Think What to Do, Do What You Think - Part A

My thought life is attached to the rest of my life.

Whatever it is that you think on is what you will eventually do. So that good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit, and guess what? You're the gardener.

You're the one doing the planting. And we've noticed that the Book of Philippians is a book about joy, but this is all part of it. If you're going to have a joyful life, you're going to need a joyful thought life. That's where it all begins. It's been said that the Christian life is a battleground, and the battle begins in the mind.

Your thoughts inevitably influence your actions. Connect with Skip Heitzig today as he shares practical insight to help you manage your thoughts carefully and according to God's truth. Right now, we want to tell you about a resource that shines important light onto what's happening in the Middle East. New York Times bestselling author, Joel Rosenberg, is now based in Jerusalem, and he's releasing the new nonfiction book, Enemies and Allies.

I've traveled with Joel to Middle East cities to meet with kings and crown princes. We sat together on the east lawn of the White House for the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, and I previewed his new book, Enemies and Allies. I can tell you it contains never before published quotes from behind closed door meetings with some of the most powerful and mysterious leaders in the Middle East. You will want to read this book. Enemies and Allies by Joel Rosenberg includes insights and analysis from the author's conversations with some of the most controversial leaders in the world.

This is the first book of its kind. Almost nobody's ever had that chance to not just meet one of these major leaders, but to meet almost all of them, and then to get to tell the story in first-person language, come with me into the palace, into the motorcading, and come meet the most interesting, consequential, and controversial leaders in the entire Middle East. Enemies and Allies by Joel Rosenberg includes insights and analysis from the author's conversations with some of the most controversial leaders in the world. We'll send you a hardcover copy of Enemies and Allies as thanks for your gift of $35 or more.

To give, visit connectwithskipp.com or call 800-922-1888. Now, as we join Skip Heitzig for today's teaching, we're in Philippians Chapter 4. When I was in grade school, my teachers used a phrase, and I bet yours did too, and that is your thinking cap. You ever say that? You ever say, okay, kids, put your thinking caps on. And I remember when my teacher said that, she meant, or he meant, I need your attention, class. I really want you to process through what I'm about to tell you. But you know, that's a figure of speech, but I remember thinking, would it be great if there was such a thing as an actual thinking cap so that when you lose your way or you need wisdom, you just put the cap on and you're good to go.

Of course, it doesn't really work that way. Henry Ford said, thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably why so few engage in it. Now, the human mind is amazing. You're capable of logical thought. You're capable of abstract reasoning, deductive analysis. Your mind can emote.

You can have emotions from joy to sorrow, from confidence to fear, and every emotion in between. Back in the 1600s, a philosopher named Rene Descartes gave a little philosophical postulate that he spoke in Latin, a very common language at the time. And when I say it, you'll recognize it, many of you. Cognito ergo sum, which means I think, therefore I am. Cognito ergo sum, I think, therefore I am. The point of that little saying is that we validate our own existence by the very fact that we can produce thoughts. So if you're ever in doubt, am I real?

Is this real? I am thinking. I think, therefore I am. Now Paul wouldn't disagree with that, but Paul wouldn't stop there either. Paul the Apostle would have said, okay, but I think, therefore I do. That is, my thought life is attached to the rest of my life.

Whatever it is that you think on is what you will eventually do. So that good thoughts bear good fruit. Bad thoughts bear bad fruit. And guess what? You're the gardener.

You're the one doing the planting. And we've noticed that the book of Philippians is a book about joy, but this is all part of it. If you're gonna have a joyful life, you're gonna need a joyful thought life. That's where it all begins. So a few years back, 15 college professors were given a challenge. And the challenge was simply this. If you could take all the books on the art of moving people into action, if they were condensed into one brief statement, what would that statement be? So they took the challenge. They thought of all the famous books on getting people motivated, moving them into action, and coming up with just a short statement.

This is what they said. What the mind attends to, it considers. What the mind does not attend to, it dismisses. What the mind attends to continually, it believes. And what the mind believes, it eventually does.

So they knew that if you can get a group of people or a person to think long enough about something to where they actually believe in that something, then you can motivate them to do something. With that as a background, we look at verse 8 and verse 9 of Philippians 4. Finally, brethren. Some of us are so happy to see that word finally, because it means Paul is almost done with this letter.

Finally means the rest or the things that remain. He's tying up some loose ends, some extra thoughts that sum up what he has been saying in this book. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Now, there's a definite structure to these two verses, linguistically, and I know most people aren't excited about linguistic analysis, but let me just point something out. What you have in these two verses are two different lists of things attached to a main clause. A single verb drives each verse. The verb in verse 8 is the verb meditate or think, ponder, think on these things. That's the first important verb. Followed by verse 9, the main verb is do.

These do. So meditate first or think first and then do second. Isn't it amazing how consistent the Bible is in describing how that our thoughts produce actions, that what we think drives what we do?

So here's an example. Jesus taught often on humility to his disciples, but then one night at the Last Supper, he got up, washed their feet. They were all a little bit dumbfounded by this. And then he said to them, if you know these things, happy are you if you do them. Knowing is one thing, taking the knowledge into action is quite another. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.

Here's another example. When Paul writes, his writing style typically is to give knowledge first, application second. Think on this, now do this. Best example, Romans, the book of Romans. He spends 11 chapters telling us what we should know, how we should think about God, about sin, about the world, about us. And then finally, in chapter 12 verse 1, he writes, I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

So you've thought about this, now do that. He also follows that in the book of Ephesians, chapters one through three. Paul writes about what we have, all the wealth we have in Christ, who we are in him. Then in chapter four, therefore I beseech you walk worthy of the calling you have received. So you see, there's always this relationship between knowing and doing, between doctrine and duty, between living and learning.

We learn and then we live it out. So what I want to do in these two verses is show you three simple things, three ways that we ought to think. We ought to think carefully, we ought to think righteously, we ought to think actively.

Let's say all those. We should think carefully, we should think righteously, and we should think actively. So we've engaged the mind, we're all on the same page.

Now let's explore. I want to draw your attention again in verse 8 to that main clause I told you about. It's at the end of verse 8 in my translation. It says, meditate on these things.

Here's the deal. Our minds can go in a million different directions, therefore we have to be very careful about what we are going to let it ponder, concentrate on. Now look at the word meditate. Some translations just say think on these, or ponder these things.

Now the word meditate, I'm going to tell you the word in Greek and you're going to listen to it and you're going to tell me what it sounds like in English. Logizomai sounds like logic. That is where we get our word logic.

Logizomai means to think, logizomai means to think logically or to concentrate logically. The idea is to reason logically so that your actions are based on carefully thought out principles. Do you know according to scripture, thinking is paramount? Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, in Proverbs 23 says, for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. For years people have noted that we are what we think and I agree with that. What you think about you, what you think about God, what you think about the world around you, what you think about sex, what you think about homosexuality, what you think about politics, all the things that you can think about in the end really define who you are.

That is what you are. You are the sum of your thoughts. People's lives are the product of people's thoughts. You remember when Jesus said in Mark 7, for what comes out of a man, that defiles him. Listen to a little more of that.

I'll read a little more of what he said. This is in the New Living Translation. Jesus speaking, it is the thought life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these vile things come from within.

They are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God. You know, that's the negative. The positive, the reverse is also true. Point being, people's doings are just the result of people's thinkings. We do what we think. Now, in the Bible, God actually commands us to think. Isaiah chapter 1, verse 18, come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. I've always thought that Christians ought to be great thinkers.

And I admire when I find one who is. Unfortunately, for some of us, our brain cells are seriously under exercised. And partially that's because some people's view of spirituality is not intellectual. It's just mystical. It's not if you know the truth. In fact, if you know the truth, you're sort of placed on the second or third shelf. Oh, it's more than just head knowledge. It's one thing to know something, and it's true, but for so many people, it's all about the mystical experience, the deeper life. Well, you might know things, but if you experience the deeper life, I'm all about the deeper life, but some people who are after the deeper life have gone off the deeper end.

A.W. Tozer put it this way, aimless activity is beneath the worth and dignity of a human being. The great weight of exhortation these days is in the direction of zeal and activity. Let's get going, is the favorite watchword for gospel workers, with the result that everyone feels ashamed to sit down and think. Jesus said to the lawyer, you shall love the Lord your God you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Jesus also said, learn of me. Peter wrote and said, grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hosea the prophet cried out, my people perish for lack of knowledge, not lack of zeal, lack of knowledge. All of that to say this, it's okay to think as a Christian.

We don't put a sign out in the foyer that says, check brains here before entering. No, we want your mind fully engaged, where you wrestle with, turn things around, question, ponder, resolve, all of that. I remember when I first came to faith, my college professors and my medical professors, very few of them, if any, really had a relationship or interest in the things of God. And so I was challenged quite a bit daily. And I had a struggle in my faith, I had a crisis of faith.

And I really didn't know what to do or where to go. I found a book that changed my life called Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. It just got reprinted last month, new edition. Evidence that Demands a Verdict was all about the evidences that substantiate the Christian faith. And I read this book, I internalized this book, I memorized sections of that book. But one of the first things that I found in the book when I opened it up, said this, the heart cannot rejoice in what the mind cannot accept.

And I thought, I found gold. This is a book encouraging me to think actively and to reason logically with these truths. And by the way, if you were to look back at the major revivals in past history, you will find that knowledge is at the center of those revivals.

One of the key factors that is in common with every great revival of the past is there's an emphasis on biblical doctrine and theology and exposition of the Scripture. So there's a battle for your mind today, which means you and I, we ought to think carefully, logically, meditate on these things. That's one. That's the first way to think. Second, not just think carefully, not just think carefully, but think righteously. Paul didn't just say, think, therefore you are. He says, let me tell you what to think about. Here's the parameters of godly thinking.

And he lists six things. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report or good repute, some translations say, if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. All of that to say, think righteously. Hey, guess how many thoughts you have every day? You might say, well, not many.

Truth is, you have many. Neuroscientists say the average person thinks 70, that's seven zero thousand, 70,000 thoughts every single day. 70,000. You think 70,000 thoughts, which means in a year's time, you will have produced 25.5 million thoughts.

So that's a lot of options, right? We're bombarded with a lot of thoughts. So we need to not just think, but harness those thoughts. As the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10, we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Or listen to what Paul said in Romans 8, those who live according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh.

Those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. Now, notice the list in verse 8, whatever things are pure, whatever things are noble, et cetera. He lists six things, all of which basically say the same thing. All of those words describe righteous thinking. In other words, true things are noble, noble things are just, just things are pure, pure things are lovely. It's all sort of a one-off describing the same thing, thinking righteously.

Here's the point. Don't you think that we need to be vigilant about what input we allow into our minds in terms of what we see and what we hear? Now, some will say, well, as I see it, I can just put whatever, because he says whatever six times. He says whatever things are pure, whatever things are noble.

And some people have gotten hung up on that word whatever. Like Paul isn't considering this source. He's being very indiscriminate as to what you allow yourself to think on. But I would debate that and say, when Paul says whatever things, he just says, if you look at the gamut of all the possible thoughts that can come into your head, find whatever thoughts fit these categories. Moreover, in verse 9, you will notice that he says these are the qualities he taught and he lived by himself. These things which you have learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do.

And the God of peace will be with you. So all of the things that he mentions in the eighth verse as parameters of thinking, all of these are found in the scriptures. And it could be that Paul is saying let the Bible govern righteous thinking. And the reason I say that is because I'm going to read to you a little portion of Psalm 19 and listen to how close one sounds to the other.

Psalm 19, I'm beginning in verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are just or right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Sounds very similar to the description of Paul in Philippians. He's saying think righteously.

So look at a few of these things. Whatever things are true. Now wouldn't you agree that one of the great commodities of God is truth? That he is the God of all truth? Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life.

When Jesus prayed in the garden he said sanctify them father by your truth. Your word is truth. So God specializes in truth. So think about what is true and you'll find that in his word.

And I'll tell you why this is important. You and I live in a world where people say there's no such thing as empirical truth. There's no such thing as absolute truth. Truth is relative. Your truth may not be my truth, right? So we're exposed to that sort of thinking. That's why we need a constant exposure and injection of God's truth.

So that we're able to discern what is right and what is wrong. And it's even more important these days because a generation has arisen where honestly truth isn't all that important. Feelings trump truth. To a whole new generation it's not about is this true or not true. It's how does that make you feel? See if it makes you feel good that's your truth. If it doesn't make you feel good then it's not your truth.

And have you heard this? Well what should I do? Well just follow your heart. Just follow your heart. Now that little bit of pop psychology might sound really noble but that is like the worst piece of advice ever in history.

Follow your heart. And here's why. The Bible says the heart is deceitful above everything else and desperately wicked.

Who can know it? So if you're driven by your emotional feelings at the time it might feel good temporarily but eventually you might go off the deep end. So meditate on righteous truth.

That's Skip Heitig with a message from his series Technicolor Joy. Right now a trip to Israel is a life changer. Your Bible study will never be the same. Skip has lived in Israel and led tours many many times. Here he is to invite you on his next tour. You know there's always something new to see an experience in Israel and I'm so excited to let you know that I'm taking another tour group to Israel next spring in 2022. You're in for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture that's so unique to that country. We'll start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. We'll spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the Temple Mount, Calvary, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives and much more. This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study and lots of fellowship. Now I've been to Israel a number of times over the years and I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the scriptures unfolded where Jesus lived, taught and healed, it just never gets old. I can't wait to see you on the it just never gets old. I can't wait to see you in Israel. Start planning and saving now to tour Israel with Skip Heising. Information at inspirationcruises.com slash c-a-b-q. That's inspirationcruises.com slash c-a-b-q. Tune in tomorrow as Skip Heising shares how godly thoughts lead to godly actions and how you can actively cultivate those thoughts every day. Connect with Skip Heising is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.