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University SDA Church- East Lansing

Think On These Things

David Shin

Think on These Things- Part 1

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.

Think on These Things- Part 2

Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for this Sabbath.

We thank you for this opportunity that we have to gather apart from the cares of this life to worship you this morning in spirit and in truth.

We praise you and thank you for the Sabbath, which is a memorial of creation and redemption, a reminder that we cannot save ourselves by our works, but we can rest in your assurance that you have instituted the Sabbath as a sign, a symbol of our sanctification.

We pray that you'd bless us this Sabbath as we continue in our series, That our hearts would be uplifted and that we would be drawn closer to Jesus Christ We ask these things in Jesus name Amen Today we are continuing in our three-part series of messages that we've entitled Think on These Things.

And today is part 2 in our three-part series.

Just as a note of mention here, next Sabbath I'll be out of town at a board meeting and Pastor Daniel will be speaking.

We're always blessed when he speaks, but I will continue in part 3 the week after.

So if you don't see me next Sabbath and wonder what happened to the series, you'll know why.

Let's do a little bit of a review from last Sabbath.

Last Sabbath, we looked at Philippians chapter 4 verse 8, and here Paul gives us a filter for our thoughts.

The filter is that we must ask the questions before we contemplate and we allow things to be knocked around in our head to ruminate, to contemplate, there is a filter that we must pass everything through before we think about it.

And if it passes this criteria, it is then and only then that we continue to contemplate and think about it.

We said that we do not just go to a stream like the Grand River and get a cup and Drink straight out of the Grand River.

If you do this, I highly encourage you to get a filter and pass things through the filter.

Our minds are not just to be an open vessel to allow anything aloud into our consciousness.

We must filter it before we think about it and we said the mantra last week evaluate before you contemplate amen evaluate before you ruminate because we said for as a man thinks in his heart so is he our thoughts and our feelings determine our moral character and who we are.

We read this quotation from In Heavenly Places, 182.

The thoughts and the feelings combined make up the what?

The things that are in our head, and we said that a happy person thinks happy thoughts.

A depressed person thinks depressed thoughts, and our character is molded by the things that are in our mind.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

Many thoughts make up the unwritten history of a single day, and these thoughts have much to do with the formation of character.

Our thoughts are to be strictly guarded, For 1 impure thought makes a deep impression on the soul, and evil thought leaves an evil impress on the mind.

If the thoughts are pure and holy, the man is better for having cherished them.

We also said we need to have a constant sense of the ennobling power of pure thoughts and the damaging influence of evil thoughts.

Let us place our thoughts upon holy things.

Let them be pure and true for the only security for any soul is right thinking.

We said that in the end of time there's going to be 2 groups of people.

1 group that is going to be just like Jesus.

They're going to have the Father's name written in their foreheads, which means they're going to think just like Jesus.

There's going to be another group of people that have the mark of the beast, and they're going to think just like the devil.

And right now, there is a controversy for your hearts and minds coming over the media, and we need to be careful what is allowed into our thoughts and our contemplation.

And we said that if a thought comes that is not in accordance with Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 we said dismiss the thought and replace it with scripture.

It's the battle for the mind in the great controversy between good and evil.

Now today I want to invite you, if you have not already, to turn with me in your Bibles to our scripture reading, James chapter 1, verses 12 through 15.

And this morning's presentation, this morning's study, I believe is so critical in our Christian experience that we understand the progression of the stages of sin.

And in James 1, verses 12-15, Paul, I should say James, uses an illustration, an allegory, or I should say an analogy to describe the nature of our thoughts.

Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Let no 1 say when he's tempted, I'm tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone, but each 1 is tempted when he's drawn away by his, what does the Bible say?

Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.

Before we proceed and get to the thesis of today's study, I want to make a few observations.

Here, James is talking about the nature of temptation.

Now, when you study the Bible, it's important for you to make some observations and notice what is included and what is omitted.

Now in this passage, what is fascinating is what is omitted from this passage.

James talks about the nature of temptation and he says that we are tempted when we are drawn away of our own desires or our own sinful nature and tendencies and we are enticed.

But notice that nowhere in this passage is the devil even mentioned.

The devil is nowhere to be found in this passage.

Now I don't believe that James is saying that the devil tempts us or does not tempt us or the devil is not a factor in our temptation.

But according to this passage, we are not only tempted from without, we are tempted from within.

If the devil were to be exterminated today, you would still feel temptation tomorrow.

Because within our nature we have as a result of sin a tendency, a bend towards sin, a desire, a craving towards sin, this is the sinful nature.

This sinful nature draws within us certain pulls, certain perversions that we have inherited from our great-grandparents, going all the way back to Adam.

Every person born into this world has a sinful nature and we are tempted from within as a result of this sinful nature.

Now, the devil does pick on those areas within our sinful nature and uses that for temptation.

But we are tempted from within as well as from without.

Now your temptation may be different from my temptation.

All of us have a peculiar makeup and it's the law of heredity.

It is what we call cultivated tendencies towards sin and inherited tendencies towards sin.

These are the things that we deal with within our human nature.

The second observation I want to make is that Paul, I keep saying Paul, my goodness, all right, James uses an interesting metaphor to describe the stages of sin, Okay?

Now here's the figurative language and I've highlighted them on the screen.

James chapter 1 verse 15, it says, then when desire, or some translations say lust, When desire has, what does the Bible say?

That is a fascinating word to use in regards to sin.

When desire has conceived, it gives birth.

Here James is using a fascinating metaphor.

This is to help us to understand the stages of sin.

Here James is using a metaphor and analogy to help us to understand that the life cycle that all living organisms go through, conception, birth, growth and death are related in 1 way or another to the way that sin progresses and develops.

So here they are, here are the stages of sin.

When conception happens, it happens in the mind.

At birth, I should say even prior to birth, if you were to go with this analogy, you know that conception has happened at a certain period of a few months, isn't that right?

Using this analogy, you notice that someone is pregnant.

Think on These Things- Part 3

Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for this beautiful Sabbath and this opportunity that we have to worship you in spirit and in truth, to come apart from the cares of this life, from the stress and the busyness thereof to come into your presence on this Holy Sabbath, to worship with your people, to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

And we pray now that your Holy Spirit would come into our hearts and into our minds.

Help us to be able to discern spiritual truth as we open your sacred scriptures.

We ask this in Jesus' name and for His sake.

Today, we conclude our three-part series of messages entitled, Think on These Things.

And Calvin, could you make sure to turn on the television monitor there so I could see the words?

And I've enjoyed this series, and It's been a personal journey for myself as we've gone and delved into Scripture about the relevance of our thoughts pertaining to the Christian life.

And I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, Revelation 22, 1425, if you're using the Bible that is provided in the pew there in front of you, 1425.

And I want to invite you to turn with me there.

This is after God has created or recreated the heavens and the earth.

This is after The trace of sin has been removed from planet earth, Revelation 22, verses 1-5.

And this is going to be an amazing day, amen, when we're standing with the redeemed of God before the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

And there's going to be a sense in my heart, you know, we made it.

Revelation chapter 22, and this is an angel that shows John what is going to be on the very edge of eternity, a new reality.

And he, the angel, showed me a pure river of water, of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month.

The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

And I know that an artist's depiction doesn't do this justice, but this is 1 person's imagination as to how this is going to be.

There is a river of the water of life flowing through the center of the city, and the tree of life is on either side of the banks of this river, and this tree bears the fruit of the tree of life.

And the Bible tells us that the leaves of this tree are for the healing of the nations.

Scholars speculate that this means that in heaven there will be no more ethnic nor racial conflict, amen.

That people from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people will be able to gather there in the kingdom of God and we will be in perfect unity and harmony in the kingdom of heaven.

Verse 3, and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever." Won't that be a glorious day, friends?

Bible scholars tell us that in the beginning, in Genesis, you have Eden lost.

At the end, in the book of Revelation, the last chapter begins with Eden restored.

The return of the tree of life, the return of God to his people, and in between Eden lost and Eden Restored, you have a 6, 000 year history of the story of the plan of redemption in which God brings us back to Eden Restored.

There's a lot that we can bring out of this passage the book of Revelation when you study it 2 out of 3 verses actually quotes the Old Testament There's an illusion or implication to the Old Testament So the way that we unlock the book of Revelation is we need to go to the rest of the Bible and there's a lot of things that we can look at.

Verse 4, fascinating verse and the relationship between these 2 items, these 2 things that are described.

The Bible tells us that in Eden restored, we are going to have face to face open communion with God.

And the second part of this verse tells us, and his name shall be on their where?

And I will highlight the second part of this verse later in our presentation here today.

But I want to hone in on this first part of the verse that I have highlighted on the screen.

In the new earth that is going to be recreated, we are going to have open, face to face, eyeball to eyeball, won't that be beautiful, communion with God himself.

Now in any relationship, we must recognize that the foundation of that relationship is built upon communication and the best type of communication is not over the phone.

Even Skype does not replace face-to-face communication.

When I was dating my wife, she went off to Africa for 6 months for her Internship.

That was a difficult 6 months, distance relationship, and I spent hundreds of dollars going off to the store and buying these phone cards for Africa.

They would see me regularly and my phone bill spiked.

I talked to her almost every single day on the phone you know when you're in love you just Want to spend time you want to talk to?

That individual that significant other don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.

But the frustrating thing, as wonderful as our technology was, and Skype wasn't prominent back then, you know, and I was on the phone and 6 months of that duration of talking to her over the phone, but I looked forward to the day, amen, praise God, that I could see my future wife face to face, to have that dialogue.

And you see that God in His relationship with us, He does not want any barriers.

He wants to have open, face to face, eyeball to eyeball, looking into each other's eyes.

This is the type of intimacy, this is the type of relationship that God wants face to face.

And in Eden restored, we are going to have that type of communication with God Himself.

The Bible tells us that God would come into the Garden of Eden during the cool of the day and they would have face-to-face conversation with God Himself.

This was Eden, and we lost that, and God says, look I'm going to bring that back Open face to face communion with God was remain loyal to God, all this would have been His forever, but by disobedience this was forfeited.

Because of sin, this face-to-face communion with God was broken, not because of God's choice, but because of our choice.

There was a veil that had to be placed over it, and this is the whole story in between the bookends of Eden lost and Eden restored.

To restore man, to restore in man the image of his maker.

To bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of the body, mind, and soul that the divine purpose in His creation might be realized.

You see, redemption is not just the forgiveness of our sins in the past.

But God wants to bring us all the way back to where Adam was.

To eyeball, to eyeball, face to face communion with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords Himself.

The Bible tells us, and they shall see His face.

I'd like to go through a few biblical examples of where we see God wanting to come near to humanity.

You see, God is the initiator in the salvation process.

You see, the burning bush, God wants to communicate with Moses.

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