My Thoughts are not Your Thoughts

I'd like to be able to deliver
this message in the wisdom and power of the Spirit of God, that
it might be the blessing to you that it was to me, as the Lord,
I believe, gave me the thoughts which he gave me on this subject. In Isaiah 55, verse 8, the scripture
talks about my thoughts, my thoughts and God's thoughts. Now, the
ability to think is one point in which I'm created
in the image of God, to think. Other creatures are put in subjection
to man who thinks. They have no communion with God
in this area. They have no fellowship with
God in this world of pure spirit. I do. God's given me the ability
to think, and you. He's created us in his image,
and some of the image of God we have retained, even after
the fall, even after sin has visited our world. I still have
the power to think. And most men give some thought
to spiritual things, not just preachers who think on spiritual
things, and not just deacons and elders and church members
and professing believers. But I believe all men. I really
don't believe there is a creature who does not at some time think
about things spiritual. I don't believe you can find
a hot-and-tot heathen in the heart of the jungle who does
not sometimes think about who started all this. There is a God. The Lord hath
not left himself without a witness. There's a light that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world. The Bible says the fool
hath said, No God for me. If you'll trace your translation,
there is is in italics in Psalm 14. The fool hath said in his
heart, There is no God. There is is not in the original.
The fool hath said in his heart, No God. No God for me. no God to rule over me." That's
what they said at the cross of Christ. We won't have this man
to rule over us. He's not our king. They said,
Pilate, don't write up there, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of
the Jews. Write up there, he said he's the king of the Jews.
Pilate said, what I've written, I've written. It's going to stay
like I've written. Jesus of Nazareth, the king of
the Jews. Most men think about spiritual
things. Most men think there's a God.
And most men think that there's life after death. They may laugh
about it and ridicule it and make little stories about it,
but deep down in their hearts, they believe there's life after
death. We're not like the animals. We're not like the flowers that
bloom and die and are annihilated. There's something for you and
me after this life. Most people think about that
once in a while. And most people think they're
sinners. They think God is somewhat above them. They call him the
man, at least he's upstairs. At least he's upstairs. That
means he's one floor higher than we are. But most men think they're
sinners and most men think that God is a little holier than they
are. And you know, surprisingly, most men think that it's going
to be all right with them in eternity. Most of us do. We think
it'll be okay. There's a God and there's death.
There's life after death. There's a judgment. There's a
heaven. Don't know so much about hell.
Most men don't think too much about that. But there is a heaven
and there's life after death. And I kind of believe it'll be
all right with me after the judgment. Now, here's the problem. Here's
the problem. Verse 8, Isaiah 55. God says, And you think about spiritual
things, and thank God you do. I rejoice that you think about
spiritual things. But here's the problem. Your
thoughts are not my thoughts. Now, that's the problem. I think. I've got some thoughts, and you
do too. And everybody in this city has some thoughts about
God, sin, righteousness, heaven, hell, death, judgment, eternal
life, the law, Here's the problem. God says, your thoughts are not
my thoughts. Man's thoughts are not God's
thoughts. In fact, he says, verse 9, as the heavens are higher
than the earth, and that's pretty good peace. As the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Now
then, if I am to know Now think with me, if I'm to know God,
if I'm to fellowship with God, I've got to bring my thoughts
into conformity with his. He's not going to change his
because his are right, his are holy, his are pure, his are true. I've got to bring my thoughts,
I've got to find out what God's thoughts are. I've got to find
out where my thoughts are contrary to God's thoughts. And I've got
to bring, by God's Spirit, how can two walk together except
they be agreed? God's not coming down. And God cannot change. So the
change is going to have to take place here. I've got to be brought
into conformity to His thoughts. I've got to find out what are
His thoughts. I've got to find out where I
can discover His thoughts. And I've got to pray that he'll
bring my thoughts into conformity with his thoughts. If my thoughts
run in one direction and God's thoughts in another direction,
then how can I know God? How can I walk with God? How
can I fellowship with God? Now, I have a word this morning,
first of all to the believer and then to the unbeliever, concerning our thoughts and God's
thoughts. First of all, a word to the believer.
All who profess to be believers, and I'm included in this group
because I do believe. I can say with a sin too, and
Lord, help my unbelief. But I do believe. I believe I'm
a sinner, and Christ is the only Savior, and he died for sinners.
He redeemed me by his blood. His blood is the atonement. His
blood is the sacrifice, the one offering. He is our only Mediator. I come to God the Father through
Christ the Son. I do believe. But even believers
have a problem in this thought area. When the Lord doesn't act in
the way that we think he should act, we indulge in self-pity,
we indulge in anger and frustration, don't we? When God does not act
in the way we think he ought to act, we think then we indulge
in self-pity. God's providence does not always
follow my plans. God's providence does not always
follow my intentions and desires. That which I think is best for
me doesn't always happen. That which I think God ought
to send me, he doesn't send, but sometimes that which is injurious
and that which is disappointing, that's what happens. In other
words, you have great plans for your children. Your young mother and father
here this morning, you've got little ones. You've got one twelve
or thirteen, one eight or seven. You've got big plans for those
children. It's just good possibility they might go another direction. Good possibility. David said,
although it be not so with my house, and I know he was thinking
then of Absalom, he was thinking of Amnon, he was thinking of
Tamar, he was thinking of his children. It's not so, he said. And then you have dreams of comfort
in old age. You go through life, you have
your savings and your social security and you've got your
house paid for and a nice little garden out there and you get
65 and retire and your wife dies. Or your husband dies. That's
not the way you planned it, was it? Your business, you start
a business and you just believe God's going to profit Profit
your business and you many people actually really gonna profit
you gonna be able to give more to the kingdom of God and get
the gospel out and and you all settle down and look like things
are going good and And the thing folds up You have a you have talent you
have a great desire to serve God publicly and God doesn't
open the door God's providence just takes a
different direction from the way we think it ought to. We
think. What we plan for our lives doesn't
happen, but quite often the opposite happens. God says, my thoughts are not
your thoughts. Somebody said one time, there's a straight
road from Egypt to Canaan, why can't we take it? Why are we not allowed to take
the straight road? Here's Canaan, here's Egypt,
here's Canaan, God delivers us from Egypt, why can't we take
that straight? Why do we have to go by the mountains,
and the valleys, and the darkness, and the sea, and the fiery serpents,
and all these others to get there? Doesn't God's providence perplex
you? It does me. Does God's providence not run
contrary to your thoughts? It does mine. Does not the providence of God
run contrary to your judgment, to your desires? I want you to
turn to Genesis 42 and listen to Jacob. Genesis 42. And when
I read this, I thought, there I am right there. In Genesis
42, verse 36. You remember, he had ten sons. And then he had two by Rachel,
Joseph and Benjamin. And Joseph was gone. He thought
Joseph was dead. Joseph wasn't dead, but Jacob
thought he was. He was down in Egypt. He was
the Lord of Egypt. God providentially took him there,
but Jacob didn't know that. And then there was a famine in
the land. Joseph had been gone a long time. And Jacob had grieved
for him. His heart was broken. And then
there was a famine in the land, and he sent the boys down to
Egypt to get corn. They came back and said, that
fellow down there said Benjamin would have to come, or he wouldn't
let us have any more corn. And listen to the old man lamenting
here in Genesis 42, 36. He says here, And Jacob their
father said unto them, Me have you bereaved of my children?
Joseph is not, now Simeon is not. Simeon was down there too.
And you would take Benjamin away? All these things are against
me." That's what he thought, Charlie, but he was wrong. He
was wrong. The old man was grieving over
Joseph, and he was grieving over Simeon, and now they wanted to
take Benjamin. He said, this is all against
me, all against me. That was his thinking. But God
providentially had designed all this for Jacob's good. But Jacob
didn't know. He thought all these things were
against him. And that's what we think in God's providence.
Right now, you may be in real distress and depression. over
a child, or over a business, or over a conflict, or over your
health, or over your death of a loved one. And you think, oh,
this is against me. That's what you think. You think
it's against you. And that's what Jacob thought.
Turn to Genesis 48 and listen to him here, when he finally
saw Joseph. When he finally saw Joseph. And
all this was over. He was in the land of plenty
now, and he saw Joseph, and he said in Genesis 48, 11, and Israel
said, Joseph, I had not thought to see your face. I never thought
I'd see you again. And God has showed me not only
you, but my grandchildren that I see. So, but down there at home, when
they came and told him Joseph was dead and Simeon's gone now
and they don't want to take me, he said, it's all against me.
It's against me. And that's the way we look, because
our thoughts are not God's thoughts. We lay our plans and the direction
that we think our lives ought to take. And God's providence
takes them another route. And we get upset. Just like Jacob
there, we get upset. We say, this is all against me.
This is not the way I planned it. This is not good judgment. It's just falling apart. No,
it's not. If God's in it, it's not falling
apart. He just takes his people from Egypt to Canaan by way of
the mountains, by way of the valleys, by way of the rough
places, by way of Jericho, by way of this, that, and the other,
for his glory in our good. All right, take our prayers.
Do you ever have a problem about your thoughts and God's thoughts
in the prayer business? We pray. We don't do much praying,
not like we ought to pray. I know that. And we know not
the things for which we should pray. But I'll tell you this,
and God knows our hearts, when I'm praying, I'm serious. There's no foolishness. We're
calling on God. And we pray believingly, and
God hears his children. God's not deaf. He said, My arm's
not short that I can't see. My ear's not heavy that I can't
hear. And we don't need to scream. God can hear. He hears the wind
blowing through the trees. He hears the whisper of a child.
He hears the breath of one of his own. God hears. And God answers. There's never been a prayer prayed
in the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of Christ that hadn't
been answered. Yes, sir. Don't tell me God. Somebody says,
I believe God answers prayer. Well, that's silly. Of course
he does. Of course he does. But here's your problem. Here's
your problem. The answer doesn't always come
like I think it ought to. Huh? You ever have that problem,
y'all? Oh, boy, I pray for somebody that's sick and they don't get
well. Does that bother you? But it does me. I pray for somebody
to live and they die. I pray for prosperity and the
obligations grow. I pray for sunshine and it rains.
And I pray believingly. I pray sincerely. Do you? Sure
you do. I pray to be more spiritual and
I become more unspiritual. I like what the hymn writer wrote. He said, I ask the Lord. that
I might grow in faith and love and every grace, that I might
more of his salvation know and more earnestly seek his face.
Instead of this, he made me feel the hidden evils of my heart,
and he let the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every
part. Lord, why is this, I trembling
cried, wilt thou pursue my soul to death? "'Tis in this way,'
the Lord replied, I answer prayer for grace and faith." In other
words, God is enriching me by my poverty. Now, that's not the
way I'd do it, and that's not the way you'd do it, is it? You
don't enrich people by poverty. Spiritually, God does. You don't bless a man by taking
things away from him. No, you don't, but God does.
God is healing us by our sickness. God is drawing me nearer to himself
by taking away creature comforts and creature confidence. Often we do not see God's gracious
answer to prayer because we've made up our minds already what
the answer is supposed to be. We don't see God's answer to
prayer because we've already decided what the answer must
be. This is what God must do. This
is what I think. God says, Your thoughts are not
my thoughts. You know how high the heaven
is above the earth? That's how much higher my thoughts
are than your thoughts. And when we get to be rebels,
don't we, we get mad. We fall into self-pity and frustration. God didn't do it like I thought
God ought to do it. Somebody said one time, we refuse
letters of blessings from God because they're delivered in
envelopes with black borders. And we meet them at the door
and we say, we don't want anything to do with that. But if you just
open it up, you find out on the inside God's got something good
to say. Tribulation worketh patience.
Turn to Psalm 73 and listen to David over here. Psalm 73, and
I'm not to Looking looking down upon you
saying these things and preaching down David had the same problem
King David the man after God's own heart. We're still human
being And and and I wish we could get away from this thing a preacher
and laity and the uppermost seats and lowers God's greatest gifts
are on the lower seats That's where they are and I'm talking
to to me and to you and to every believer We find our thoughts
are not God's thoughts. And what I'm praying is that
God might bring my thoughts as a believer into conformity with
His thoughts, bring me into subjection to His will, and to be able to
pray with our Lord, Thy will be done, whatever it is. That's
what prayer is all about. It's not just asking and receiving. Prayer is finding the will of
God. It's got something to do with
the will of God. Bringing me into conformity with
the will of God. That's where I'll find happiness.
My thoughts are not your thoughts God said all right Lord reveal
your thoughts to me My will my ways are not your ways. My will
is not your will. All right, bring my will into
conformity with your way Make me a bond slave Now David
had that listen to him He said in Psalm 73, God is good to Israel,
even as such as are of a clean heart, but as for me, my feet
were almost gone, my steps had well now slipped. I was envious
at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. There are no bands in their death,
their strength is firm. They're not in trouble as other
men, they're not plagued like other men. You ever had that
problem? Here's a fella that's the biggest
crook they ever let live in Chicago or New York, and he's the richest,
most prosperous, healthiest, strongest, most popular fella
in town. And here's a little fella down
here, believes in God, and he worships the Lord on the Lord's
Day, and reads his Bible, and pays his bills, and treats his
neighbor right, and lives with his family. Boy, he has a hard
time paying his grocery bill. He has a hard time taking a morning
paper and keeping up his insurance premium. Somebody says, well,
there, that guy, he curses God every breath, and he's the most
prosperous man in town. That fellow praises God on the
Lord's Day, and he's poor as a church mouse. How do you reconcile
that preacher? Well, that's what David had that
same problem. Why, he said in verse 7, their eyes stand out
with fatness, they have more than their heart could wish.
They're corrupt, they speak wickedly. Concerning oppression they speak
loftily they set their mouths against the heavens he said He
said in verse 12 behold these are ungodly who prosper in the
world they increase in riches verse 13 I have cleansed my heart
in vain and washed my hands in innocency for all day long. I've
been plagued and chastened every morning Verse 16 when I thought
to know this it was too painful for me Boy, I tell you he said
I got in real trouble here I just, until, look at the next verse,
I went into the sanctuary of God, and then I understood some
things. I saw things not as they appear
now, but how they're going to appear. I saw their end. I saw their end. I saw the judgment. I saw eternal separation from
God. I saw these things, and that
made a difference. I'll tell you another area where
we have a little trouble, and that's God's protection, God's
provision. Turn to Genesis 20, and we're
going through some, we talked about Jacob, and we talked about
David, and now Abraham. Abraham had been called out of
his father's house to go to a land God would show him, and Abraham
believed God. It was counted to him for righteousness.
Abraham was called the friend of God, the father of the faithful. But he had his problems with
thoughts, the same way you do. My friend, salvation is in Christ.
I wish you'd remember that. Salvation is in Christ. What
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? What think ye
of Christ? Do you believe on Christ? Do
you trust him? That's salvation. And you're going to have thoughts
of, I'm sorry, but thoughts of rebellion. Yes, sir, thoughts
of depression, thoughts of doubt concerning God's providence.
Jacob did. David did. Thoughts of God's
provision and protection. Difficulty with prayer and answers
to prayer. They just don't come like you
think they ought to. These men. And listen to Genesis 20 here. And Abraham journeyed. Now he
had been through these trials. And he journeyed from this toward
the south country and dwelt between Kadesh and Shura and sojourned
in Gera. And Abraham said of Sarah his
wife, She's my sister." And so Abimelech, the king of Gera,
came and took her. Say, it was a beautiful woman.
Now, what made Abraham do that? What made him do that? Well,
he did some thinking. He did some thinking. If you
look at verse 10 and 11, I'll tell you why he did it. Abimelech
finally brought him on the carpet for it. Abimelech, Abraham was
going through this country. He was on, God called him. God
sent him. God blessed him. God protected
him. God provided for him. God was
his friend. Abraham walked with, but he came
through this country and he told the people there and the king
there said, this is my sister. She's not my wife, she's my sister.
And so the king took her to his palace. She was beautiful. He
was going to make her his wife. And God came to him during the
night and he said, that's another man's wife you've got. And Bimelech
said, well, I didn't know it. The man told me it was his sister.
So he went to Abraham and said, why did you do this? He said,
verse 10, Bimelech said, Abraham, what sawest thou that thou hast
done this thing? Listen to Abraham, because I
thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they'll
slay me for my pretty wife, my wife's sake. That's what they'll
do. So I'm just going to tell them
she's my sister. And he reckons, you know how men will justify
themselves. Listen to verse 12. She is my sister, he said. She's
the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother.
Isn't it amazing how we twist things around to find just an
element of truth to justify ourselves? But this is what I want to look
at. Abraham said, I thought that surely the fear of God is not
in this place, and God These people will kill me. Now, wait
a minute, Abraham. Didn't God tell you he was going
to make of you a great nation? Didn't God tell you he was going
to bless you and raise up a seed from you and send a Messiah and
all nations would call you? Well, I know that, but I thought.
Your thoughts are not my thoughts. Oh, the sinfulness of our unbelieving
hearts. If God's going to do something,
the Lord will meet our needs. He'll supply our needs. Do you
believe that? Turn to Philippians 4, 19. Is
this not true? Philippians 4, 19. Is this not
true? In Philippians 4, verse 19. If
it's true, then why don't we act like it's true? Philippians
4, 19. But my God shall supply all your
needs according to his riches and glory by Jesus Christ. He'll
meet your every need. But these minds of ours, these
thoughts of ours, we come face to face with a crisis, with a
problem, with a need. And we begin, like Abraham, to
make arrangements. We begin to make arrangements.
We'll need to take care of this, honey, talking to our wives,
you know. Now, we'll need God. The fear of God's not in this
place. Those people are not believers. We're dealing with folks that
don't know God, and also we'd better make some arrangements,
take care of it ourselves, you know. But God's still on the
throne. God meets your needs. I said to someone not long ago,
they that preach the gospel are to live by the gospel. I discovered
this a few years ago. that this congregation will meet
my need by the grace of God, that they're God's instrument
to take care of my need. And so I just operate from day
to day. And someone said to me, well,
what if you leave that congregation and go to another? Well, I said,
God, he's still on the throne there, too, you know. I mean,
he doesn't just live in Iceland. This is not Jerusalem, you know.
God is everywhere, and he'll provide. If we could just walk
by faith, the disciples in the boat and the water got to churning,
you know, and they came back there and shook the Lord and
said, don't you care if we perish? You reckon that boat could have
gone down with the Lord in it? You reckon your boat will go
down if God's in it? Huh? Oh, I tell you, we're so
sinful, aren't we? Psalm 30. Let's look at that
a minute. Psalm 30, verse 4 and 5. But, preacher, no buts about
it. My thoughts are not your thoughts,
God says. We've got some problems, and I want to get rid of these
questionable thoughts, these thoughts that are dishonoring
to God, these thoughts of unbelief. Psalm 30, verses 4 and 5, "...sing
unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance
of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a
moment in his favor's life. Weeping may endure for the night,
but joy is coming in the morning." Joy is coming in the morning.
Weeping for the night, but joy in the morning. Somebody said this one time,
may God save me from my thoughts. My life is in better hands than
when it's in my own hands. Let God plan and let me trust. Let me walk resigned to his will,
whatever his will may be. For if I'm in his will, I know
that all things work together for good to them who love God,
who are called according to his purpose. Now let me give a word
in closing to the unconverted. Turn to 2 Kings 5.11. I want you to listen carefully
to this. 2 Kings 5.11, Naaman was angry, and he went away and
he said, Behold, I thought. There it is again, I thought. This is what I thought. Now,
Naaman was down there in Samaria, or in Syria, and he had leprosy. And the little girl from Samaria
told him, said, there's a prophet up in my country, the prophet
of God can heal you. So he got all of his chariots
and horses. He was a general, number one
on the staff of the king. And he came down by the king's
permission with a letter with all of his finery. rain mutton riches, and he came
to the door of the little house where Elijah, the prophet of
God, lived, and he wouldn't lower himself to going into that little
shack, but he just stood on the outside and told the servants,
said, tell your master, the prophet of God, that Naaman's here, and
he wants his leprosy cleansed. So Gehazi went in there and told
Elijah, said, the general, Naaman's out there, wants his leprosy
healed, and Elijah said, tell him to go down to Jordan River
and dip seven times and he'll be clean. So the servant came
out there to Naaman and said, my master the prophet of God
said for you to go dip seven times in the Jordan River and
your leprosy will be clean. That's when he said Naaman was
angry. And he said, I thought, what do you think Naaman? Well
I thought he'd come out here and call on his God and say some
hocus pocus words and touch the spot and I'd be healed. That's
what I thought. Well, Naomi, your thoughts are
not God's thoughts, and your ways are not God's ways. And
men today have so many ways of salvation. This is the way it
ought to be. Now let me ask you three questions,
very quickly, and I'll let you go. Do you think God could pardon
you of all your sins? Could God pardon you without
his justice being satisfied? Without his righteousness being
satisfied? Could God pardon you without
his justice? Now, God is just. God said, I
will not clear the guilty. I will punish sin. The soul that
sinned, it shall die. Can God, do you think God could
pardon you without sin being paid for? Without the law being
honored without his justice being satisfied. Now, suppose he did.
Suppose he did. Suppose without Christ's sacrifice,
without Christ's blood, without Christ's obedience, without Christ's
offering, without Christ's suffering and dying on the tree, that God
would blot out your sin. Let me ask you this. Now, hold
on. Would you have any peace, any real peace, any real rest?
Would you? Would you have any confidence
at all? Would you have any assurance at all? A God who could pardon
without justice may also condemn without reason, Cecil. Think about that now. A God,
your God, if you have a God who can pardon a sinner without justice,
without righteousness, He may condemn that sinner without reason.
You say, well, God wouldn't do that. Wait a minute now. If he'll
pardon you without justice, he may condemn you without reason.
A God who could set aside his righteousness may someday set
aside his mercy. Now you think about that a little
bit. A God who could set aside his righteousness, his holiness,
just forget it. And pardon you, he might someday
change his mind and set aside his mercy and say, I'm not going
to be merciful anymore. That's right, if he can say,
I'm not going to be righteous anymore, I'm not going to be
just anymore, he's going to put that aside. He may someday decide not to
be merciful. A God who can deny his law may
someday deny his gospel. A God who can change his character may someday change his promise. But brethren, the solid ground
of peace which a believer has in reference to peace and serenity
and security is that God will never be unjust in order to be
gracious. God is gracious because Christ
died for our sins and satisfied the justice of God. You see what
I'm saying? God saves sinners. Yes, he does.
God pardons sinners. Yes, he does. God puts away sin.
Yes, he does. But not until he lays that sin
on Christ, which enables him to be both
just and justified, which enables him to be both merciful and righteous,
which enables him to be both love and truth. Christ didn't
die as an example. He died as a substitute. He didn't
die as a defeated, frustrated Reformer. He died as a sin offering. He died that God might be just
and righteous and justify sinners and love them. God can take me to heaven? Sure
he can, because my debt's been paid. My sins have been put away. His justice has been satisfied. His righteousness has been honored.
His law has been honored. You see that? But now, if you
think that God could save you and ignore his justice, well,
if that's the kind of God we have, he just might one day change
his mind and ignore his mercy. But he can't ignore his mercy.
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And being the same,
his justice is always there, his righteousness is always there,
his mercy is always there. And where the sin debt is paid,
and where the sin debt is counseled, and where the sin debt has been
put away, it's put away forever. God doesn't change his mind. Oh, at the second question, do
you think that you can be saved without being born again, regenerated? Do you think that? Do you think that? Christ said
you must be born again. Now, I know there are a lot of
fanatical and radical windbag preachers going around hollering
about the new birth. They don't even know what the
new birth is. But let me ask you this. Suppose that your sins
could be put away by the sprinkling of some water on your forehead.
Suppose that your sins could be put away by taking you into
this pool and putting you down beneath water and bringing you
up. That's the way. Suppose sins could be put away by coming down
here and picking up a wine, a glass of wine and a wafer and drinking
or some kind of external ceremony. Suppose sins could be put away
that way. without the new birth, without
regeneration, without the new life, the new nature, without
God making you a new person. Suppose they could be put away
by these external things. What about your heart? Now think
about this. The scripture says out of the
heart are the issues of life. The scripture says that it's
out of the heart that proceeds evil thoughts and all these other
things that defile a man. Your heart would be the same.
Your heart would still love evil and hate holiness. The defiling
power of sin would still be in your heart. You still wouldn't
love God. You still wouldn't love his fellowship.
So you still got an unregenerate heart. All right, what about
your nature? These external ceremonies cannot
touch the nature. And with these external ceremonies
only, I still have a nature to hate instead of love, to envy
instead of bless, to get revenge instead of forgive, to show no
mercy, there'd be no desire for righteousness. All right, what
about your mind? Gospel mysteries would still
be gospel mysteries. God's wisdom would still be unknown.
There could be no praise for God's glory because I wouldn't
understand his glory. What about heaven? Heaven would
be an unhappy place for a man who does not have a new heart
and a new nature. Would a man enjoy eternity with
Christ, listen to me, would he enjoy eternity with Christ if
he doesn't enjoy one moment in his presence on the earth? Would
a man enjoy an atmosphere of godliness if he found it to be
uninteresting here on earth? come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
with all thy quickening powers, and kindle a flame of love divine
in this cold heart of ours." Brethren, it takes the new birth,
it takes a regenerating work to give me a new heart, to love
God, not just to say I do, but to do, to actually love God,
to enjoy his Word, to enjoy his presence, to enjoy his people. My body being here this morning
makes little difference if my heart's not here. Christ said,
you call me Lord with your lip, but your heart's so far from
me. Keep thy heart out of any of the issues of life. That's
the reason we need a new birth. I know that God says my thoughts
are not your thoughts, and I know what present-day religious thoughts
are. We think God can save us and
pardon our sins without a justifier, without a sacrifice, without
a redeemer. We think that we can go through
all these motions of religion and get a little water on us,
or a little wine in us, or a little bread in us, or make a decision,
or shake a preacher's hand and go to heaven. It's all all right.
Now, wait a minute. Except a man be born again, he
can't see the kingdom of God. He can't understand it. He can't
enter it. There has to be a new nature.
Come, Spirit of God. Give me a heart to love God.
give me a nature to seek God, give me a mind to think on God. You see what I'm saying? And
then last of all, let me ask you this, you have some thoughts
Everybody here has thoughts and opinions, and this is a free
country. Thank God we can exercise our thoughts and opinions without
fear of jail or persecution. But how should men be saved? How should they gain eternal
life? How should heaven be attained? What do you think about this
thing of salvation? You say, well, let me ask you
a question. What's the source of your information? What's the source of your...
On this thing of sin and salvation and eternal life, you have some
thoughts, don't you? What's the source of your information?
Well, it's just what I think. When God says your thoughts are
not... Well, where am I going to find out the right information? Right here. Here it is. Now, quit consulting your parents.
I love my parents. But if my father is blind, I'm
not required to put my eyes out, too. If my father was crippled,
I'm not required to walk with a king. And if my parents miss
the gospel, that's no reason for me to miss it. My preacher,
I'm not going to listen to a preacher totally and completely without
consulting God's word. Now, you listen to what I'm saying,
but brethren, you buy your Bible. Here it is right here. Here's
God's way. Here's God's thoughts. This is the record that God has
given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath
the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. These things are written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name
of the Son of God. Pardon's there if you want it, but you'd better
come this way. Get the Word of God and study
it. Ask the Spirit of God to give you understanding. I heard
a man say one time, he said, Salvation is somewhere in this
book. And I'm going to find it. Why
don't you do that? It's somewhere in this book.
I'm going to find it. It's not in a church, it's not
in a pool, it's not in a ceremony, it's not in a preacher's hand,
it's not in a decision, it's not in an altar, it's not in
the law, it's not in good works. Salvation's in Christ. And that's
what this book's all about. It's about the Savior. I point
you to Christ. Our Father used the message for
our good and thy glory. We're such frail creatures. We
have so many faults and sins and failures. But Lord, we want
to know thee. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection.
Lord, not just religion. Religion crucified the master.
Not just ceremony, not just the outward form, not just lip service,
but real heart fellowship, to walk with thee as Enoch walked
with thee, to be the friend of God as Abraham was the friend
of God, to speak with God face to face as Moses spoke to God. To have revealed unto us the
heart and mind and glory of the living God. To have our thoughts
in subjection to his thoughts and our will to his will. To
know that Christ has paid it all, all that debt I owed. Sin
left a crimson stain, but he washed it white as snow. And
my way may be toilsome and filled with trial and much suffering,
but though weeping endure for

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My Thoughts are not Your Thoughts

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