back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 6/19/2022
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Okay, Pastor Nate actually injured his Achilles heels. 00:13:57.560 |
I don't know how he's gonna come up here even once. 00:13:59.560 |
But I'm here to give the announcements on his behalf. 00:14:25.560 |
And then the other place is also in the cafe. 00:15:16.400 |
Just let the newcomer's new welcome team members 00:27:08.320 |
Yeah, I tore my, I probably tore my Achilles. 00:27:31.320 |
Can you turn with me to Philippians chapter four? 00:27:50.320 |
Hope you feel very loved by your family this day. 00:28:08.320 |
is so much more than just the passing thoughts. 00:28:33.320 |
It doesn't matter if we're not on technology. 00:28:36.320 |
We're just constantly being bombarded by so much. 00:28:43.320 |
if we're just passively allowing these things 00:28:46.320 |
to wash over us, and there is no movement there, 00:28:55.320 |
and our thinking and our dwelling and our meditating, 00:29:16.320 |
You're in the car and you're listening to things. 00:29:29.320 |
You know, there's those kind of fears that are there. 00:29:31.320 |
And it's because of this generation that we live in. 00:29:34.320 |
But it is not, I don't think it's the Bible's silent 00:29:46.320 |
he says this, he says, "Our thoughts reveal more 00:29:59.320 |
"they are a true monitor of who we are and what we are." 00:30:02.320 |
And I think that was a very convicting statement 00:30:22.320 |
how many people know what you've been actually, 00:30:46.320 |
And so there are these things about our thoughts 00:30:49.320 |
that I think I wanted to just really address today 00:30:52.320 |
because it's been something that has constantly 00:30:54.320 |
been plaguing me, especially, not selective to, 00:31:00.320 |
and the craziness that we've been seeing around us. 00:31:03.320 |
So again, title of the sermon, "Where is Your Mind?" 00:31:07.320 |
It's going to require you to ask this of yourself. 00:31:10.320 |
Like, what have you been actively dwelling on? 00:31:14.320 |
these things that have been captivating your attentions 00:31:17.320 |
and your motivations have been being affected 00:31:20.320 |
by your thoughts, these things that have causing emotions 00:31:32.320 |
Have they been causing in you the fruit of the Spirit? 00:31:36.320 |
Can you say, looking at the thoughts of your heart, 00:31:45.320 |
I can see the change and the good that it causes 00:31:50.320 |
Let me read for us Philippians chapter four, verse eight. 00:32:01.320 |
"whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence 00:32:04.320 |
"and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 00:32:07.320 |
"The things you have learned and received and heard 00:32:14.320 |
Heavenly Father, I pray that we would be a thinking, 00:32:18.320 |
dwelling people, but the things in which we think 00:32:21.320 |
and dwell upon would be the things that pertain to you. 00:32:30.320 |
Holy Spirit, we need you to be changing us inside. 00:32:52.320 |
And that's the word that's being talked about there 00:33:01.320 |
Now this passage, it begins with finally, brethren. 00:33:04.320 |
And the reason why it's because this is kind of 00:33:06.320 |
an umbrella term and it kind of starts to push together 00:33:10.320 |
We find that word also in the beginning of chapter three. 00:33:13.320 |
And so he's using it as a device to help kind of 00:33:17.320 |
push everything together and say, here we go. 00:33:21.320 |
And he delves into these things that he calls us 00:33:28.320 |
we already saw and many of us are very familiar 00:33:30.320 |
that the Apostle Paul is writing this in the presence 00:33:35.320 |
And so he's displaying to the church of Philippi 00:33:38.320 |
the hope that he has and what he desires for them to have. 00:33:42.320 |
And that's a very challenging thing for people 00:33:44.320 |
who are living their lives to be receiving a letter 00:33:58.320 |
So challenging because you begin to look at your lives 00:34:00.320 |
like, what right do I have in the presence that I'm in 00:34:06.320 |
to not be joyful when Paul's in prison saying, 00:34:12.320 |
And so, but that's kind of what's going on here. 00:34:14.320 |
And then in Philippians chapter four, verse one, 00:34:16.320 |
at the beginning there, I think that imperative, 00:34:20.320 |
Therefore, my beloved brethren, whom I long to see 00:34:22.320 |
my joy and my crown in this way, stand firm in the Lord, 00:34:26.320 |
That imperative pushes off into a litany of other 00:34:29.320 |
imperatives that I think all fall under the main imperative 00:34:34.320 |
He's telling them how not to just be taken this way 00:34:38.320 |
and that way, how to be resolute and convicted 00:34:45.320 |
How it doesn't matter if we're up or we're down, 00:34:47.320 |
if we're in places of dire need or we're in places 00:34:51.320 |
He's showing us what it looks like and how we're called 00:34:54.320 |
to live unmoving and stable because of something 00:35:12.320 |
To dwell, Paul knew that as humans we dwell on things. 00:35:20.320 |
We lay down in bed before sleeping and the thoughts 00:35:27.320 |
And there are those who are just like very simple-minded. 00:35:46.320 |
In most other translations, though, it just says think. 00:35:50.320 |
To think upon this list that we're gonna be going 00:35:54.320 |
This word dwell means to calculate or to reason over, 00:36:01.320 |
It's something that's so important to you that you're 00:36:03.320 |
revisiting it multiple times over and over again. 00:36:10.320 |
When he's saying think upon these things, he's saying 00:36:15.320 |
Because as humans, going deep into things is what we do. 00:36:22.320 |
It's something that we've deemed worthy enough or 00:36:26.320 |
It's to think about something in detail and logical manner. 00:36:30.320 |
Perhaps through the day we're thinking and we find 00:36:32.320 |
ourselves browsing the topic over the course of time. 00:36:35.320 |
Perhaps our checkbooks will display the things that we're 00:36:39.320 |
Perhaps our Google search histories will tell us the 00:36:41.320 |
things that we're dwelling upon and thinking upon. 00:36:48.320 |
What is it that we've been hitting over and over and 00:37:05.320 |
You go and then up through July something, I need to 00:37:09.320 |
remember to cancel my subscription, but like you go 00:37:12.320 |
and then every two hours you get a free drink. 00:37:14.320 |
And in the beginning I was like this is wonderful and 00:37:16.320 |
I'm like oh I've got to be careful, you know. 00:37:19.320 |
So now I go and I just get tea, I get hot tea. 00:37:22.320 |
And there are like six different teas and they're all 00:37:25.320 |
just tea, tea is tea to me, coffee is coffee to me. 00:37:28.320 |
And then so what I found is like I found myself like just 00:37:33.320 |
looking at these teas because like I have to kind of change 00:37:36.320 |
it up and so I've tried all the different teas. 00:37:38.320 |
And all these teas there, it was very interesting, none of 00:37:41.320 |
And because they don't have strings on them they give you 00:37:43.320 |
a tongue and with these tongues you pull it out, it's a 00:37:46.320 |
little tea bag, you just kind of put it in like scalding 00:37:53.320 |
When I first joined this club, you know, I drank it in the 00:37:58.320 |
And then when I drink it I'm like oh that doesn't taste 00:38:03.320 |
And so over time I would figure out like oh I've got to wait 00:38:06.320 |
this much time before it's steeped enough, it's boiled 00:38:09.320 |
enough and there were times when I would come back to it 00:38:12.320 |
three hours later and take a sip and go bleh, you know, 00:38:16.320 |
And so you'd look at it, when you look at it steeping I 00:38:19.320 |
think something very interesting is occurring because 00:38:23.320 |
I think I actively saw this two weeks ago, I was just 00:38:29.320 |
I was just watching my tea bag steep and I'm like that's 00:38:34.320 |
That's what my heart is doing, you know, just watching it. 00:38:39.320 |
Because we have a tendency with our hearts to really 00:38:45.320 |
And whatever we dip into, whatever happens to it, 00:38:54.320 |
If you were to be served tea that has been just, you know, 00:38:57.320 |
it's an inflation and the Panera baristas are like oh 00:38:59.320 |
we're running out, let me give you some tea and they just 00:39:01.320 |
give you a dipped tea and they hand this thing over to you 00:39:04.320 |
and drink it, oh this is not steeped long enough. 00:39:07.320 |
And so we know that when we look at this kind of tea 00:39:10.320 |
there's something that happens the longer you steep 00:39:13.320 |
inside of it and I think the heart is very much that. 00:39:19.320 |
When he's saying think upon, dwell, meditate, ruminate, 00:39:30.320 |
Because our hearts are very much connected to our thinking. 00:39:35.320 |
In fact, when we think of our heart, when we think of what 00:39:39.320 |
it means to give God our heart, it's not that western 00:39:47.320 |
We might even know that but I don't think we all do that. 00:39:52.320 |
There are many of us who might come and say here is my heart 00:39:55.320 |
and what we're displaying, what we're giving up to God, 00:39:57.320 |
what we're surrendering are our emotions, how we feel. 00:40:01.320 |
And so when we say God change our hearts, we're asking him 00:40:05.320 |
But I don't think the Bible talks about the heart just 00:40:11.320 |
It talks about the heart in the Bible as being emotions, 00:40:13.320 |
your affections and your feelings, but it also talks 00:40:25.320 |
That your heart is very much connected to intention. 00:40:28.320 |
And then your mind, and that's what we're talking about here 00:40:32.320 |
Your thinking, your logic and your rationale. 00:40:34.320 |
And all three of these things are intricately tied 00:40:37.320 |
to your heart and they together make up your heart 00:40:40.320 |
and you cannot pull them apart from each other. 00:40:45.320 |
And so when we give up our hearts to God, it's all of it. 00:40:52.320 |
Now with your emotions, for example, then, how does it 00:40:57.320 |
Well, it connects with your will very clearly because when 00:41:01.320 |
you're depressed, like what your behavior looks like 00:41:05.320 |
and how you act, the things you do, the decisions you make, 00:41:08.320 |
all those things become very much affected, don't they? 00:41:13.320 |
Depression will definitely affect your actions. 00:41:17.320 |
If you're in fear, it's going to cause you to act rashly 00:41:22.320 |
If you're happy, it's going to cause you to act generously. 00:41:27.320 |
So you begin to base so much of your will and intention 00:41:32.320 |
Your emotions, though, also affect your thinking. 00:41:37.320 |
Just talk to any lovesick person when they've been-- 00:41:40.320 |
their hearts are so emotional, so filled with feeling 00:41:45.320 |
And then it affects the way they live and it affects 00:41:51.320 |
The love of their life started dating someone else 00:41:55.320 |
And just look at that person and see how it affects 00:42:07.320 |
And you're like sitting there like, "What are you talking 00:42:11.320 |
You see, like, your affections begin to change 00:42:17.320 |
All this to say, your thinking--because that's what 00:42:19.320 |
we're talking about today, the thinking--the thinking 00:42:24.320 |
And the thinking actually affects your emotions 00:42:27.320 |
because this all has to do with the control center 00:42:31.320 |
In Philippians chapter 4, verse 8, let's look at it again. 00:42:33.320 |
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, 00:42:35.320 |
whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 00:42:37.320 |
whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence 00:42:39.320 |
and if anything worthy of praise, dwell, think, meditate, 00:42:44.320 |
ruminate upon the things that were just written above." 00:42:55.320 |
And this necessitates a couple of things because, 00:42:57.320 |
number one, if it's a command, it's a command. 00:43:04.320 |
It's not something where he says, "Think about it," 00:43:07.320 |
and then go like, "Okay, like, come back to me when you want 00:43:19.320 |
But also, a second thing that comes up with this is that 00:43:27.320 |
We're given this choice there to obey or to disobey. 00:43:35.320 |
The command is here because of the threat that there is 00:43:39.320 |
In 2 Corinthians 4, it says, "In whose case the God of this 00:43:43.320 |
world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they 00:43:46.320 |
might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, 00:43:51.320 |
Now, he could have easily have said, the Apostle Paul here, 00:43:54.320 |
"In whose case the God of this world has blinded the eyes 00:44:01.320 |
Or he could have just said, "He's blinded them." 00:44:03.320 |
But he specifically says he's blinded the minds of the 00:44:09.320 |
So that they might not see the light of the gospel. 00:44:15.320 |
So what that means is there's something intricately connected 00:44:23.320 |
With our thinking, with what we perceive to be reality. 00:44:31.320 |
And so when we fill our thoughts with something, 00:44:39.320 |
That's why sometimes we know something is right or wrong, 00:44:42.320 |
and we will continue to do maybe what is wrong, 00:44:46.320 |
even though we know in our thought process that this is 00:44:55.320 |
Here it's saying that Satan is blinding the minds of the 00:44:57.320 |
unbelieving people so that they wouldn't see the light of the 00:45:04.320 |
In Psalm 115 verse 4, see what happens to the unbelieving 00:45:26.320 |
"Those who make these idols will become like them, 00:45:31.320 |
I like to think about this as like the unbelieving way of 00:45:35.320 |
There's like the believer's way of sanctification where we're 00:45:38.320 |
going to look at that in just a moment where we're sanctified 00:45:47.320 |
Now, let me turn our attentions here to the believer because the 00:46:00.320 |
We have seen all these things, and this is our reality. 00:46:11.320 |
yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 00:46:13.320 |
For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal 00:46:16.320 |
weight of glory far beyond all comparison while we look not at 00:46:20.320 |
the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen. 00:46:25.320 |
but the things which are not seen are eternal." 00:46:28.320 |
And verse 18, we come across a choice because this is talking 00:46:37.320 |
And he's saying we look not at the things which are seen. 00:46:45.320 |
We are people of light, and we're thinking but at the things 00:46:52.320 |
which are not seen, right, the eternal things. 00:46:55.320 |
So right before this, in 2 Corinthians chapter 3, 00:47:01.320 |
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, 00:47:03.320 |
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, 00:47:09.320 |
Now, I bring up all this because for the believer, 00:47:13.320 |
there is an intentional choice we can make to behold and to see 00:47:20.320 |
and to think, to ruminate upon and to dwell on. 00:47:25.320 |
And there's something about the clearer sight that we have of 00:47:35.320 |
What happens when the believer, not the unbeliever, 00:47:37.320 |
when the believer chooses to dwell upon the worldly things? 00:47:48.320 |
Well, for the unbeliever, it says, "They become like them." 00:48:00.320 |
And so what we're called to hear with this idea of the mind is 00:48:04.320 |
to--when we say we want to give God our whole hearts, 00:48:07.320 |
we need to give him everything we're thinking, 00:48:10.320 |
everything we've been thinking, every thought is his. 00:48:15.320 |
And this is powerful because I think what many times what we 00:48:26.320 |
But how can God take a portion of your heart? 00:48:36.320 |
We cannot say, "Change this," but I get to think upon the things 00:48:46.320 |
No, it works in obedience to what's happening. 00:48:58.320 |
Actually, how sad a thing it is that he can't stop there. 00:49:04.320 |
This should be a given to us, but he describes it with all your 00:49:07.320 |
heart, and he describes it some more with all your soul, 00:49:16.320 |
let's wipe this all together and just be like he just wants all 00:49:20.320 |
True, but let's take this time to think about it. 00:49:22.320 |
It's all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. 00:49:25.320 |
Let's consider the mind because it's part of your heart. 00:49:30.320 |
And so to dwell is a command to us to think in a different way 00:49:38.320 |
And it's mentioned quite frequently in Scripture for us 00:49:44.320 |
keep seeking the things above where Christ is, 00:49:47.320 |
Set your," not heart, but set your mind on the things above, 00:49:54.320 |
Romans 8, 5, "For those who are according to the flesh, 00:49:58.320 |
But those who are according to the things of the spirit, 00:50:02.320 |
but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. 00:50:04.320 |
Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, 00:50:08.320 |
for it does not subject itself to the law of God, 00:50:12.320 |
And those who are in the flesh cannot please God." 00:50:17.320 |
Romans 12, 2, "And do not be conformed to this world, 00:50:19.320 |
but be transformed by the renewing of your," again, 00:50:22.320 |
it's your mind, "so that you may prove what is the will of God, 00:50:24.320 |
that which is good and acceptable and perfect." 00:50:29.320 |
that "so that" will show you that you cannot discern 00:50:40.320 |
2 Corinthians 10, 3, "For though we walk in the flesh, 00:50:44.320 |
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, 00:50:46.320 |
but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 00:50:49.320 |
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing 00:51:01.320 |
He's talking about speculations, he's talking about knowledge, 00:51:04.320 |
he's talking about taking every thought captive. 00:51:14.320 |
this isn't like a word study where all of these words 00:51:16.320 |
are the same words, but these words are very intricately 00:51:19.320 |
coming together to show us the importance of our minds. 00:51:34.320 |
Have Christian godly thoughts been things we dip into 00:51:43.320 |
I'm going to list out some things that maybe, 00:51:53.320 |
Music has been so, especially with the invention 00:52:02.320 |
You can now like put in your earbuds and be listening 00:52:03.320 |
to music or even podcasts or whatever, right? 00:52:06.320 |
You're listening to it and then you get in the car 00:52:08.320 |
and it automatically sometimes connects to your car. 00:52:13.320 |
And it's almost hard nowadays to get the quiet, right? 00:52:22.320 |
We could be distracted and thinking upon fashion. 00:52:32.320 |
We go into these things and we go on websites 00:52:33.320 |
and we just start scrolling and looking and researching. 00:52:40.320 |
50 of them, or the capabilities of these gadgets 00:52:44.320 |
or the latest trends so much more in a deeper way 00:52:58.320 |
where we're able to kind of push out these things 00:53:12.320 |
This is like, hey, let's just really think about 00:53:16.320 |
Movies, getting lost in these imaginary worlds. 00:53:19.320 |
I know there are some movies that when you're in it, 00:53:23.320 |
because you feel like you've been in a different world 00:53:26.320 |
But there's a lot of this I thought was like so interesting. 00:53:28.320 |
When my wife and I were watching like one of, 00:53:38.320 |
we needed to know all the other 50 Spider-Man movies 00:53:42.320 |
And so we're like, how are we supposed to do that? 00:53:44.320 |
And then I remember looking up one of the recap things, 00:53:46.320 |
but they were like, they would go for like ever. 00:53:49.320 |
You know where you scroll and then that little bar thing 00:53:57.320 |
and the YouTube video of recaps of all the other movies 00:54:03.320 |
And it's just, we can get lost in these worlds even. 00:54:08.320 |
Shows, dramas, many people are into K-dramas, 00:54:32.320 |
I'm not saying it's wrong to do these things. 00:54:33.320 |
I'm just saying, hey, can we travel together here 00:54:35.320 |
and wonder what it is that we've been dwelling upon? 00:54:41.320 |
Is this too, like, childish to talk about video games here? 00:54:44.320 |
I don't think so, because video games goes up to old ages now. 00:54:52.320 |
As a youth pastor, I remember just being like, 00:55:01.320 |
I remember one of the girls, my former youth students, 00:55:07.320 |
and you make this living room look really pretty, 00:55:12.320 |
And she said like, yeah, yeah, I have a problem, Pastor Nate, 00:55:16.320 |
I'm like, what do you mean you bought something? 00:55:19.320 |
I'm like, what do you mean you bought a couch? 00:55:22.320 |
You spent real money to buy a couch on this game? 00:55:25.320 |
She's like, yeah, but look at it, though, you know? 00:55:28.320 |
And she was like, I'm thinking about it too much. 00:55:34.320 |
She was like, oh, I was thinking too much about it. 00:55:41.320 |
I'm right there with it, because there was a time, 00:55:49.320 |
constantly look up all the stats, and it sucks you in. 00:55:59.320 |
For those close enough to taste it, what about retirement? 00:56:05.320 |
Curating the best experiences that we can think of, 00:56:07.320 |
devoting hours and hours, putting up, okay, I'm going here. 00:56:14.320 |
at all the good places to eat, all the ways that we can succumb 00:56:22.320 |
what are the best things that we can get out of this world? 00:56:32.320 |
This is all around us, devoting hours and hours, 00:56:36.320 |
fantasizing, weeks after weeks, months after months, 00:56:42.320 |
That's my place I want to go to before I die. 00:56:45.320 |
That's where I want to go, ruminating, meditating, 00:56:53.320 |
You know, like there's a lot that we have to think about here. 00:56:55.320 |
In Hebrews 12, verse 1, it says, "Since we have, therefore, 00:56:59.320 |
so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us." 00:57:01.320 |
And let me take a moment here to remind us of what came before 00:57:07.320 |
That he's saying, think about these cloud of witnesses 00:57:11.320 |
And he reminds us of what they walked and what they went 00:57:23.320 |
Okay, and so we take this back into our lives, 00:57:26.320 |
and we're looking at this Hebrews 12, verse 1. 00:57:29.320 |
"We have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us who have 00:57:34.320 |
And then he says, "Let us also lay aside every encumbrance." 00:57:37.320 |
And then we think, like, what are our encumbrances? 00:57:46.320 |
How sad that it's sports and leisure and vacations. 00:57:54.320 |
That here he's saying we must lay aside every encumbrance and 00:57:58.320 |
the sin, so both things, things that might distract us, 00:58:06.320 |
In 2 Timothy 2, verse 4, "No soldier in active service 00:58:08.320 |
entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, 00:58:10.320 |
so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." 00:58:14.320 |
He's not saying it's wrong to entangle yourself in the affairs 00:58:18.320 |
He's saying it's wrong for the soldier, right? 00:58:22.320 |
It's not wrong to take a nap, but it is if you're in the midst 00:58:31.320 |
It's not wrong to partake in the things of this world, 00:58:37.320 |
Because we're saying a war is raging around us. 00:58:40.320 |
We are saying there's a lion here that has been uncaged, 00:58:47.320 |
We're staring at this prowling lion, aren't we? 00:59:01.320 |
Like, I don't think this is a place where he's telling us to 00:59:05.320 |
He is not sitting there telling us on all the bad things not to 00:59:12.320 |
We have to, like, pull this all out because we have to think 00:59:19.320 |
How much of us has gone into dwelling upon these worldly 00:59:23.320 |
things that many of them aren't in themselves, bad or evil, 00:59:26.320 |
but we can very clearly say that we have gotten caught up in the 00:59:30.320 |
affairs of everyday life, that we are getting tripped up by 00:59:36.320 |
And so the command to us to dwell on the good things is a 00:59:39.320 |
command also negatively to say, "Stop dwelling on those things." 00:59:45.320 |
They're a necessary two sides of the coin thing. 00:59:56.320 |
It's like, it's overused now, but CNN or Fox, right? 00:59:59.320 |
But I think nowadays it's like, "Oh, I'm not going to get caught 01:00:07.320 |
Find yourself dwelling, meditating on all these 01:00:10.320 |
independent sources, constantly perusing and feeling 01:00:14.320 |
the need to stay up to date with everything that's happening 01:00:17.320 |
The thought of, "Oh, what about like children, 01:00:19.320 |
the security of our children that we're getting caught up 01:00:21.320 |
dwelling on their futures and their success, their safety, 01:00:27.320 |
Relationships, what about are we dwelling on friendships, 01:00:30.320 |
investing in the realm of pleasing man over God? 01:00:35.320 |
dwelling so much on certain individuals or dwelling on the 01:00:38.320 |
need to date or to get engaged or get married? 01:00:42.320 |
Also in the Christian sense, we can seek security in establishing 01:00:46.320 |
something in front of others, establishing relationships amongst 01:00:51.320 |
What about our careers, so invested in moving up the ladder, 01:01:00.320 |
letting it bleed into the way we feel about ourselves and how we 01:01:08.320 |
Yeah, Bitcoin and Ethereum, you've been like, "Oh." 01:01:29.320 |
We're looking at it and we're stressed about these things. 01:01:31.320 |
1 John 2, verse 15, he says, "Do not love the world, 01:01:39.320 |
where all the commandments are, "Love the Lord your God with all 01:01:42.320 |
your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind." 01:01:44.320 |
When he says, "Do not love the world," it means do not love the 01:01:48.320 |
world with all your heart, with all your soul, 01:01:52.320 |
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 01:01:55.320 |
And he's saying then that there is no arbitrary place. 01:01:58.320 |
There is no neutral ground that if you do not love God and the 01:02:01.320 |
things of God, then you are loving the world and the things 01:02:04.320 |
If you are not dwelling on God and the things of God, 01:02:06.320 |
then you are dwelling on the things of the world and the 01:02:11.320 |
He says in verse 16, "For all that is in the world, 01:02:13.320 |
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful 01:02:17.320 |
The world is passing away, and also its lusts. 01:02:19.320 |
But the one who does the will of God lives forever." 01:02:27.320 |
Have you been dwelling on how bad the world is? 01:02:30.320 |
Chiming in with the chorus that this world is going down the 01:02:37.320 |
Able to point out how wrong everyone else is. 01:02:40.320 |
To grab the people that we like to grab and say, boom, 01:02:50.320 |
into our world and building these things up where we're 01:02:54.320 |
saturating ourselves and we're steeping in that. 01:03:03.320 |
Perhaps we've grown angry and constantly frustrated that there 01:03:09.320 |
When people look at us, they go, "That guy is always just not 01:03:22.320 |
What about if you're able to keep your mouth shut? 01:03:30.320 |
Ultimately, it's only in a place of humility, 01:03:33.320 |
right, where you begin to see where you've been dwelling on 01:03:50.320 |
Have you been dwelling on sexually immoral things? 01:03:52.320 |
Now we can get into the realm of sinful stuff. 01:03:55.320 |
What do you think is going to happen when you're steeping in 01:04:01.320 |
What do you think is going to happen when you're constantly 01:04:04.320 |
dwelling on things and you're having to justify it's okay to 01:04:06.320 |
watch this show despite the questionable morals, 01:04:09.320 |
despite the questionable scenes, and just look and be like, 01:04:15.320 |
What do you think is going to happen to your heart when it's 01:04:28.320 |
Now here's the cool thing about today's passage. 01:04:30.320 |
It doesn't say anything about what I just said, right? 01:04:34.320 |
All the things we might have been steeping on. 01:04:36.320 |
The cool thing about today's passage is not just pounding 01:04:41.320 |
It's saying, it's reminding, it's commanding us to look at that 01:05:30.320 |
And whenever he gives a list, remember that he is giving special 01:05:34.320 |
It's not for us to say like good things, godly things, 01:05:42.320 |
If we're supposed to think and ruminate and meditate and saturate 01:05:44.320 |
and seep and steep and dwell on these things, 01:05:46.320 |
then we have need to engage our minds and to look at each of these words. 01:05:50.320 |
Like couch potato minds when it comes to the things of God's word. 01:05:52.320 |
I know that because when I came back to this passage and I was looking at each word again, 01:05:54.320 |
I had to exercise my mind again because I had forgotten. 01:06:02.320 |
That means pertaining to being real and not imaginary. 01:06:08.320 |
There have been people I've counseled who are like, 01:06:14.320 |
And I've been like, "No, you're not going to do that." 01:06:16.320 |
And there have been people I've counseled who are like, 01:06:24.320 |
It's just, there are certain things about faith. 01:06:50.320 |
when Paul is saying that we must dwell on true things, 01:07:12.320 |
"What are the things that you're worried about?" 01:07:22.320 |
had anxieties that were actually of concern." 01:07:32.320 |
the question, the things that we're anxious about, 01:08:06.320 |
we can come doctrinally to the correct conclusions, 01:08:26.320 |
if somebody is going through a difficult time, 01:08:34.320 |
and that's true. We have to be careful, right? 01:08:38.320 |
And so somewhere in the midst of that conversation, 01:08:44.320 |
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. 01:08:50.320 |
Because that's the conclusion that we believe in. 01:08:56.320 |
when I'd go to these deathbeds of some of these individuals 01:08:58.320 |
who have been walking with Christ for decades, 01:09:20.320 |
and they're not just saying it because it's a doctrine to them. 01:09:24.320 |
It's real, and they've been ruminating on it. 01:09:36.320 |
it could be a cut finger that makes your whole life 01:09:48.320 |
if we stopped believing in the lies of the enemy 01:09:50.320 |
and the lies that the world is trying to say? 01:09:54.320 |
When the world says, "You must buy this thing," 01:10:10.320 |
but in three months, there's our car, sparkly, 01:10:22.320 |
start dwelling on those things, and look at what 01:10:26.320 |
We must dwell on these things. What's going to happen 01:10:30.320 |
If God is for us, then who can be against us? 01:10:44.320 |
ruminate in the truth, the world is passing away 01:10:58.320 |
and our intentions and our behavior and our thoughts 01:11:00.320 |
and our affections, how would we change as people? 01:12:04.320 |
the temporal things of the world, not the trivial 01:12:08.320 |
upon the things that are just kind of passing away. 01:12:18.320 |
believe it in here and we're just kind of thinking about it, 01:12:20.320 |
yeah I agree with that, we're doing the Christian 01:12:24.320 |
it, what do we think is going to come about as a 01:12:28.320 |
Every once in a while dipping into that water. 01:12:50.320 |
See he's not telling you what not to look at, 01:12:54.320 |
If we're coming and saying like well I'm allowed 01:13:06.320 |
things. Because when you dwell on those things 01:13:30.320 |
is familiar with a lot of us like the freeway. 01:13:36.320 |
it shows you how you've been walking with the Lord. 01:13:42.320 |
family or with somebody else in the car, but when 01:14:06.320 |
thinking that you can believe yourself to be a 01:14:10.320 |
with a group of people you can say all these lofty 01:14:38.320 |
often I think we are righteous upholders of God's 01:15:28.320 |
because I realize I should stop using my kids' names. 01:16:10.320 |
But the problem is this, and if you're a parent 01:16:12.320 |
you might be familiar with this. When this person comes 01:17:04.320 |
and all this kind of stuff, but that's not actually 01:17:20.320 |
Oh, man. If you're a parent and you've ever had 01:17:24.320 |
to discipline your child, you can say the right 01:17:44.320 |
What about the pure things, pertaining to being 01:18:08.320 |
we have to try to get a little better at this. 01:18:18.320 |
saying? It's not that we're trying to make ourselves 01:18:42.320 |
with something. It is something that inspires 01:18:46.320 |
us, again, because there is no disjointedness. 01:18:54.320 |
ugly than somebody who says all these things but lives 01:19:10.320 |
of life looks just like the rest of the world. Is that 01:19:12.320 |
what's going to be lovely in the eyes of the people? 01:19:18.320 |
not only are we saying that the things of the world 01:19:20.320 |
are passing away, we are not partaking in those 01:19:34.320 |
there's three more. Good repute, things that are excellent 01:19:46.320 |
is not just someone who's able to occasionally 01:19:48.320 |
pull this out and let's talk about it, right? 01:19:56.320 |
We can even try to persuade ourselves of the truth 01:20:04.320 |
is not somebody who's able to just talk about the things 01:20:08.320 |
talk about it, almost. It's almost kind of like 01:20:44.320 |
dwelling in these truths, you know what's happening? 01:20:56.320 |
If we're not dwelling in the Word of God, then we're not 01:21:06.320 |
This is the difference between someone who is walking 01:21:12.320 |
swirling around the brain. This is the difference 01:21:14.320 |
between someone who is academic and scholarly 01:21:16.320 |
concerning the things of the world and then somebody 01:21:24.320 |
that this is the problem with many Christians and churches 01:21:40.320 |
that just the world looks like this. The Bible 01:21:56.320 |
And I think that's what's been happening in our society 01:22:24.320 |
the glory of Christ" are added in there at the 01:23:08.320 |
here's the line and we place everyone here, we place 01:23:26.320 |
should be considered, though I think that today 01:23:40.320 |
dwelling on these things. Now I'll take it to our 01:23:42.320 |
third and last point, we must practice what we must 01:23:48.320 |
he continues by saying, "The things you have learned and received 01:23:50.320 |
and heard and seen in me," he says, "practice these things." 01:24:12.320 |
That this is because when we give our hearts, 01:24:16.320 |
Our hearts is not something we rip out of our chest 01:24:18.320 |
and say, "Here's my body, here's my flesh, and here you go." 01:24:46.320 |
how much you're in need of repentance, what God 01:24:52.320 |
person, you become someone who has been changed, 01:24:56.320 |
espousing a bunch of things, and you're angry 01:25:12.320 |
to catch myself and come back and I was so thankful 01:25:46.320 |
He did that, by the way, a few verses earlier. 01:26:08.320 |
I'm not saying it's wrong to read the articles. 01:26:10.320 |
They're just dwelling and thinking about these 01:26:12.320 |
over and over again. You're wondering, "God, help me. 01:26:18.320 |
more like you." And then we're just constantly looking 01:26:20.320 |
at these things. "God, please help me to do these 01:26:22.320 |
things." And watch some more TV. "Please help me 01:26:24.320 |
to do these things." And if we're to sit back 01:27:14.320 |
We do not just sit down in an armchair and expect 01:27:26.320 |
grass. Look at the lilies of the field and consider them. 01:27:32.320 |
doing this, they sit down and ask, "What is going to happen 01:27:50.320 |
when everything seems determined to bludgeon and 01:27:54.320 |
The trouble with the person of little faith is that 01:27:56.320 |
instead of controlling his own thought, his thought 01:28:28.320 |
but it could also be the things that you're trying 01:29:02.320 |
and my household, we will serve the Lord." Let's pray. 01:29:18.320 |
would not be simply mystical, but that we would 01:29:24.320 |
our thoughts and everything we've been meditating and 01:29:30.320 |
"God, all this is yours." Would you take our entire 01:32:36.320 |
all for the glory of God. In Jesus' name we pray.