Matthew chapter 15 verses 18
through 20. But those things which proceed
out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the
man. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts. murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man, but to eat with unwashing hands defileth not a man. Turn with me now to Genesis chapter
6. We read, beginning with verse
1, we want to see what the condition of the human heart was before
the destruction of the world by the flood. And it came to pass when men
began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were
born unto them. that the sons of God saw the
daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives
of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh,
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were
giants in the earth in those days, And also after that, when
the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they
bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were
of old men of renown. Verse 5, And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth. and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuum. Turn to the eighth chapter of
Genesis and look at verse 21. And the Lord smelled a sweet
savor, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse
the ground any more for man's sake. Look at the next statement. For
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. The other verse to which I call
attention is one that we used last Sunday, Proverbs 23, As a man thinketh in his heart,
so is he." Our message this morning will have two primary divisions. First of all, the heart of the
unsaved person, the heart which is filled with evil thoughts,
and that from his youth. Thinking about what Solomon said
in Proverbs 23 and verse 7, as a man thinketh in his heart,
so is he, it might be well for us to go a step further this
morning and show what must take place before an individual can
have any hope beyond this life. If a person is as he thinketh
in his heart, then his very salvation must reflect the thoughts which
are in harmony with the will of the sovereign God. In answer
to that, which will be the second division of our message this
morning, We will investigate a very important passage of scripture
in 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Now, in reviewing briefly the
heart of man and some things that we had to say concerning
the heart of man last Sunday, depravity affects not only man's
will, man's But depravity affects his mind,
it affects his memory, and it affects his understanding. The heart is the chief source
of defilement and impurity. Moral purity, as we have already
seen in the study of Matthew 15 and Mark chapter 7, does not
depend on washing or not washing. It does not depend on touching
or not touching, physically speaking, the foul things. It does not depend on eating
or not eating certain foods. It is not what goes into the
man that defiles him, but it is that which comes out of the
heart of man that defiles him. This is the statement that our
Lord gave in answering a very important question in Matthew
chapter 15 and Mark chapter 7. Wickedness today is commonly
attributed to bad examples. But that is erroneous. Yes, wickedness is attributed
to bad company, but that is not true. I'm afraid that most of us who
say we believe in depravity, most of us who have studied the
subject of depravity, for many years, yet in our conversations
we make many statements that are in direct contradiction to
what we say we believe. I have found that true in searching
my own heart and life. I believe that you will find
it true as you do a little personal investigating of your own heart. We want to keep our children,
you know, away from bad boys and bad girls for fear that they
will be taught bad things. It is true that they're taught
many bad things, but let me say this, in reality you don't have
to be taught anything that's bad. Does that surprise you? It's already there. It's already in the human heart.
I have given you the scriptures that prove it if you believe
the scriptures. And you believe them as a professing believer. You really believe them if you
are a true believer. And there's no question in your
mind if you know anything about your own heart. I was taught some things, but you know, the potential was
there, and the potential that resided
in my heart was more evil than anything I heard from the
lips of someone else. Is that shocking? I'm going to make it very vivid this morning. Did you know that each one of
us has within his heart the potential to commit every sin under the
sun? Do you believe that? Many times
we read something in the newspaper and we say, oh, I'm horrified. I wouldn't think about doing
a thing like that. The potential is there
for you to do it. All of us have been horrified
in the last year over this Wayne Henley. I want you to see what I'm getting
at. I want you to know the potential is in the heart of every individual
to do what Wayne Henley evidently did. You say, not me, then you don't
know what you're talking about. You have no biblical concept
of the human heart and the depravity I was looking at the world at
war a couple of weeks ago, and what I saw flashed across the
screen, the awful atrocities against the Jewish people during
World War II in Germany. Of course, the thought, how can
I do a dastardly thing like that? Beloved, I want you to know the
potential is in the heart of every individual to do exactly
what was done by Hitler's henchmen during World
War II. Do you believe that? Do you really
believe it? So that's my question. Do you
really believe it? Do you understand the potential
of the human heart and the depravity of it? The human heart is the source
from which every sin under heaven has its beginning. Just name
it! The human heart is the source
from which it came. Now, let's go a little further
this morning. We have said that the human heart, the inner part
of man, is the cesspool of iniquity. Let us see what heads the list
this morning. At the head of the black list,
the things mentioned by our Lord in Matthew 15 and Mark chapter
7, yes, at the head of the black
list of our heart's content, stand full evil thoughts in the
foot, evil thoughts. As a man thinketh in his heart,
so is it, so is it. Thoughts are the parents of words
and deeds. Thus all sin, according to this
statement, is represented as springing up out of and finding
expression for lust in the sphere of thought. You do not know a person until
you know what he's thinking. Do you know that? Words don't always tell the truth
because, you see, There is hypocrisy to deal with. Can't you see why I like to know
what you're thinking many times on great biblical subjects? As a man thinketh in his heart
so is he. I want to make a statement here.
I'm leery of an individual. I'm leery of individuals. I don't care how much piety they
might manifest. who are not willing to unveil
their thinking on great doctrinal truths, who are unwilling to
unveil their thinking on great principles. You never know a person until
you know what he is thinking. Now the subject that we're going
to discuss this morning, as a man thinks it in his heart, so is
it. So is it. Thinking is the combining,
comparing, rearranging of the actual content of the human mind. As a man thinks it in his heart,
so is it. The heart thought our purpose
is the true man. I'm going to illustrate that
before we begin the discussion of the message under two major
headings. I said the heart thought our
purpose is the true man. I do not know the true man until
I know the real purpose of that man. until I know something about
the heart thought of that man. Now it doesn't mean that you
know all of my thoughts and you are to know all of my thoughts.
Personally I don't want to know all of yours and you shouldn't
want to know all of mine. But that is a thought within
itself that should make us really do
some searching Even though you do not know all of my thoughts,
and I do not know all of your thoughts, it isn't necessary,
it isn't good that I know all of yours, and it isn't good for
you to know all of mine. But one thing for sure, when
we stand before the Lord someday, all of our faults will be unveiled. The secret things will be revealed. That's enough to make every one
of us fall in the dust at the feet of the Sovereign God. Do you know why that the thoughts
of the mind called the leprosy of the head in Leviticus 13 is
termed the worst kind of leprosy? We're going to discuss that subject in a subsequent message. In the study of that subject,
we will be dealing primarily with Christians and the thoughts
of Christians. But the leprosy of the head is
the worst kind of leprosy. When you read Leviticus 13 verse
44, unclean, unclean, utterly unclean. Utterly unclean. When a man is unclean within,
he is utterly unclean. So the heart of every individual
is sinful, it's wicked, it's deceitful, It's a cesspool of
iniquity, and from it come evil thoughts, evil thoughts. We have to be taught good principles.
We don't have to be taught bad principles. That ought to be enough to convince
you of the depravity of the human heart. Just leave any child alone
and there'll be enough evil manifest itself in that child to prove
to you it's hard as to pray. The imagination, every imagination
of the faults of the heart are evil only continually. and their
evil from the person's view. This subject isn't discussed
too much today, is it? That's why we have so many people
in churches today who are religious but have never been born again
with the Spirit of God. The character of a man's thoughts
determine the character of his life. You doubt that? Therefore, no person is really
known until his thoughts are revealed. Now let's look at that for a
moment. That needs to be investigated. However, we know that man, even though
he is not known by man, he is known by the law. The Lord knows
our thoughts even afar off. You know there is one place in
which God does not exist. You know where it is? You know
in the study of the scriptures you find that you just mention
the heavens, you mention the earth, under the earth, God is
there. No man can fly away from the
presence of God, but there is one place in which God does not
exist. Where is it? He does not exist
in the thoughts of the evil. Psalm 10, verse 4. God is not
in the thoughts of the evil. Oh, it is true that the thought
of God may be injected by something that has happened outside of
you, but inside of you, in your heart, the thought of God does
not exist. Did you know that God hates the
imagination He hates the heart that produces such evil imagination. Proverbs 6 and verse 21. Six things doth the Lord hate,
yea, seven are abomination unto him. And one of the seven things
is a heart that deviseth evil things. Did you know that a man may be
worse in thought than he is in deed? Now, this has to be looked
at from two points of view, so I'll share both of them with
you. I said, first of all, a man may be worse in thought than
in act or in deed. You see, a man's act is often
restrained. A man might desire to do something,
But he is restrained from doing what he desires to do. In that case, his desire, you
see, is more evil than his deed. And you have to go to his desire, to his real thought, intent,
purpose, in order to see just what kind of a character he really
is. You can't restrain the thoughts
of the heart. But the acts of the heart can
often be restrained, and they often are restrained. On the other hand, we must not
push this theory to the extent of asserting that the thought
is as bad in every case as the deed. Follow me now. What do you mean? Unquestionably,
it is not. You see, the actual perpetrator
of crime is guilty of a double offense. First of all, he desired
to do it, and secondly, he didn't restrain himself from doing it. You see what I'm talking about? He desired to do it, and secondly,
he did not restrain himself from doing it. So the actual perpetrator of
a crime is guilty of a double offense. Thoughts have been called by
one theologian, the seeds of conduct. But they're more than that. They're seeds which have already
begun to germinate underground. They have begun to develop the
natural and essential properties. Let's look at the text first
of all this morning, Genesis 6 verse 5. The first major heading is this. The thoughts of a depraved heart
are evil continually. You say, I don't believe that. Then you don't believe the scripture. Listen to the text again. And
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only
evil continually. There are three words I want
you to underscore. Imagination, thoughts, and heart. We'll look at all three of these.
Do you now see the connection between imagination, thoughts,
and heart? What are we looking at in this
text? We're looking at the corruption of life which was evident in
the antediluvian age. But the wickedness of life so
manifest is to be distinguished from the wickedness of the heart
which prompted such wicked acts. We're making a distinction now
between the actual life of the antediluvians and the heart that
promoted and prompted such life. every person as he comes into
this world bears the impression, yes, the image of the fall. Romans
5, 12, Wherefore, by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin, and so death passed upon all, for all have sinned,
or in Adam all have sinned. Adam communicated his image to
his posterity, Genesis 5, verse 3. As our first parents were unclean,
Job tells us, how can any of us expect to be clean? Job 14,
verse 4. David confessed in Psalm 51,
verse 5, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity. and in sin did my
mother conceive me. The Lord Jesus said, as he spoke
to Nicodemus, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. It will never be anything but
flesh. Paul said, in writing to the Ephesian church, we are
by nature the children of wrath. Will you put all of those together?
Will you link them together like that? Adam communicated his image to
his posterity. As our first parents were unclean,
all of us are unclean. David said that he was conceived
in iniquity. The Lord Jesus said, that which
is born of the flesh is flesh. And Paul said, we're all by nature
the children of wrath. The image of the fall manifests
itself in many ways. I'll mention a few. First of
all, there is a sinful curiosity in every man, just as there was
a sinful curiosity in Eve. Would you admit that? It is natural in every person, a natural curiosity,
which is sinful. When we are restrained, restraint
simply whets the edge of natural inclination. Johnny, don't you do that. That's
the very thing Johnny will do his best to do. Someone will
come along to you as an adult and say, now you should not do
this, and you catch yourself wanting to do the very thing
that you have been forbidden to do. Restraint simply whets the edge
of natural inclination. Everyone by nature is discontented
with his present life. Eve was discontented with hers.
And you see, this continually manifests itself even in the
lives of Christians. How many of us can say with Paul,
I have learned in whatsoever state I am in, therewith to be
content? That's learned only by grace. By nature we're discontented
with our present life. Man is naturally more impressed
by evil counsels and examples than he is by good examples and
counsels. Let me illustrate that. Some
child can watch two different programs on the television. On one of the programs there
are some four-letter words brought out. And sometimes, and I heard
one yesterday when I turned the TV on for a few minutes, a three-letter
word using the word God, as I've never heard it used before on
TV. You don't know what to expect
next. But a child can look at one program
and hear these bad counsels. and see manifested bad examples,
and they register on his mind, the same child can be subjected
to a wholesome program with good counsel, and he'll forget the
things before the day is over. He didn't have to be taught that
art. He has to be taught a lot of things, but he doesn't have
to be taught that art. Man is always trying to hide
himself, hide his actions from somebody else. Therefore, he
doesn't have to be taught the art of sewing fig leaves together. He learned that naturally. Every child, as soon as a child
begins to walk and talk, has learned the art of sewing fig
leaves together. Do you get my point? Always trying to hide himself
or hide something he's doing. I know from experience. I never will forget one cold
winter day. My father had gone out to feed
the stock. My mother had gone out to gather
the Now you know where I've raised. There I sat before the fireplace. I said to myself, this is a good
opportunity now for me to smoke a cigarette. They didn't know I had bought
some, you know, but I'd, you see, at our school we had these
big old stoves that you had to build a fire in to heat the classroom. when I was going to elementary
school, and I was paid 10 cents a morning per stove to go and
start the fires and get the rooms warming. Oh, that was spending
money. That was spending money. So I
had bought myself a package of ready-rolled cigarettes. About
nine years of age, 10, somewhere So while Mother was out gathering
the eggs, I said, well, I'll just light up the lucky stripe
here. She's gone. I did, and all of a sudden I
heard the back screen door slam, and I said, oh, oh, she's coming
in. And without thinking, I just rubbed real quick like that,
you know, to put the cigarette out and threw it in the fire.
She didn't have to worry about the smell so much, because it
would all go up the chimney. smoke. And then I had business
outside, so I went through my bedroom and out the front door
while Mother's coming in the back. I was playing around the
front yard and I felt something burning and I looked down and
a hole had burned through my new overalls that I had on the
outside and some old ones underneath. Some of you know what I'm talking
about. Keep warm, you know. So the hole had gone through
both of them. I had learned the art of sewing fig leaves together. Now I had to make up some kind
of a story. So I went in, I told mother I was playing in the fire
and accidentally got a live coal on me and burned myself. I wonder
to this day if she really believed me. I said, I wonder if she really
believed me. But you see, I learned naturally the art of sewing fig
leaves together, trying to hide something. Man is always naturally trying
to hide his actions from someone else, and he's foolish enough
to think he can hide them from God. And finally, he's always transferring
his guilt to someone else. There is nothing that infuriates
me anymore that when someone has committed some awful act
of crime, that when he's interviewed on TV, somebody, lawyer or somebody,
well it's because of his circumstances. After all, now he was raised
in the ghetto. Now if he had been furnished
a nice home in which to live, he wouldn't have committed this
crime, hogwash. pure unadulterated hogwash, always transferring the act of
crime to circumstances or to someone else. Do you know what the first step
toward the great moral chaos in Genesis 6 was? It was when
the sons of God married the daughters of men. Do you know what that
means? My beloved, it does not mean what some have interpreted
it to mean. Some believe that the sons of
God, that statement refers to the angels. I don't believe it
for a second. That will not stand the test
of Holy Scripture. Angels do not marry. So when
he speaks of the sons of God, if you'll take that statement
in the light of its context, it simply means this, that the
spiritual line was intermarrying with the line of King. Whenever a Christian marries
a non-Christian, as one Puritan said, he has the devil for his
father-in-law. And who wants a devil for a father-in-law? He's able to have strong language.
Now this was the beginning of a chaotic condition that existed
in the antediluvian age. What is marriage for? I'm afraid
that in 1974 the average person does not know the true biblical
meaning of marriage. The great end of marriage, beloved,
is not to gratify either the fancy or, we might say, the flesh
of man. You know what marriage is for? It is to obtain a helper. That's the great end in marriage. Some people marry and they have
a desire to marry a beautiful woman. Look out. If she's not
a Christian, boy, her beauty can cause you many problems. Some women desire a certain man.
Maybe he's an outstanding athlete or something, or he's a handsome
fellow. That's not the main reason for
wanting a partner. It's to obtain a help Believers, you see, are to be
helped, not hindered. And whenever a believer becomes
united with an unbeliever, he isn't helped, but he's hindered.
Do you believe that? You have to
believe it if you believe the book. So this was the beginning of
the chaotic condition that existed before the flood. As you look at the fifth verse
of Genesis 6, you come to this conclusion immediately. It is
a corrupted nature that causes a corrupt life. It is not a corrupted influence
or a corrupted society that corrupts nature, but it is a corrupt nature
that corrupts society. Socialists today have the thing
going full steam in reverse, and there's no compatibility
between socialism and the truth of Holy Scripture. But let's look at something.
The thoughts of the heart are evil. Man is accountable to God for
his thoughts. Evil thoughts, you see, condemn
man. They proceed from the evil heart. There is a life of thought as
well as there is a life of deed. Had you thought about that? I
said there is a life of thought as well as there is a life of
deed. There is a life of thought as
well as there is a life of action. evil action is simply the fruit
of evil thought. Now this is putting things in
their biblical order. But look at this, imaginations
of the thought are evil from youth. Oh, the average mother
today does not want to think about her beautiful sweet daughter. having a depraved heart that
is nothing but a cesspool of iniquity. The average father
doesn't want to think about his son that has a heart that is
evil, depraved, a cesspool of iniquity. But that's it. That's it, whether you want to
think about it or not. If you want to stick your head in the
sand, go ahead. But this is what the Bible says.
I know it to be truth, I know it from experience, and so does
everyone who has come to know the Lord, whom to know is life
eternal. But let's investigate something. The word imagination,
did you know that the word image is also found in the word imagination? It represents the pictures which
we allow to come to the eyes of our hearts. So the word image is found within
the word imagination. But look at the word imagination.
Let's break it up a little bit. What does it mean? Evil imagination means every
germ of idea. Did you know this? It means every incipient embryo
of notion is evil. Did you know that? Now that's
getting right down to where we really live, isn't it? Have you thought about it in
that light? What did I say? I said every imagination, which
means every germ of idea, every incipient embryo of notion is
evil. Evil therefore arises from the
imagination. To illustrate that we could say
covetousness is a mistaken fancy of the excellency of well. So when a person begins to imagine
what do you like to have? I like wealth. Then after a while
he's coveting wealth and he's doing everything he can in order
to obtain wealth. And where did it begin? It began
with his imagination. With his imagination. But that
isn't all. Notice what else he says. Every
imagination of the force of the heart is evil continually. Beloved, not many of us are willing
to stop and really investigate each one of these statements. Look at the statement, only evil. What does that mean? It has been
expressed like this, and it's true. Only evil. means there is no ray of light
to mitigate the darkness. There is no spark to alleviate
the impure night. Evil continually. Now the average
person would say, oh, he just has bad thoughts once in a while. No, the unsaved man has evil
thoughts continually. I'll explain that a little further
in a moment. You see, there is a difference between that which
is injected into our thinking, come from without, and that which
come from within. It is true that even in the life
of an unsaved person, good thoughts can be injected, but they don't
remain there, because there isn't anything within that heart that
desires to keep them there. Therefore, they're dismissed
as quickly as possible. That's why we say to talk to
some people just like pouring water off a duck's back. You
know what I'm talking about now? You see, there is a difference
in that which is injected from without and that which originates
from within. What our Lord is talking about,
as Moses was inspired to give us the statement that from within
the very imagination, the thought of the individual springs nothing
but that which is evil. It's the source of evil. But
let's not stop there. You say, that's bad enough. Oh,
but I'm not through yet. only evil flows in one channel
of evil. You cannot expect anything but
evil flowing from the one channel which is evil, and the channel
is the channel of the thinking of man in his depraved condition. Someone has said evil never becomes
weary. Think about that for a moment.
evil never becomes weary. He also said, there is no intermission
to break the wicked sameness. Evil continually, only evil continually. He doesn't even stop there. This
same person went on to say, countless are these imaginations. But they
all show one feature, one feature, evil continual. Now beloved,
in all honesty, what do you expect to come from an unsaved person? Do you expect something good
to come from him? You're foolish to even expect
anything good to come from him. I wanted to stop at this point
and go to the tenth chapter of the tenth division of the Psalms
to discuss this point further. But time will not permit us to
do that this morning, and I want to get to another point that
is very important. I do not feel that I would do
justice to the subject unless I get to the second point. What
we have seen thus far is a very black picture of man. a very
dark picture of the human heart and the thoughts that proceed
from such a heart. I would have closed this morning,
spent about ten minutes discussing something very precious. The thoughts of a regenerated
person are brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. This will never take place until
there has been a work of grace in a person's heart. Do not expect
the thoughts of an unsaved person to please you, because they're
evil, and they're evil continually, day by day, day after day. However, when the grace of God
comes into the life of an individual, His thinking, his very thoughts
are brought into obedience to the will of God. That's why I said at the beginning
this morning, if a person is as he thinketh in his heart,
then his very salvation must reflect his thoughts in harmony
with the will of God. to 2 Corinthians chapter 10.
About all the time that I will have in discussing this point
is to give just a few highlights from this portion. I'd like for
us to begin with verse 3, 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Paul
said, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the
flesh. I want to explain that to some
extent. You'll notice that Paul admitted
that his apostleship in no way made him superior to human infirmity. He was not a superman, but he
was empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit. His power
was the power of the Spirit. Verse 4, a verse that needs to
be studied diligently by all of us. We need to learn the truths
contained in this text in order to refute some things that are
being taught today in religious circles. Notice what he said,
for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Let me stop there
a moment. I want to explain that first
phrase. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. If the weapons
of our warfare were mighty in themselves, as so many religionists
believe, then I want to raise this question. Why are they not
equally and at all times successful? I preach the word of God on one
occasion and some folk are converted. I preach the word of God in the
same manner, in the power of the same spirit, for weeks, and
there are no signs of conversions. I'm asking you a very important
question. My question is this. If the weapons of our warfare
are mighty in themselves, then why are they not equally
and at all times successful? You see, the answer is this.
They're mighty, they're powerful through God, Ephesians 119, and
don't forget that. Weapons of false teachers are
carnal. We have human eloquence, We have
powerful propaganda, we have charm of personality, we have
clever organizations. Such weapons will win the applause
of men, but beloved, they will not produce real victors. Or they will excite denominational
leaders. But it will soon become evident
to the divinely enlightened mind that it's all a farce. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, now look at the latter part, but mighty through
God. To the pulling down of strongholds.
I want you to know the human heart is a stronghold. the imaginations
which are evil constitute a strong hope. But God's power is capable of
pulling down, and this is the only hope for depraved mankind. So they're
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong hope. casting
down imaginations and every higher thing that exhorted itself against
the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ. You see, the hard thought or
purpose is the real man. Whether the wicked person or
the person who knows Christ, whom to know is life eternal. Now there is a distinction between
being tempted and sinning. I'm trying to be helpful now
with a few thoughts in closing. I said there's a distinction
between being tempted and sinning. All the thoughts of the righteous
are not perfect and true. All of my thoughts are not perfect,
all of my thoughts are not true, and the same is true with you.
There is a difference between the thoughts that ascend from
the frame of the human heart and those that are injected from
without. That's important. You and I cannot
control the thoughts that are injected. I said, we can't control them,
but we can prevent them from lingering in the heart. Well,
beloved, I can pick up a magazine, and when I begin to thumb through
its pages, and all of you know what I'm talking about, there
are thoughts that come to my mind as a result of some things
that I'm looking at. And the thoughts that come to
my mind have been injected from without as a result of what I'm
looking at. as I go through the magazine.
The same is true with television. The same is true with looking
at your daily newspaper. But I can control them from lingering. You heard the expression, but
it's a good one. It's a trite saying. We cannot
keep the birds from flying over our heads, but we can keep them
from building nests in our hair. By the grace of God within us,
we cannot keep thoughts from being injected into our minds
from without, but we can, by God's grace, keep them from lingering
in our hearts. That's why we are admonished
to think upon the things which are pure and noble and so forth,
and I'll share that with you in a moment. hide the word of
God away in our hearts lest we sin against the Lord. You see a thought passing through
the mind is not sinful. I said a thought passing through
the mind is not sinful. But it is sinful when it is accepted,
it is agreed with in the heart. then it becomes sinful. You see
the man walking down the street, he sees a beautiful woman. A
thought may flash through his mind, that is not sinful. But
then when he turns again, and with that lingering gaze, he
commits adultery in his heart, we're told by Jesus Christ. That's sinful. You see, that's
letting it linger in the heart. We might be angry. Anger might
come to one's heart. And anger coming to the mind
is not sinful. But if it lingers there, and
a person wants to get revenge, then it becomes sinful. Thus the apostle Paul said, let
not the sun, he was talking to Christians, let not the sun go
down on your wrath. Now let me illustrate that even
further. I want to be helpful. There is a difference between
the statement, I have thought, and the statement, the thought
came to me. When you go through the scriptures,
you will find that many evil men thought in their hearts. That's sinful. Whenever you think
within your heart, that is sinful. But there's a difference between
that and a thought coming to you. That isn't necessarily sinful. So you must make the distinction
in the statement, I thought within my heart. and the statement,
the thought came to me. I want to close with this. Thoughts
differ much in their origin and cause. This is true not only
in different minds but also in the same mind. I'll illustrate
it. In other words, the origins of
thought vary. There are suggested thoughts. They're communicated by outward
agencies. I said suggested thoughts. Someone introduces an idea. Have you ever been guilty of
saying, and all of us have said this I'm sure, I never thought
of that before. See what I'm talking about? I never thought of that before. So that's a suggested thought. Someone suggested something to
you and you said, I've never thought of that before. This
is a common expression by most of us when we learn something
in the scriptures. I've never thought of that before. Well,
believe it when you say to me, I've never thought of that before.
That's nothing. A lot of things I haven't thought of. A lot of
things you haven't thought of. And there'd be a lot of things
that, well, time just won't permit us to think about all of them. There are voluntary thoughts,
that is, without any compulsion whatsoever from outside. There are involuntary thoughts. We have voluntary thoughts without
compulsion, involuntary thoughts, unintentional thoughts. Some are momentary, they appear
for time. and some are more permanent. Spiritual thinking, beloved,
is most important for the Christian. Rational thinking is condemned. Asaph thought rationally and
he was condemned for it. Psalm 73, he became envious of
the prosperity of the wicked. And he remained that way until
he went into the sanctuary of God and understood their latter
end. And when he understood their
latter end, then he rebuked himself for being like a beast, for such
rational thinking. The sanctuary, you see, is the
place where Christians are taught to think spiritually. Why do
we come together on the Lord's day? Why do we come together
when we have the opportunity? To learn the Word of God, to
hear the Word of God, and to learn to think spiritually. Beloved, we do not learn to think
spiritually by being entertained. We do not learn to think spiritually
by cutting short the exposition of Scripture. We learn to think
spiritually by listening, by hearing the Word of God expounded. Most religious institutions today
spend almost all the time either with a musical entertainment
or something else, but we do not learn to think spiritually
unless we're exposed to the proclamation of truth. You know, when we think we have
mastered our thoughts, it is time for us to cry with
a psalmist, try me and know my thoughts. Psalm 139 verse 24,
and see if there be any wickedness in me.