A general said to a
young officer, "Imagine you’re leading a
company of men into battle. You look to the left and
there’s the enemy’s infantry. You look to the
right and there’s his artillery. You look in front
of you and there’s the mechanized unit. You look
behind you and there’s a steep cliff. What would
you do?" "Resign," he answered.
Satan is waging a war
against the Savior and the saved. The stakes are
high: the control of the minds of men and women.
It’s only as we search the Scriptures that we’ll
find the strength and the supplies for success. Then
we won’t resign, but resist and overcome. Solomon,
the wisest man who ever lived, wrote in Proverbs
4:23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for
out of it are the issues of life." He added in
Proverbs 23:7, "As he thinketh in his heart, so
is he." The heart is regarded as the center of
reflection. As one thinks in the center of his
deepest reflection, so is he.
But we’re living in
a day when people go by feelings, not faith;
impulses, not the inspired word of God. A mother
asked her boy, "Why did you push Billy into the
mud?" "Because," he said, "the
devil tricked me." "How?" she
wondered. "When the devil told me to do it, it
felt so good. I thought it was the Lord," he
answered. The implication is clear: we’re headed
for transgressions and trouble unless we stop and
think.
But on what shall we
think? Philippians 4:8 answers, "Whatever things
are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things
are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things
are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if
there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things."
The word
"think" means "to meditate" -
that is, to give continuous attention to, to dwell
on, to mull over. You find this in the first Psalm.
The first verse says, "Blessed is the man who
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the
seat of the scornful." Solicited by Satan to
walk in the counsel of the ungodly, to stand in the
way of sinners, to sit in the seat of the scornful -
how can a child of God overcome and not be overcome?
The secret is found in the second verse: "But
his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law
doth he meditate day and night." That’s what
the apostle Paul meant when he wrote, "Think on
these things."
Your mind will master
you, or you’ll master your mind. Here’s how to
master your mind:
Think on
"whatever things are true." The word
"true" signifies truth in character as well
as in conversation. It’s truth that’s attractive
as well as accurate; consistent, not changing. The
word suggests "whatever is constantly being
true."
It’s written in John
3:33, "God is true." And the Lord Jesus
said in John 14:6 "I am the truth." But
what of Satan? Of him the Lord Jesus said in John
8:44, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for
he is a liar, and the father of it."
You see this in the
Garden of Eden. God said in Genesis 2:17, "But
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou
shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die." But Satan said
in Genesis 3:4, "Ye shall not surely die."
Eve thought on Satan’s lie, not God’s truth. What
happened? Genesis 3:6 reports, "She took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her; and he did eat." The wreckage
of earth and a million billion graves show how tragic
it is to think on that which isn’t true!
Why is it that so many
of us are more willing to believe a lie than the
truth? Think of Jacob. His sons sold Joseph, their
brother. Then they killed a goat, spattered its blood
on Joseph’s coat, and said to their father,
"We found this in the field, is it Joseph’s
coat?" "Yes," he sobbed. "A wild
animal has eaten him." There’s no record that
he tried to disprove their false implication or to
find out anything to the contrary. Later on, when
they came with the report, "Joseph is
alive," he wouldn’t believe it! The same is
true about spiritual things. People are more anxious
to believe man’s reasonings than God’s
revelation. But let us constantly think on things
that are true. Then we’ll consistently be true in
our words and our ways. And the more consistent we
are, the more Christlike we are.
Sir Hugo of Tabaria, a
knight of the Crusaders, was captured by Saladin, the
ruler of the Turks, and was held for a big ransom.
"I can’t pay it," he protested, "for
I can’t raise that much money here."
"Then," said Saladin, "go home and
raise it." "But," he wondered,
"what guarantee do you have that I’ll return
if you allow me to leave?" "You’re a
Christian," said Saladin, "and I take your
word." Do you so constantly think on what is
true that you’re consistently true in your
conversation and conduct?
Think on
"whatever things are honest." Our beautiful
Norwegian Elkhound, Gea, often appeared with me in
our telecast which is produced in our gardens. One
day she was being led with a leash. A viewer asked
why. "So she won’t stray off the set," I
replied. Our Lord knows us. He warns us to hold our
thoughts on things that are honest and honorable,
reverent and revered. He knows that we’d stray from
Him if we didn’t.
One day the Lord Jesus
went to Jerusalem. He saw moneychangers behind the
counters, changing the coin of foreign visitors into
the coin of the temple, usually cheating them in the
process. He saw the priests, who had a monopoly on
the sale of doves for temple sacrifices, charging
extortionate prices. His heart was hurt by this
irreverence for the temple, and He made a whip from
some ropes and chased them all out. Your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit, if you believe on Him. How
do you think He must feel when He finds your mind
fixed on things that are dishonest, not honest;
dishonorable, not honorable; ignoble, not noble?
I’m typing this
sermon on a word processor. Whatever I feed into it
will show up in the printout. So, if things that are
dishonest and dishonorable go into it, things that
are dishonest and dishonorable will come out of it.
The human mind is a fantastic word processor. Your
brain is capable of recording 800 memories per second
for seventy-five years without getting tired. Not any
word processor can match that. Now, what are you
feeding into it? Is that which you’re thinking on
making you a noble person?
A young prince was
vacationing at a seashore, and he was invited to a
party. On hearing of the games they were to play, the
movie they were to see, and the things they were to
engage in, he said, "I can’t. That would bring
disgrace to my noble birth." Let us who have
been born again refuse to think on that which isn’t
honest or honorable lest we bring disgrace to our
noble birth.
Think on
"whatever things are just." No one is just
until he’s adjusted to the Savior. When he’s
right with God, he’ll be right with man. Sin is
anything which separates man from God, or man from
man. How is man made right with God? By rules? No, by
a right relationship. When we have a right
relationship to God, we’ll have a right
relationship to man. It’s only the one who has been
justified by God who’ll be just with man. But this
also involves a dedication.
First, a dedication of
the body. Romans 12:1 urged, "I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service." Just as the Lord Jesus had to take
upon Himself a body to do God’s will, so we must
give our bodies to Christ to do His will.
Second, a dedication
of the mind. Romans 12:2 says, "Be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind." The word transform in this verse
is the same as transfigure in Matthew 17:2. It
appears in our language as the word
"metamorphosis." It describes a change from
within. The world wants to change our minds from
without. But the Holy Spirit wants to change our
minds from within. If the world controls our
thinking, we’re conformers. If the Holy Spirit
controls our thinking, we’re transformers. How does
the Holy Spirit transform our minds? By using His
word, which is God’s standard for righteousness.
Third, a dedication of
the will. Romans 12:2 continues, "that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God." It’s only as we yield ourselves
to the will of God that we’ll have the willpower to
think right and to do right.
I begin every day
surrendering my body to the Lord. Then I spend time
with His word, letting Him transform my mind so
I’ll think on things that are right. Then I pray
and yield myself to His will. To be right with God
and man, we must begin every day yielding our bodies,
our minds and our wills to God. When we think right
toward God and man, we’ll tend to act right toward
God and man. Try it. It works!
Think on
"whatever things are pure." A surgeon was
about to perform a delicate operation that demanded
an instrument which wasn’t used often. At the
crucial point in the surgery, a nurse handed him the
instrument. Just as he was about to thrust it into
the patient’s body, he noticed a spot of rust at
the tip of the blade. He tossed it aside, asking for
another. After a long delay, they finally found a
clean one and brought it to him. But it was too late.
In grief and bitterness, the surgeon said,
"You’ve just seen a man die because somebody
didn’t know how to keep clean." I wonder how
many people perish because our lives aren’t clean?
And our lives won’t be clean if our thoughts
aren’t clean.
Two things can’t
occupy the same space at the same time. If the mind
is filled with wickedness, it can’t be filled with
the word of God. If it’s filled with the word of
God, it can’t be filled with wickedness.
In my youth I played
for night clubs and burlesque shows, and my mind
became filled with impure sayings and stories. When I
was first converted, I had a terrible time. I’d
kneel to pray, and my mind would dart from the Father
to filth, from Jesus to jokes, and it would become
filled with impurity. It made me cry. Then I came
onto Psalm 119:9, "Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to
thy word." So I started to memorize Bible verses
as I walked and rode, when I got up and when I went
to bed, all through the day and night. When the word
came in, the wickedness went out. This was the plan
the Lord Jesus used to defeat the devil in His life
and it worked in mine. It will work in your life too.
Think on
"whatever things are lovely." Do the things
you think on excite affection or aggression,
hopefulness or hopelessness, sweetness or sourness,
tranquility or trouble? You’re not to give your
attention to anything that would promote strife in
you or between you and another person.
One fellow who
didn’t heed this admonition got into a lot of
trouble. His wife asked him to borrow a saucepan. But
he returned without it, and with a battered face.
"What happened?" she questioned. "On
the way to the neighbors," he said, "I got
to thinking, ‘He’ll be watching a ball game. He
won’t like me. Stupid guy, he won’t give me a
chance.’ So when he opened the door, I shouted,
‘You bum! I didn’t want your saucepan to begin
with.’ And he hit me." He didn’t think on
things that excited harmony, but hostility. That’s
a magnet for the worst, not the best. It makes for
failure, not success. It leads to a fight, not
friendship.
You and I become like
the object of our attention. You don’t become more
like the Savior by looking at Satan, and you don’t
become more affectionate by thinking on things that
are antagonistic.
My mother was the
first one in our family to become a Christian. She
was painfully persecuted for her faith in the Lord
Jesus. While she lived with suffering and sleepless
nights, she spent much time thinking on the Lord
Jesus. One day I heard a friend say to her,
"Give up, Julia, or get a divorce. Just think of
the cruelty you’re going through."
"No," she answered sweetly, "I prefer
to think on my Lord and His love. I want His love to
be seen in me, so that I might win my family to the
Lord." By thinking on the Lord and His love,
soon the love of the Lord and the likeness to the
Lord was seen in mother, and that’s what won us to
the Lord.
Think on
"whatever things are of good report." To do
this we must think on Christ, not our circumstances;
on God, not our grief; the Lord, and not our
liabilities. Think of the spies who were sent out by
Moses to see what the people and their place was
like. Ten came back with a bad report. They thought
on their foes and they saw them as giants and
themselves as grasshoppers. But two came back with a
good report. They thought on their heavenly Father,
not the foe. They said, "The Lord is with
us." What of the foe? Of them they said,
"They are but bread for us to eat. Don’t be
afraid of them!" Would you like another example
of thinking on "whatever things are of good
report"? As long as Peter thought on the Savior,
he walked on the water. But as soon as he thought on
the storm, he went into the water. You’ll have
faith, not fear; and you’ll be a victor, not a
victim by thinking on "whatever things are of
good report."
Let’s do this in
regards to people as well as to places. Our Lord did.
He was impressed by what a person could become, never
depressed by what he was. He wasn’t discouraged
that we were sinners, but encouraged that we could
become saints. Peter? The salty, hard-hitting hands
of the cursing fisherman, became the soothing,
healing hands of a fisher of men. He who was
tottering, was transfigured and transformed and he
became a tower of strength to all of us. Mary? A
street-walker, but she became a soul winner, a sweet
and sensitive soul. Matthew? A miserly materialist, a
crooked crook. But he became honest and holy and
wrote the book that bears his name. Why think the
worst of others when we can think the best? Like our
Lord let’s think on "whatever things are of
good report."
The Apostle Paul
closes this passage on thought by writing, "If
there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think of these things." One translation reads
like this: "Whatever excellence there be, or fit
object of praise." That forces us to ask this
question: "Are my thoughts excellent by the
Lord’s standard? Are they worthy of His
praise?" They’re not? Then let’s act the
policeman. It’s written in 2 Corinthians 10:5,
"Bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ." When a policeman sees a
person unlawfully trying to enter a house, he arrests
him in the name of the law. Just so, when an unlawful
thought, a thought that isn’t excellent by the
Lord’s standard, a thought that isn’t worthy of
His praise, is about to enter your mind, arrest it in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Take it captive
and make it obedient to Christ. Then go on, by the
grace of God, to be the Christian who pleases the
Lord Jesus Christ with all your thoughts, all your
words, and all your deeds. So master your mind, or
your mind will master you.
copyright 1999 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version..
Each month, Dr. Guido writes a
new sermon for his 25 minute radio broadcast, "The
Sower 25." This is published and included in
the mailing sent out each month, which includes the
daily devotional booklet, "Seeds From the
Sower," and "Sowing and
Reaping." To receive this material
absolutely free, click on the "Subscribe Now" button on the menu bar.
