As a Man Thinketh in His Heart, So is He

(Think on these things)

As preached by Paul Brake at Kelowna Tabernacle

Today we are inundated with ideas and theologies and philosophies trying to
teach us how to think and behave. But we have been given the master theology
from God himself. I believe, as do all Christians, that the Bible is the perfect,
unfailing, inspired word of God. It does not contain all information or all
history but contains the essential elements for life. There is nothing needed
that has been left out, and nothing added that is not essential. That is why the
Bible tells us never to add to it, and never to take away from it. We need the
Bible, as it was written, in its entirety. It contains all that we need to live and
find salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the user manual for life.

And on that note I would like to take an admonishment from the Bible for a
text out of the book of Philippians.

Philippians 4:8 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, think on these things.

And may God add a blessing to the reading of His word.

Notice Pauls admonishment to us. He is telling us to consciously control our

thoughts. Not only is he telling us to control them but giving us a very specific
direction in which to think. And if the Bible tells us that we are to think on
these things, then by default are we not also supposed to avoid thinking the
opposite as well?

Look what he tells us to think on; true things, honest things, just things, pure
things, lovely things, things of a good report, things of virtue and praise. He is
telling us to think only on good things and to not think about bad things. This is
what we are told to think on. And everything God tells us if for a reason and for
our own good.

Now we have to ask ourselves some questions. Why? Why does Paul tell us to
get control of our thoughts and why is it so important what we think on? Why is
it essential to think only on good things? Why is it bad to think on the things
that are maybe not so good? What will happen if we do not think on good
things? Asking the right questions is the key to learning.

He is telling us to control our thoughts. We have to look a little deeper, to see

where our thoughts actually come from, what they are, what they do, and how

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they manifest themselves in our lives. We have all heard of positive thinking
and the power of positive thinking. We have heard of the placebo effect with
medicines, how someones belief in the medicine will affect the outcome of
taking the medicine. We have all heard how Olympic athletes will visualize
themselves performing their sports perfectly. Everything physical has a spiritual
counterpart. It is like the negative and positive of a picture.

So where do our thoughts come from? Did you ever stop to ask that question? It
will surprise some. Science will disagree completely with me here but I believe
what the Bible says above all.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any
two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart.

Did Paul say they were the thoughts and intents of the mind? He said they come
from the heart. That is where your thoughts come from. They come from your
heart, from inside. What dwells in your heart? A spirit dwells in each and every
human being. Your thoughts come from the spirit or spirits that dwell inside
you. Now this is not spiritualism. This is not voodoo, this is perfectly scriptural.
I know it seems strange to most, having never ventured into these waters, but
if you bear with me, I will show you by the grace of God through the Holy
Scriptures that it is perfectly so.

For some I would say it is starting to make a little sense now. The thoughts in
our heads come from our hearts. Every thought has its origins in the spiritual
realm before it ever enters the intellectual realm. We wrestle with them in our
minds but they come from our hearts, from spirits. And when we hear the Word
of God, it will expose our spirits by discerning our thoughts, which come out of
our hearts. When we hear the word of God, our spirit will either reject it or
accept it. That is why the John writes to try spirits with the word.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they
are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 hereby
know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is of God. 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist,
whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the
world. 4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because
greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

John doesnt tell us to try men, or to try preachers, but to try the spirits that
are in the men. In the fourth verse he plainly tells us in black and white that
we either have the spirit of God or the spirit of the world. Every man, woman
and child on this planet is possessed of a spirit. This is a big piece of meat and

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not for babies. We are either born again and possessed of the spirit of God, the
Holy Spirit, or we are not yet regenerated and possessed by the spirit of the
world, which is a devil.

So keeping this in mind, let us return to the idea of finding out where are
thoughts originate and how they function.

Matthew 15:18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth
from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies.

It is not out of the mouth, or out of the mind that thoughts originate, but of
the heart they come. Notice Jesus said they do come out of the mouth, but
before they can come out of the mouth, they must first be a thought and the
thoughts come from the heart.

This is a simple idea but some people have trouble grasping it. A word is a
thought expressed. When you speak a word, when I speak a word, when God
speaks a word, that word is the expression of a thought. The evil thoughts in
the heart, go to the mind where they are considered and either rejected or
embraced. And when we embrace evil thoughts they will conceive and bring
forth fruit; adulteries , murders etc. And when we embrace a thought, we are
embracing and give obedience to the spirit from which that thought originated.
When we reject a thought we are rejecting the spirit from which it came.

2 Corinthians 10: 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the
flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty though
God to the pulling down of strong holds:) 5 Casting down imaginations, and
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Amen? We do not war after the flesh. We are not warriors of guns and swords.
Our war is not in our body, but in our minds. The greatest battle ever fought is
in the human mind. It is the chosen place of battle. For there to be a war, the
two parties have to settle on a place to fight that war. There must be some
place where they can both come and both fight. The chosen place for spiritual
warfare is in the depths of every human mind. It is the no mans land of the
spirit realm.

God and Satan are facing off, and it is not in Armageddon, it is not in some
future battle or some historic epic, it is right inside of your head right now!
The greatest spiritual war ever fought is going on right inside of your mind,
right at this moment! You are hearing the Word of God anointed by the spirit of
God, and the devil is telling you just the opposite. The Holy Spirit is standing
right there pouring Himself out to you, offering you the gift of faith with the

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revelation of Jesus Christ and the devil is standing right beside Him pouring out
his unbelief at you. Right inside of your mind at this very moment you are going
to either receive or reject the Word of God. Right inside your mind you will
either receive or reject Jesus Christ. Right inside of your mind you will
determine your eternal destination, based on what you think.

That is quite the revelation in itself. Do you really understand what I just said?
Are you able to believe that? It is one of the most important revelations we can
receive, for if we do not know our enemy, and if we do not know where the
battle is being fought, then we will surely loose. Our battle is in our minds and
it is the battle of faith versus unbelief. It is the battle of good versus evil. It is
the battle of the Truth of God against the lies of Satan.

Why did the allies win in WWII? Did we have better guns? No. Did we have
better soldiers or better training than the Germans? Not even close. We won
the war simply because Germany did not know where the battle was to be
fought. Think about it. We were not winning WWII, we were losing and
suddenly in the end we won. We surprised them when we stormed the beaches
in France.

If they had known where the battle was being fought, they would have mowed
us down like grass. But we kept it from them, we hid it from their eyes, and
because they did not know where the battle was going to be fought they had no
resources, no plan, no strategy and no chance. And if we do not understand
where our battle is being fought today the devil with his inferior tactics, and
his inferior power, and his inferior weak lies will defeat us! WE HAVE TO KNOW
WHERE THE BATTLE IS BEING FOUGHT SO WE CAN COME AT THE DEVIL WITH
EVERYTHING GOD HAS GIVEN US! We cannot let down our guard for a moment.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of
his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto
you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand.

Having done all to stand. The devil will not let up so we must not let up
either. We must do ALL. The devil has wiles. Wiles: scheming, craftiness, lying
in wait. He will wait you out and when you least expect it he will attack. He
knows where you are strong, he knows where you are weak. You cannot fool
him, you have to stand with truth and faith. This whole world is ruled by
darkness. The devil is not only the spirit of the world, but the Bible calls him
the god of this evil world. He rules the politics, he rules the philosophies, he
rules the religions.

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Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness; 15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 and take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Sprit, which is the word of God.

Do you recognize it? That is our first scripture. Whatsoever is true, righteous,
lovely etc. The battleground is in our minds and we have been given the
weaponry and the armour to win. But if we either dont recognize the enemy,
dont recognize the battle, or fail to use our weapons, then we will surely
loose. The devil will never give up. He has an appointed end, and until that day
arrives he will fight tooth and nail. Even though he lost the battle 2000 years
ago on Calvary, he will fight and fuss to the very bitter end.

But we do not have to lose. We are not in darkness. We have been given the
light of the hour. In this day the entire written Bible has been revealed for us.
And the Bible not only tells us of God but it also tells us the devils tactics in
detail. It shows us how he attacked Job. It shows us how he attacked Eve. It
shows us how he attacked Jesus. It shows us every move the devil makes and
how to overcome them. We have the devils playbook. We know his tricks. And
not only that, but Jesus has already won the victory for us. We are fighting
against a defeated enemy. We cannot lose because we have already won in
Christ Jesus. When we are born again we are already victorious and sitting in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Can you imagine if you were a boxer going into a title fight against the
champion and you walk into a boxing ring to find your opponent has already
been beaten up and knocked out and all you have to do is stand there for the
count of ten? That is the case here. Jesus beat up and knocked out the devil
2000 years ago and He told us in Ephesians that all we have to do is put on the
armour, the spiritual boxing gloves and stand. Thats all, just stand. Stand on
what? Stand on the word of God. Stand on Gods promises. No matter what the
devil says, no matter what the physical evidence seems to say, no matter what
the doctors diagnosis says, no matter what you pastor or church say, no
matter what I say, stand upon what Jesus Christ says and you have already won
the victory.

It is all in our minds. It depends on our attitudes. What we think and believe
will determine the battle. And what we truly believe is what we will act on.
That is another important point. It is easy to subscribe to a theology or
doctrine, or to profess a belief, but it is when the rubber hits the road that you
will find out what you truly believe. There is where your trials come in to play.
Do you believe in divine healing of Jesus Christ? Get sick and find out. Do you
believe that he is your provider? Go broke and find out. Our trials, and more
importantly our actions and reactions to those trials, will show us what we
truly believe.

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Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

We saw earlier that a word is a thought expressed. So we need our thoughts to

come to fruition, to be expressed. That is where they get their power. As long
as God was just thinking about light, there was total darkness. But when God
spoke the word, let there be light, then the thought of God, expressed as a
word, brought forth the light in power. So to we must overcome in our minds
and bring forth the expression of our thought. We believe in our hearts and
then in our minds we claim that belief and manifest it in our words, and by our
words, the confession of our lips, our belief brings forth salvation. Jesus said if
we would confess Him before men then He would also confess us before God,
but if we deny Him before men then He would deny us before God as well.
Again the Bible says that all those who cry out in the name of the Lord shall be
saved.

In Hebrews Paul calls Jesus the high priest of our profession. Not of our belief,
but of our profession. We must not only have the thought, we must express
that thought.

Luke 6: 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of things men do not
gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 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 bringeth forth that which is evil: for
of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

It is not out of the abundance of our minds, but of our hearts that we speak.
When we believe the word of God we will confess it with our lips. When we
disbelieve the word of God we will also confess that with our lips.

Our thoughts both reflect, and effect, our faith. They show where our faith
stands and determine whether our faith is increasing or decreasing.

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing the word of God.

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Not by hearing dogma. Not be hearing
church creeds. Not by hearing philosophy. Not even by hearing testimonies. But
faith comes only by hearing the word of God.

What happens when we hear the word of God? It goes into our mind. It goes
into the battlefield. The words you are hearing right now are going into battle
in your mind. It all depends on what you do with them. Will you receive them
and accept them and believe them? Then you will increase in faith. Will you
reject them, disbelieve them, deny them, argue against them? Then you will
decrease in faith. There is no standing still with God. We are always thinking

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something so we either move forward or backward but we are always moving.
The battle never stops. We win or we loose but we never get to step out of the
battle. Look at what the Apostle and Prophet wrote about himself:

Romans 7: 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present
with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see
another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man
that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Paul was constantly warring in his mind. There are two opposing forces, one of
good and one of evil warring in his mind. The devil will play to your flesh, to
the lusts thereof but the Holy Spirit will deal with your soul, with its needs.
And when you are a Christian, the two forces will war in your mind day and
night. We are soldiers of the cross. And the two forces will have two conflicting
thoughts for you to deal with, one of faith in Gods word, and one of disbelief
in Gods word. And we have the right and the power to decide which thoughts
we will reject and which ones we will accept. God granted us free moral
agency, the right to choose.

Lets take Abraham. Abraham fought a great war of faith. His fight of faith was
so great that he is called the father of faith. A great war indeed. Here was a
man a hundred years old. He had been given a promise by God that he would
have a child by his 90 year old, barren, wife. And here it was 25 years after he
had been given the promise, getting older and weaker by the moment, and he
was still fighting a war of faith for the promise had not yet been fulfilled. But
what does the Bible say of him?

Romans 4: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief: but

was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 and being fully persuaded that,
what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

He staggered not through unbelief. He fought a battle in his mind. And a great
battle it was. How would we fair in his shoes I wonder? A hundred years old and
his wife 90, older and weaker by the day and still believing a 25 year old
promise that he was going to have a child. He fought that battle every day and
every night for 25 years. Do you think the devil gave him a day off? Would the
devil say oh Abraham I have been at your heels for a few years, I think I will
give you a holiday and leave you in peace for a few weeks? NEVER! Day and
night, wake or sleep the devil was attacking Abraham in his mind telling him
that it was impossible, that God had forgotten about him, that God didnt want
him anymore, that he went too far and was out of the will of God and lost
salvation and his promise. Daily and nightly this went on. And Abraham was up
to the fight. He did not back down. He had on the whole armour of God.

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And when Abraham finally got his son what did God do? He sent him right back
into battle. He told Abraham now that you got him, I want you to sacrifice him
to me. Could we do that this morning? Abraham was up to the task for he was
persuaded that the same God who gave him a son from the dead could raise his
son up from the dead as well.

And Abraham was so filled with the spirit of God that not only did he overcome
the devil in battle, but he also prophesied of Christ in the process. He said
God will provide a lamb for the sacrifice and there was a ram in the bushes.
Not a lamb but a ram. Abraham did not just prophesy that God would bring an
animal, he prophesied that God would send Jesus, the lamb of God for the
sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice for all sin, for all men, forever.

God is the victory giver. He is the overcomer. We just have to take Him at His
word the way Abraham did. We just have to fight and win our mental battle.

So how did Abraham overcome? What did he use? Abraham decided to

consciously control his thoughts and to think only of the good things. Both good
and evil thoughts were presented to him. He could either believe God or reject
the Word of God. He decided to think only of that which was true, that which
was holy, that which was righteous. He consciously rejected every doubt
presented by Satan. He consciously accepted all faith presented by God.

And we should point out here that it is not logic, or intellectualizing, or how
smart you are, or your education, or what church you go to, or that we have to
figure things out. It is simply a matter of accepting one thought over another.
Wisdom, earthly wisdom, actually gets in the way. That is the devils trick. He
used it on Eve, he will use it on you. Earthly carnal wisdom is not of God.

What was Eves mistake? She was deceived. She had two thoughts, one from
God, and one from the devil. The devils thoughts played to the lust of her
flesh. In her mind was a battle. On the one hand God said if you eat you will
die. On the other hand the devil said, you wont really die physically, but it
will be a death of your ignorance and you will be wise like God. How long did
this battle rage? We are not told. But what we are told is that Eve decided to
reject the Word of God and believe the devils lie over God. It was her decision
as to which thought she was to think. She decided to think the devils thoughts.
And that is where she actually fell.

We this morning have two sets of thoughts going into our mind. We too have to
decide which thoughts we are going to think. And like I said earlier, when we
accept the thought, we become obedient to both the thought and to the spirit
from whence it came. This is a critical point.

Romans 8: 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;
but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally

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minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 because the
carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.

The mind, the thoughts of the mind determine us. To be spiritually minded is
life and peace. To be spiritually minded is to have spiritual thoughts, or more
precisely thoughts from the Holy Spirit. To be carnally minded is to have carnal
thoughts. And the carnal thoughts are an enemy against God. Carnal thoughts
disbelieve the Word of God. Carnal thoughts deny the power of God. Carnal
thoughts build our pride. Carnal thoughts play to the lusts of our flesh. Carnal
thoughts come from the devil. By our thoughts we decide whom we serve. If we
embrace the thoughts of God we are serving God, but if we embrace the
thoughts of the devil we are serving the devil.

Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness: 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the
servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine
which was delivered you.

Whom do you obey? Notice the use of the personal pronoun, whom. He does
not say what you obey, as of a thing, but whom as of a person. Unbelief leads
unto death. What does it mean to obey unbelief? It is simply to believe and
accept the devils lie. When we obey an idea we are obeying the author of that
idea, and when we reject and idea we are rejecting the author of that idea as
well. And the authors of all ideas are spirits.

To obey righteousness is to accept the word of God, for we are told that we
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that was delivered us by the
apostles. So to believe the Word of God is to obey God and to disbelieve it is to
obey the devil. And we fight the battle in our minds and when we have made
our decision on what to believe, we open our heart to it and it enters in. Amen?
When we make our decision on what we are going to believe, we open our
heart to it and both the thought and the author, the spirit, of the thought
enter in.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The words that Jesus spoke are both spirit and life. When we receive them,
when we decide within our minds that we are going to believe them, those
words and the spirit from whence they came enter into us. It is when we
decide to believe the word of God that we become servants of righteousness. It
is when we reject the word of God that we become servants of unbelief,
servants of sin, servants of the devil. Everyone that rejects the revealed word
of God for the hour is a servant of the devil.

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Now that also brings the topic of interpretation of the Word of God. We can
settle that right quick.

2 Peter 1: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any

private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The first one to interpret the Word was the devil in Eden. We find the devil
interpreting the word to Jesus after his forty day fast as well. All private
interpretations are demonic. God interprets his own word by bringing it to
pass. It is as it is written, and it means what it says. We do not need to
interpret a single word. The Bible interprets itself, word upon word, line upon
line, precept upon precept, here a little there a little.

Every denomination has its own interpretation of the scriptures and every
single one of them is wrong. The moment we try to interpret that is the
moment we fall away. We interpret because we do not believe it as it is
written. Or more to the point we do not believe.

The battle rages on. We hear the word of God the same as the world does but
to us it is eternal life, peace and hope. The difference is that when we hear it
we decide to believe it. We decide that the word of God is true. We accept
what we hear, the way we hear it, and when we do it goes into our hearts. And
more importantly when we accept the word of God, we also receive the Spirit
of God into our hearts.

When an unbeliever hears the word of God he decides that it is not true. He
either rejects it flatly, or puts his own twist on it to make it fit his fleshly lusts.
That is interpretation. An interpreted word is a lie. When the unbeliever
hears the word of God he rejects truth, rejects faith, and accepts unbelief of
the word and the unbelief, along with the spirit of unbelief which is a devil,
enters his heart.

Hebrews 4: 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but
the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them
that heard it.

The unbelievers and make believers heard the very same words that the
believers heard. It is the same today. The difference is that the unbelievers
rejected the word and did not believe it as truth. The unbelievers prefer a lie
over the truth.

When we hear the word of God, it corrects us, shows us the right way. In order
to accept the truth we have to admit that we are wrong in the first place. We
have to be humble and teachable to receive the truth. If we are proud and
cannot admit our faults, cannot receive correction, then we have to reject the

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word of God. We then will gladly accept the lies of the devil because he will
tell us exactly those things that our proud, carnal, lustful flesh wants to hear.

Look at Cain and Abel for an example. They both heard the same message from
the same prophet, Adam. They both went to church to worship. They both had
altars and brought sacrifices. But they had different thoughts. Abels thoughts
were in line with Gods thoughts and Cains were not. Then even when God
went to Cain to straighten him up, and God spoke to Cain lip to ear and told
him the truth, Cain decided to reject Gods words and instead accept the
devils thoughts. The devil is a murderer and his thoughts are murderous. When
Cain accepted the devils thoughts he fulfilled the devils lusts by murdering
his own twin brother.

Whose thoughts are we accepting? Are we accepting Gods thoughts this

morning? Are you accepting the Word of God or rejecting it. If youve gotten
this far I am thinking you are accepting it. What is in your mind right now? The
battle is raging, whose thoughts are you going to accept? Who are you allowing
into your heart? Are you going to accept the Holy Spirit or Satan?

Hebrews 9: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God?

We are not just freed from the guilt of sin but the blood of Christ will actually
purge your conscience. It will utterly clean you out. It will take away the desire
for dead works, for the lies of the devil and for fleshly things of this world. It
will give us victory over the battle in our minds. We have overcoming power in
Christ Jesus that did not exist before the crucifixion. They used to sin, and
then bring sacrifices and then go back to sin. But we have the opportunity to
receive Jesus himself into our hearts. We have the opportunity given to us to
receive both the spirit and the mind of Jesus Christ. And it is that mind of
Christ, that holy mind in us that will give us victory over our thoughts so that
we can freely choose to believe the word of God.

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient.

Here in Romans Paul is discussing a lot of bad things done by people. And he
gives the cause as well. They did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
They did not like the thoughts of God and rejected them. When they heard the
word of God, they rejected that word. And because they did God gave them
over to a reprobate mind. Their minds were reprobate. And because their
minds, and thus their thoughts, were reprobate, they performed all the
disgusting evil acts spoken of in that chapter.

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If, however, we have the mind of Christ then we will think his thoughts. We
will believe his words. We will overcome in the battle. And it is a promise to
every Christian. And it is only for the Christian, only for the predestinated
seed. It is only by the Holy Spirit that we can know these things, and only by
the Holy Spirit through revelation that we can believe them. Without revelation
we will never understand the things of God. And if we choose to disbelieve
them, we will never get revelation.

When Jesus told the people to eat his flesh and drink his blood the apostles did
not know what he meant, but they chose in their minds to believe his words
regardless. Not knowing the revelation they believed the words and because
they chose to believe him, they were later given the revelation that he was
speaking of the Lords Supper.

1 Corinthians 2: 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to
us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which mans wisdom
teachet, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he
himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that
he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Do I hear an AMEN?

Are we receiving this morning? Are we choosing to believe the word of God or
are we passing it off as foolishness? Are we thinking Gods thoughts or the
thoughts of the devil? The devil will surely in telling you his thoughts too, but
which thoughts are you choosing to believe? Do you believe this word? That is
God. Do you understand this word that you are hearing? That is God, for
without revelation from God you would not understand a single thing I am
writing. If you are not called for eternal life then you will believe that
everything I am telling you is pure foolishness.

2 Thessalonians 2: 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them

that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might
be saved. 11 and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie; 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Reject the word of God, decide not to believe it and you will believe any lie
that comes your way. If we decide to believe the truth, the Word of God, and
we think the thoughts of God, then God will reveal that word to us by his Holy
Spirit. But if we reject it, consider it foolishness, decide not to believe it, then

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we will be completely blinded to it and in total darkness we will gladly receive
any lie the devil feeds us.

In the Old Testament we are told of the feast of Jubilee. Every fifty years they
had a celebration and one of the activities was the freeing of slaves. If you
were a slave at Jubilee, when they blew the trumpet, you could go free. But if
you preferred to be a slave, then your master would take you to the gate of the
city and pierce your ear with an awl and you would be a slave to him for all
eternity.

2000 years ago Jesus paid the price for our deliverance. Today when we hear
the gospel trumpet proclaiming our freedom we can walk free from the slavery
of the devil. But if we reject that trumpet then the devil will pierce our ear
and we will become deaf to the truth and no matter how many times that
gospel trumpet blows in our ears, we will be reject it in favour of the devils
lies. That is the strong delusion. When we reject the word of God, the trumpet
of salvation, we become deaf and blind to the word of God. We will not be able
to discern right from wrong. We will look at a scripture written simply in black
and white and not get it. That is why no church baptizes according to Acts 2:38
any more, they have rejected the truth and been pierced.

The religious world rejected Luthers message and went off into a catholic
apostasy. When the Lutherans rejected Wesleys message they too went off
into a catholic apostasy. And on up it went to where you can hardly tell the
difference between a Pentecostal and a catholic today. And if we reject the
message to this hour, we too shall surely fall victim. Perusia. Return ministry.
Seven thunders. How many others are out there today?

Get back to the word. We have to keep our minds on the word thinking Gods
thoughts with the mind of Christ.

Our thoughts determine both our words and our actions. Proverbs 23:7 tells us,
that as a man thinketh in his heart so is he. Remember where the thoughts
come from and where they go to. The thoughts in our minds that we decide to
think about go straight to our hearts along with the authors of those thoughts.

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they
received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures
daily, whether those things were so.

Can we say this about ourselves today? I surely hope so and I trust that I can. I
do believe that we all are receiving the word of God with readiness of mind,
choosing to believe what God has said. And I trust that everyone reading here
will search these scriptures and make sure that what I have said is indeed
Bible.

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So I have mentioned the thoughts of God. Lets find out what the thoughts of
God are concerning us so that we can think His thoughts. I am not talking about
major doctrines right now like baptism and the godhead. Well hunt lions later
but this morning lets hunt foxes. The little foxes spoil the vine. The daily
thoughts in our heads spoil our vine and sour our fruit.

What is our daily attitude like? It is easy, maybe to be up on Sundays and

Wednesday evenings, but what about all the other times? What will our
thoughts be on Monday morning? Tuesday at lunch? Will we be thinking Gods
thoughts? Will we be completely immersed in the things of the world? Will we
have forgotten this sermon? These are questions we need to ask ourselves and
answer. We need to search ourselves, to examine ourselves whether or not we
are in the faith.

It all comes down to attitude. What is our attitude, towards the word of God in
particular and life in general? Have you ever been around a complainer? No
matter what is going on they will find something wrong with it, something to
whine about. They depress you and sap the life from you. It is a spirit. That
same spirit will talk to you to. That same spirit comes to all of us and points
out what is wrong. He has already told you what is wrong with this sermon,
what is wrong with the way I am speaking, what is wrong with my suit, what is
wrong with the scriptures I have used, what was wrong with the song service,
what is wrong with the way the benches are placed in the church. He will find
something wrong with everything and point it out to us. But our attitude will
make the difference. Our attitude will determine which thoughts we will
embrace, and which ones we will reject.

We as Christians need to have the attitude that the Bible is our absolute and
every word is true. Then we need to act on that thought. We need to claim
every promise in the Bible as our own. Regardless of what the physical
circumstances seem to be, we as children of God have a right and a duty to
stand upon the revealed word of God. We have an inheritance in Christ Jesus
and since it is by his grace and not of ourselves it does not matter how
unworthy we are, we still have full right and access to it. We are not saved
because we were worthy but because He IS worthy. He overcame death, hell
and the grave for us and we have free access to the holiest of holies today. He
is our perfect, unblemished sacrifice. We are not covered by our own dirty
blood, but by the holy, perfect blood of Jesus Christ.

What are the thoughts of God towards us? What is the mind of Christ?

The Bible says that we are overcomers! The Bible says that we are more than
conquerors through Christ Jesus! The Bible says that we are saved! The Bible
says that we are healed! The Bible says that we are delivered! The Bible says
that all of our sins, past, present and future are forgiven! The Bible says that
we are sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus! The Bible says that we are the

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elected lady, the Bride of Jesus Christ, the predestinated children of God! The
Bible says that we have eternal life! The Bible says that God will rapture us
before the tribulation falls! The Bible says the dead in Christ shall raise first,
incorruptible, and then we who remain will be changed in the twinkling of an
eye and be caught up to meet them in the air.

The devil will tell you contrary stories. He will tell you that the signs and
wonders were just for the apostles. He will tell you that we dont need divine
healing because we have medicine now. He will tell you that the days of
miracles have passed.

Who are you going to listen to? Are you going to listen to the devil? NO! Rebuke
him! The Bible says resist the devil and he shall flee from you. Resist the devil
with the Word of God just as Jesus did in the desert. You are an overcomer!
You have the victory.

When the devil tells you that you are sick, rebuke him. The Bible says that by
His stripes I am healed. Oh, but you feel sick. I am healed! But you have
swelling and pain. I am healed! But the doctors have given it a name, and
its a bad one because you cant even pronounce it. I am Healed. Get thee
behind me satan! By His stripes I am healed.

You have sinned and God hates you. All my sins are in the sea of Gods
forgetfulness! I am covered by the blood of the lamb! You are serpents
seed. If I was serpents seed I would not even believe in serpents seed
doctrine in the first place! Get thee hence Satan you are defeated, you are
exposed, you are a liar and Gods truth has exposed you as a fraud.

The devil is a liar. Everything he tells you is a lie. The mere fact that he is
bothering you and telling you these lies is the proof that you are a child of God.
The devil never bothers those in the world, he already got them. He wants you
and he comes to meet you in the battlefield of the human mind. Our defense is
the word of God. Our defense is to control our thoughts, to reject the lies of
the devil and to cling to and claim the promises of God.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Do you get it? So what are we going to
think about from now on?

Philippians 4:8 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, think on these things.

And let us close with one final thought to add to this scripture.

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Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Think on these things.

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