11 site to look only, in order to satisfy his step sister that he was there helping. But he had no intention really. In spite of all this, something amazing took place that day and he went into the rubble and helped rescue one of the last remaining survivors, crying out to God. See the full interview in the documentary episode above, but here is a short clip from the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbM4EMI0vwM . I'm sure we've all got our own stories to tell and here is one of mine. I was walking to work one, cloudy, London morning, and I came to the intersection of Kennington Lane and Windmill Row and an odd thought popped into my head as clear as day: “If you ever need an emergency vehicle, wait at this spot, and one will come along”. I didn’t pay the thought much mind, except for “hmm...that’s a good idea”. The next day on my walk home, one street over from that spot, I witnessed a woman on a bike clipped hard by the wing mirror of a car and knocked into the air and onto her head. She was knocked out cold on Kennington Road. A Routemaster bus stopped just short of hitting her again, and a crowd then gathered in a circle in front of the bus and around the poor woman. I went to ring the emergency services, but I saw a couple of people already dialing. At that moment I remembered the thought (or voice) from yesterday and ran a street over to the intersection which was out of visual sight of the accident. I waited at the corner. At that minute, a police car with four cops in it came by, and I jumped in front of the car, hands up, halted the car, and then directed them down the alleyway and around the corner to the incident. They put on their lights and rushed to the scene, and they were the first crew there to treat the girl, radio an ambulance, take statements, and direct heavy traffic. I passed by that corner every day for that year and waited 30 seconds, just to see, but I never saw another emergency vehicle pass me again, except for that one day I needed it. It has struck me that this woman never knew that the help she received was on hand because of a word from Christ that day, and that help had been prepared in advance for an accident waiting to happen and was directed to her immediately, because of help from Christ, and His help alone. That was the difference for her, in her time of need.
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