Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

The Holiness of God Pt.4

One quick announcement for this morning. Many of you probably already know that the basketball games for tomorrow have been cancelled. They were cancelled by Leesburg Christian; they weren't cancelled by us. So all the basketball players still come tomorrow ready for a normal practice schedule but the games have been cancelled. Okay.

We've been talking about holiness, and we want to pick up on that topic for this morning. Look over if you would to 1 Peter, chapter 1 verse 15. We'll start where we've been starting. Maybe we'll run through our list quickly and then move on for this morning. But I Peter chapter 1 verse 15, "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." Every part of your life: motives, attitudes, thoughts, words, actions, the way you conduct your home, the way you conduct your business, no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing--in all manner of your conversation--in the secret, in the public, in what people see, and what they don't see, be ye what? "Holy in all manner of conversation." Why? Because it is written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." We talked about the requirement for relationship. Two can't walk together unless they be agreed. We're following after and pursuing a holy God so therefore holiness must be at work in our lives. "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Then we started going though a list of how to know holiness is at work in our life, and how does holiness work in our life? We said, number 1; it was a result of justification. We said, number 2; it was a result of faith. We said, number 3; it was a result of the new birth. We said, number 4; it was a result of God's Word. Number 5; it was a result of obedience. Wednesday night we talked about it being a result of living in the light. It's a result, number 7, of submitting to chastisement, and, number 8, there out of Philippians chapter 1, holiness is a result of approving things that are excellent. Learning how to have that holy discrimination.

So this morning we want to go on from those points to talk about another point. Remember we can't talk about it all. We were singing that song about waiting for the coming of the Lord, and the coming of the Lord is such an important part to holiness. It says that every man that has this hope in him does what? Purifies himself. We may talk about that later on towards the end. But that's an important part and I just bring that up to illustrate we can't talk about it all in the time that we have. There are so many different parts, and ingredients and factors that come into play. But for this morning, number 9; I really want to zero in on something that the Scripture speaks a lot about. It's very important in your daily life. This is something that affects the way you leave here, the way you conduct your afternoon this afternoon, the way you come back; it will affect the way you go to work tomorrow. Number 9; holiness is a result of consecrating your mind and your thoughts. Consecrating your mind and your thoughts.

Look over at 1 Peter--you're still there I believe-1 Peter chapter 1, look up at verse 13 and let's start this context a little earlier here, and see what he has to say. "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." Now look at verse 13 again and this is where we're coming off of point number 9, consecrating your mind. "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind." That phrase there "gird up" has a couple different meanings; it primarily means to prepare. You could read it this way, prepare your mind. It also has a sense of guarding so you could say it this way, guard your mind. Really your mind is guarded when it is prepared. How do you prepare your mind? You prepare your mind by the study of the Word of God, by the meditation of the Word of God, by the discipline of your thoughts. That's all a part of the preparation of your mind so that your mind is now guarded against the wiles of the enemy. Do you realize this morning that you have an enemy? His name is Satan. He has a whole host of demons, they hate you, and they want to destroy you. I think many times as Christians we kind of get caught in a fog, and we don't realize how much we are hated by the enemy, and how much he is seeking to destroy you. He wants to use you up and leave you lying in your own blood. He hates you; he's out to destroy you and he has a certain method, as we'll see this morning, for this destruction. But I think we need to remind ourselves of that.

I just heard this morning there was s shooting in Sugarland, and there was a shooting how many months ago right here in Countryside. Those things happen and what happens? It shocks us because we think, "Wow, that's really close to home, did that really happen?" What happens is we get lulled to sleep, and we have a false sense of security thinking, "Well, that will never happen to me; that could never happen in this neighborhood." And the fact of the matter is, it does happen. We get that same false sense of security with Satan. Theologically, we know there's a devil, and we know there's an enemy, but, you know, our lives kind of go from day to day pretty much unhindered the same, and so we really don't understand that there's an enemy trying to destroy us at every step. When you get lulled into that false sense of security, you end up kind of walking around in a fog, and you're not on guard like you should be. This is what he is saying here, "Gird up the loins of your mind, be on guard, be prepared." Yes, day after day may start to roll by and it seems overall kind of peaceful and gentle, but you've got to understand you have someone that is hunting your soul, that hates you, that wants to chew you up, spit you out, and leave you for dead; he's Satan. "Gird up the loins of your mind."

You don't have to turn there, but we're familiar with Ephesians chapter 6, where he talks about putting on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the what? "The wiles of the devil." The word "wiles" there means strategy. The Greek word is actually methodeia. There's a method; there's a strategy. Satan has a M.O., method of operation. He has tactics and strategies that he uses against us. Good news is, we know what they are from the Scriptures. Look over at 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Here Paul, very concisely, expresses Satan's method of warfare. He's warning us that we would be able to stand against the strategies of the devil, against the wiles.

It's interesting--in history all of the old generals, the generals that were commanding the armies, and moving men here, and moving men there, many times what they would do is just study the tactics of the opposing general so that they would know what the enemy would do. Now, we don't have to go into demonology and go into a great study of the devil. But Paul does warn that Satan will take advantage of us if we're not aware of his devices. So there is an awareness that we must have and Scripture gives us plenty of illumination; we see that here in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 starting at verse 2. "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent [did what?] beguiled Eve..." One thing we need to realize right up front: Satan's strategy is a strategy of deceit; it's not a strategy of force. He doesn't come and body slam you and forcibly take you over. His method is to deceive you through trickery, through strategy, and he is very, very powerful at his craft. Paul here is saying that I'm concerned that as the serpent tricked Eve, deceived Eve through his subtlety, through his craft, so your, what? Minds--this is why you need to gird up the loins of your minds--"so your minds should be [what?] corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." Why do you need to gird up the loins of your minds? Because your mind is a focus of Satan's attack. It becomes very clear in the Scriptures and here this is what Paul is warning. His strategy is a strategy of deceit, and your mind is a point of his attack, it's a focal point of his attack, so gird up your minds, prepare your minds, guard your minds. So lest "...your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

You know John 8:44--you can write that passage down but you don't have to turn there--Jesus is getting on the Pharisees, and He said, "You know, guys, you're just like your father the devil, there is no truth in him, when he speaks a lie he speaks of his own, because he is a liar and the father of it." Satan is a liar; he's a master deceiver, and that's how he has the masses of the world system following him. You look down at this 11th chapter of 2 Corinthians down to verses 13 and 14. Look at verse 14, it says, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into [what?] an angel of light." This is how he operates. He operates through lies. He operates through deception.

Look over if you would at Genesis chapter 3. Let's take a close look at a very clear illustration of his methods. I think it's interesting--in the Bible God gives us two very clear illustrations of how Satan works. The first illustration is with Adam and Eve--the original sin, and then the second illustration of how Satan obviously works is with Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness. Let's look at both of these for a moment. Genesis chapter 3 verse 1. "Now the serpent was more... [what?]" Here's his craft again; he's tricky. He has a strategy; he has a plan. The bad news is this morning--and I want you to understand the power of our enemy. Without the truth of the Word of God, without the power of being born again--I want you to know that his lies are irresistible. The power that he exercises in his deceit is far, far greater than anybody in this room this morning. His power to deceive is irresistible, and you and I, in and of ourselves, are hopeless and helpless to withstand his power of deception. Our only hope, and our only power over his power is the new birth, the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, and if God be for us, what? Who can be against us? Praise God! Satan is no match for a born again child of God equipped with the armor of God, and that's our victory, and that's our hope. But without God, we're deceived. This power of deception is irresistible without God--that's the bad news. The good news is that we had the power plus we know his tactics, we know that this is his method, we know that this is his strategy. So if we gird up the loins of our mind, as Peter is admonishing us, we're going to be able to stand against his tactics. We know how he attacks, we know where he attacks, and if you are a general commanding forces, and you knew how the enemy general thought, and where he was going to attack, and what his maneuvers were going to be, what an advantage that would give you! See, we're on the winning team here. We're on the winning side. We know our enemy, we know where he's going to attack, and we know how he's going to attack. So we have a great advantage in that.

Now here in Genesis chapter 3, here we are reading his tactics. This is how he did it with Adam and Eve; he's going to apply the same tactics to you and me. It says, "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, [what?] ye shall not surely die." What a liar! What a liar! You shall not die. "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Now watch the response in the woman. "And when the woman saw that the tree was [what?] Good for food..." 1 John chapter 2 verse 16, "...all that is in the world [is what?] the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life..." She saw it was good for food, okay. So now we have the lust of the flesh aroused and working. Then she saw that it was pleasant to the--okay here we go--now we have the lust of the eyes [what?] aroused and working. See, these are those fiery darts. The fiery darts of the enemy--this is exactly what they're designed to do. They're designed to come in and inflame these passions, and awaken these passions within the flesh. And then she saw it was a tree to be desired to do what? Make one. Oh, so now we've got the pride of life kicking in. This is exactly how it works.

Look over at Matthew chapter 4. I don't think we can take these two examples in the Scriptures too lightly. God is making it very obvious to us, the tactics of the enemy. You know many times when you're thinking, "Boy, why am I am I having so much trouble with my flesh lately? Why does my pride seem to be so dominant lately? Why does envy just seem to be so strong in me lately?" You ought to go back to your thought life and think, "Okay, what fiery darts have I allowed to slip through? What lie am I believing that is inflaming my passions?" Because this is the method, this is the strategy; this is how it starts. Satan's influence in your life is directly related to how much creditability you give his lies. If he can hold the bait out there and get you to bite on one of his lies and one of his deceptions, then he has influence to control and maneuver you through the lusts that are now aroused and motivating you, and he can just lead you from one place to another, if you allow it to take over that much.

Now here in Matthew chapter 4, again, it's the same scenario but I want you to see it to stress the importance of strategy, wiles, manipulation, and deceit; this is how the enemy works. If you ever find yourself down in a ditch, and you think, "Man, how did I fall down here?" Then you need to start examining your heart and your thought life and start to question, "What have I been meditating on? Did I gird up the loins of my mind? Was I meditating upon the Word of God day and night? Was my mind truly prepared to walk in the ways of God or was I allowing all of these fiery darts to enter in?" Here in Matthew chapter 4 verse1, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was... [what? Hungry. I guess so.] And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, [do what?] command that these stones be made bread." I want you to see here again the strategy. Do you think Satan knew that Jesus was hungry? Yeah. Do you think Satan knows your weaknesses? Yeah, he does. He studies, he knows. We know he's not omniscient, as God is. We know that he can't read our thoughts. But I want to tell you something, he knows the patterns of your life, he knows your weaknesses. Here, in a very cruel moment of deception and manipulation, attacking our Lord in his moment of weakness. "Command that these stones be made bread." You've got to be ravished, hungry, starving. Hitting Jesus at his greatest point of need here. Look at the maliciousness. Look at the viciousness of the attack. Appealing to what? Lust of the flesh. Then he moves on and he says the devil takes Him up to a holy city, sets Him on a pinnacle of the temple and he says, what? "If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down." Appealing to what? Pride of life. "Prove Yourself. Prove that You're the Son of God. You're not who You think You are--show us." The temptation of pride. Then, verse 8, the devil takes Him up to an exceeding high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world, and shows Him what? All of the glory. "And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and [do what?] worship me." Lust of the eyes, obviously. What was Jesus' defense? "It is written." The Word of God. Thank God for the Word of God! The Word of God is our only defense, it's our only hope against this strategy, but the Word of God will rend us victorious every time. Don't underestimate Satan's power to deceive. People a lot stronger than us have fallen to this power of deception. His power of deception brought down a whole human race. Spiritual giants greater than you and I have fallen under this power of deception. You want to know how great this power of deception is? If you're sitting here this morning and you're hearing this and you're saying, "Oh God, please deliver me; I don't want to be deceived. Cause your light to shine upon every dark place in my heart" then you're doing good, and your heart is pure before the Lord. But if you're sitting there this morning resisting what I'm saying, not resisting the doctrine--you know that is true--but you're resisting saying, "No, no. I know I'm right I'm not deceived." Then you're already under the influence of the deception. There's something in you life that you're holding on to that you refuse to surrender and yield over to the Lord, and that's the very idol of your heart that has you deceived.

The danger--look back at Ecclesiastes chapter 2--let me show you the danger of this. Ecclesiastes chapter 2. Solomon's writing here relating an experience out of his own life. He says here in verse 1, "I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. [Now listen to what he did here.] I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water; to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me." It would be interesting to read this if he was living in our time. I'm sure he'd be describing what kind of house he had, what kind of cars he had, what latest computer he had, what stocks and bonds he had, what bars of gold he had hidden in the basement. "I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them. [Man, can you imagine being able to do that, having the wealth to be able to do that?] I withheld not my heart from any joy; [He went out and he got it all. Everything that the world at that time could offer] I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my portion of all my labor." Experienced everything that he could experience. Possessed everything he could possess. "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold all was [what?] vanity." What he's really saying is, "It left me empty." That word "vanity"--it's an interesting word--it means emptiness. None of those things brought him any life or satisfaction. They didn't bring any joy; they didn't bring any peace. But the word "vanity" comes from a Hebrew word, and you'll find it if you look this up in Strong's concordance, it means a vapor, or a mist, or a smoke. It means something that's transitory, something that appears to be there one minute, but then it's gone the next. It's talking about the danger of this deception; these lies that Satan presents to us, and then we go after the lie with the lusts of our flesh now aroused. The whole Gentile world--we'll see here in a moment--Paul says, just goes from one thing after another as Satan just leads them around in this wild goose chase. Chasing nothing more than smoke images. That's what he's saying here, "All was vanity."

You know, we were flying back from Florida and I had the window seat. Terry was sitting next to me and I nudged her at one point to look out the window because the cloud structure was just amazing where we were at that time. We were coming back home, I believe, and it was cloudy; it was overcast here, but you know when you fly and you get up above the clouds, it's beautiful sunshine, brilliant sunshine above the cloud cover, and you can look down, you can't see the land because the clouds are so thick. Well, in the cloud formation there was this really neat structure. Man, it looked like a mountain cliff and it looked like you could step off the plane and just climb right on top of this cliff. Beautiful, white, brilliant, so deceptive, you look up into the vapors and into the clouds of the sky, and how many of you as little kids would lie on your back, and there's a horse, and over there's a dog. You really think you see things in those clouds. That's exactly what he's talking about here. Sad to say, that's fun to do as a little kid but it gets real dangerous when your heart and mind are corrupted by the lies of Satan, and you're just walking around in a fog. He says here that you see all of these things that aren't even there, and when you try to go and take hold on it. Have any of you ever tried to take a piece of cloud and box it or put it into a bag and carry it? There's nothing there is it? The moment you try to grab it, there's nothing there. You can take and pass your hand right through it. If we would have gotten out of that airplane and tried to step on that cliff that we thought we saw in the clouds, guess where we would be right now. This is what he's saying--it's not only emptiness, it's not only the fact that there's no substance--it's the fact that it's so dangerous because it's so deceptive. What you believe and what you think you see just simply isn't there. The deception is that strong.

How many of you have ever driven down a street that you've driven down a thousand times before, but now it's late at night, raining, dense fog. Have you ever had the experience of being disoriented in fog and thinking, "Now I've driven down this street a hundred times before but nothing looks right"? Where's the street that I turn off on? This is what he's talking about--it's that disorienting, transitory there one moment, gone the next, it's fleeting, there's nothing of substance, nothing you can hold on to. What a miserable life! You know the masses live that way everyday. They have no truth, they have no peace, they don't have God as the anchor of their soul, and they just go from one fleeting thing to the next fleeting lie, and it's all transitory. It's Satan behind--Satan is the master deceiver--behind this whole plot and scheme leading them to hell. He says it's all vanity; it's all vexation of spirit. A literal translation for that vexation of spirit is "to feed upon wind." Well that's a neat trick. How many of you have ever chased after wind and actually caught it and after catching it, then take a bite of it? It's stupid to even talk about it, isn't it? But I want to tell you something, that's how stupid you and I act when we start believing the lies of the enemy, and don't have the truth as the foundation of our lives. He said it was all vexation of spirit; there was no profit under the sun.

Look over at Ephesians chapter 4. I'll show you what Paul was talking about. Thank God we've been delivered from this! But I want to tell you something, we can easily--even though we're born again children of God--we can easily come under the influence of this deception if we're not walking in the light, walking in the truth. Peter is saying there that holiness is a result of consecrating your mind, girding up the loins of your mind. As you're there out in the world every day, what do you allow to come in? What thoughts do you allow to linger in your brain? What fiery darts do you allow to remain just for a moment, just to get your lusts, and passions aroused a little bit? "Oh, I'll stop it when it gets to a certain point but frankly I like to flirt with this, and play with this a little bit, I won't let it get to far." Oh really? You don't understand what you're dealing with. You don't understand who you're dealing with. You don't understand that the power of deception is stronger than you, and you can't allow that flaming dart to stay in there for even a second.

He says here in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17, "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their [what?] mind, having the understanding darkened." This is how they live their life. This is how they walk. This is how Satan controls the masses of the world. Do you realize that the nations and the masses of the world are being controlled and dominated by smoke screens, by lies, by master deceit, and there's nothing there of substance? One day their souls will be damned to hell because of it. He says, "Thank God that we're not walking as they walked. They walk in that vanity of their mind. They walk in that fog having the understanding darkened." Look over at Colossians chapter 2. Don't want to beat this unto the ground but just want to show you different examples so that you're properly warned and on guard this morning. What thoughts do you allow in your brain? What do you allow to become lodged in your heart? What do you entertain? What are the meditations of your heart? Reminds me of that Proverb, you know, "for as [a man] thinketh in his heart, [what?] so is he." What is the whole point of that Proverb?

Keep your finger there and look back at Proverbs 23. We'll just take a tangent here. What is the whole point of that in Proverbs 23? Look at verse 6. "Eat thou not the bread of him that has an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, [what?] so is he." What are the meditations of your heart? Because what's in your heart is what you are. He goes on to say--watch what he says here--"Eat and drink saith he to thee; but his heart is [what?] not with thee." What is he saying? He's saying here's a person who's an enemy, and he's shining you on to your face saying, "Oh eat, and drink" but on the inside he has an evil eye; on the inside he hates you, but outwardly he's saying, "Oh you're my friend, let's eat, and drink together." The Proverb here is saying, "Look, it doesn't matter what's showing on the outside, it doesn't matter. I mean you can paint a sepulcher white on the outside; you can plant flowers around a cesspool, but the outward doesn't matter because as a man thinks in his heart that is what he is." So it doesn't matter how pretty you paint yourself up to come to church--and you might be able to put on a real good spiritual act, and you might have a lot of things hidden from your spouse, from your family, from us--but "as [a man] thinketh in his heart, [what?] so is he." That's what you really are, and somewhere it does express itself, and at some point God will put on enough pressure to reveal who you really are. But it's what's in your heart that determines your character, and it's the meditations of your heart that determine the choices you make in life, and that's where it's really at.

Now back in Colossians chapter 2 verse 18, he says, "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels." So he's warning them against hypocrites; he's warning them against people who are self-righteous, and he says these people intrude into things, which he has not seen. He intrudes into those which he has what? Now see, he thinks he sees them. He thinks he's some spiritual giant; he thinks he has the truth, but he's an intruder into the truth. He doesn't have any of the truth. He thinks he does because he's vainly puffed up by his fleshly what? See this is what happens; you entertain a thought. Satan came to Eve and Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness, and introduced a thought, introduced a lie. You receive that lie and you start to entertain it. You start to dwell on it, and now that thought grows into an imagination, and that imagination is that fog that you're walking in, and in fact 2 Corinthians chapter 10--we'll look at that here in moment--where it says that we're to cast down evil imaginations. There's another word--do you know what Paul calls evil imaginations in that passage? He calls them--does anybody know it--strongholds. When you allow the lies of the enemy to lodge in your heart, and you mediate on them, and now those thoughts are no longer thoughts but now they are your imaginations, Satan has just established a stronghold in your life. Now thank God, we have the Word of God that's powerful to the pulling down of those strongholds. But what strongholds does Satan have in your heart? What stronghold does he have in your thoughts? What stronghold does he have in your imaginations to where he can just put a little bit of bait here, and a little bit of bait there, and all of a sudden he has you dancing to his tune? Because he knows what baits you. "Vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind" Colossians 2:18.

Look over at Romans chapter 1. Again, I don't want to beat this into the ground too much but you really need to see the danger, and then we're going to start talking about the positive side of this. The girding up of your mind, the preparation of your mind with the Word of God. Look at Romans chapter 1 and we'll fly though this quickly. But we know what Paul is talking about here; he's talking about the reprobate mind. Romans chapter 1 verse 18. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their [what?] imaginations, [Now see, this is the start of this downward spiral.] and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their [what?] own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves."

What did Jesus teach? Jesus taught, look, it's not what goes into you that defiles a man, but what defiles a man? It's what comes out of him from his heart, from his thoughts, from his meditations, from his imaginations. I want to tell you; this is nothing to play with. This is nothing to allow yourself to be seduced by. It starts with a simple thought. "Oh gee, wouldn't that be nice?" or "Gee, why is everybody always picking on me, nobody likes me." Simple thoughts like that. Simple thoughts like, "I don't deserve this, this isn't fair, I deserve better than this." "Well boy, just a 'phew!' some more money sure would be nice." Starts with simple thoughts. Thoughts that begin to feed the passions of the flesh, and begin to arouse the passions of the flesh. Usually at this stage, you still know that it's wrong, and you think, "Well I've got to take care of this, this is envy in my heart, this is lust in my heart, this is pride in my heart. This isn't right; I need to correct this." So Satan throws in a couple more lies, throws out a couple more fiery darts. At some point--if you don't pull down the imagination--at some point you're going to want to start believing the lie, and so you start justifying the lie. "Well, this isn't really that bad and after all, I can go through Scriptures, and find Scriptures that actually support my case." And now you start proof-texting, and perverting the Word of God to start justify your lusts. It all started with a deception, with a lie. It comes down here, look at verse 28. "And even as they did not like to [do what? They did not like] to retain God in their knowledge." Retain.

Look over at Hebrews chapter 2 for a moment. Hebrews chapter 2 speaks towards this principle and the onslaught of the enemy. He says, "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." I want you to understand what this is saying. "Therefore we ought to give... heed." The word "heed" is the word echo in the Greek. It means to hold on to. Just like you have a pen in your hand this morning, if you took that pen and hung on to it. The phrase there "more earnest" means that your grip is getting tighter and tighter and tighter. You're giving the more earnest heed. God through his mercy and grace has deposited the truth into your heart, and now you're guarding that truth, and you're holding on to it with a tighter and tighter grip. Why? "Lest at any time we should let them slip." You have the truth in your hands now. God's graciously given it to you, and Satan, his demons, this world system, your very own flesh is doing all that it can to yank that truth out of your grip. He's saying in this pursuit, in this struggle that we're in, you ought to give the more earnest heed, your grip should be getting tighter and tighter on the things that you have received, and if not, they'll slip out of your grasp. The truth that you used to once love, you'll now pervert to justify the lie that you believed. It says there in Romans 1:28 that they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. They lost their grip; they didn't protect their own heart securely enough, and now through the lies of the enemy, though the arousal of their own lusts, now they want to believe the lie, they choose to believe the lie, and they're walking around in a fog having no grasp, no concept of truth, justice.

Isn't it amazing to talk to people out in the world and see how insane they are? It's because they have no foundation for their thinking. They have no anchor of truth. Everything in their life is transitory so their sense of justice and right and wrong is transitory. Everything in their imagination is operating within that fog of deception. Well what do you do? Let's look at a couple of passages here in closing. Look over at Proverbs chapter 4 verse 23. I think this is what we're really saying in light of Hebrews chapter 2. Proverbs chapter 4 verse 23. Please let these words sink in deep this morning. "Keep they heart with all diligence." "Keep thy heart with all diligence." Did you hear the word of the Lord this morning? "Keep thy heart with [what?] all diligence." "Keep thy heart with all diligence; [Why?] for out of it are the issues of life." What do you allow to remain? Jesus said what comes in does not defile you, and that's true. There are a lot of things that we see and hear in this world system that can vex us like they vexed Lot. But I want to tell you something, when they come in as a thought, and you deal with them as a thought, the victory is won early. But when you allow them to remain and you don't cast them down with the Word of God, and they grow into that stronghold of an imagination, then you've got a problem on your hands, and you have a much bigger fight. So he says here, "Keep [your] heart with all diligence." Look over at Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6 verse 45. "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart..." This treasure or treasury where you deposit things, where you store things; what is your heart storing this morning? What have you filled your heart up with? "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart, [What are the meditations of your heart? What do you have down there really?] bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."

Look over at Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, one of the clearest examples and exhortations on this. Romans chapter 8 verse 1. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." "Who walk not after the flesh..." Walking after the flesh. You're letting the flesh dominate and lead. You're following after the flesh, or you can walk after the Spirit by allowing the Spirit to dominate and lead. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Verse 5. "For they that are after the flesh do [what?] mind the things of the flesh." You go home, you look up that word "mind" in Strong's concordance, and it's going to tell you that it means to exercise the mind. To exercise the mind, to exercise the heart--we're referring in all of these things to the soulical realm. What do you exercise your mind? This is an exercise; this is a discipline. You can't just let random thoughts fly in and out as they may. But he's talking about a spiritual discipline here, and a choice that you make to say, "I'm going to meditate upon the Word of God. I'm going to meditate upon the principles. I'm going to allow the Holy Spirit to lead me into truth. I'm not going to get all caught up with what the world thinks about, and I'm not going to fill my heart and mind with all of this input from the world. What's going to be in my heart in abundance, what I'm going to store in the treasury of my heart is the Word of God, and that is what's going to be there in abundance." This is all a part of exercising the mind, and you can either exercise the mind on the things of the flesh, and you can think about all of your pride, and you can think about all of your envy, and you can think about all of your discontentment all day, and you can call up your girlfriend or boyfriend, and talk to them about all of your problems and woes, and everything that you don't like, and dislike, and you're opinion--which is far too inflated anyway. You can think on all that stuff, and you can talk about all that stuff, and your flesh is going to lead you around like a whipped pup, or you can begin to mind, and exercise your mind in the things of the Spirit, and through a disciplined thought-life begin to meditate upon the Word of God day and night as you're instructed to do, and allow that Word to take deep root in your heart, and allow it to start to bring forth growth, and life, and fruit, and maturity. It says they that are after the flesh, after the Spirit rather, they mind the things of the Spirit. Verse 6. "For to be carnally minded is [what?] death; but to be spiritually minded is [what?] life and peace." You think, "Why am I having so much trouble with my flesh lately?" What's your thought life doing? "Why do the passions of my flesh--man, they've just been so on fire lately?" What's your thought life doing? What are you exercising your mind to? Look over at 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 3. If you've been walking around in a fog, and if you've found yourself in a place of this deception, and the passions of your flesh have been aroused in a certain direction, it doesn't change over night. If you see yourself in a place this morning where you say, "You know I really need to turn this thing around, I need to do something about this. I've been deceived." Deception doesn't disappear overnight. Now it can. God can reach down and just miraculously touch you, but as a rule it doesn't happen that way. You got deep into the deception once choice at a time, and most of the time you come out of deception one choice at a time. You get through one stage or you get past one level of deception and you think, "Whew! Thank God I'm free of that deception!" And then God shows you ten more layers that also have to be shed, and so you peel back one more layer, and that exposes another layer of deception, and you peel back that layer, and that exposes, and pretty soon you start to think, "My God I was so far away from the truth! How could I have allowed myself to get so far off track?"

He says here in 2 Corinthians chapter 10; he describes that warfare. He says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down [what?] imaginations." "We do not war after the flesh." This war that we are involved is a war of casting down imaginations. Thank God that we have the proper weaponry. We have weapons of the warfare that are mighty through God to the pulling down of those strongholds. Every stronghold this morning that Satan has erected in your mind and every stronghold that you have allowed to be fortified in your thought life can come down through these weapons. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God." We are to bring into captivity what? "...every thought to the obedience of Christ." You ought to practice that this afternoon. Practice that this evening, practice it tomorrow, practice it for the rest of your life. But start practicing it this afternoon and periodically do a self-check and say, "Okay twenty minutes has gone by. What did I think about in the past twenty minutes?" Now I'm not talking about I was thinking about getting dinner on the table, and thinking about washing the car. I'm not talking about the daily routines of life.

We're talking about those thoughts that shape your character. We're talking about those thoughts that will determine the choices that you make. What did I think about? Was there envy in my thoughts? Was there jealousy in my thoughts? Was their pride in my thoughts? Let's think about what just came out of my mouth, what was really behind those words; what was the motive; what was the attitude of heart? Through that you begin, as he says here, to take every thought captive. This is the girding up of the loins of your mind that will produce a holiness in your life. Because holiness starts from within. As you think in your heart, that's what you really are, and as you exercise your mind on things above, and as you exercise your mind on the Word of God, that is the sanctifying force that cleanses you. As the imaginations and the meditations of your heart become the Word of God, that is that cleansing flow that causes the holiness to start to mature in your life. So he says, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God."

If you have a certain imagination, a certain thought, a certain thought process, and it's gotten you into trouble, and you know it's wrong but you don't know what to do about it, then every time those thoughts begin to emerge you need to go to the Word and say, "No, I'm going to think on this" and allow the light of the Word of God to start to break through that darkness. Allow the light from His presence to being to burn off the fog, and it will. It won't happen overnight, but choice by choice, thought by thought, as you take every thought captive, the light at the end of the tunnel will begin to get clearer and clearer for you. Look over at Philippians chapter 4 and we'll end with this. Philippians chapter 4. We may just read this and then spend some time around the Lord's table. "Be careful for nothing." You could render it this way, "be distracted by nothing." That's what these lies and fiery darts are--it's all these distractions trying to attract you away from the truth. So he's saying be distracted for nothing. "Be careful [be anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God." This is that prayer without ceasing, a continual communion. Nothing is better for your thought life than prayer without ceasing. That prayer controls your thoughts. The presence of the Lord brings about a peace and a stability to where you're not being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine; you're not being tossed to and fro by every lying vanity. The prayer without ceasing keeps you in the presence of God, keeps you holding on to the anchor of your soul, causes you to give the more earnest heed to the things which you've heard. "But in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God." Do you practice that throughout the day? You know, throughout the day as different situations come up, sometimes it's just a one sentence prayer, "Father, I need your help. I don't understand what's happening. Father, what I am being required to do here is beyond me. I really need you." But it's a constant supplication; it's a constant prayer. He says as you do this in everything by prayer he says, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, [shall what?] shall guard your hearts and minds." The prayer without ceasing will guard your heart and mind. The prayer without ceasing will cause a peace in your life. The prayer without ceasing will cause that peace to come to where those distractions will just fall off to the side; they won't distract you. You're all involved with God. You're all preoccupied with His presence. Verse 8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, [do what?] think on these things." Exercise your mind on these things, and you'll walk in the Spirit. "Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: And the [God of what?] the God of peace shall be with you." How guarded is your heart this morning? Have you girded up the loins of your mind?

Let's go to Father in prayer and prepare ourselves to eat and drink in remembrance of Him. If Gary would come and if the brethren would come. As they're coming and as you're preparing yourself, just begin to meditate. I want you to ask yourself the question, as we're in the Lord's presence this morning, "What have been the meditations of my heart?" The Lord has commanded us to meditate in His Word day and night. Have you been? Are the holy Scriptures which you have been depositing in the treasury of your heart? Oh Father, this morning we just ask that the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart would be acceptable to You. Father we know that You judge every thought and when we stand before You one day, not only will we be judged for what we've done and said, but we'll be judged for what we thought. So Father, we ask for Your help, and we ask that You would teach us that discipline of taking every thought captive. We ask that You would teach us to take the offensive, and to exercise our minds on things above, not on things below. Father, as we do that, we thank You that we will enjoy a greater liberty in the Spirit of God. We will experience a greater freedom from our flesh because we will truly be led of the Spirit. We ask for this in Jesus' name.

Father, as we come before You now and come into Your presence; we think and we meditate on what the Lord did. We think about the garden of Gethsemane--how He was in such a great agony. The Bible says He prayed more earnestly and He cried out, "Not My will, but Thy will be done." Father, we think of the whipping and the scourging, and the cat-of-nine-tails, the lashes that He received, the cruel mocking, being beaten, and spit upon, being led to Golgotha. Father, we think of the cruel torture of the cross, the indescribable pain and suffering. Pain in every nerve and pain with every movement. Pain with every breath. Yet, Father, the greatest torment was when He cried out, "My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me?" The separation of hell, the separation of judgment and He did it all for us. Father, we think of that this morning and we say thank You. Thank You for saving our souls. Thank You for dying in our place. Thank You for suffering with our death. Thank You for taking our place. Father, a million billion Thank-You's are not enough, but we come anyway and say thank You. There is no way we can repay the debt, but Father, we come this morning and offer our love, and offer our lives to You as living sacrifices. We give You praise and glory and honor.

Sing this along with Gary. "Take Me into the Holy of Holies." We want to worship you. Sing it, "Take me in..." Oh yes, Jesus. Yes, Jesus. Like I said, we didn't have time to get to it, but one of the things that will cause holiness to work in your life is when you love His appearing. Do you really have that expectancy and hope? Do you know that today could be the day that you see Him come through the clouds and take us home? Man, don't you long for that day, just to get out of here to be free from the flesh, to be free from the toils and the warfare, to spend the rest of eternity worshipping Him. Do you believe that today could be the day? This hour could be the hour. This minute could be the minute that Jesus returns. If you do, then the Scriptures say that you'll be careful to purify yourself even as He is pure. To cleanse yourself of all weight and sin. What a blessed hope we have! So thankful for the death of our Lord, but so thankful that He's alive and well, that He's coming back to get us, and soon and very soon we're going to see the King. That's our hope, Father. I'm going to ask Brother Jim to pray over the bread.

Jim O'Connor: Father, we thank You for that body that was broken. Lord, that sacrifice that brought us healing. Oh Lord, we give You thanks. You said take this bread and eat it in remembrance of Me. Lord, we do that now, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Pastor Miller: Amen. Let's partake together. Father, we thank You. We thank You that your son's body was broken for us. We know that by the stripes of Jesus, we're healed. We receive Your healing this morning, Father. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for the healing. Brother Bruce, would you pray over the cup?

Bruce Dimsey: Glory to God. Hallelujah! Glory to God. Father, we're thankful for life. Hallelujah, Father, that You poured out Your life for us, Lord God. Hallelujah, Father, we're thankful that whom the Son has set free is free indeed. Glory to God that we've been set free and given the very life of God. Father, because You live, we can live also. We're thankful for it, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Pastor Miller: Amen. Let's partake together. Let's stand and worship the Lord. Father, we glory in the cross of Jesus Christ. We glory in the cross of Jesus Christ. We give You the praise and all of the glory. Let's sing it together. "I worship you, Lord." Oh, yes we do. We praise Your name, Jesus. We give You all the glory. Worship Him once more. Oh, You're so beautiful, Lord! So wonderful in all of Your ways! Oh, we do worship You, Lord. Our life is to worship You. Father, our eternity is to worship You; to cry out holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Oh Father, we worship You and give You praise and glory. Father, as we go this morning we pray that prayer. Let the meditations of our heart be acceptable in Your sight. Let us mediate upon the Word of God day and night. We ask that the Word of God would truly become our life, and the sustenance that we live from. We thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. God bless you; we'll see you this evening.

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