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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 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.

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Series

Think On These Things

Think on These Things- Part 2

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

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The Plan of Salvation

01 The Plan of Salvation

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Eric Nelson: Christian Lifehacks

Christian Lifehacks 2: Paul

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ECYC 2011 Plenary Meetings

Outreach Charge

20m

His Way is in the Sanctuary

3. Death and Life in the Sanctuary

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Testimonies

Abortion Recovery Testimony

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Look a Little Higher

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Living Faith

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Love Is...

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Biblical Missionaries

03. Biblical Missionaries: The Unlikely Missionary

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Sound Doctrine