Sermon: Stewardship of God's Temple (Part Seven)
Maintaining a Tranquil Mind
#1640B
David F. Maas
Given 26-Feb-22; 37 minutes
description: A tranquil mind is maintained through diligently guarding our hearts (Proverbs 4:23), that precious entity impregnated by God's Holy Spirit, the very receptacle of Godly character, the only retrievable part of us that will survive through the grave, constituting our thoughts, the contents of hearts, namely what we think about all day long. The antidote to doublemindedness and distractions, which threaten to scuttle our calling, is single-minded focus on God's law through meditating (or figuratively ingesting and digesting) God's word, a life-long process that will convert our motivation from extrinsic (external laws enforced with carrots and sticks) to intrinsic (a burning inward desire to keep God's holy and spiritual law) because they are written on our hearts, constituting our spiritual DNA (Hebrews 8:10; 10:16; Jeremiah 31:31-33).
transcript:
I Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price: therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
In this seventh and concluding installment of the “Stewardship of God’s Temple” (namely the tending and keeping of our physical bodies, which are indeed the temples of God’s Holy Spirit), I will focus on the vital necessity of diligently guarding our hearts and minds, that precious entity impregnated by God’s Holy Spirit, the very receptacle of our godly character, which the late Bill Gray emphasized in his July 1966 article “Taking it Through the Grave,” that we will take nothing out of this life except our character, emphasizing that the only retrievable part of us that will survive through the grave will constitute our thoughts - the contents of our hearts, namely what we continually think about all day long.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
The Amplified renders this passage somewhat more emphatically:
Proverbs 4:23 Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.
If we pause to think about the profound implication of this initially uncomplicated verse, we realize that all we are, or what we may become, derives from what we think about all day long. We are what we assimilate. We become what we assimilate. Our very core identities derive from what we assimilate. The scriptures tell us to jealously and protectively guard whatever goes into our minds because we will ultimately turn into what we assimilate. Consider the second half of Proverbs 23:7: “For as he thinks in the depths of his heart, so is he.”
In my October 2004 Feast sermon, given in Mesquite, Texas, titled “Meditation: Preventing Spiritual Identity Theft,” I posited that since we will turn into what we ruminate upon and assimilate, we need to carefully consider how to nourish our emergent godly character. The thesis of that message was that if we do not cultivate the ability to meditate on wholesome godly thoughts regularly, we run the very real risk of losing our spiritual identity and letting someone else take our crown (referencing Revelation 3:11).
In his February 5, 2022 sermon, “Make Sure Now of Your Focus,” John Ritenbaugh warned us that during the next five years, chaos and confusion will increase exponentially, requiring us to develop a plan to stay focused on a fixed goal, namely the Kingdom of God (referencing Matthew 6:33). Distractions, pulling the mind off course, will continually threaten to scuttle our precious calling, drawing us dangerously away from God’s plan for us. Demas, originally in our fellowship (II Timothy 4:10), sadly became distracted by the pulls of the world, perhaps starting with small, seemingly innocent thoughts, but accumulating steadily and incrementally, ultimately terminating his spiritual journey.
Distractions are momentary breaks in thought, leading to randomness, confusion, and chaos. The warnings Paul gave about neglect and drifting in Hebrews were the result of taking the focus away from God’s plan as revealed by His Word. John Ritenbaugh warns us that in these dangerous times the world is presently undergoing, to be without a focus as well as a plan to maintain the focus is dangerous and foolhardy. Focus, guarding our heart diligently, requires a plan to counterattack the destructive distractions from media and political forces, currently dominated, controlled, and influenced by the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). My former colleague, Gene Hogberg, used to repeatedly say over 40 years ago that the media perhaps does not tell us what to think, but cleverly, selectively controls the narrative, telling us what to think about, succeeding in discouraging and dispiriting the stoutest and most free-spirited individuals among us, sometimes driving many into near-clinical depression.
Our Lord and Savior, on His last Passover as a human, gently counseled His disciples, then and now, to “let not your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1 and John 14:27).
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
The Amplified renders this passage somewhat more emphatically:
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; My perfect peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]
In John 16:33, our Lord and Savior bolsters us, assuring us that even though in the world we may experience tribulation we should take courage because He has already overcome the world. I might add, provided His called-out ones know they can also overcome the world.
Martin Collins, in his sermon on “Everlasting Consolation and Good Hope,” and Ryan McClure, in his sermonette on “Stressed Out,” reminded us that the major luminaries of the Bible, including Moses, Job, and Elijah, all suffered debilitating stress, driving them to plead with God to take their lives. Ryan added that sadly God’s called-out ones today likewise try to fight depression with their own meager resources rather than taking the matter immediately to God in prayer. Turn over to the apostle Paul’s counsel in Philippians 4:6-7.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Again, the Amplified renders this passage more emphatically and colorfully:
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].
The remarkable source of this peace that surpasses all understanding is the promise Our Lord and Savior made to his disciples during His last Passover as a human being, assuring them if they loved Him and kept His commandments, they would receive the Holy Spirit (transliterated parakletos, meaning “comforter, advocate, intercessor,” and is also identified as the “Spirit of Truth”) which dwells in the minds of all sanctified believers, displacing the natural carnal mind which is hostile to or enmity toward God as well as His holy, spiritual law (Romans 8:7-8), in the same chapter in which the apostle Paul draws the battle lines between the carnal and spiritual forces pulling us in opposite directions.
In Romans 8:13-14, Paul warns us that if we live according to the flesh we will die, but if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, we will live. Paul continues in verse 14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Later in I Corinthians 2:16, Paul identifies the Spirit of Truth, not as a timid and elusive third person of a trinity, but the very mind of Christ, available to all of God’s chosen saints who submit to His will and ardently keep His commandments—this is loving God with all their mind and their spiritual siblings and neighbors as themselves, and as Mark Schindler suggested, the bar is higher for us—love our enemies and those who have tortured us.
The role of comforter, advocate, and intercessor describe the acquired attributes of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ after His sacrifice for our sins, qualifying Him to be Our High Priest (referencing Hebrews 4:15), a High Priest able to sympathize with our weaknesses because He has been tested in every respect as we are, but steadfastly resisting sin.
Remember when Jesus promised the coming parakletos, comforter, intercessor, or advocate, He also promised the disciples that if anyone loves Him and keeps His word, “My Father will love him, and we (not a third person in a trinity) will come and make our home with him.”
The struggle against our hostile, carnal nature is not easy, and sometimes looks daunting. The apostle Paul never did minimize the gravity of our perpetual spiritual battle, but he advises us about some practical tools or weapons we could use to protect us.
II Corinthians 10:4-5 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
Meditation is that vital tool, that systematic process of bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
As John Ritenbaugh pointed out in his “Focus” sermon three weeks ago, we are going to encounter incredible nearly insurmountable interference, prompting George Peabody to proclaim, “Our task is not to bring order out of chaos, but to get work done in the midst of chaos” a task almost as precarious as Tevye’s description of a fiddler attempting to play a violin while balancing himself on a steep roof. Jesus’ half-brother James warned of doublemindedness as one asks for wisdom while toggling back and forth from faith to fear or from belief to doubt (James 1:5-8).
The Psalmist David provides a powerful antidote to doublemindedness and spiritual vacillation as he focuses our attention on God’s holy and spiritual law.
Psalm 119:113 I hate the double minded, but I love Your law.
The Amplified renders this passage: “I hate the thoughts of undecided [in religion], double -minded people, but Your law do I love.” Scrolling down to verse 165, we find the profound psychological benefits of meditating upon God’s law.
Psalm 119:165 Great peace have those who love your Law, and nothing causes them to stumble.
Joshua 1:8 The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read and meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful.
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.
The Amplified adds some additional insight:
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God].
Isaiah 26:3 tells us that God will keep us in “perfect peace” if our minds are “stayed” on Him, meaning our minds lean on Him, center on Him, and trust in Him. Our tranquility of mind is “perfect” or imperfect to the degree that the “mind is stayed on” God rather than ourselves or on our problems.
Because the leaders of modern Israel (including the current leaders of Canada, Britain, America, Australia, New Zealand and the State of Israel, the home of brother Judah) have all blatantly and defiantly snubbed God and His holy laws, they have obviously cursed themselves receiving debased, reprobate minds (Romans 1:28-32) insanely and foolishly doing things that are not fitting, cursing in turn their hapless constituents, Jacob’s offspring. God’s called-out saints, on the other hand, by having a vivid image of their ultimate goal, maintain focus and tranquility as they endure the rigors of their sanctification process. Jesus provided such a sustaining vision in the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, and Luke 9:28-36) after he had previously promised His disciples that some of them would not taste death until they would see the Son of man coming in His kingdom (Matthew 16:27-28, Mark 9:1, and Luke 9:27). This compelling vision sustained Peter, James, and John to endure persecution and martyrdom just as it sustained Stephen in his martyrdom, providing a contributary cause or factor in Paul’s conversion to Christ (referencing Acts 7: 54 -60).
Father Abraham had a similar vision waiting for a city, having foundations whose builder and Maker is Almighty God, namely the Kingdom of God (referencing Hebrews 11:10), the same vision which sustained God’s saints - that great cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness] referred to in Hebrews 12:1]—all who died in the faith, having never seen the fulfilled promises in their lifetime.
To this immense cloud of witnesses, we can add the current latter-day saints—such as Earl Henn, John Reid, Gary Garrett, Mike Ford, Charles Whitaker, Bill Gray, Duane Bendixen, Jerry Biles, Evelyn Ritenbaugh, Sheila Hill, and Joanne Hucks and many, many, more) all who have successfully finished their arduous spiritual trek.
We have a grueling marathon race to run before our sanctification is over, requiring that we look away from all that will distract us and [focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity] (Hebrews 12:1-2).
In His noble priestly prayer on behalf of His disciples, then and now, recorded in John 17:17, Jesus asks Our Heavenly Father to “sanctify them by Your truth”- adding that “your Word is Truth, the same truth which He had earlier declared would liberate them or set them free (John 8:32).
In my sermon, The W’s and H’s of Meditation (Part One) given in July 2017, I made the case that digestion, assimilation, and ingestion are all metaphors which we have applied to meditation.
Meditation relates to the Word of God as digestion relates to food. Unless we digest it well, food is of little or no use. Matthew 4 records the episode in which Satan tempted to turn the stones into bread.
Matthew 4:4 But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God,”
The teaching is, of course, repeated in Luke 4.
John 6:35 Jesus replied to them, “I am the Bread of Life. The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in Me [as Savior] will never be thirsty [for that one will be sustained spiritually].
John 6:56 He who eats My flesh and drinks my blood (something we will be doing this coming Passover) [ believes in Me, accepts me as Savior] remains in Me, and I [in the same way remain] in him.
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh conveys no benefit[it is of no account. The words I have spoken to you [the words you are now reading from the Holy Scriptures] are spirit and life [providing eternal life].
The physical food, which we ingest, benefits us only temporarily; but the words of God, the bread of life, the spiritual manna on which we meditate nourishes our emergent spiritual body so that we can confidently say, with the apostle Paul, “Therefore we do not become discouraged, spiritless, disappointed, or afraid, though our outer self is wasting away. Yet our inner self is being progressively renewed day by day” (II Corinthians 4:16).
As Rod Meredith stated in his booklet, “The Seven Laws of Radiant Health,” available from several sources on the Internet, “Every person has to continually work at building positive mental habits. As Jesus said, we are to take no anxious thought for the morrow but put faith in God as our Creator and our Father.
We must do our best to overcome thoughts of hate, strife, and worry. Then, asking God for help, cultivate thoughts of love, faith, and joy. For the One who made our minds and emotions inspired Solomon to write, “A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).
Through systematic daily meditation, we ingest, assimilate, and digest the precious Word of God symbolized by the unleavened bread representing sincerity and truth, which we eat every day during the Feast of Unleavened Bread every spring. Meditation is not something we do in haste, but slowly, deliberatively, contemplatively, and incrementally over a lifetime. The more faithful we are at this task, the more of God’s mind we will assimilate, mirroring the godly character of Jesus Christ.
On You Tube is a strange testimonial from a man who had eaten a Volkswagen over a period of five years, from June 1990 to June 1995, after he had carefully cleaned the parts from oil and gasoline. Actually, he did admit to discarding the battery as well, but everything else he machined down to bite-sized pieces mixing it with food to make it palatable—that is including metal, plastic, rubber, and glass. It would seem that ingesting the entire Word of God over a lifetime would be far easier than consuming a car, or perhaps a large screen TV as other record-seekers have succeeded in doing.
The command to guard our hearts and minds is not easy in the current environment of toxic fear-laced lies, spewed out by the government controlled mainstream networks, dutifully broadcasting Satanic government propaganda. But Our Lord and Savior has commanded us to be single-minded about His Coming Kingdom and His holy and spiritual law, which is being written into our minds and will ultimately constitute our DNA (Hebrews 8:10; 10:16, and Jeremiah 31:31-33) as we faithfully and eagerly digest His Word, making our obedience intrinsic (motivated from a deep-seated desire to please our Lord and our Heavenly Father) rather than extrinsic (motivated by external rewards and penalties, or metaphorical carrots and sticks).
Our behavior during our rigorous sanctification process should be guided solely by the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16)—a mind that has already conquered Satan and the world. As Levi Graham proclaimed in his sermonette, we have the same power.
DFM/jjm/drm