Listen closely as Adrian Rogers helps us put our thoughts into perspective.
Do you have anything that you really think is a big problem? I want you to think about the biggest problem in your life right now, got it in your mind? All right, now, double it, make it twice as big.
Now, I want to ask you a question, is that big to God? See it in the light of God.
Welcome to Love Worth Finding. Pastor, teacher and author Adrian Rogers said, You can choose your thoughts like you choose your friends. As Christians, we need to have a standard of what kind of thoughts we allow into our minds.
The believer who’s in control of his or her thoughts will have conscious, contagious joy in the Lord. On the contrary, the believer whose thoughts run wild will find themselves worrying. If you have your Bible, turn to Philippians chapter 4 as Adrian Rogers gives practical insights on how to control your thought life.
Find in God’s Word, please, Philippians chapter 4. And in a few moments, we’re going to begin reading in verse 4. They put on cigarette packages that smoking may be hazardous to your health.
I want to tell you, dear friend, that wrong thinking can also be hazardous to your health. And we’re going to find out if you have been guilty of bad thinking, the wrong kind of thoughts, depression, self-pity, worry, fear, anger, and all of these many things. You say, well, preacher, what do you know about it anyway?
I mean, you’ve always had it easy all your life. You’ve never had any problems, so who are you to tell me about these things? Well, the truth of the matter is, I want to tell you what someone else said.
His name was Paul, and what he wrote, he wrote in a slimy hole called the Mammartine Prison as a sufferer and a prisoner for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, okay? Now, I want you to hear what the Apostle Paul had to say, and I began in verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord always.
Who said that? Paul. When did he say it?
In prison. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing.
That is, don’t worry about a single thing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now remember, we’re talking about controlling your thought life. The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep, and the word keep means guard, shall guard your thoughts, your hearts, your minds through Christ Jesus.
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, if there be any praise, think on these things. Now the Bible says, as a man thinketh, so is he. And I want to show you today how to guard your thought life.
An unsaved man has a blinded mind. The God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not. By nature, we have what the Bible calls a carnal mind that is at warfare with God.
And so we said in order to control your thought life, first of all, what? The carnal mind must be converted. But then we showed you also that a converted mind may be corrupted.
Paul said, I have a concern, lest Satan corrupt you through his subtlety from the simplicity which is in Christ, that your minds be corrupted. And Satan can come in and seduce us, and even a Christian’s mind can be drawn away. And Satan can build into that heart and into that mind what the Bible calls a stronghold.
And so we said then that a corrupted mind must be conquered. You must take that ground back. And we showed you how to do that.
And then we said that a conquered mind must be controlled. That the Lord is to be in charge of our new mind. And that I said, and I hope you will remember, that you can choose your thoughts like you choose your friends.
Now, you have to have some sort of a standard to know what kind of thoughts that you can allow into your mind and what kind of thoughts you can say no trespassing to. But Paul, when he’s getting ready to give this standard, first of all, he just builds sort of a context in which you can do what I’m talking about. And let me give you three or four things that he says just to set the stage.
He says first of all in verse 4, that you’re to find your joy in the Lord. Now, he doesn’t say rejoice always. That would be silly if he just said that.
But it’s not silly when he says rejoice in the Lord always. Rejoice in the Lord, find your joy in the Lord. Every Christian who is controlling his thought life will have a conscious joy, he’ll have a continual joy, and he will have a conspicuous joy, and he’ll have a contagious joy if he finds his joy in the Lord.
Did you know that I stay busy, but I have found the secret of strength? I really have. The joy of the Lord is my strength.
Really. That’s not a slogan, it’s not a song, it is a downright reality. There are times when I leave my office to come up here to preach, and I find my body getting weary, and I find my mind getting tired, and I just stop, and I say, Jesus, I love you.
I thank you for who you are, and what you mean to me, and I’ll quote this verse. The joy of the Lord is my strength. And folks, I feel power and strength that comes into my mortal body.
The joy of the Lord is my strength. You see, we’re to rejoice in the Lord. Jesus said in John 15 verse 11, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
By the way, it’s only joy in him that remains. If you get your joy in the other place, something can take it away. I’m glad Paul didn’t get his joy in his freedom, because if he got his joy in his freedom, he wouldn’t have had it when he was in prison.
Don’t get your joy out of circumstance. Don’t get your joy out of amusements. Don’t get your joy out of business.
Don’t get your joy out of your friends. Don’t get your joy out of your health only. Those things can give you joy well and good, but don’t let them be the ultimate source of your joy.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Joy in him is full, and it is complete. Now the second thing, we’re just setting the stage now.
Find your joy in the Lord, okay? We’re talking about how to have a healthy mental attitude. Secondly, always remember that God is near.
Always remember that God is near. Recognize his presence continually. Look if you will in verse 5 now.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Now he doesn’t mean that Jesus is coming soon.
He is coming soon, but that’s not what he meant by that. What he meant by that is, hey, he’s right here with me in this prison cell. The Lord is at hand.
Jesus said, I will pray the Father, and he will give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever. And the way to have a healthy mental attitude is to find your joy in the Lord and to constantly practice the presence of the Lord. You see, when you can do this, then the wonderful thing about it is that your problems are his problems.
Paul said, I’m here in prison, but so is the Lord. Jesus didn’t come to get you out of trouble. He came to get into trouble with you.
Isn’t that wonderful? And Paul said, well, I’m in prison, but he’s in here too. The Lord’s right here with me.
And I was reading about some prisoners who, back in Stalin’s day, when they were really persecuting Christians and putting them to death, there were 30 Christians who were meeting in a building. And Stalin’s crash troops came in there to persecute these Christians, and they were making a list and they counted them. And one of the officers said, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, there are 30 in this room.
And one of them smoked up and said, no, you’re wrong, there are 31. Jesus is here with us. Jesus is here with us.
All right, now, the third thing, first of all, just find your joy in the Lord. Secondly, recognize his constant presence. Thirdly, just refuse to worry about anything.
Look in verse six, be careful for nothing. Now this word careful here, the Greek word means to be pulled apart. That’s exactly what worry does.
Worry just pulls you apart. Over here is fear and over here is hope and you’re just being pulled between the two. Paul says, hey, don’t worry about anything.
You know what Jesus said about worry? Jesus said it’s worthless. No one can add a cubit to a stature by worry.
Worry never solved a problem, lifted a burden, dried a tear. It’s worthless, but not only is it worthless, it’s wasteful. You know, it just takes energy.
That doesn’t do any good. If it’s worthless, it’s bound to be wasteful. Worry doesn’t take the sorrow out of tomorrow.
It takes the strength out of today. It’s just pulling tomorrow’s clouds over today’s sunshine. But not only is it worthless and is it wasteful, it’s wicked.
Jesus said, after these things, do the Gentiles seek. These are the things that pagans think about. Why, don’t be like them.
God watches over. So Paul here, he’s getting ready now to tell us how to guard our thought life, but he’s just setting the stage and he’s just giving us an atmosphere. Just find your joy in the Lord.
Recognize that He’s present with you. Refuse to worry about a single thing. You say, well, how do you do that?
Well, he goes on to tell us how to do that. In verse 6, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. Bring every need to God in prayer.
Every need. Now, surely we ought to pray about the big things. Do you have anything that you really think is a big problem?
I want you to think about the biggest problem you can think of right now. I mean the absolute bigness. You got the biggest problem in your life right now?
Got it in your mind? All right, now double it. Make it twice as big.
Now is it in your mind? Now I want to ask you a question. Is that big to God?
See it in the light of God. The Lord says, I’m the Lord. Is there anything too hard for me?
Well, surely then, you can pray about the big things. What about the little things? You know, the danger is not that we fail to pray about the big things.
The danger is that we fail to pray about the little things. He says, in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. All right, now next.
Not only bring every need to God, verse 6, but develop a thankful spirit. All of this is just getting you ready now to check these thoughts at the door, whether or not you’re going to let them into your heart and in your mind. Just a thankful spirit.
Notice again, be careful for nothing but in everything, pray about everything and thank God for everything. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. You know, sometimes we complain when we ought not to complain.
I was sitting in an automobile with a man. We were driving across country and I had all of my children. We’re in private school, somewhere in college and somewhere in Christian school.
And well, we, Joyce and I were just paying out the money. I was dying of maltuition. And I, I was complaining a little bit to this man, and I was talking to him about the great cost of sending a son to college.
And he looked at me. He’d said, I’d give anything in the world if my son would go to college. I thought, oh, what an ungrateful spirit I had.
He had a son that was rebellious, and a son that was a hellion and a maverick. You ever complain about dirty dishes? You know, there are lots of folks in Bangladesh who’d like to have some dirty dishes.
Did you know that? I mean, the dirty dishes are a sign that you’ve had something to eat. Listen, in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
Now, all of that, he just sets the stage now to tell you how to guard your thought life. Kind of like going to the airport and you have to pass through that security gate, and that security gate has a sensor on it, and there’s certain things that are contraband. There’s certain things that you’re not to let through.
Now, the Apostle Paul also gives us a checklist, and I want you to look at them right now in verse 8, and we’ll get right into the heart of the message. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things have a good report. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.
All right, now here are the tests as to whether or not you will admit anything into your mind. First of all, is what I want to call the reliance test. The reliance test.
Is it true? Can you bank on it? Can you rely on it?
Whatsoever things are true. Do you know that we live in a generation today that doesn’t ask, is it true? We ask, does it work?
Don’t let anything come in to your thought life, consciously dwell there. Don’t absorb it into your heart, into your philosophy. Don’t dwell on it.
Don’t let it be a part of your thought patterns if it is not true. And of course, the Bible is the prime source of truth. Now, secondly, not only the reliance test, but the respect test.
Second question, is it honest? Whatsoever things are true. And then he says, whatsoever things are honest.
Now, the word honest here literally means honorable. Things that are honorable. Do you let dishonorable things get into your mind?
Are there things that are not really worthy of your respect? Things that are not worthy to occupy your time? Some things are not bad because they’re vile.
They’re bad because they are inane. Just silly, stupid, and not worth it. All right, here’s the third thing.
Not only the reliance test, and not only the respect test, but the rightness test. Whatsoever things are just. And the word just here means straight, as opposed to crooked.
Don’t let any crooked thinking come into your mind. Do you think straight? Do you think on a straight line?
In my Bible study and in my preaching and in my devotional life, I try to think in a straight line. I think many of us let things that are crooked come in. We don’t lay down a measuring rod by what we do.
We just kind of go this way and that way a little bit. Now, Paul says that there are certain things that are not to get through the gate. Anything that is unreliable, disrespectful or not right should not come through the gate.
The rightness test. Is it right? Now, here’s one.
He mentions also whatsoever things are pure. Now, the word pure here means free of contamination. And what it was used for was to say, is this animal or is this object, is it good enough, is it pure enough to be used in worship?
That is, could it be offered to God? So, the next test is what I call the reverence test, whatsoever things are pure. That is, is this something that I would not be ashamed to offer to the Lord?
Could I take this story? Could I take this movie? Could I take this friendship?
And could I say, Lord, I worship you with it? Well, you say, you’re not supposed to worship God with everything. Oh, no.
You are supposed to worship God with everything. The Bible says, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Is this relationship a relationship I could say, Lord, I offer it to you?
I just offer it to you. Just this good time, just this joy, just this beauty. I offer it, Lord, to you.
It is pure. It is worthy. Anything that you’re doing that cannot pass the reverence test, that is, that you could not offer up to God any relationship, any activity, any meal, any recreation, any business deal.
Don’t let it in to your mind. And then, next of all, the relationship test. He says, whatsoever things are lovely.
Now, the word lovely here doesn’t mean beautiful, but it literally means in the Greek language, causing you to love. Does it cause you to love? If there’s something that comes into your mind that causes you to criticize unjustly, or brings division between human beings, it is wrong.
This word lovely is a combination of two words which actually means toward love. Toward love. Does this thought move you to love?
The relationship test. And then finally, the refinement test. Look, if you will, here as he goes on to say, whatsoever things are lovely, and then whatsoever things are of good report.
Actually, this word means things that are high-toned. High-toned. That means that it sounds good.
It is refined. You know, I think gossip is a form of insanity. Really.
I’ll tell you why I think it’s a form of insanity. I’ve never met a gossip who knew they were gossip.
And this is what they say. They say, you know me, I don’t gossip. And then they start to gossip.
Well, if a person is doing something, they don’t know they’re doing it. I think they must have rooms to rent upstairs, unfurnished. It’s a form of insanity.
They love to listen to things that are not of good report. People use their ears for garbage cans. They say, you know, I don’t know why people always come and tell me these things.
I know why they tell you those things. They know you want to hear them. They know that you will allow them to track mud on the carpet of your mind.
They know that. And if you’re one who has all the latest news about everything, you know those kind of folks. I mean, buddy, if it’s bad, they’ve got it.
I mean, it just comes to them. And, you know, they say, well, you know, I don’t start all these rumors, just the ones I tell them to. They’re the ones that start them.
But the refinement test, these are things that you ought to put up at the gate of your mind and do not allow them to come in. Now, Paul is finally, he’s running out of time. He’s already said finally, like some preachers, but he doesn’t mean immediately.
And so, and then he just, he just kind of wraps it up. And he says, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. Now folks, it is so simple and it is so wonderful.
You can absolutely take back that conquered ground and you can say, I’m only gonna let these thoughts in my mind. And you don’t have to think on anything you don’t want to think on. But now listen, you must be thinking something.
You cannot control your thought life by keeping your mind in neutral. You will think something and if you’re not thinking something right, you’re gonna think something wrong. If you’re not thinking something good, you’re gonna think something bad.
And the way not to think bad thoughts is not by trying not to think bad thoughts. Try not to think of a submarine right now.
Are you sure you’re not thinking about a submarine right now? All right. The only way not to think about a submarine is not by trying not to think about a submarine, but by thinking about something else.
And people who are trying not to think about submarines are thinking about the submarines they’re trying not to think about, isn’t that right? Sure. You see, the Bible says, be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.
Just let these thoughts come in to your mind, and just keep your hearts and minds stayed on him. Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. We have the mind of Christ.
Learn to think God’s thoughts after him. And use Paul’s standard here in Philippians 4 as the grid through which everything must come before it finds lodging in your mind.
And if you’d like to learn more about how to cultivate a faith that flourishes, we invite you to check out our Grow Your Faith page at the website where you can get grounded and dig deeper as you walk with Christ. Go to lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Grow Your Faith. We can’t wait to hear from you today.
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There is a correct standard for the thoughts that we allow into our minds. Do you think about what’s true, what’s noble, just, pure, lovely, or of good report? Be intentional today, as you meditate on what is good.
And tune in next time for more from Adrian Rogers, right here on Love Worth Finding. We were so encouraged by a listener who left this comment, Pastor Rogers was definitely a preacher personified, and preached only the pure word of God. My goal is to be more like Jesus than I was yesterday, more like him tomorrow than I was today.
I want to share Jesus with all that I come in contact with. Well at Love Worth Finding, our mission continues to be to do that, draw people to Jesus, and help believers grow deeper in their faith. And to thank you for your gift of support right now, we’d love to send you a copy of the book, A Final Charge to the Church.
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