Guard Your Thinking

Transcript

GR 642
11/24/1983
Guard Your Thinking
Philippians 4:8
Gil Rugh

Book of Philippians in your Bibles and the Fourth Chapter, some comments on the vision questionnaires and we collected them. People would like to do some various kinds of studies like topical studies, and I hope that you have realized and that’s what we are doing in Philippians Chapter 4. In effect doing a series of topical studies as we move along verse by verse, so sometimes we are getting the variety without realizing it even though we are going through the Book of Philippians, we have slowed up considerably and really moving a verse a week through this key section on the peace of the believer and the experiencing, the realizing of the peace that we have in Jesus Christ.

We’ve noticed that we have peace with God by faith in Christ that’s foundational to everything. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked; Isaiah wrote. We have peace with God as a result of being justified by faith in Jesus Christ. And until a person is brought into that relationship with God there can be no long lasting inner peace and tranquility because we are at enmity with God. We are in a state of constant warfare and battle with the one for whom we were created.

So that is basic but in that provision of peace in Christ is not only the ending of the enmity between God and man, but there is also the provision for the day-by-day, moment-by-moment peace of God in every circumstance. That is the stress in Philippians Chapter 4, enjoying the peace of God as God’s child in every circumstance and that is God’s intention for me regardless of what is going on around me, regardless of what is happening to me. God intend that I have his peace within, the tranquility that only he can bring within the hearts.

Verse 6 gave the command not to be anxious but to let our request be made known to God; that is how we handle anxiety. We give it over to God instead of becoming anxious and worried and fearful and fretful, I simply let that be known to God and I leave it with him and his peace, in verse 7, stands guard at my heart and my mind. We noted both our intellect and our emotions are guarded by the peace of God; the inner man in every aspect comes under the protecting guarding care of God.

Now I believe that there is a danger in our study of a passage like this. You really don’t understand what God has to say about experiencing his peace until you move through verse 9. We noted that the end of verse 9 the God of peace shall be with you. We sometimes study Philippians 4 and particularly verses 6 and 7 and stop. But you can run into problems there and not really be enjoying God’s peace because verse 8 tells us then; what you must be thinking about.

When you have committed your concerns to God in prayer, what now do I focus my mind on and then, in verse 9, he will talk about what we are to be doing, the practice, the conduct of the believer and until you have all of these pieces; praying, thinking, practicing you will not be enjoying God’s peace as he intends. So the focal point of verse 8; where we are going to center our attention in our study this morning is on the thought life of the believer.

Perhaps the single greatest verse in all the Bible on our thoughts is Philippians 4:8 and gives a series of categories to define the realms in which we are permitted to think and by this defining set of categories; he eliminates all the things that we are not permitted to think about because anything contrary to the guidelines set down in Philippians 4:8 is not fit food for thought for me as a believer. What we are going to find here is; it goes contrary to everything the world is bombarding us with as regards our thought life and thus it takes discipline in the power of the spirit to have the kind of thought life that enables you to be experiencing as you should; the peace of God.

Let us have a word of prayer together before we look at the details of this verse. Father, we praise you this morning for every provision made for us in Jesus Christ. Father, for the peace that we have with you, Lord, for that continuing peace day by day and in every circumstance. Give us an appreciation of what should be going on in our minds even as we study today, we pray in Jesus name, amen.

You know how difficult it’s to control your mind and some people with their minds are less disciplined than others. Our minds run from one thing to another, we come together on a morning like this to focus attention upon Jesus Christ, to study his word. Now we are aware how it takes discipline to keep our mind centered on what we are doing, of the advantage; I believe of having your Bible with you, being able to follow along, of the advantage of taking notes, all things to help us discipline our minds, why. Because our minds tend to wander, if we are not careful.

We are thinking about what we are going to do this afternoon in the beautiful sunshine, or something else that is going to take place. We are exposed in the world to all kind of stimuli that are geared to our mind to condition our thinking and to control our thinking and so it takes discipline on the part of the believer and that is what Philippians Chapter 4 verse 8 is dealing with. Paul starts out in verse 8 by saying; finally brethren, that brethren, the warmth, the term we have denoted several times through the Book of Philippians, finally he is drawing to close here his remarks on the peace of God, to have a complete picture about this peace.

Here are some factors you need to be aware of and he is going to list now six adjectives and these six adjectives show what kinds of things we as believers should be thinking about. You note the repeated whatever, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute and that whatever is plural. Whatever thinks are true, so this whole category and whole realm of things that would fit into this kind of category, that could undergo the description of being true or honorable or lovely and so forth are the kinds of things that are to be true of our thought life.

You think if we could run down the screen this morning and project up there what your thoughts were, I think; now would they meet these categories. You say; O yes, there is a thought that fits the realm of truth, there is a thought that fits the realm of lovely, there is a thought that fits the realm of good repute, as we have to measure our thoughts in our thinking by. We are going to do, you just remove through each of these and be sure that we understand the significance of each one and then you measure your thought like.

As soon as we get to the close of this, this is not a recommended list given to us by God, it’s going to be a command given, the present tense, something we are commanded to be doing, commanded to be thinking all the time so that any moment of any day; are to be able to break into your thoughts and it ought to measure up to this list right here, these guidelines right here. Starts out the first one in the list is; whatever is true, the word true has the sense of reliable, valid, it’s the opposite of falsehood, we are to be thinking in the realm of the true, not in the realm of the false.

Now that is important, we say; well that is simple, let us get on, it’s simple but it’s important how often we get drawn in to thinking about that which is not true and it can take a variety of directions. We hear something about a person and we begin to dwell on it, we don’t know if it’s true or not yet we have rolled it over in our minds and then later we find out it’s false. You have been thinking about that which wasn’t true. The world holds out all kinds of things as desirable and attractive and good yet according to the word of God that is false and we as believers are lured into thinking that it’s true, if I could acquire this I would be happy.

The bible says; you don’t find happiness by acquiring thing but we dwell on it in our mind as though it was true but it’s not, it’s a falsehood, we do this in our homes, and these are homes as an example quite a bit because that is where we live, where our minds function. If this was true, if my wife were different, if my husband were different; I would be happy. If I had a different wife; I would really be happy, if I had him as a husband I would be in glory, you come to the Bible and find that is a falsehood, that is not true, that is the mate that I have that God intends me to live within a godly way.

But our minds were to drawn by the world into thinking that this is true and it’s not, back up just a couple of pages to Ephesians, Chapter 4. You see the contrast in this verse, verse 25 of Ephesians Chapter 4 between falsehood and what is true. Ephesians 4:25; therefore laying aside falsehood speak true. You see the antithesis of falsehood is what is true, truth. So we set aside falsehood, we speak the truth each one with his neighbor for we are members of one another; speaking of fellow believers here.

There is to be an openness and honesty that begins in our thought life; what we think, how we think about one another and often we are caught in the role of being a hypocrite because we have been thinking about what is not true about a person. Yet we say something else, if you think that long enough; you begin to talk about it and then we are not only thinking falsehood, we are speaking falsehood, one area leads to another, it comes back to the mind.

Why you are in Ephesians 4, look at back up in verse 21; if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, in Christ, just as true is in Jesus. Truth is in Jesus, here the truth of God when we talk about the gospel, truth being focused in Jesus Christ, truth centers in him. He said; I’m the way, the truth and the light, so truth in regards to a man’s relationship with God and then moving off from that into all things; centers in Jesus Christ. Over in Chapter 5 of Ephesians verse 9; we find that this is one of the fruits of the spirit.

The fruit of the light consist in all goodness and righteousness and truth so that when the spirit of God is in control of my life, producing his fruit; my mind will be in the realm of the true. There is a check for me on how I’m allowing the spirit to control my life; the fruit of the light is truth. I don’t expect to find this in the world and the distorted relationship that exists because of their sin, the distorted relationship with God which is a broken relationship, a nonexistent relationship, colors and distorts everything else than the unbeliever does.

What does he do in the science area; he distorts truth and tries to come up with an explanation for the existence of things; human beings and others apart from God, why. That sinful condition has distorted perception of truth in many ways and in many areas. Over in Chapter 6 of Ephesians and verse 14; truth is one of the pieces of armor for the believer, stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, we as believers are to be characterized by truth, truth from us, what is true, that begins in the area of my mind.

Is that what I’m thinking about, is this is really true, valid, reliable. Come back to Philippians, what is true, whatsoever thinks are true, that would fit into this category broadly all kinds of things that are true. The second thing that he mentions, the second category or kinds of things; whatever is honorable, a word that’s only used a few times, it’s only used here and then three times by Paul in the pastoral epistles in First Timothy Chapter 3 verse 8 and verse 11 and then in Titus Chapter 2 and verse 2, was translated “dignified,” we believe in all three of those references regarding people who are to be dignified.

And in the pastoral epistles; it’s talking about that quality that makes a person worthy of respect and the word means worthy of respect or honor, noble, dignified, reverent so I’m to think on those things that are honorable, worthy of respect, worthy of honor, those are the kinds of things that I’m to think about. You see, I will be getting -- I have only come to the first two and I will be getting already to see that many, many things that the world would press in upon me, are not fit for my mind as a believer.

Is this really worthy of respect. Well not really, then what I’m doing thinking about it, that say something, that is say something here about what you put into your mind. You look at the television programs, soap operas and measure the things that they are communicating to your mind, do they fit this pattern, are they telling you what is true about relationships in the family, husbands and wives, the way we have to live our lives. Is to be careful about what we fill our minds with, we are talking about those things which are worthy of respect, are they are glorifying those things which the Bible says are not worthy of respect, are not honorable that are not dignified.

Then they are not fit for my mind if they are not fit for my mind, better I just don’t expose my mind to it as you know what, what you feed it, it’s rolled over there and you have been amazed; how something comes back to your mind that you have seen or heard sometime ago and it fixes itself there. Obviously our advertisers are well aware of that, they don’t pay hundreds of thousands of dollar for a minimum commercial time without realizing this is going to have an impact on your mind.

Third category whatsoever thinks are right, whatever is right. You know what that means; upright or just, that which conforms to God’s standard, naturally as you would expect to be overlapped in these areas, rather than being clear cut categories they are categories that overlap one another. As you expect they can blend into one another, here is that which is upright and just that which we conform to God’s standard and thus those things which are worthy of God’s approval.

So in effect this is what I’m going to feed to my mind and roll over in my mind, is it worthy of God’s approval? That is the standard, have that little saying people tack around their home; what would Jesus do. Some of you have problem with that but the idea of; does this have God’s approval, does this thought meet with his standard is a valid criteria, would God approve this? Our thoughts are to center on righteous things, this word right connected to the word righteous, we are a people who have been declared righteous in Christ.

Now people who are righteous in Christ are to have minds that are characterized by righteous thoughts. It’s very simple, isn’t it? Now we are going to expect the world to feed us this. The world standards, the world’s criteria of right, no. The world has a totally different standard because it does not accept the word of God, its standard of right is totally different than God’s standard of right and I can think of -- on things that meet the world’s approval but not be thinking about things that meet God’s approval.

Because much of what the world says is fit and right, God says is wrong. And I don’t have to begin to list illustrations of that, obviously, but we need to be careful because you know, what, the world is thinking, the world’s approval affects us, what the world says about the permanence of the marriage relationship has had dire and drastic consequences on how Christians view the marriage relationship and how binding it’s and what we have done. We have replaced God’s approval with world’s approval.

I need to be careful of subtle things and it happens in so many ways. Whether, we just did our income taxes not too long ago and you read things like; if all the money that is said was given to the united way or these kinds of appeals, they have had so much money they wouldn’t have known what to do with it. What, well everybody declares on their income tax if they gave something. I’m to function in a way that is pleasing to God so my mind and my thoughts approved by God.

Will this thought meet God’s approval that simple standard and guideline. He goes on whatever is pure, whatever is pure and the thing that immediately comes into your mind is sexual purity and that’s obviously included but the word is broader than just sexual purity, means that which is not tainted, not corrupt, something that is clear in nature, transparent, sexual purity obviously included but it goes beyond that, the purity in all areas.

That which is undefiled, word that could be used in ceremonial situation where things brought to God must be undefiled. There must be a ceremonial purity, they must be acceptable to God, this becomes the standard, purity becomes the guideline. You say; what is purity, I come to the word of God for that standard, right, what is pure in his sight. Look over in James Chapter 3, James Chapter 3 just after the Book of Hebrews, the Book of James Chapter 3 verse 17; but the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

The wisdom that God gives is pure, verse 15, the wisdom -- this wisdom is not from above but it’s earthly, natural and demonic, what wisdom, the wisdom of verse 14; bitter jealousy, selfish ambition and the arrogance which lies against the truth. God’s wisdom is pure, so you note there is two kinds of wisdom, two kinds of wisdom both of which can have supernatural origins because this wisdom is earthly, natural, demonic and there is the wisdom from God which is first pure.

That the world is brilliant often in its impurity, very clever in its impurity, whether it promotes it’s impurity we have many, many people who have become rich many times over by the clever use of impurity. And they have a supernatural wisdom but it’s not from God, it’s from Satan, God’s wisdom is pure, so we need to be careful, there is the danger that we become enamored with intellectualism in the wrong sense. We need to be careful; the wisdom that God gives is pure, transparent, and clear.

First John Chapter 3, verse 3 says; that everyone who has the hope of seeing Jesus Christ face to face purifies himself just as he is pure. So you see what I’m in life, what I’m in mind all joined together; we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is face to face. Everyone who has this hope fixed on him, purifies himself just as he is pure. That begins in our minds, the kind of thoughts that we are having, come back to Philippians Chapter 4.

Whatever is lovely; this word is only used here in the New Testament, I think the word “lovely” is a beautiful kind of word, pretty word; it’s lovely; it means pleasing, agreeable, amiable, winsome. You could paraphrase it as that which calls forth love, that which excites love. Now this is a crucial area for our thoughts as believers, what we say, how we comment about one another are reflection of our thoughts and I’m to be thinking about you those things which call forth love.

So often I think about you, the things that I don’t like, the things that I would like to rebuke, the things that I like to be critical of, the things that I like to tear down but I’m to be thinking about those things which move towards love, tend towards love, idea in the word. Compound word: the word for “love” and the word “towards,” the things towards love, that excite love that call forth love, so easy to think about the negative things, the unlovely things that happens in our homes again.

Husbands begin thinking about their wives; the things they don’t like, the shortcomings they see, what they are not, wives think the same way about their husbands that begins to tear down the relationship. I was interested in the vision questionnaires, there is at least one questionnaire that come in with a person who said; there was nothing that Indian Hills was doing right. I thought; now, no matter how carnal and how unspiritual and how bad off we are, to have to be something to be doing right.

But we tend to think in the realm of the unloved way, so we are quick to criticize; I don’t like to tell you this about so and so but what does that indicate; I have been thinking about the unlovely things about them, are they a believer, yes they are believers, does that mean that God has done a transforming work of redemption in their life, yes it does. Then you mean; there are not things that are lovely in their life to think about, God has done a supernatural work of transforming grace in their life and you can’t think of anything lovely to think about them. That is more of a reflection on your spiritual condition than it’s theirs.

We church called out in the Bible as the carnal church, the Corinthian church, Paul had many things to say about how lovely they were. We need to be careful about our thoughts and how we think about one another. What our thoughts are, so easy because there are so many things that are not all that we would like them to be, none of us have arrived at the perfection that we are striving towards as we saw in Chapter 3 of Philippians and it’s so easy to zero in on this yet God demands that my thoughts be functioning in the realm of the lovely, that which promotes love, proper attitude,.

So even though you may have 94 bad qualities and 6 good qualities; I’m thinking about the six good ones and mull those over. Do that in your home in your husband and wife relationship that makes a difference on how you begin to see your wife. When you go home and you say; alright I’m going to do that, and say; O well didn’t work, no. You do this overtime, I begin to center in and think about all the lovely qualities of my wife and focus on those. Every time I see something that I could be critical of and there are many, many of those.

Marlene sometimes sees one or two in me but what if one of those come to your mind and you begin to think on the lovely qualities,; I wish he wouldn’t do that, stop and discipline your mind and think about what is lovely about him or her. About an area that really is towards love and see if that doesn’t begin to affect your attitude towards. Become dominated in your thinking about those positive, lovely things that is true in our home that is true in a body of believers. We have some people who think negatively, they are in the body so long that they just burn themselves out; they just can’t get both feet back on the ground.

They have fought critically and bitterly so long that they do come to the point; I just can’t see anything positive, we need to develop that mindset. It’s hard to go someplace else and have any different mindset, so I need to discipline my mind in the realm of the lovely. Fix that word in mind, is it lovely, is it tend toward love, is it promote love as I mull this over for bitterness and criticism and resentment. Next statement; of good repute, of good repute; similar kind of idea that which calls forth admiration, literally means that which sounds well, means that which is likely to win people, attractive. O it’s easy to think on the bad things, what are the good things, anything of good repute, of good report that calls forth admiration. Again I have to think; mate, what calls forth admiration in you, in me, in someone else.

That is what I’m to think about, again you see why God tells us this because the natural tendency of the depraved mind is to go the other direction not to think; what is admirable in you but to think what is despicable in you, that is the tendency of every mind in this auditorium because of the impact and effects of sin and it takes a special work of God’s grace to turn that around and it takes discipline under the power of the spirit now, to think as I ought to think, to think about those things in your life which are admirable, you know why; there is a certain delight in thinking about the unadmirable things.

O I don’t like to say this about so and so, I realize they have good qualities but everything we said about a person reflected you know in spite of their faults, you know they have so many admirable qualities. Ever meet a person like that, that no matter who they were talking about; they were talking about what could be admired in other person. I have appreciated certain pastor in town, ever since I have come to Lincoln and a number of you who come from his church will appreciate that.

But every time I seen him when we have somebody from his church, you know what he had to say; O you are going to appreciate those people, they are going to be an asset to your work, now I know they didn’t leave there because they loved that work, they had to be something wrong, something they didn’t like, now you come in and tell me watch out for them. You know we were and say; you want to appreciate them, what. You are looking for that which was admirable in them, some good quality, that’s what I ought to be thinking, every believer in Indian Hills say Lord, help me to see what is admirable in them and dwell on that.

Now, Paul changes his literary structure here, he has given these six adjectives, now he changes the structure for emphasis. You note he just doesn’t go whatever, whatever, he says; if there is, if anything, the same idea going forth, it becomes inclusive, not going to leave anything out here. If there is and it’s in a structure that implies there is not a doubt, if there is and we don’t know if there is or not but if there is and there is that assumes the fact, what we call the first class condition. If there is any excellence; word that is only used three other times in the New Testament, those things of excellence, the best things. I’m not to think on the good things, I’m to think on the things of excellence, the best; give an idea of the flavor of this.

Go over to First Peter; this word is only used by Peter outside of this verse in Philippians, Philippians Chapter 2 verse 9, First Peter Chapter 2 verse 9; but you are a chosen race, a royal priest hood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who calls you out of darkness into his marvelous light. The Excellencies of God; we are called to proclaim the Excellencies of God. What do we do, we proclaim all the great things about him, his redemption, his salvation and so forth.

Think the most things which are excellent, which excel. Over in Second Peter Chapter 1 verse 3; seeing that his divine power has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. The superbness, down in verse 5, we are to add our faith, moral excellence, in the middle of the verse, and your moral excellence knowledge. Moral excellence is to characterize us; those were to think on the best things in every area. Back in Philippians 1 he says; if there is any excellence, the best in everything and every area is what we are to be thinking about, which the world do, the world pulls you down to the gutter, to the lowest, to the base, what did God say.

Your mind is to be fixed on the excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, anything of moral and spiritual excellence, anything worthy of praise, this is to be the focus of my mind, it’s worthy of being praised. Again that limits a lot of thoughts doesn’t it, it’s something worthy of being praised then I can think about it. Is that thought you are having; worthy of being praised, well I don’t know, well I don’t think about it. See when we get into trouble; we allow our minds to go in a realm where it shouldn’t, that affects the peace you have, let your mind dwell, last statement of verse 8 of Philippians 4, let your mind dwell, present imperative, the middle voice, something we are required to do ourselves, that is important to understand.

We are responsible for our thought, we are responsible before God for what we think, it’s a command given to us, you, present tense, constantly to be fixing your mind, you know who is responsible for my thought, you say; I can’t help it, I just have these thoughts, what you mean you can’t help it. God says you are required to think according to his pattern, part of the problem comes; garbage in, garbage out. What do you feed your mind, I feed my mind with the world’s ideas and the world’s values and the world’s standards and I say; I just don’t what is wrong, I just can’t think the way God wants me to.

Of course you can, when you see this with our children we don’t want them to watch certain things, certain terrible things that might be on television, they warn you about your children, they were on the news one night. They were going to show some pictures of a massacre, they say; you may not want your children to see this, why. Then they can’t get to sleep at night, then they wake up at 3, what happened. In their mind they are playing it back, that happens to us as adult as well you know. We feed these things into our mind and we are playing them back, I’m responsible to exercise authority over my mind, what I think, what gets rolled over in my mind.

This word to think is a strong intense word, it means to reckon, to calculate, idea here is to dwell on something, to be occupied with something. Either things are nicer to be continually occupied with and when you continually occupy your mind with these things you know what, there is no room in your mind for other things. There is no dead time for my mind, no blank time because I’m continually occupied with these kinds of things that leaves no time with the other kinds of things.

What we do with our mind, we are going to talk next week about our practice, what you do with your mind is the determining thing of what you would do in your conduct, what you would do in your action. So it’s crucial, David in the first psalm, wrote about the blessedness of man, who didn’t walk in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he says in verse 2 of psalm 1; thus he meditate day and night, continually occupied with the things of God.

That word meditate comes from the word that men -- to chew the cud, is used of a cow that would chew the cud, call it, back up and chew it over, that is what we are to be doing, David says; I chew it over, I roll it over, I call it back in my mind day and night, that is what I fill my mind with, that is what I’m occupied with. Proverbs Chapter 4 verse 23 says; watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of light, your heart the center of your being, your mind, what you think, watch over it carefully.

You note again, God says you are responsible for what you think, you will be held accountable for what you think, watch it carefully because from the heart comes the springs of life. This is the motivation center, this is the problem with the unregenerate person, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Jesus said; where all forms and sorts of inequities, in Mark chapter 7, come from and he gives the list of adulteries and murders and fornications, says that come from the heart, they come from within, we saw this in James, where do wars and rumors of wars come from. They come from within, so even as believers we need to be careful, you are not exercising discipline over your mind to find your life becoming a confused mess.

Proverbs Chapter 23 verse 7 says; as a man thinks in his heart so is he. As you think that is what you are, it goes on in your mind when you are alone; it goes on in your mind when you have free time. What you think about, does it fit this category, the bible says; as you think in your heart that’s what you are. You could project on the screen my thought through the week, you would know what I really am, that would be a revelation of my character. Second Corinthians Chapter 10 verse 5, jot it down, Second Corinthians chapter 10:5, Paul says; we are taking every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, see what he is saying.

All my thoughts have been subjected to Jesus Christ, to the obedience of Christ, every thought is part of my obedience to Christ, subjected to him, it’s his captive. See Paul saw the importance of disciplining the mind and as every thought was broadcasted to Christ and you see a light that is transformed in every way. Two passages in closing, Romans Chapter 12 verse 2; we have been exhorted to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable under God which is our reasonable service, we are told not to be transformed but to be conformed to this word but to be transformed, how.

By the making new of your mind in order that you might prove the will of God, you note that, he transformed by the renewing of your mind, he made new in the area of the mind, that is crucial, that is what God is doing, he is making us new in the area of my mind, what I think in the power of the spirit and Book of Titus Chapter 3 verse 5 says; that we are renewed by the Holy Spirit. So I take it, this making new in the area of mind is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. My responsibility is discipline and submitting to the Holy Spirit and his power; he enables me to discipline my mind in thinking those thoughts which are pleasing to him.

Ephesians Chapter 4 says the same thing, in Ephesians 4 and verse 23; that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that is contrast, verse 24; you put off the old self and you put on the new self. The old self is corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit but verse 23; you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self. That verse, verse 22 and verse 24, verse 22 talks about the old man and the lust of deceit. Verse 24 talks about the new man that is in the image of Christ and in between that is the making new of the mind, that’s the transforming process for me.

God gives me a new mind, he is making me new in the area of the mind, so that transforms my entire life, what you think is what you are. We as believers are responsible before God to occupy our thoughts, our minds with those things that honor him with proper thoughts, crucial to have the peace of God. Don’t be anxious about anything but commit those things to God in prayer. Now what, now think about these things, I have committed to God in prayer but I’m still worried, what you are thinking about. I’m thinking about the problem.

Well God told you to give him the problem and you think about the things he told you to think about. And you say; I gave God the problem but I won’t think about what he told me to think about, how can you have the peace of God. That’s why, what you do with your mind determines whether in effect you are battling against having God’s peace stand guard at your heart. Do you think about the things and in effect meet the standard; the true, honorable, the lovely, the things of good repute, is the characteristics of our thought life and to back up again, have you been made new in the realm of your mind.

We are not talking about the power of positive thinking, we are talking about the power of godly thinking but that power for godly thinking comes from God himself and the beginning point is being transformed in the area of your mind, being made new in the realm of the mind that happens when you come to believe in Jesus Christ as personal savior. He cleanses you from sin and he makes you a new person within, with a new mind, with the ability to think in a way that’s honoring and pleasing to God, and thus to enjoy and experience his peace.

Let’s pray. Father, it’s so simple and how we praise you for that; and Father we realize the difficulty and the simplicity. Lord, we are encouraged that you have given us the command, you have given us the power in the Holy Spirit to carry out the command, Lord, make us a people who are disciplined in mind, we might think fast that are acceptable and approved before you. That we might in effect have the mind of Christ, we have to be true in our relationships with one another, true in our relationships in our family, Lord, in every way and in every area. Lord, for those who are here who don’t have a new mind in Christ; Lord, we realize that this totally confuses them. They can simply go out and try to do their best in their own efforts, which is hopeless and futile. Lord, I pray that they might see that in Christ their vision is made for newness of mind, newness of life, they might come to believe in him, the savior. We pray in His name, amen.