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University SDA Church- East Lansing

Think On These Things

David Shin

Think on These Things- Part 1

Think on These Things- Part 2

Think on These Things- Part 3

Our Father in Heaven, we are thankful for this opportunity that we have to come apart from the cares of this life and the busyness of this week and to pause for a few moments as we reflect, as we consider and contemplate heavenly truths.

And we pray that You would speak through me this morning.

You know my faults, and I thank You that You have chosen the foolishness of preaching.

I pray that You'd hide me behind the cross and may Christ be uplifted, for we ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen." Today, we're beginning a new series of messages, a three-part series of messages that we've entitled Think on These Things.

We're going to be thinking about thinking, the relationship of the Christian experience and the thoughts of the Christian experience as well.

And I want to invite you, if you have not already, to turn with me in your Bibles to our scripture reading, Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8.

This is 1 of the Bible texts that I have put to my memory, and I'll be honest with you that this was a challenging sermon, and I was, in the beginning of this week, tempted to change topics because there's something about a verse, when it's so familiar, I'm thinking, I don't have anything to preach about because everyone knows what this verse is saying in Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 and before we get to the heart of it this text comes from a book or a letter written by Paul while he was in prison to the church at Philippi.

Now if I was a prisoner in a jail cell on death row, I'll tell you that my letter would be tempted to be written in a very melancholy mood.

You know, I don't know when I'm going to get out of here.

It would be very melancholy, depressing, and so forth.

But this letter is unique in that it is 1 of the most optimistic, joyful, upbeat letters.

You wouldn't know that he was in prison, aside from the historical context and the content of the letter itself.

And in Philippians chapter 4, he says things like, rejoice in the Lord, how many times?

He says, I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

He talks about the mind of Christ in Philippians 2, the attitude, the mindset of the Christian, and he ends on a joyful note.

And in Philippians chapter 4, verse 8, the Bible says, I'll be reading from the Pew Bible, 1351.

Finally, brethren, scholars say that the word finally can also mean in summary, in conclusion.

Finally, brethren, he's talking to the Christian individuals, the people that have accepted Christ.

This is counsel to individuals that are believers.

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 be any virtue and if there be anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.

Paul exhorts the Christian to meditate, to think on these things.

The word meditate, to dwell upon, to ruminate, that's where we get the word for where a cow ruminates about something.

It is not talking about a passing thought.

It is talking about the thoughts that we choose to think about on a regular basis.

You ever have something that you just can't get out of your head?

It just goes over and over and over and over again.

That place in your mind that you like to go in your leisure.

That spot between your ears, the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Where do we go to when we think our favorite thoughts?

This is what Paul is talking about, to ruminate, to go over again and again and again in your thoughts.

I want to make a few observations about this passage before we get to the heart of the thesis here today.

He says, finally brethren, he's talking to Christians.

Now the fascinating thing about this passage, as you study it and as you make a few observations, is that Paul uses a proportion of adjectives to describe the content of our thoughts.

This was so important to Paul that he did not just say, think heavenly thoughts.

But he goes on in a repetition, adding different adjectives to describe the nature and the quality of our thoughts.

And here we have something that we should always do in Bible study, look at the proportion of adjectives.

All right, just by the proportion of adjective, he does not give 1 adjective, 2 or 3, he gives 6 attributes.

6 adjectives to describe the way that we should evaluate our thoughts.

Whatever is true, this is from the NASB, whatever is honorable, some translations say honest, but the Greek equivalent is actually honorable.

Whatever is right or righteous, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute or literally worthy of praise, if there be any excellence, virtue, if there be anything worthy of praise, Think on these things.

It'll be interesting to note that this phrase right here actually summarizes what's up here.

If anything worthy of praise is actually a repetition of that portion.

So Paul is saying that the way that you analyze your thoughts is through the filter of these things, these virtues, these things that are worthy of praise.

True, honorable, righteous, pure, lovely, good, repute.

6 distinct adjectives describing the quality and the nature of our thoughts.

1 way to break them down is to look at them in sets of 2.

There's actually 3 sets of 2 when you look at them categorically.

The first set is the intellectual criteria.

The second criteria is the moral criteria.

And the last criteria is the aesthetic criteria.

These are the criteria that Paul elaborates upon that we should use to evaluate our thoughts.

Now, for those of you that know me or have been around me for a little bit, you'll notice that I carry a black bag and in the bag I have this huge water bottle.

1 of the church members actually said, David, it seems like your water bottle's growing every day because I started with 1 of those little silver clean canteens, 16 ounces, and then I got a different 1, and then I finally settled with the 64-ounce 1.

I am a stickler for water, and the reason why it's 64 ounces is because I know that if I drink that, that's 8 cups in a day.

Just call me a water snob, whatever it may be.

It's got this metallic taste, and I just can't drink it.

So I pay money every week to get reverse osmosis water, and it's just 1 of those things.

Now, even if you get it from the tap, it is filtered.

Go to Grand River, grab a cup, dip it in there, and just drink it.

That water could do some incredible things to you.

I bought a filter like this when I went overseas, but this is something that came out.

So, you do not want to do this alright before you allow that water into your body I would highly recommend that if you want to do this to pass it through a filter alright this is a filter that the water passes through before it comes into your system.

Series

Think On These Things

Think on These Things- Part 1

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Consider My Meditation

Consider My Meditation- Part 1

37m

Christian Martin Weekend

How To Avoid Being a Good for Nothing Christian

50m

Guarding Your Thoughts

49m

Sabbath Morning Worship Services

Overcoming, Victory, and the Brain

45m

Victory In the Brain

50m

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

32m

There is Hope

Please Answer Question Two

46m

Our Need for a Change of Mind

1h 22m

Divine Assurance

The Man in the Shadows

1h 43m

Think On These Things

Think on These Things- Part 3

39m

Consider My Meditation

Consider My Meditation- Part 2

38m

Think On These Things

Think on These Things- Part 2

39m

Sound Doctrine