26-0222p Transcript

(0:50) Well, good evening, everybody. Glad to be back. (0:55) And we’re going to continue with part two of Wholesome Thinking.

(1:00) I hope everybody had a good day. It’s cold as it was. We couldn’t believe how cold it was driving (1:06) in.

It seemed like just when the car got here, then it started getting warm in it. It’s just (1:15) nice and toasty in here. This morning we examined briefly what Wholesome Thinking is (1:22) and looked at some of the common negative emotions that can interfere with us (1:27) having Wholesome Thinking.

We looked at worry, fear, and anxiety, (1:35) and what they do to us and how they affect us. These three emotions are sometimes referred to (1:42) as the most common of Christian adult sins. I personally don’t believe that they’re sins (1:50) because they’re natural emotions.

We all experience them from time to time. (1:57) It’s only when they become excessive and unmanageable when they become sinful. (2:04) Sinful because it may affect negatively those around you and also because it shows a great (2:12) lack of faith in God.

I’ve experienced anxiety at a young age in my life, especially when I (2:20) had to speak publicly. I would be overly nervous about it to the point of anxiety. (2:28) At school, I would often think, okay, where are the exits? Can I escape out of here? (2:36) Can I play hooky and miss the whole day and not have to give my speech? I feared having to get (2:46) up in front of others and speak.

There wasn’t a high school speech class that I couldn’t fail. (2:52) Even as a young adult going through officer training at the sheriff’s department, (2:57) I had to give a couple of speeches. One was a law research presentation before the group (3:04) of trainees I was a part of.

I remember being so filled with anxiety that I broke out in hives (3:13) and my skin flushed red. And to my horror, one of my classmates felt it was his duty to point out (3:21) that my chest had turned all red and I had spots on my face in the middle of my speech. (3:28) I could have done without that.

Then another speech had to be done in front of a video camera (3:39) at the sheriff’s department. And in my mind, that was like being put in front of a firing squad. (3:48) The stress was immense.

I couldn’t believe it. At 21 years old, I wasn’t a Christian when I (3:55) started at the sheriff’s department. But when I was 22, my older sister planted a seed within my (4:02) heart and it started to grow.

And I was soon on the way to become a Christian. And shortly after (4:09) getting married, Ruth and I were added to the Lord’s church and we worshiped at the No Bottom (4:14) Road Church of Christ. Soon afterward, and much to my dismay, I was asked to give an invitation (4:22) one Wednesday.

They were a small group and desperate for speakers. Does that sound familiar? (4:32) I just can’t get away from it. With school behind me, I thought that at that point in my life, (4:38) I would never have to suffer through another speech to give.

But I was wrong. (4:45) Well, after that awkward, feeble invitation, I knew firsthand what some of the Bible greats (4:52) went through while public speaking. Moses was perhaps the most famous of the Bible characters (5:00) to have the fear of public speaking.

God commanded Moses to go speak to Pharaoh. (5:09) But Moses offered excuse after excuse why he couldn’t do it. And then finally, (5:19) he relented and reluctantly went, only to be aided by his brother Aaron.

(5:27) So let’s hear it for Aaron to get him to do the job. The apostle Paul, in several letters to the (5:33) churches, admitted his timidity when it came to speaking. When writing to the Corinthians, (5:40) he brought to their remembrance, I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling.

(5:50) That’s Paul, a guy who would drag people to prison. Someone fearless. (5:57) Being afraid of speaking in front of others is what that comes down to.

(6:08) So having a little fear, worry, or even anxiety is natural, and it can be overcome. (6:16) That is done by thanking, petitioning, and praying to God. Our Lord says, (6:22) come unto me, you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

(6:28) So pray to the Lord. He’s much bigger than any burden that we must carry. King David wrote, (6:36) look to the Lord and his strength.

Seek his face always. So again, pray to the Lord and unload your (6:44) burden on him. Whatever is at the source or cause of your fear, worry, or anxiety, ask the Lord for (6:53) his help.

When Jesus said, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, he was using an agricultural (7:01) metaphor that depicts a farmer taking a new animal for plowing and yoking it to an experienced (7:10) animal so that the new animal would learn from the more experienced animal as they both (7:16) work together. And that is what Jesus is trying to communicate to us. Go to Jesus.

(7:24) Be yoked with him through his word and in prayer and learning his teachings. (7:29) He being the experienced teacher and praying to him, trusting him when he says, ask anything in (7:37) my name and the heavenly father will do it for you. And by trusting God and the Lord at their word, (7:44) after you’ve prayed, you can get up and know that you do not have to feel the oppression (7:50) of those negative emotions any longer.

When you trust God, you can be at peace. (8:00) When you trust God and take on a joyful attitude to rejoice always, as Paul said, (8:07) you can know peace of God and that wonderful peace that transcends all understanding. (8:17) There’s also negative emotions that we experience that are designed to let us know (8:24) we have done something wrong.

These actually are good negative emotions. I know that sounds (8:32) contradictory, but provided that we constructively resolve the root cause of them, (8:40) left unchecked, these emotions can lead to other sins and physical and emotional problems as well. (8:48) And they are sorrow, sadness, embarrassment, remorse, shame, and guilt.

These emotions, (8:56) when resolved properly, can lead us to an emotional healing, repentance, and even salvation. (9:05) There are other negative emotions that can separate us from God because these are considered (9:13) evil and sinful. They make us feel unworthy to be called a Christian and will hinder our (9:20) development and prayer life.

They are jealousy, envy, covetousness, greed, selfishness, lust, (9:29) hatred, malice, anger, rage, bitterness, arrogance, pride, and the like. (9:38) These are the symptoms of a sickness of soul and should be repented of right away. (9:44) Well, how do we do that? Well, it’s when we realize our sin ourselves or perhaps we’re told (9:51) our faults by another person or the Spirit convicts us through the Word of God and pricks our heart.

(10:02) It is then we must immediately make the change in our life. Stop doing the sin and start doing good. (10:10) It must be done with a sincere heart too.

From Isaiah 66 too, we learn this about God. He says, (10:19) this is the one I esteem, he who is humble and can frighten spirit and trembles at my word. (10:27) This is the attitude we must have to make genuine repentance.

Solomon in the Old Testament and John (10:36) in the New Testament both tell us how to be restored back to the Lord. Proverbs 28.13 says, (10:44) he who conceals his sins does not prosper and whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (10:54) And the Apostle John reaffirms this command in the New Testament.

In 1 John 1, 8 and 9, he says, (11:02) if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our (11:08) sins, he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. For the child of God, (11:19) we have to go to him in the right frame of mind, humble and contrite in spirit, (11:26) knowing it’s God’s law we broke and by prayer we confess to him our sins and then we must renounce (11:34) them.

Renounce is rather much like making an oath not to do something anymore. When he sees (11:48) the sincerity of our hearts, he will have mercy on us. Jeremiah told unfaithful Israel in Jeremiah (11:57) 4.14, O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.

How long will you harbor (12:07) wicked thoughts? Those wicked thoughts are unwholesome teaching, thinking. Repentance, (12:15) prayer and confession with a sincere heart is how the child of God washes the evil from their heart (12:21) to be saved. Remember from this morning’s lesson, do not dwell on wicked thoughts.

(12:29) When something like that pops in your head, you compare it right away to God’s word and then you (12:36) take captive that thought, as Paul tells us, and make it obedient to Christ. Think of the Bible (12:43) characters of the past that fell from God’s grace because they dwelt. Did I say race or grace? (12:55) Grace is what I should have said.

That’s what over-the-counter medications for colds will do (13:02) for you. Anyhow, they fell from God’s grace. So think of the Bible characters in the past.

(13:14) It was because they dwelt on evil thoughts. After his sacrifice was rejected by God because it wasn’t (13:23) what God commanded, he stewed about it. Then he made himself (13:34) become very angry and jealous with his brother, and so God counseled him.

And he rejected God’s (13:42) wise counsel by murdering his brother. So he entertained those evil, jealous, murderous (13:50) thoughts in his heart, and it led to bad decisions on his part. After his baptism, (13:58) Simon the sorcerer harbored bitter evil in his heart, desiring the ability to confer on others (14:07) the Holy Spirit, just as Peter had done, and offered money to buy this gift, to give the (14:17) Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands.

And Peter answered him, may your money perish with you, (14:25) because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money. You have no part or share in this (14:32) ministry because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the (14:40) Lord.

Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart, for I see that you are (14:47) full of bitterness and captive to sin. So this proverb is proved true in Simon’s case. Proverb (15:00) 1430 says, a heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Simon Magus, (15:11) or Simon the sorcerer, made a very terrible mistake in thinking he could buy the gift of the Holy (15:20) Spirit with money. And having just been baptized and all of his sins washed away, he could have (15:31) lived a brand new life, pure and dedicated to Christ, and had that blessed peace. But he was (15:40) still worldly and captive to sin, and still desiring to be somebody important, (15:51) rather than humbly accepting God’s grace.

In Cain’s case, he felt crushed for not having his (16:00) sacrifice be accepted by God. But all he had to do in order to be accepted was to do what was (16:08) right according to God, and make the correct offering. Easy peasy.

But no, he dwelt on his (16:16) rejection in his heart, and he was angry and jealous that his little brother’s sacrifice (16:23) was accepted by God and his was not. His thoughts and actions were the result of unwholesome (16:32) thinking. And this proverb applies to Cain, Proverbs 17, 22.

A cheerful heart is good (16:40) medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Do you remember King David in the Psalms (16:50) when he was in sin and didn’t repent? He said that his bones ached (16:59) because of the burden of sin that he didn’t get rid of, and it wasn’t until he repented (17:07) of that sin and confessed it to God that he felt alive again. That’s what it is to be crushed (17:16) in spirit and having your bones feel like they’re dried up.

Negative emotions, unwholesome thinking (17:26) can lead to actual physical illness. I’ve personally witnessed how anxiety can negatively (17:35) affect the heart of a loved one. I’ve also witnessed how a loved one’s envy and bitter (17:41) jealousy led to both physical and mental damage, and ultimately death.

And when left unchecked (17:51) and repented of, that unwholesome thinking leads a person to make many bad choices in their lives (17:58) that also negatively impact the lives of those around them and their family. (18:05) Things were really bad in the days of Noah, and how sad for God that in Genesis 6, 5, it’s reported, (18:14) then the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination (18:22) of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. With the exception of Noah, (18:33) who had preached for 100 years about God the Creator, along with his family, (18:39) the entire world at that time suffered unwholesome thoughts.

It was filled with violence. (18:48) Proverbs 15, 26 sums that up nicely. The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, (18:56) but the words of the pure are pleasant to him.

The world died, but Noah lived. (19:04) Paul wrote to the Roman Church about that time period in Romans 1, verses 20 through 25. Paul (19:15) wrote, ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature, namely his eternal power and (19:23) deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse (19:30) for, although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. But they became (19:37) futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, (19:44) they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, (19:51) or birds, or animals, or reptiles.

Therefore, God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to (19:59) impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth (20:06) about God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed (20:15) forever. Amen. So God spoke through Isaiah and compared his perfect wholesome thoughts to man’s (20:24) unwholesome thoughts, and the advice he left for mankind.

Listen, in Isaiah 55, 7 through 9, (20:33) it says, let the wicked man forsake his own way, and the unrighteous man his own thoughts. (20:39) Let them turn to the Lord that he may have compassion, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. (20:49) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

(21:00) For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts (21:07) than your thoughts. God wants mankind to repent, and clean up his evil mind, and think wholesome (21:15) thoughts. Evil thoughts need to be replaced with cure, and the holy word of God.

Hebrews 4.12 says, (21:26) for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It pierces even to (21:34) dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

(21:43) The Hebrew writer is saying that with God’s word in your heart, you can do an honest evaluation of (21:51) yourself, and see yourself as God sees you. You can quickly determine what kind of thoughts you (21:59) are entertaining in your mind by comparing it to the word of God. By doing so, you will cultivate (22:05) your mind to have good, wholesome thoughts in your head.

When you do things God’s way, you will find (22:14) that wonderful, elusive peace of mind everyone is looking for. And again, it starts with putting (22:23) good thoughts in your head. So I’ll leave you with this admonishment from Jeremiah.

(22:31) Jeremiah 6.16 says, this is what this Lord says, stand at the crossroads and look, (22:39) ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. (22:45) So if you need the prayers of the congregation this evening, or would like to confess Christ (22:50) as your Savior before men, come, we sing the invitation song.