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The Discipline of the Mind

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• I want you to open your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Philippians chapter 4, and we're going to look at verses 6 through 8. Philippians chapter 4, we're going to be looking at verses 6 through 8. The title of the message today is "The Discipline of the Mind." So if you look in Philippians chapter 4, beginning there with verse 6, look what the Word of God says. Philippians 4, look at verse 6.

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• He said, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

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• "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, think on these things."

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• Now, most of you know that I teach a Bible class on Thursday evening, and it's recorded as well, and anyone could dial into that Bible study. But this past week, I dealt with the Holy Spirit cleansing and particularly with the subject of mortification. So after that class, I got to thinking about how we could still sanctify ourselves and how we could really rectify a lot of things in our lives. And of course, I came back to a truth that I've really known for a long time. But although I've taught it, I've never really taught just one whole message on it.

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• So here it is today, and that is the discipline of the mind. So have you ever considered disciplining your mind? We discipline our animals. We discipline our children. We discipline our bodies. But we very seldom think of the fact that our minds need to be disciplined as well. And I would venture to say that not only is the discipline of the mind one of the most important aspects of our lives, it's also one of the most necessary aspects of our lives. In fact, it is so important that there cannot be any Christian growth or any Christian maturity apart from the discipline of the mind.

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• So here's a good question. I'm going to try to answer this throughout this message. How do you control your thoughts? How do you control what is in your mind? Well, I want you to look in your Bibles. First of all, I'm going to give you a number of scriptures to build you up to what I want to share with you. So if you look in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, the apostle Paul uses an illustration here that is very easily understood. So in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, if you look there beginning with verse 24, look what he says. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 24. He says, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." So he's giving us a picture here of a race and particularly that of the Olympics. He said, "So run, that ye may obtain."

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• "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." So the Apostle Paul now is using a picture here of a physical race to teach a spiritual truth. The Olympians disciplined and trained not only their muscles and their bodies, but also their minds in order to win a crown that perished.

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• So that little wreath that went around their heads was nothing more than temporary. And so the Apostle Paul says that they run, that they might obtain a corruptible crown, but we're running that we might obtain an incorruptible crown. And notice if you would, he said, "Everyone that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things." In other words, he's disciplined. In other words, everyone that runs wants to win.

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• And so they discipline themselves. And then he applies this to himself. Verse 26: "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air." In other words, I'm not a shadow boxer. I'm not playing. I'm not pretending. And then he says, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

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• So the Apostle Paul is saying, I use a spiritual exercise to bring my body, to bring my life under subjection so that I can continue to preach and continue to improve in my Christian life and in my Christian faith. So he's telling us that just like physical exercise demands discipline, also spiritual exercise demands discipline. So I want you to turn now, if you would, to 1 Timothy chapter 4, because the Apostle still continues with this concept of exercise. So if you look in 1 Timothy chapter 4, beginning there with verse 7, look what he says: "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Now, he tells us, "But refuse profane and old wives' fables." Now, I know that you know what an old wives' fable is. It's something that you've heard all of your life.

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• It's just not true. It's just a fable. So, I remember even as a boy hearing that if a pregnant mother listened to beautiful music, that her child would be born musically inclined. Well, I can assure you that's not true, because I tell people, if that is true, my mother must have been listening to a dying buzzard singing, because I can't carry a note. But that's just an old wives' tale. It's not true. But look what else he said: "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness." Then he makes this statement: "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Now, notice if you would, he said, "Physical exercise profiteth little."

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• The Greek word for "little" there is the word oligos, which means little, small, light, and fewness. So, I'm not trying to discourage you. But I'm going to tell you the absolute truth. You can work out all you want to physically. You can work out every day. You can work out two and three times a day. You can exercise all of your muscles. But the truth of the matter is, if the Lord allows you to live long enough, those muscles are going to sag, and you're going to have wrinkles, ladies, and you're going to have crow's feet, and you're going to have love handles, both men and women, and you're going to have loose skin. I don't care how much you exercise. So if you live long enough, you're going to have all of that. So the point I'm trying to make is the apostle says, yes, our bodily exercise does profit just a little bit, and you can have it for a few years. But after that, it's going to be gone.

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• But then he said, godliness, exercising yourself in godliness, is profitable not only for this life, but in that which is to come. Now, the interesting thing is this. If you look in verse 7, when he says, "and exercise thyself unto godliness," the word "exercise" happens to be the Greek word gumnazo. If you look in verse 8, he says, "for bodily exercise," and there the word in the Greek is gumnasia.

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• So I hope you understand this is where we get our English words "gymnastics" and "gymnasium" from. So literally what he's telling us in verse 7 and in verse 8 is that we are to gymnasticize ourselves in godliness. So I don't know if you've ever watched gymnastics or not, but very obviously, these people that win all these trophies do not just start out saying, "Hey, I think I'll go and win a trophy today." No, no, no.

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• They've built their muscles, they've built their lives, they've built their discipline over all these years. And that's exactly what God is saying right now. So we have to learn to be gymnasticizing our minds, ourselves, into godliness. So we are literally told to gymnasticize ourselves in holiness. So if you work out like this, just like you would work out in gymnastics, it means that you have to be dedicated.

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• You have to be determined, and you have to be disciplined, because if you're not disciplined, you're not going to accomplish anything. So take, for example, those of us who like to go to the gym occasionally, say once or twice a year. You know, the only thing we get from going to the gym once or twice a year is soreness. But now those who go weekly or semi-weekly, or sometimes those who go daily, they don't get sore. And you've heard the old adage that the pain is weakness leaving the body. And that may be true when you work out on a regular basis. But when you don't work out on a regular basis, then soreness is pain for not exercising, because you just simply end up getting sore. So here is the point the Apostle Paul is making, not only in 1 Corinthians 9, but in 1 Timothy chapter 4, is this:

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• It doesn't matter if you're talking about physical exercise. It doesn't matter if you're talking about spiritual exercise. It must be a priority. There must be consistency. There must be faithfulness. And there must be a determination. And there must be a disciplined mind. So here's a good question. How do you discipline your mind? You can't whip it. And you can't say, "Bad mind, bad mind." I mean, that does absolutely nothing.

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• So what I want to do today is give you three truths. Three truths. The first one you should already know, because I've preached on this so many times, but I'm going to rehearse it for you and give you the scripture. So if you're going to discipline your mind, here's the very first thing. The very first step in disciplining your mind is realization. What do I mean by realization? We have to realize that everything proceeds from the mind.

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• We cannot function without thinking. Our thoughts determine our conduct. Our thinking determines our action. We always think before we do. So, if I pick up this phone and hold it up, then clearly I've already thought about picking up that phone before I actually picked up that phone. So my thinking then precedes my actions. Now, if you will turn in your Bibles—well, you don't have to hold 1 Timothy. I actually want you to hold Philippians 4, but if you will turn back in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs, the book of Proverbs, look in chapter 4, if you would please. And here's a verse that I've quoted many, many times, but I want you to see what follows this verse. So in Proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23, the Word of God makes this very simple statement.

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• "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." However, I want you to note what follows. "Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." Now go back and notice verse 23. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." If you keep your heart, verse 24, you'll put away from you a froward mouth and perverse lips. And verse 25, if you keep your heart, your eyes will look right on, and your eyelids will look straight before thee. Verse 26, if you keep your heart, you'll ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established. Verse 27, if you keep your heart, you'll not turn to the right hand or to the left; that is, you'll walk straight, and you will remove your foot from evil. Now I've told you

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• this before, I'm telling you again: the heart in the Bible is the mind. In fact, the Hebrew word for "heart" in verse 23 is the Hebrew word leb. It is translated as "mind" 12 times in the Bible and "understanding" 10 times. So it is the mind then, or the heart, that puts away all of these things in verses 23 down through verse 27.

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• Now may I remind you of Proverbs 23 and verse 7—you know this verse, you don't have to turn there—where the scripture says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." In other words, you are a result in your conduct and your actions of the way you think. Everything comes from the mind. So if you will turn to your Bibles, to the book of Matthew chapter 15, look at what our Lord says when He's teaching His disciples. And let's begin reading there with verse 17. Matthew chapter 15, verse 17 is what I want. So look what He says, Matthew 15 verse 17.

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• "Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man." But note, if you would, the very first thing He mentions: "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts." Out of the mind proceeds evil thoughts, and then He develops that—all kinds of evil thoughts that are mentioned there. So everything, all classes and all kinds of evil thoughts, come from the mind. If you look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 9, Matthew chapter 9, beginning there with verse 2, look at what our Lord states. Matthew chapter 9 in verse 2: "And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain

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• of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" The heart is the mind. "Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" Now, by nature our thoughts are contrary to God because we are depraved. We are fallen. We are sinful. In Isaiah 65 and verse 3, God said, "I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts." So they're walking in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts. So because of natural depravity, our thoughts are inclined to be evil. They're inclined to be wicked. They're inclined to be fleshly. They're inclined to be selfish. They're inclined to desire our own will, our own way, regardless. I want you to see that it's only the goodness and the mercy and the grace of God that we're able to entertain any good thoughts or any biblical thoughts.

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• So let me show you how this works. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4—Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians—look in Ephesians chapter 4, and I want to begin reading with verse 17. And then we're going to go to the book of Colossians. I want you to see this because I'm trying to point out that everything actually stems from our thinking. So in Ephesians 4 verse 17, the Apostle writes this: "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind." Well, what is the vanity of their mind here? It is in verse 18: "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." Now note: their mind is darkened. They're alienated from the life of God. They're ignorant. They're blind. What is the result? Verse 19:

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• "Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." In other words, the unsaved man by nature is only concerned about himself. He's only concerned about his will, his wants, his desires, his lusts. That's all he's concerned about.

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• Now, notice he tells us that we're not to walk like that. But look in verse 20. He says, "But ye have not so learned Christ." Has it ever dawned upon you that you have to learn Christ? You have to learn what is biblical. You have to be taught that. So look in verse 21: "If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus." Look what happens when you've been taught: "That ye put off concerning the former conversation"—or conduct—

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• "the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." So now here he's saying we have to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. He's telling us to put on the new man. The new man and being renewed in the spirit of our mind happen to be synonymous. Now he says, "But ye have not so learned Christ." So we must learn Christ. We must be taught by Him as the truth is in Him, and we have that truth. What do we do? We put off the former conversation. That is, we put off the way that we were raised, the way that we were taught, the way that we were used to thinking. We put all that off and we put on that new man, that renewed mind, which has now been renewed in righteousness. Now if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 3, you're going to see this same truth in verses 9 and 10 summarized, but the same truth. Colossians

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• 3 verses 9 and 10: "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." So when you take Ephesians chapter 4 and verses 23 and 24 and Colossians chapter 3 and verse 10 and put them together, you understand that the new man is the renewed mind, one that has been taught by God, one that has new knowledge or biblical knowledge, I say. New knowledge is compared to the old knowledge that you had as a lost man. And so he's saying that we're to put off all of that old conduct and we're to put on that which is biblical, that which we have been taught. So literally what he's telling us is this.

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• We have to learn to think biblically. We have to learn to think scripturally. We do not do that by nature. So learning to think biblically will always manifest itself in our actions and in our conduct. Listen to this: as Christians, we live differently because we think differently. We believe differently. David said in Psalm 116, I think it's verse 10, "I believed, therefore have I spoken." Wow. You always speak and you always act out of what you truly believe, and what you believe is what you think to be true. Everything stems from the mind.

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• So let me say it like this: you will never be holy. You will never be mature in the faith until you realize that your mind controls your conduct and your actions. So you have to think biblically in order to act biblically. And if you do not think biblically, you're going to be acting wickedly. It's just that simple, because it's your mind that controls your conduct and your actions. So the very first step in controlling your mind and disciplining your mind is this realization that everything comes from the mind, whether it's good, whether it's bad, it still comes from the mind. So there must be realization. The second thing is this: in learning to discipline our minds, there must be refutation. And when I say refutation, I mean learning to refuse unbiblical and ungodly thoughts. Usually when we think about ungodly thoughts, we can think about lust, we can think about covetousness, we can think about all kinds of things that are wicked and wrong. But think about depression. Think about discouragement. All of that stems from our minds.

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• What was that old saying? It says, "If you want to be discouraged, look around you. If you want to be depressed, look within you. If you want to be delivered, look up." Yeah. So, but just stop and think. Most of this stuff we bring upon ourselves. "Oh, it's mean. Whoa, it's me. Oh, everything's against me." And you start going and you get more and more and deeper and deeper in the hole that you've dug for yourself because you are thinking that way.

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• Now, let me make this statement. God has designed us that our feelings always follow our actions. So if you act right, you're going to feel right. If you act wrong, you're going to feel wrong. Okay, so let me make another statement. Principles—God's principles—are to lead and direct our lives, not our feelings, not our emotions. Feelings change, emotions change, circumstances change, but principles never change. And when you give in to your feelings, when you give in to your emotions, when you give in to your lust, you're always ending up in trouble.

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• So here's something that's absolutely astounding to me. It's amazing. You can have evil, wicked thoughts pop through your mind instantly, and they can pop into your mind when you have not even been thinking about those things. They just are there. And you stop and think, "Where in the world did these come from?" And all of a sudden they're in your mind in living color. So what must you do when you have an unbiblical, ungodly, immoral, wicked, or depressing, or discouraging thought? Here's what you must do: reject it. Refuse it. Repudiate it. Refuse to think about it. Refuse to dwell upon it. We may not entertain certain things in our mind. Let me just point out this: it is not a sin to be tempted. Our Lord was tempted—we'll look at that a little bit later in Matthew chapter 4—our Lord was tempted. It's not a sin to be tempted. It's a sin to yield to the temptation. So when that thought pops into your mind, I don't care how unbiblical it is, the very first thing you must do is refuse it, reject it, and repudiate it, and say, "I will not have that thought. I will not meditate on that.

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• I will not think about that. I will not desire that. It is over. I'm not going to have that in my mind." Now, I want to tell you something. David said it like this in Psalm 66 in verse 18. He said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Okay? The word "regard" happens to be the Hebrew word ra'ah, which means to consider, to esteem, to desire, to hold to it, to gaze at it, to ponder and give attention to it. So listen to me. If that thought comes into my mind, it's not a sin just for that thought to pop into my mind. The sin comes when I back that thought up and say, "Yeah, I'd like that.

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• Well, that'd be satisfied in my flesh, or satisfied in my..." Yes, and you're just dwelling on that and you're thinking on that. That's where the sin comes from. So you've heard that old adage: "You can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop him from building a nest in your hair." So the world, the flesh, and the devil can throw thoughts into your mind quicker than lightning can flash. That's not the sin. The sin is when you back it up and think about it.

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• So David said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Just stop and think about this. If the mere regarding of sin, if the mere meditating and thinking about sin, desiring it, gazing at it—if that causes God to not hear our prayer, how much worse is it if we engage in that sin?

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• Now, I've got an awful truth for you to consider today. I want you to look at two passages. I want you to turn to Isaiah 43 and 1 Corinthians chapter 6. We're going to come to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. So I want you to go, if you would please, to Isaiah chapter 43, and let me show you what God said to His people. Look in Isaiah chapter 43, and I want you to pay close attention to verse 24. Isaiah 43 and verse 24, look what God says: "Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities." Now, how did Israel make God serve with their sins? How did they weary God with their iniquities? I realize you could get tired of iniquities. But how did they make God serve with their sins? Because they were in a covenantal relationship with God. They were considered God's people and He was considered their God, and therefore what they did, He did.

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• And God says, "You made me to serve with your sins." Now I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Look at this and consider this: if that was true in the Old Testament under the Old Covenant, how much more true is it in the New Testament under the New Covenant? So in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, let's begin reading with verse 15. He says, "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." Now, look what he says: "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." So he teaches us that Jesus Christ is our

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• head. We are His body. He said, "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." So the Christian then that commits fornication, the Christian then that commits adultery, is joining Jesus Christ to that harlot, which of course would be absolute utter blasphemy. But it is the same truth concerning any sin that a Christian commits. So if I steal from Clay, I'm joining Jesus Christ to theft, which is blasphemous. So the point I'm trying to make is this.

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• We have to understand that as Christians, our bodies belong to Him, and whatever we do affects Him. You know, he said the truth in Romans chapter 14, I think it's verse 17, he said, "No man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." That's not only true physically, but it is also true spiritually if we're children of God. So here's what we've got to learn. We have to learn to break the links in the chains of sin. So what do I mean, breaking the links in the chain of sin? You remember our Lord said in John chapter 8, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." And the word "servant" is the word "slave." So whoever committeth sin is a slave of sin. So what sin does, it just wraps its chain around us tighter and tighter. And the more we sin, the tighter that chain gets, the more it enslaves us. So what we have to do is learn to break the link in the chain of sin.

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• and say, "No, I'm not gonna do this." Now, the first step in breaking the links in the chain of sin is very simple, and that is you refuse, you reject, you repudiate that thought. The thought comes in your mind: "Lord, I'm not gonna think on that. That's wicked, that's wrong. You have said, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' You have said, 'Thou shalt not covet.' You have said, 'Thou shalt not steal.'" You have said—in other words, you quote whatever is the alternative to that thought that came into your mind. That's the easy way. You just have to say, "Lord, I'm not going to think on this." You have to put it out of your mind. You refuse it. By the way, I hope you understand you're responsible to keep certain things out of your mind, just like you're responsible to keep certain things in your mind. When you look in the book of Jude, he tells you very plainly, "Keep yourselves in the love of God." Wow. How do you keep yourself in the love of God?

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• Very simply, 1 John 5 and verse 3: "And this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." How do I keep myself in the love of God? By keeping His commandments, by keeping His Word. Okay? But I'm also responsible to keep certain things out of my mind. That's why you should never watch or look at pornography. That's why you should never watch anything that's wicked, ungodly, whether it's at the movie theater, whether it's on TV—I don't care what it is. David said it like this: "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes." So we want to make sure then that we understand we're responsible to keep certain things out. So what when these discouraging thoughts, the depressing thoughts, the wicked thoughts, whatever thoughts come in your mind that are unbiblical, the easy way, the very first thing you should do is reject them, repudiate them, refuse them. "I'm not going to think on that." Okay? Now secondly, if you catch yourself already entertaining that thought in your mind that is wicked and ungodly, if you catch yourself already thinking about it and desiring it and enjoying it in your mind, then you must not only repudiate it, you must repent and you must

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• acknowledge and confess that sin before the Lord. That would be the second easiest way. Okay? The easiest way, of course, is just simply refuse it, refuse to think about it. Second way, you have to repent. All right. The third way is this: if you find yourself engaging in that sin, not only must there be repudiation and repentance and confession, you must make things right with the person that you have sinned with or sinned against.

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• So let me show you. Turn very quickly in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5 and look, if you would please, at verses 23 and 24. Matthew chapter 5, look in verses 23 and 24. Our Lord says very plainly, "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Now watch: "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee." So here, Brother Clay and I—you know, I've been talking, but

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• next thing I know, he's got something against me. I don't have anything against him, but he's got something against me. You said, "Well, he ought to go to you and tell you about it." Well, if I know that he's got something against me, God says I'm to go to him. Okay, watch this. Turn now to Matthew chapter 18. Look in Matthew chapter 18 in verse 15. Watch this. Matthew 18 verse 15: "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." So now Clay doesn't have anything against me. I've got something against him. What does God require me to do? Go to him privately and work it out. And that's strange. If he has something against me, I'm to go to him. If I have something against him, I'm to go to him. In other words,

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• I cannot evade the situation. God says it's my responsibility. Now, it's true if there has been a misunderstanding, if there's been a conflict between the two of us, we should be meeting halfway—he coming to me and I'm going to him. That's the way it really should be. But God is saying it's our responsibility to work things out when we've sinned against someone. It's just that simple.

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• Now, sometimes if it goes that far, you need help. You know what the Bible says in Galatians 6, verses 1 and 2? Listen to this one: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." So if Steve has fallen, I'm not to go to him with a haughty attitude and start laughing, "Ha, ha, boy,

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• you got yourself into it this time, didn't you?" No. God says, "Were it not for His grace, it could be me and not Steve." And I'm to go to him in the spirit of meekness, considering myself, that it's only the grace of God that has kept me from falling into the same sin that he fell into. But notice, if you would, sometimes we need help. That's all there is to it. So the easy way to avoid a lot of heartache and a lot of problems is when a wicked, sinful thought comes in your mind, you just reject it, you refute it, and you refuse it, and you just say, "I'm not going to have it." Now watch this.

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• How do you discipline your mind? First way: by realization. Second way: by refutation. The third step in disciplining your mind is by replacement. That is, learning that on which you must think and keep and place in your mind. With that, I want us to go back to our text in the book of Philippians chapter 4, because here is what God tells us that we are to think about. If you look in Philippians 4, beginning there with verse 6, he says, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

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• 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, think on these things." Now, we've already seen, or we should have already seen, in Philippians 2 and verse 5, the Bible says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." So the mind of Jesus Christ is in His Word. If I'm to have the mind of Christ, that means I must have a biblical mindset. How did Jesus Christ think?

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• He thought biblically. He thought scripturally. Because He thought biblically and because He thought scripturally, His actions and His conduct were biblical and scriptural. That's why He said in John 8 and verse 29, "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." Since Jesus Christ thought biblically, He acted biblically. So I want you to look in verse 6. Look at this.

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• We're going to go to verse 8 momentarily, but he says, "Be careful for nothing"—actually, "be anxious for nothing." Most of us are so filled with anxiety. He says, "Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." So here's an easy way to remember verse 6, and that is this: be anxious for nothing, and prayerful about everything, and thankful for anything. He says, if you are careful for nothing, if you're prayerful about everything, if you're thankful for anything, then the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Most of us don't have peace because, well, we're too anxious and we don't pray and we're not thankful. Now look what he said in verse 8: "Finally, brethren, I'm tying this together for you. 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, think on these things."

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• So, first of all, we're to think about that which is true. The Greek word is the word alethes, and it refers to that which is truthful, that which is true, that which is spoken in truth, and that which loves the truth. It's from the Greek word aletheia, which is the word "truth." In fact, I remember years ago taking Greek with a young man who just fell in love with the word aletheia. So he named his daughter Aletheia. But it just simply means truth. So if you look at what he says now: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true." If you are contemplating, if you are meditating, if you're thinking about truth, you're not thinking about gossip. You're not talking about slander. You're not thinking about innuendos. You're not thinking about muckraking. You're not thinking about lies. You're thinking about truth. So that which is true should be centered in our minds. And of course, we know that the Word of God is true. We know the Son of God is true, and we know the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth.

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• So he says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true." Secondly, "whatsoever things are honest." The word "honest" is the word semnos in the Greek, and it literally means that which is grave, that which is venerable, that which is revered, that which is honorable, and it relates to persons and deeds. So we may think about honorable people. We may think about honorable acts. We may think about biblical characters and biblical acts as well. So anything that is honest, anything that is venerable, anything that is honorable, he said that's what we should think about. Thirdly, look at this. He says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just." Now, the word "just" is the Greek word dikaios, and it refers to that which is righteous, that which is approved, and that which is acceptable by God. So it also refers to that which is upright, virtuous, and obedient to God. May I remind you that the word dikaios is also translated oftentimes as "just" and "righteous" as well.

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• It's actually the same word. Because whatever is just is right, and whatever is right is just. You cannot have justice without righteousness, and you cannot have righteousness without justice. They are basically synonymous. Here's the fourth thing. Look at this. He says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure." The word "pure" is the word hagnos. Hagios is the word for "holy." So it refers to that which is pure, chaste, venerable, sacred, and holy. It also refers to modesty, being pure from carnality. It refers to that which is clean. So he says we're to have clean thoughts. We're to have modest thoughts. We're to have pure thoughts, venerable thoughts, sacred thoughts, holy thoughts. And fifthly, look what he says. Then he says, "whatsoever

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• things are lovely." I laughed when I read that—not that I was tickled at the Word of God, but yet the way we use so many times the word "lovely." "Well, that's a lovely picture." "Well, that was a lovely dinner." "Well, that's a lovely child." "Well, that's a lovely cup he's got right there." Yeah. We just throw the word around and oftentimes have no idea what it really means. But the word "lovely" in this instance happens to be the word prosphiles. And it means that which is not just lovely, but that which is acceptable and that which is pleasing. Actually, this word is made up of two Greek words. Pros is a preposition, which means "to" or "toward," and actually the word philes comes from the verb phileo, which is "I love," or the noun philos, which is "love," from which we also derive our English word "family" and "phileo." So it actually means "to" or "toward" filial or family love. Ah, that means we can concentrate upon our family—not just our earthly family, but also our heavenly, our spiritual family as well.

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• So remember now, this word means that which is pleasing, that which is acceptable unto God. So let me just give you two passages. Colossians 1 and verse 10. The first one says this: "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." How do we walk pleasing unto the Lord? Well, in this instance, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

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• And there's a reason for that, which I'll point out a little bit later. So how about this one? 1 John 3 in verse 22. This one should really sit well with you. "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." Well, what are those things that are pleasing in His sight? Keeping His commandments, obeying His Word, bringing our life in conformity to His Word. So, yeah, that which is lovely, that which is pleasing and acceptable and agreeable to God—that's what he's talking about.

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• Look, if you would, next. He says, "Whatsoever things are of good report."

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• Now, the word there is euphemos. It means those things that sound well, those things that uttered words of goodness, kindness, speaking favorably. So we're to keep things in our mind that which is of good report. So let me give you a couple of illustrations. What I remember reading years ago about this one Christian lady, she always had something good to say about everybody. And finally, one man said to her, a brother who was a Christian said to her, "I suppose if the devil himself was around, you'd have something good to say about him." She said, "Well, I can always say he's always about his business." Well, that's true.

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• But, you know, think about how this could be applied in our lives. So Mary says something to me and I think, "What? How did she mean that? Was she putting me down? Was she slamming me?"

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• Now, if I am thinking about good reports, I would not be thinking that way. I would think, "Wow, she probably did not mean it like that. But if she did, it was probably for my correction and probably for my instruction." But now, you know, if it really bothered me, the only way that I could resolve that would be to look at her and say, "Mary, what did you mean by that?" She's the only one that knows what she meant.

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• And I'd have to take her word for it. You see what I mean? Good report. In other words, I'm not always slamming everybody. I'm not ever thinking the worst. I know people are like that. Everything is horrible. Everything is the worst. No, no. He says we're to think on things that are good, of good report.

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• Now, I want you to note something. Look back in verse 8, if you would, please. I want you to watch this. He says, "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; look at this: if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." When the apostle Paul uses the word "if" in verse 8, and he uses it twice, it is not something that is doubtable or questionable. So usually when we think of the word "if," Dinah could say to me, "Pastor, if you go uptown tomorrow, please bring me two gallons of milk." And I'd say, "I'll be glad to go. I'd be glad to bring you two gallons of milk if I go to town." I may not go. I may not have a car, I may be sick, but if I do go, I'll bring her two gallons of milk. In other words, we use the word "if" in a doubtful situation.

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• In the Greek, there are two words for "if." The first one is ei, and it's spelled E-I, and usually we say it's ei with the indicative. When you have ei with the indicative, it is a fact; it is true. When you have ean—ean is how we would spell it—ean with a subjunctive, then that is questionable. So, let me show you. I'm gonna come back to Philippians 4 and verse 8, hold that, but look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Matthew chapter 4. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. This is where our Lord was tempted. So look at this. Matthew 4 and verse 1. Here it is. Matthew 4 verse 1: "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,

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• he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." Now in each of these instances when the devil said, "If thou be the Son of God," it is ei with the indicative, which means you could translate that "since thou art the Son of God." The enemy was not questioning whether Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He knew He was God. So he said, "Since thou art the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread. Since you're the Son of God, let the angels catch you."

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• Look down, if you would, verse 8. "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." And the word "if" in verse 9 is ean. The devil doubted whether or not Jesus Christ would bow to him. It's not ei with indicative. He said, "I don't think you're gonna bow, but I'm gonna try it anyhow." Of course, He would not bow and He could not bow because He was God in the flesh. So obviously, when you look back now to the book of Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8, and you read in verse 8, "if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things," the word "if" is ei with the indicative. In other words, it is "since there is virtue, and since there is praise, think on these things." So there is no doubt that the six things that are listed in verse 8 are virtuous and praiseworthy. Think on these things.

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• They're clean. They're clear. They're pure, and they're commanded. So when he says, "Think on these things," first of all, it's the Greek word logizomai. Oh my. The word logizomai is a word that conveys truth in reality. Okay, so—and I'm going to use the word so you'll understand it. If I logizomai, that means count, or to reckon, or to impute. If I logizomai, then I have 250 bucks in my bank account. Then I have 250 bucks in my bank account. Because this word is a word that deals with facts. It deals with reality. So if I tried to convince myself that I had 250 bucks in my bank account when I only had 20, I'm deceiving myself. I'm not logizomaing the way I should. I'm not reckoning. I'm not counting in reality. I'm daydreaming. Okay. Next, I want to point out the word "think" is actually an imperative, which means it's a command. And the words God says, "I command you to think on these things." Now what I want you to do right now is this: I want you to put these three things together in your

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• mind. So I want to answer the question for you: how do you discipline your mind? How do you control your thoughts? Whatever the thoughts are in your mind, whether they're good thoughts or biblical thoughts or bad thoughts, whatever the thoughts are in your mind, they are the seeds from which all of your actions and conduct are going to spring. Wicked thoughts produce wicked conduct. Biblical thoughts produce biblical conduct.

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• Any thought, any habit, any scheme that comes from your old nature—the way you used to do things before you were saved—needs to be put away. It needs to be put off, and you need to put on the new man, which is renewed in your mind, which you have learned of Christ. You've been taught by Him that which is biblical in its place. So you have to realize that everything comes from the mind, okay?

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• Secondly, you have to make sure that you repudiate, refuse, and reject anything that's unbiblical. You realize it's coming from your mind, but if it's unbiblical, you reject it. By the way, this is hard work. How many times a day do you think things that are unbiblical? How many times a day are you tempted? How many times a day are you tested? How many times a day do things pop in your mind that you should never have in your mind? It means you have to be consistent and constant. It means it is hard work, repudiating every one of those things. Why?

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• The answer is because your flesh is not going to give up. Your flesh will not lie silently and as quietly upon the altar as did Isaac. Your flesh is going to scream and cry and beg to be fulfilled, and you're going to have to fight. What's the Bible say in Galatians 5 and verse 17? "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.

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• They are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." And the word "lusteth" means it fights against. So you have to say, "I'm not going to give in. I'm not going to give up. I'm gonna reject it. I'm not only gonna reject it, my next step is I'm gonna replace it. I'm gonna think about the biblical alternative." So if I'm tempted to steal: "Lord, I reject that. I refuse that. Thou hast said, 'Thou shalt not steal.'" Well, what's the positive? Go to Ephesians chapter 4: "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." So it's not only honest work, but it's now not just a covetous attitude; it's a generous attitude. I'm willing to give to someone who needs. So every time you have a wicked thought, you need to say, "I'll not only refuse it, I'm gonna replace it with that which is biblical, with that which is holy, with that which is just." And so this is a gymnastic exercise of the mind, where you have to literally work at it over and over and over, day after day after day. And you cannot put off an old

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• habit unless you put on a new habit in its place. If you try to say, "Well, I'm gonna quit this, I'm gonna quit that," and you do quit it, but you don't put a new one on in its place, guess what? Sooner or later you run back to the old way. It's just that simple. You have to replace that which you remove. Think about it like this.

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• When you get ready to go to bed tonight, you'll take your clothes off. You put your pajamas on. You have to take off before you put on. And that's exactly what he's saying. Put off the old man, put on the new man.

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• Now, let me make some applications. The first one is this: muscle memory makes exercise and learning very easy. Think about that. Muscle memory makes learning and exercise very easy. There are some things that I can do that are smooth and as fast as it could be done by an 80-year-old man because I've got muscle memory. Mental memory is the same. How long did it take me to get the muscle memory in the physical area that I am pretty good at? Years. Years. Which means our mental memory, our mental exercise, is going to take years as well. This exercise: you learn to live by principles. You don't live by your emotions. You don't live by your feelings. You don't live by circumstances. You live by biblical principles. You learn that biblical truth is to guide you and direct you in every area of your life. You learn that the way of peace is through obedience. In fact, Isaiah 26 in verse 3: "Thou wilt

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• keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee." So what in the world are you doing when you say, "I realize this is in my mind. I repudiate it. I'm gonna replace it with something that is good"? You are not only increasing mental memory and a mental exercise, what you're doing is learning to rely upon and lean upon Christ and His Word. And what does He say? This is the way of peace. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked, but "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee." So I'm learning to think biblically. I'm learning to keep my mind upon Jesus Christ.

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• Now, here's a second application. It's impossible to take a switch to our minds. We cannot discipline our minds by using anything physical. However, if we continue to disobey, and if we continue to fail to put off the old man and put on the new man, our heavenly Father will use the rod of correction and enable us to change our thinking. My earthly father changed my thinking many times when I was a boy.

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• You know what the Bible says in the book of Micah chapter 6 and verse 9? "Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it." So just like my earthly father whipped the living daylights out of me, as a Christian, if you continue to do that which is wrong and wicked, and you continue to harbor thoughts that are ungodly and unbiblical, God says, "I know how to take a switch to you to make you change your mind." You can change your thinking, and your thinking then will change your conduct. So I want you to think about this verse. In Isaiah 55 verses 8 and 9, God said, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." And God is not going to condescend to think the way we think, because the way we think is wicked and wrong. We must humble ourselves and learn to think the way He thinks.

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• And the only way we can do that is by renewing our minds, putting off the old man, putting on the new man, being taught of Him, learning Christ, and learning to discipline our minds, to discipline our thinking, and controlling our thoughts. Now, I want you to turn very quickly to two passages. I want you to look in 2 Corinthians 10, and then I want you to also turn to 2 Peter 1. We'll go to 2 Corinthians chapter 10 first, and look at this. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and let's begin reading there with verse 3 very quickly. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, look in verse 3. Here it is. The Apostle Paul says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

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• for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." And your stronghold happens to be your mind. I'm going to show you that. Look at this: "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." So how many thoughts are you and I allowed that are unbiblical and ungodly? None. We're to bring every thought into captivity to Jesus Christ. So he said, look at it in verse 4: "a pulling down of strong holds." Your mind is your stronghold. You've been taught things all your life that are wrong. Now he says you need to cast down those imaginations, every high thought that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ.

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• This is where you have to learn to replace. One last passage. I want you to look in 2 Peter chapter 1, and look, if you would please, at verses 3 and 4. Here it is. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 3: "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." How do we escape the corruption that is in the world through lust? Go back to verse 3: "through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." How do we get that knowledge? By renewing our mind, by being taught by Him. And according, he said, to verse 3, "of his divine power"—the Holy Spirit—"who's given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness." There's no reason why you and I should not be living holy, godly lives, because He's given us everything that we

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• need. What we must do is discipline our minds, control our thoughts, and bring our thoughts and our lives into obedience and conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. You're not going to discipline your mind in one day, or one week, or one year. It is going to be a lifelong process until you die. You're going to have to fight every day. What did the Apostle Paul say in 1 Corinthians 9? "I die daily." Sometimes we have to die hourly. Sometimes minute by minute, moment by moment. But it is a fight to keep our minds disciplined.

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• I will tell you, once you learn these principles, it will get a little easier because you will do it without thinking about it once you get this mental memory. But it still will be a fight. You will still have to do it every day. We have to control our thoughts and control our minds so that we may live a holy, godly, obedient life. And then the peace of God that passeth all understanding is going to keep us because we'll be walking pleasing unto Him.

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• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And I ask, Lord, that You would help us and teach us. In Christ's name, Amen. Any questions or comments? All right, Frank, anybody on your end? Hi, Brother Andrew's asking why didn't the translators just use the word "since" in Philippians 4:8? The word "sense," S-E-N-S-E, you're talking about? Or "since," S-I-N-C-E?

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• Well, you gotta remember, back in those days, you could not get into college unless you could read, write, and speak Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. Everybody knew it back then, especially. When you stop and think about, I think it was Sam Adams, who graduated from the university at 14, and was sent as a diplomat to Russia at the age of 14. Those people, usually by the time three and four years old, they could speak, read, and write not only English, but Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. So, you know, most of those folks were scholars back then.

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• And of course, anybody with a Strong's lexicon or Strong's dictionary can look up all of these words and see them. Strong's and Young's will do the same thing. But yeah, but you know, everybody knew back then, 1611, when this was translated. By the way, I forget the man's first name, but his last name was Andrews. There's a wonderful book called "God's Secretaries." And the man who was the head of the translation team when the King James Bible was translated, he spoke, read, and wrote 21 different languages, and about 15 or 16 of them were dead languages. So I'm just simply saying, you need to read that book, "God's Secretaries."

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• It's astounding, the scholarship that those men had. That was commonplace back in those days. So it was basically the assumption that everybody could read Greek anyhow. But yeah, it's just like there's a lot of things in the Greek language there that we put our own interpretation upon because we are familiar with the word, but that does not mean that is what is meant by the particular word when it was in the Greek.

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• For instance, I'll give you a good illustration. Take the word "friend." So the word "friend" is basically from philos, which means a family or filial or love of the family, like that. So I could say, "Steve is a good friend, Clay is a good friend." I could say that. But you remember when Judas came up and betrayed our Lord with a kiss? Jesus looked at Judas and said, "Friend, betrayest thou me with a kiss?" The word "friend" was not philos. It was hetairos. The hetairos or the hetairai in the Greek culture were prostitutes. They were acquaintances, but they were not the wife. So our Lord looked at Judas and said, "Hetairos. You're an acquaintance. You're not a friend.

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• You've walked with me three years, but you don't really know me." So I mean, you know, there's just so much that we lose in English, but it's there in the Greek. And we just have to work it out slowly but surely. Yeah, you could see it in the context like that. We know, like in Spanish, the word for "yes" is sí. But sí can also be used for "if." Si quiere, like if you want something. And I remember reading in the Proverbs that there was the darkness, you know, with the young man that's tempted.

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• And he talks about the night. And in my Spanish translation, it talked about the noche in darkness, in tinieblas y oscuridad. It's like saying there's darkness of light, like physical darkness, and also spiritual darkness, like a depth of darkness. That's a fact. It seems that King James really understood the languages. Well, the first rule of hermeneutics—I say the first rule—the first way to consider Scripture is linguistically.

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• What does the word actually mean? And most people never take the time to look up the meaning of the words. But, you know, that's what Strong's is all about. Lexicons, Greek lexicons are there. Young's Dictionary is there. These words are easy to look up and easy to find out what they actually mean. So it's our laziness and our fact that we've never really been taught to study. It's what it amounts to. It's all part of the battle. Yep, that's a fact, all part of the battle, that's for sure.

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• Well, let's be dismissed in prayer. Father, thank You again for Your love, Your grace, and mercy. Help us to love Thee, Lord, and live for Thee and honor Thee. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

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• ♪

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:58:07Z