Godly Mind Control - Part 1

Was it possible for Jesus Christ to sin? That is a question that has been debated many, many times. Was it possible for Jesus Christ to sin? I had it in a theological class as we talked about and debated that for, well, I know at least a couple hours. So I want to bring that up as I told you the title of today's sermon is Godly Mind Control. Because we know that Christ did not sin, but do you know why He did not sin? Christ did not sin because His mind would not let Him sin. His mind controlled His body, not His body controlling His mind, as so many of us struggle with sometimes. As many of the teachers in the Scripture teach about the lust of the flesh and how we all want to sometimes follow that lust. We read in Matthew 4 about the temptation of Christ as He is drawn up and tempted by Satan. And we know He was tempted in all the ways we are tempted. Yet He did not sin. As a matter of fact, Hebrews 4 and verse 15 says, in all points He was tempted by Satan, just like us. Yet He did not sin. That's hard for us to grasp, that Christ could not have sinned. And I argued that point in the past, that otherwise why would Satan even waste his time? Tempting Him, trying Him, if he could not have sinned. Well, what was Christ? Christ was human, but He was with, or He had, a godly mind. So He was God in the flesh.

Now, I hope this doesn't sound crude. I hope it doesn't offend you because that is not my point. But my point is to get this point across to you. I want to give you an example for our minds to think on for just a few split seconds.

Would you like to have same sex with someone?

Sounds repugnant. How about sexual relations with an animal? Bestality. That's sick. Or maybe you have a pet dog or cat, the one that you've raised, and you're petting that little puppy, and you just take it in your hands and then you just squeeze the life out of it.

Just kill it for no reason. Sound obscene? Well, I give these examples, and I no wonder if you are as uncomfortable entertaining those thoughts as I was or I am today. But I bring this up because now you know how and why Christ could not sin. Because you see, there are certain sins in our lives that are obscene to us. Repugnant. Repulsive. There are certain sins that we have that just, there's no way. It doesn't even enter our minds. But you see, Jesus Christ and God the Father, all sin, all sin is repulsive. Every small little thing that is not right is obscene to our Father and to Jesus Christ. To the entire God family that we are being trained and groomed for. It is wanting us to become like them where even the smallest sin we are. We vote against it. We stop that from entering our minds because we are so human. Some sins we have overcome. Some sins are just no problem to us, but yet they might be to the person sitting next to you. We all have our strong points. We all have our weaknesses. As we'll go into in the Bible study, Satan knows exactly. He knows even better than you which ones he can get you with. So today's message is on the mind. Mind control. Not just mind control, but godly mind control. This is a time of year when we are to examine our spiritual lives, our minds, and our hearts to see if it is in our hearts to want to be more like Christ. We have to answer those questions. That's what the examination is all about. Are you of sound mind? I think most people in here are. But are you of sound spiritual mind? I'd like you to turn with me to Philippians 2. Philippians 2 verse 3.

Talking about some serious mind control here. Philippians 2 and verse 3 said, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem others better than himself. Actually, the Greek there actually refers to esteem others superior. Esteem others superior. Does that mean, well, yeah, that's, oh, wow, that's my brother. That's my sister in Christ. Yes, I can esteem. No, that is all. That's hard to do. Because I say, if you've done it to the least of these, you've done it for me, to me. Right? So, let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others. It means you care about others. You actually show that. It's not about you. It's not about your life. Everything wraps around you, which is the title of the declaration of most people today. But also for the interest of others. Hard to do, sometimes. Especially if you do not really like or respect others, which is another sermon altogether. But I'd like you to go down to verse 5, because this is where our Scripture of the day is. What does it say? Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Let this mind be in you, which was also the mind. Do we want that kind of mind? Would we like to have that kind of mind that all sin we're able to turn away from can actually make us sick? Perhaps you've seen something on television. You've seen something out on the road, the highway, the street, or something that just kind of...it hits you in the stomach. It's just...uh! See, that's how the God family is with all sin. I'm not there yet. That's why this sermon is as much for me as any of you, because I need to work on that. I need to be reminded of that. I need to co-cate that in my life. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. We can have the mind of Christ. That's what the Scripture says. That's what Paul is telling the Philippians. We can have that incredible mind, that incredible, godly control, because God has gifted us with the Holy Spirit, his actual essence, part of him. To help us do that. But we just don't have it, and all of a sudden, after you're baptized and received the Holy Spirit, it's like, oh! I'll never sin again. All of you might remember that.

Because for us, it requires discipline, focus, and faith. And we can have the mind of Christ. But do you really want it? See, Christ pointed out there are different levels of control. The Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees, as we know from the New Testament, they were very much into the letter of the law. And the letter of the law, they just kept to the very letter. And that was it. That was the limitation. But as we see on the Sermon of the Mount, Christ had another level. He had a higher level for his followers, and it was called, what? The Spirit of the Law. The Spirit of the Law. The Spirit of the Law. The Spirit of the Law. Matthew 5. He said, it says, you shall not commit adultery. But I say, Spirit of the Law, anyone who looks upon a woman to lust has committed adultery. So Christ was raising that level. Well, because the teachers of his day thought they already had it down pat.

They actually had to murder someone. And he said, no. How about hate? Because he saw it in their eyes. They hated him. And he wanted to teach them about love, not hate. But then, there's another mental aspect that Christ was, here's the letter, here's the Spirit. And then Christ said, there's another level altogether. And it's the mind of Christ. It's the mind that he wants us to have. It's not for a novice. It's not for somebody who just like, oh, yeah, that sounds good to me. But it's something that requires that discipline, that focus, that faith. That higher level, that mind of Christ is referenced in the Bible in Isaiah 55, verse 8 and 9. Verse 8 and 9. Isaiah 55, verse 8 and 9. What did it say? He said, my thoughts are not your thoughts. Your thoughts are not my thoughts. He says, my thoughts are so much higher. My thoughts are so much greater than your thoughts. Then we're talking about the mind of God. Do we want to go that high? Because frankly, to a lot of us, the spirit of the law is about all we can handle, right?

But we're talking about another kind of level. See, this God-given thing on your neck is the marble. It's the marvel. Of the human world. Your brain and thought process is leaps and bounds above the most complicated computer ever dreamed up. It's this mind. Your mind is so complex and so complicated, man could spend a thousand lifetimes and never come close to figuring out that perfect design. You know why? Simply put, our minds are out of this world designed. Our minds were made by a God to serve a God. That's what most people do not understand. And a lot of us, we don't think about that during our everyday walk, our everyday life. God designed for a godly purpose, for a godly destiny. Because it is our destiny. For most of the world, this brain or mind is for remedial education. Simple things, even though the world thinks that, oh, well, we can figure this, we can put man on the moon. We can even send a man to Mars. Says, don't be deal, I made it. I made Mars. And you can't even imagine how far the throne of God is.

See, God has the switch, and only He can switch it on to us. And He did switch it on to us so that we can understand Him. Most of the world, not that way. They do not want it. They do not want God, nor do they need God, nor need His ways, nor want to entertain the commandments. It's that simple. You read it every day. It's like you turn to 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 5. 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 5. Another very powerful scripture.

I think a part says, bring every thought into captivity. Bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of...what? Christ. Another phrase for saying, having the mind of Christ. Bring every thought into captivity. Do we really want to do that? Do we want to do what's necessary to use this incredible mind that God has not only gifted us with, but willing to take it to an entirely different level? Because that's what these scriptures are saying. We can have the mind of a God and walk in the flesh.

Question is, do we really want it? Today, I'd like to start down a path, since this is part one. Next week, next Sabbath will be part two, on how we can exactly do that. How we can use our minds and take our lives and our spiritual lives to another level. Because it's interesting, if you've ever worked on cars. Growing up, I had some old very first car was a junkyard. As most of it was, I think I paid ten dollars for it. It cost me more for the title than it did for the car.

And it was just the ugliest car you've ever seen. It had been wrecked two or three times. Matter of fact, the hood was held down by a log chain. And it was the ugliest brown you would ever see. Four-door... I can't even remember what it was now. It was ugly. And it broke down all the time. And I was always working on a car, on that car.

And I was always working on a car, on that car. Except I was not gifted with working on cars. I would get frustrated. And I had a good friend of mine, my best friend at the time who was very good at working on cars.

I don't know if he would admit it, but maybe that's why he was my best friend. Is I needed help and he knew I needed help, since it's always breaking down. But you know, before you go under the hood to try to repair something, you kind of need to know how it works, don't you? And you know, I never really got how the whole engine thing worked.

So I want to go in, because I found a very good book, a month or so ago, by H. Norman Wright, who happens to be a best-selling author, a marriage and child family child therapist. But he's also a certified trauma specialist. And he handles his job every day, is to get up and handle things that we have to handle a few times in our life.

Things that will mess with your mind. People who have gone through trauma are going through trauma. So he does a very good job of not only pulling in the science of it all, the neuroscience, but he also found one thing out in all of his study, that the answer to our minds and our problems are in the Bible. He doesn't profess any major religion, but he just knows that this is the answer, which is rare. That's why I like the book.

That's why normally I wouldn't have picked it up, but I found it to be very good and it cost $5.99. It was in the airport. So being I had a four-hour plane delay, I picked a book up. And I found he was using so many of the scriptures that I had always studied, thought about, as he put together this thought, this process, and it's called A Better Way to Think.

And positive thoughts can change your life because he has the same understanding but on a different level and perhaps a greater level than I had thought about when it comes to the mind. Because God and his thoughts and his way of life, brethren, are all positive. Do you get that? All positive. Not one thing about God's law, God's way, God's mind, God's thoughts, nothing is negative. It's all positive. Jesus Christ, when he walked on this earth, all he was confronted with was negativity all the time.

And what did he answer it with? The Word of God and a positive mindset. Is this possibly the key of that godly mind? Could it be that simple that all it takes is positive thoughts? No, it's deeper than that. Because we understand that Satan, the originator, the author of evil, his ways, his thoughts are all negative.

Now, I actually read another author that actually almost agreed with right, but said he thought that Satan was 90% negative and he had 10% positive because sometimes he wanted to real a sin, because he wanted us to think something was good so we would go down that road.

That it was positive because he comes across as an angel of light, right? But we know what he is. It's evil. So does that sound too simple? Not really. Five years ago when I first came here, I brought up in a sermon, didn't make much of it. Some might remember it. Others probably wouldn't. But it was something I tried many years ago.

And it's called the 30-day mental diet. The 30-day mental diet. I didn't come up with it. I came across it in a book one time. It's actually the inventor of it or the creator of it. It was actually from 1921. And the 30-day mental diet is for people who want to make serious changes in their life. And it's actually given if you don't want to make a serious change, you want to make a minor change, don't waste your time with it.

But the 30-day mental diet is a diet where you, with your mind, you go on a diet of negativity. For 30 days, you will stop, grab hold, and get rid of negative thoughts. And you'll do it the first day, and you'll be amazed at how many negative thoughts, negative actions, negative feelings you have going through your body.

And his instruction was to take about five seconds and be able to catch it in five seconds. Well, you know, the first time I thought, well, I'm a pretty positive person. I won't have much. First day, I went, man, I just didn't realize how many time and time again these negative thoughts were entering my mind, these things coming out of my mouth.

But first, it entered my head. And I began to go, and by seven days into this 30-day mental diet, I realized it had really helped me because I hadn't realized I was that bad. And even my wife was saying, wow, why are you all of a sudden feeling so good, so positive, even when things are bad? You know, there's a problem. You just look at it, yeah, well, we'll get through that. And I realized just how important it was.

But, you know, in all my time, I never made it 30 days. Well, a lot of times you don't have to because the instructors will all tell you it takes 21 days to develop either a habit or kick a habit. It takes at least 21 straight days before you get it into your mind. You know, the sad part about it is you begin to see when this begins to take over you and you begin to bring those thoughts into captivity and get rid of them as soon as negative goes, and wow, you begin to realize just how negative people are that you're around, even your family.

Even your family.

Positive and negative, it's all just comes down to that. It's that simplistic. Well, no, this is not a Tony Robbins finds God seminar, okay? That's not what this is about. It's real-life concepts in letting God control our mind. And there's been enough scientific research to show it, but most people don't really want to face it. And they really don't like the God part being in it. But depending on how active your mind is, the average person each day produces around 45,000 thoughts each day. When I read that, I'm going, I don't think that much, and then you start thinking, but this is actual research to find that we have those things. But because there's so many coming in all the time, whether you're just looking at your hand, all of a sudden there's different thoughts and coming in about your hand. There are different thoughts. There are so many thoughts as you are listening to this sermon. A thought goes over here, is over here, is over here. They all make up your mind. They are all entering your minds. Research says we speak about 200 words a minute. It's the average person. You speak about 200 words per minute, but do you realize that you can listen and process 1300 words per minute? Over six times the amount of words you can speak, you can process. That's part of the mind. So see, you can actually be talking and having all these things, other thoughts come across in your mind. You can think six times faster than you can actually speak the words that are coming. That's this incredible mind that God has given to us.

See, our minds have this incredible potential, and so do we, if we will use those. Your thoughts are so controlling. They are so powerful, but most of us, we don't really want to think about it. Because to think about it means maybe we need to change exactly what the scriptures tell us we need to do. To become more like God, we have to change and become less human and more like God, but yet we're in a human body. That's why Christ came before us. H. Norman Wright, in his book here, made the statement, you can't evoke thoughts by feeling a certain way. I found that interesting when I read it. You can't evoke thoughts by feeling a certain way, but you can evoke and control your feelings by directing your thoughts. So it's your thoughts that control your feelings. Sometimes we think it's the other way around. Oh, I'm feeling this way. I need to think. Maybe I need to think on this. No. It's your thoughts that control your feelings. He says having control over your own thoughts gives us the power to direct our feelings. We can't always choose our feelings, but we can guide them with our thoughts. You know this three-pound mass God designed in your skull? It is mind-boggling. Our thoughts are the origin of our behavior. Our thoughts, what you think, dictates your behavior. William can tell us this from teaching school and some of his students. It's why it's so important that they get education so they can begin to control their thoughts, which will control their actions and behavior down the road. It's the same thing with us.

He says you want to change certain behaviors, or I put sins, because we all do, we must change certain thoughts. Each behavior begins like this. A thought stimulates an electrochemical response, which produces an emotion. The emotion results in an attitude, and an attitude produces a behavior. This process affects the way we think and feel physically. So negative or toxic thoughts produce negative emotions. It's the way it is. It's a chemical reaction in your brain. And those produce negative attitudes, which result in negative behavior. When you say, oh, why did I do that? I didn't want to do that, and I did it anyway. Why? Because your brain! It's your brain! That's the reason you did it. You didn't bring that thought into captivity. That's why it's important. Each time we have a thought, it triggers an electrochemical reaction in your body, whether you're aware of it or not. And chances are, you're not aware of it. Each thought sets off a biological process of your every cell, everything in your entire body. Janay's husband, being a doctor, could tell us, you know how many? You know how many there are? This reaction, these chemicals that are released through cells and atoms and everything else in your body? 400 billion. 400 billion. That's the mind and the body that God designed. Sorry, folks. That didn't evolve. That didn't come from slime. 400 billion at once goes into process when something enters your mind. Chemical surge through the body, producing electromagnetic waves. Those set off emotions which affect how we behave. That's it. So it all starts with the mind. You ever wonder why some days you just feel so positive? Man, everything just goes right. You just feel good. Man, every traffic light is green. Everything that you do turns out right. And you're like, wow! I used to have those days when I had my construction company. And I'd come home during, I'd become home at a decent hour. And Mary goes, what's wrong with you? Because I was, wow! I didn't even feel like I worked. Everything just went right. It was perfect. I want to get up and do it again. But it didn't happen very often. But all of you have experienced that, right? We've all had those good days. But we all had those days when everything went wrong. Everything. Every light was red. Yes. And what does that do? What does that first red light do? It's green, it's green, then it changes red on you. Man, I wanted through that. And then the first thought goes through your mind. What? I bet you every light down there is going to be red. I know it's going to be red. And if it isn't, it'll just be one that's green. What is that? That's negative thoughts. They come through, right? We all have it.

See, it's due to those chemical reactions set in off in your brain by your thoughts. Well, yeah, we need to tell God about this. No, God was trying to tell us about this. Okay, right? He's been telling us this through Solomon for thousands of years. Proverbs 23, verse 7, as a man thinks, what? Say that again. So is he. So am I, as I think that's what I am. If I want to be angry, guess what? I'm going to be angry. It's my right. If I choose to be happy this day and positive, guess what? You can't stop me. You may bring negative stuff to me, but I'll just turn it around and make it positive.

What do you want? You know, I'm looking out at you and I see so many people nodding their head, yes, because they know this is... I'm touching on somewhere you've thought about it or you experienced it, or you know that this is right, that this is true, because God, for one thing, says it is. The content of your thoughts matter a lot. As the book said, our thoughts can limit who we are and what we become. You are what you become. If you think you're a loser, guess what you're going to be? A loser! The NCAA basketball tournament is going on. Sweet 16 or whatever it is, and I just... yes, and so I just switched on the other night. Thursday night, there's a game going on. Mary wasn't home. I'm like, watch a ball game. And I'll watch it from my bedroom in my bed with cheese and crackers and a beer in my hand. You won't tell her. No. So this will not. She won't see this at all. And I was happy! Okay. Didn't have my wife, but I had my German beer that I went down, especially a ball, and my cheese and crackers, because she never lets me eat in the bed. We have three tables, and you want to eat in a bed. Let's see if she's negative.

So all those players, they get this far in the tournament. They don't think they're going to lose, because if they think they're going to lose, guess what? And their coach knows. Their coach knows. Their minds must be positive. Haven't you accomplished things where you knew that you had to get something done and you got it done, even though you questioned it? I got to get it done! As one man once said, at a seminar I was at, he said, what would you accomplish if you knew you could not fail?

Almost anything. I see most of us, we have, you're told as a child, oh, wait a minute, you can't do that. No, you won't be any good at this. Oh, no, no, that's really not you. Are you going to lose? See, that's negative. Whether you think about it now or not, how many years of stuff like that of negativity is in your brain now? Because everything, everything you learn, all these thoughts are in these brain cells, these millions and billions of brain cells that you have.

He continues, our thoughts, according to noted psychologist and author Archibald Hart, says, our thoughts influence our character, they shape our attitudes, determines our behavior, affects our spirituality, and even influences our immune system.

I don't think this guy is still alive, but I so remember a company that I worked for. I was very young, 18, 19, and this guy was in his 30s to 40s. His name was Joe Scott. I think I heard he died. And I remember because some of the guys that were all older guys at that time, they came in and he'd go, you know, old Joe, we can watch this. We'll tell him how bad he's looking and so forth like that. Oh, well, you just don't look good. He said, I bet you by noon, he goes homesick. I watched him and boy, sure enough, they go, oh, Joe, what's wrong with you nothing. I, well, you look bad. Well, you know, I haven't been feeling that good. Next thing you know, by by noon, the guy said, oh man, I think I'm sick. I'm going home. It does work. I remember seeing that.

And so we, we must make sure because our thinking determines whether you will be happy or sad most of the time. Do we realize that the body is a receptacle for every positive or negative thought that we will have and reacts to each one? As a matter of fact, Dr. Carolyn Leaf's book, who switched off my brain, she said research shows that around 80 percent, 87 percent of illnesses can be attributed to our thought life and that 13 percent to diet, genetics, and our environment. That's her research. This mind controls a lot. And he explains it as a negative thought begins to develop, it activates a section of our brain that releases emotions related to the thought. If it's a negative or toxic thought, one of our downer chemicals is released, stimulating the release of another which stimulates the release of another which stimulates even more negative. Negative, negative, negative. And pretty soon, our whole body feels negative. Our whole mental process has been bombarded with these chemicals from our minds. And it says that research in the mind is not a negative thought. Research indicates that as much as 75 percent of everything we think is negative, counterproductive, and works against us in this world. 75 percent. But whose world is this harbor of negativity? Whose world? It's Satan's, right? 2 Corinthians 4, 4. What does this say? Satan is the God of this world who has blinded the what? The minds. Not the hearts, the minds. The minds of those who don't believe. He's the prince of the power of the air. The airwaves are overflowing with negativity. Just watch TV, radio, everything you get, no matter what, news, anything. Spend a day writing down everything negative that comes your way. Because this is his world, 75 percent. What does that tell us? 75 percent of what we're taking in is negative. That only leaves 25 percent. And part of that percentage is neutral. So at best, at best, we can have 25 percent. Positive thoughts going in our brain. And who has to produce those? chances are we do. But we control. You see why the 30-day diet is so important, that we don't allow this negative thoughts to enter our minds. And we kick it out, and then we can put something positive in its place.

See, we can reject toxic negativity of this world, and we must. Negative thoughts are a form of pollution, and they are polluting what? Our body, which is what? The temple of God, which, because the Holy Spirit is nothing but positive, we're polluting what? The temple. When we allow this.

Let's go back to Luke 6. Which time? I'm just about to wrap this up. Let's go back to Luke 6. Luke 6 and verse 45. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, right? Good thoughts. If it's in your heart, what? You've kind of got it ingrained in you. It's a part of you. So what's going in? Is it good? What are you holding on to? Is it good? It's good. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Christ is trying to tell us. You want to stop the words that come out that are negative, that are not good? You can do it. You must change your thoughts. What's in your brain? What's in your heart? I guess that's why even in Philippians 4 he talks about, and now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on that which is true, right? That which is honorable, right, and pure. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. He's trying to tell us, don't let Satan's world control you. Get him out of your head. You want to live like no other? Live like Christ, and you'll live like no other. Because all of a sudden, the negative stuff that will naturally come to you will just bounce off, because you're not this big vacuum cleaner sucking up all the negativity that wants to come your way. Oh, yeah, here, Google, oh, here's a story about this. I think I'll punch you. I did that yesterday when I started working on my 30-day diet. There was a story over here, it's just like and I go, no, I know where that's going to take me, and I don't want to go there. I want to be positive. That's a negative story. I had the choice. I had the option, and that one I got right. The brain follows patterns of habits established over the years, just like you've been told, all these things. You've been infected with negative thoughts all your life, and you've been affected by them. But we can control that. We can stop that. But wait a minute, I've been, but 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 said, I'm a new creation. Well, yes, you are. You are a new creation. The problem there goes the old mind again, and it flashes back to a time of sin. Flashes back to a time that the way of life that you don't live anymore. Places. Things can take us back when we don't need to go back. But you see, we control that with this, with our minds. Ephesians 4 verse 17.

Ephesians 4 verse 17. I'll read from the New Living Translation. Ephesians 4 verse 17. With the Lord's authority, I say this. Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness. They wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against them. It's the mind! This is what He's trying to tell us.

Breathing, you will control what goes into your mind for the next seven days. Do you want to be on a negative diet to where you're eliminating? So you begin to see? Well, that's what we're going to go into next week. But I want you to remember, let's go there as I close. Let's go to Romans. Romans 12. We close here today. And I hope you'll be back next week.

Romans 12. Most of you know this.

Verse 2. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing. That's what I want you to do this week. I want you to do during the next 30 days. By the renewing of your mind, let's get rid of Satan's negativity and live as God designed us to with the mind of Christ, with a positive mindset. Do we want it?

So next week we will go into deeper of this mind so that we can have a godly mind. But remember, don't be conformed. Be transformed by the renewing of our mind.