The Mind

[0:00] And welcome again. I'm going to go to the Word of God, to 2 Corinthians 10.! We'll go there shortly. And again, it's a bit of a topical message on the thing of the mind.

[0:15] And friends, for all of us, there's a fight that's happening. And it goes on between our ears. It's in the mind, in that grey matter, isn't it? In the space between our ears, there's this war on, this psychological, mental battle.

[0:30] That we're all going through. And the Bible speaks about this all the time. The mind, the heart, a light to the soul. It's the seat of the will. It's the intellect. And there's a battle that rages.

[0:41] And we hear about that, for example, in 2 Corinthians 10, from verses 3 through 5. 2 Corinthians 10. And it's from verse 3 we read about this battle.

[0:52] It says, Paul writes, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. Verse 5. Verse 5. Notice these words here.

[1:22] It speaks of the mind. It speaks about what goes on with the mind. Imaginations. Knowledge. Every thought. Every thought. And there's this battle, it says, for the hearts, for the minds.

[1:34] A battle about what we think on, what we're thinking about. And it speaks about strongholds there in verse 4. It tells of strongholds. We'll go back to that.

[1:44] Verse 4. It's the pulling down of strongholds. And there's many strongholds we could reflect on that as believers we are battling these strongholds.

[1:56] And you could picture them as, for example, thoughts against God's word. It could be thoughts of depression, of worrying, of insecurity, of stress, of fear.

[2:09] Strongholds. Thoughts that are negative and contrary to the peace that God would have us to have. And these strongholds we could reflect could be likened to worldviews.

[2:19] For example, relativism, atheism, secularism, you know, Darwinism. All of these things that are contrary philosophies to the truth of the word of God.

[2:31] And the Bible says that our mind can be subject to this kind of worldly thinking, worldly mindsets, mental attacks. And what does it say? It says to bring every thought.

[2:41] We see that verse 5 there, the latter part, bringing into captivity every thought, every single thought. Bring it captive, those thoughts. Make every thought.

[2:52] It says, obedient to Christ. How can we know this? The Bible speaks about the mind many times. It's a repeated topic.

[3:03] And how can we overcome these strongholds, these mindsets, these worldviews, if you like. It's about how are we being programmed.

[3:16] How are we programmed? Blinded. The Bible speaks of some people who are blinded in their minds. It says in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 4 of the lost, in whom the God of this world, small g, the devil of this world, has blinded the minds of them, which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

[3:45] And people are walking around blinded in their minds. And we see that, as I know, some of our number, we go witnessing, knocking on doors, and they just can't see.

[3:58] They can't see beyond their own shell of their own echo chamber. It's like, how do they put it in, some people, they live in their own kind of echo chambers, don't they?

[4:11] They only want to hear views that accord with their thinking, instead of finding the truth. Instead of finding the light, they abide in darkness. And the devil wants that.

[4:23] We see, as an example, when the giant Goliath faced up to Israel. Goliath had already defeated the armies of Israel. They looked upon his outward appearance, this awesome giant, this massive, huge man that he was.

[4:38] And they thought, we're not able to overcome Goliath. We see that there in 1 Samuel 17, from verses 10 through 11. And the Philistine, Goliath, he said, I defy the armies of Israel this day.

[4:52] Give me a man that we may fight together. He taunted them, he mocked them, he scorned them. And when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

[5:05] Then we see David, when he stepped on the scene, he thought differently. He thought differently. In faith, David looked to the Lord. He saw this man for what he was. In the sight of God, he was an easy target.

[5:18] David knew the battle was the Lord's. Nothing to do with the appearance of this giant of a man. Because he was thinking, my God is able.

[5:28] God cares about our thought patterns, doesn't he? And so should we. Friends, I pray this as an encouraging message to help us to think differently. To think like our Lord would want us to think.

[5:40] The mind of Christ. God searches our hearts and minds, it says in the Word. He takes an interest about what we are thinking. Or what our hearts are dwelling on. What does the Bible say about the mind?

[5:53] It tells us, for example, our minds can be confused, troubled, sinful, blinded, as we just read here earlier. Anchor up.

[6:05] The mind can be all of those things. I can give you all the Bible references for that. Have a look through your concordance at the word mind, about thoughts, about thinking. We can waste our mind. I know, just hearing our brother, one of our number was talking before, how easy it is to waste our mind.

[6:23] And someone was reflecting about, you know, just sitting watching something on a screen. And before you know it, all that time's evaporated. We can waste our mind. Look, I'm guilty too. Our thinking power.

[6:34] We can put our thoughts and our thinking on things that are valueless. That occupy our thinking with what the world thinks on. It's the same programming that our neighbor next door watches.

[6:45] We're different, aren't we? We're meant to be. Pilgrims and strangers. We've got a stewardship to fulfill. Our lives are finite and we want to make the most of them. And that involves what we're thinking about.

[6:56] What we're learning about. What we're reading. What we're partaking of. And the Lord wants us to wise up, to fill our mind with good things. And I signed you as students here tonight.

[7:07] There's people madly hitting the books and that's valuable learning. It's for your career, for your future, for your income of your families. There's needful times you've got to invest time in something that is secular in nature.

[7:20] But it's because there's an ultimate purpose that glorifies God. And of course, we've got work to fulfill and the secular work duties that fill up our mind, our thinking, our time.

[7:32] That's not to negate that. But we have got a stewardship to fulfill as in our lives are finite. And we want to make the most of them. And so, let's find wisdom and knowledge and understanding.

[7:44] To know Him. That's the absolute knowledge, isn't it? To know Him. To know Him, our Saviour. That is the ultimate in knowledge and wisdom. To know Him. Whim to know is life eternal.

[7:56] And to make those wise decisions that would honour Him as we follow Him. So, a good question for all of us to reflect on, I'll put to you tonight, is what is it that we will set our minds upon?

[8:09] Will we think on that which is good and worthwhile? We're all being shaped every day. Constantly shaped. Shaped by worldly thinking to determine, to fashion our mindset after godly living or the contrary.

[8:24] And we call, Brammer's sisters, all of us are called to love God. God, including with all our mind. As well as all our heart. Our mind.

[8:35] Our strength. All our mind. It's interesting. God doesn't bypass the mind. There's some cults and charismatic kind of churches of that kind. And they almost say, turn off your mind.

[8:46] Just blank out your mind. It's almost like transcendental meditation. The monks and the mystics in the Buddhist monasteries or Hindus or whatever, transcendental meditation.

[8:58] They say, blank your mind. And just let it just be an open kind of vessel. You can get filled with all kinds of spirits that way, I'll put to you. It's not a good idea to blank your mind.

[9:09] God says, you use your mind. You use your brain. He's given you a brain. And he says, reason together. God doesn't bypass our mind. He wants us to apply our mind to wisdom.

[9:20] And so it's a good thing to love God with all your mind. That's a good thing. It's a meaningful, mindful, sensible thing to do.

[9:31] That God calls us to that. To reckon with him. The Bible tells us how men can have corrupt minds. And on the contrary, it says minds can be purified.

[9:41] Don't you want that? To have a purified mind? It says that we can have that. And we're challenged further that we can actually have the very mind of Christ Jesus. Philippians 2.5 Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus.

[9:59] How is it that we can think like Christ? To think of him. To think like him. To think as he would think. That's a big call, isn't it? We could reckon if we were to picture ourselves.

[10:11] I know earlier someone was saying, well Christ is in us. So our thinking should be patterned after Christ. If Christ is in us, which the word of God tells us he is, then we ought to live and act like him.

[10:26] And he'll help us to think and act like him. In ways that please him. He'll help us to set godly directions for our lives. When we think about people, do we think as Christ would think?

[10:37] That sometimes we can think of others. Think ill of others. But Christ would not have us be like that. He would have us to think of blessing things.

[10:47] Think thoughts of blessing. As he would consider the sinner. He would consider the sinner that could be saved. And as to, I'm just picturing how, you know, as he saw those ones that others would have bypassed, he went to them.

[11:07] The ones that were covered in leprosy and unwanted, he had love to them. And so let's think like Christ would think.

[11:17] As we think about other people. As we look at the situations of life. Can we look with faith and trust in our God? When we determine the steps that we are to take. That they be ordered by the Lord.

[11:29] Well, we have a heart that seeks to please our God. To know and to do his will. Our thinking shapes all of those areas, doesn't it? And it moves us. Sometimes the enemy then comes.

[11:40] He wants to infiltrate our minds. It tells of a time where King Saul was troubled in his mind. Troubled in his mind. And it was at that time that he called David.

[11:51] And he said, come and play the harp. And after David played his harp, it says Saul was refreshed. Perhaps David would have sung some of his psalms. It's every chance that there were words with that sound.

[12:06] But nevertheless, there was a refreshing that came to Saul's mind. And we can have that same refreshing that David knew. The psalmist David. We can be subject to destructive thoughts.

[12:17] We know there's many that would have times where they get thoughts that overwhelm them. I know Julie and I just watched something lately of someone that was overwhelmed with anxiety and despair.

[12:32] Through faith they were able to overcome that. And to get on the other side of that. And it's the same with all of us, isn't it? We have those thoughts that are contrary to the word of God. The thoughts that would have us self-consumed.

[12:47] Even hurting ourselves. We know there's people going through those circumstances. It's very heartbreaking when you see loved ones going through such a torturous time in their minds.

[13:00] If only we could pattern our mind and thinking after the scriptures, we could overcome those destructive kind of thoughts. And replace them with godly thought patterns. So our minds can be subject to destructive thoughts.

[13:13] The devil would love you to have destructive thoughts. Thoughts that would consume you with despair, with hurt, with bitterness, with undealt with emotions.

[13:28] Destructive thoughts. Another thing that can happen is our mind can be filled with defilement. With defiling thoughts. Our minds can be defiled. The world is just full of toxic influences, isn't it?

[13:42] Don't you reckon? The defiling, the dirtying that would defile the mind. It talks about a contrast here of the defiling and of the purifying.

[13:54] It says in Titus 1 verse 15. Paul addresses Titus and says, Unto the pure all things are pure. But unto them that are defiled and the unbelieving is nothing pure.

[14:04] But even their mind and conscience is defiled. So there's that real contrast there. So how do we get a mind that is purified? That is clean. That is clean.

[14:15] The Bible speaks again in Ephesians 5 verse 26. It says of the word of God. It says of the church. That he might sanctify it.

[14:26] In other words, make it holy. That he might sanctify it. And cleanse it. Make it clean. With the washing of water by the word. The more of the word that we can get. The more of the cleansing we can get.

[14:37] Amen? The more of the word we can hide in our heart. The more we can overcome those destructive thoughts. Those thoughts that would defile us. There's a purifying effect from the washing of the water by the word.

[14:50] And it's a positive kind. In a way, I kind of like to kind of jokingly put it as a positive kind of brainwashing. You know, really.

[15:01] It's a brainwashing. It's a mindwashing. It's a washing of water that's by the word. And our thoughts, even our very mind, our thinking, our understanding can be made clean. It can clean us up from our mind through ourselves.

[15:15] And so there's really two ways here. Two pathways. Contrary forces. There's that which would purify and that which would defile. There's that which would be carnally focused and that which would be spiritually focused.

[15:31] We read that there in Romans 8 verse 5 where it says, Paul writes, For those that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. But those that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit.

[15:44] For to be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Don't you just love that there in verse 6? To be spiritually minded is life and peace.

[15:59] That's a wonderful promise from God, isn't it? It reads further, Because the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's hateful. It's hostile. It's contrary.

[16:10] It's against God. But it's not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be. For some people their mind is filled up with the wrong thinking. How do the computer programmers put it?

[16:23] Garbage in, garbage out. If we feed ourselves with toxic, worldly mindset, it'll come out in our lifestyle, in our living.

[16:37] But if we feed our mind with the word of God, with God's truth and blessing, with his message of love and hope, that will come out of our life.

[16:48] So we're being programmed. That's why they call them TV programs. It's a kind of programming going on. The devil just loves that. That kind of mind control to try to take over our very mind and wear us down.

[17:02] In the end times it says that the Antichrist will have such an influence too. It says in Daniel 7, 25 of the Antichrist, He shall speak great words against the Most High and shall wear down or wear out the saints of the Most High.

[17:20] He wants to wear us out. Our mind to be occupied and overthinking with all of the worries and busyness and all of that which would take us away from God's words.

[17:33] He wants to speak words against the Most High and He wants to wear out the saints of the Most High. For instance, we can be assured, we can be encouraged tonight that there is an assurance that we can have, an assurance that we can have in our mind and that our mind can be held in God's hands.

[17:58] Yeah. Thanks. Sometimes I lose that word. What's that word? We can be held in God's hands. We can be held in God's comforting power, can't we?

[18:10] And it's that assurance that we can have. It's the assurance of the scriptures. For example, this is a beautiful scripture to hide in your heart. Amen. If there's one scripture tonight that I can commend to you to hide this in your heart, it's this one here.

[18:25] It says, Isaiah 26, verse 3, Thou wilt keep Him in perfect peace. His mind is stayed on thee because he trusted in thee.

[18:38] I know my dad likes to yell out. Not that he ever yells out. But it's shalom, shalom. Perfect peace. Amen. Perfect peace. It's shalom, shalom. This is absolute peace, peace.

[18:51] Perfect peace. Amen. And it says, you'll keep Him in perfect peace. You'll keep Him in guard us. You'll hold us. He'll secure us. He will look after us in perfect peace.

[19:02] His mind is stayed on thee. So keep that mind stayed on him. Amen. Then keep your mind stayed upon him. We can make a decision that transforms our thinking.

[19:13] I've made up my mind, you can say. We can make up our mind in a good way. You know, some people, their minds are, what does it say? They're like concrete. They're kind of set in concrete, but thoroughly mixed up like concrete.

[19:28] I can't think of the saying. What's that? All mixed up and permanently set. They've got help on this side as well. There's this sign that the minds are, they're all mixed up.

[19:41] They're permanently set like concrete. But God wants our mind to be as clay in His hands, as it were. That our mind would be moved by Him, by His work.

[19:53] And that He would shape our thinking and our thought processes. And so we can make up our mind in a good way. It's a good thing to do. Now I've got a little object lesson. I hope this works.

[20:09] I saw this on the honest subject. I saw this. The object lesson here is about how our mind can be. So I'm just going to demonstrate this here for you tonight.

[20:21] We've got a glass here. And it represents your mind. This is your mind. And the things that you think about. So it could be filled, as we know, as an unsafe man or woman, with bad thoughts, with the things of this world.

[20:38] And basically we're thinking that does not please our God. You know, have your thoughts about lying, of cheating, of doing the wrong thing, of doing things that do not please God. Sinful thoughts.

[20:48] But God wants to change the way that we think. He wants to change the way that we think. So everyone look really hard at this glass now. And let's make it change into something else by just looking at it.

[21:00] Ready? Go. Concentrate. Nothing happens. How can we change what is in the glass?

[21:12] How else can we change the way that we think? By filling it with something else. The washing of water. The washing of water by the word. This water represents God's word, the Bible. And so instead of letting our thoughts be filled with the things of the world, we should let them be filled with God's word.

[21:31] So I'm hoping I don't make a mess here. But as the water goes in, as the washing of the word, the washing of the word that goes into our mind, we see that the contents, the container of the mind, changes colour.

[21:46] Now it's not crystal clear yet, but if we keep filling that up with the washing of water by the word, we see that that water ultimately will become pure and crystal clear.

[21:57] And you can see right through it. Of course, it's not quite achieved that tonight, but you get the picture. That there's a replacing of the way that we think, a replacing of worldly thoughts, of worldly thinking, with God's word, pouring in God's word into our minds to change the way we think.

[22:15] And this is the kind of thought behind Romans 12 verse 2, where it talks about, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

[22:31] So we can change our mind in a good way, in presenting ourselves for God's service, as it says in Romans 12 verse 1, as we yield our mind, our will, our thinking.

[22:43] It's a total surrender. And as we take these steps, we can truly find purpose and meaning. And the world will make sense. We make sense of the world.

[22:54] And as we trust our Lord, friends, this is just, you know, trying to illustrate that, that reality that does happen, there's a renewing. There's a replacing of the old way of thinking as a renewing.

[23:06] There's a shedding of the old way of thinking as a transforming, that we come to know God's will, that it's good, it's acceptable, it's perfect for us.

[23:19] We come to know His purpose for us. And as we know His word, that word keeps filling up, filling up, filling up our mind, filling up our mind with God's thoughts, with God's truth, with the right truth, that we can combat and recognise false doctrine.

[23:36] You know, there's some people, I've been putting something on Facebook lately, and people are arguing the point that, oh, I like this teacher and that teacher. And I said, well, look, it's like, how you get a mouse to take the rat poison.

[23:52] You know, it's 95% great, nutritious, good, great, but it's just got 5% of deadly poisoner. And that's what can happen when we may come to like a particular teacher that's not really abiding by the word of God.

[24:08] We could fall prays and non-biblical teachings and be easily seduced. But if our mind is constantly being filled with the word of God, as we hide in God's word in our heart and our mind, we can bring it to our mind, we can bring it to our remembrance, and we can combat false teaching.

[24:26] And so there's that truth that that word is filling us, as it were, that jug of that water of the word is filling our mind, filling us from top to toe to know God's word and to apply it.

[24:40] And God's spirit will then lead and guide us. We see God's transforming work as it's pictured in Jeremiah, where we read about the prophet goes to the potter's house.

[24:51] He sees the potter at work there at the wheel, at the clay, upon the potter's wheel. And it says that the man brought to work on the wheels. And it says, verse 4 of Jeremiah 18, that he made the vessel of clay, it was marred in the hand of the potter.

[25:08] The psalm, it just wasn't right. And then it says he had to make it again, another vessel. It seemed good to the potter to make it. The vessel was all messed up, but the good thing was it was in the master's hands.

[25:22] And that can be like us, can't it? As we go through life, stuff happens, it's hard, and you feel like things are messed up. But friends, you're in the master's hands. We're still on the wheel, he's still working on us, he's still shaping us, and he'll continue that work.

[25:37] So can you continue to work on us? And we know that he that's begun a good work, is going to complete it. So, be that vessel that he can remake. To reshape, to remould, to renew.

[25:49] Do not quarrel with the master potter. Be willing to be soft clay in his hands. And that's the same with our thinking too, isn't it? We can have a real peace of mind. No matter what our circumstances, even when we face many challenges, even though there's hurtful things that happen.

[26:08] And again, when we're witnessing, I know there's one person we came across and she was kind of relating how her friend had died at just 18 years old and trying to kind of blame God and finding it hard to grapple with that.

[26:26] But if we can have a biblical mindset, we can understand that we're all just vessels of clay. We all have only a temporary time span. Some shorter than others.

[26:37] It's about what we make of our lives. It's whether we yield ourselves to God and not argue against Him or blame the God we don't believe in as the atheists do, that we can come to know and trust that He has the best for us.

[26:50] And I was reflecting on the earlier prayer that we can think of the physical blessings we know in Australia, but even if we were in Africa and we were penniless and we were in a time of flood, we have the spiritual blessings, amen?

[27:02] We have the spiritual blessings that would far outweigh any material blessings as much as we thank God for the blessings we do have in Australia. But friends, there's the spiritual blessings that really will hold us steady and sure.

[27:15] Who knows whether everything will be taken away from us? It could be so. It could come to that. We thank God for the material blessings while we have them in this country, but it could only be for a time.

[27:28] And who knows, what matters most is the spiritual blessings, the blessings of being saved. And so in that mindset, we can have peace of mind even in the worst of circumstances, even when we face terrible sickness and hardship and suffering and loss, even the daily challenges that we might suffer.

[27:49] Who knows what? That we can still, our faithful hold steady. It's not dependent on our material blessings. Friends, we can gird up the loins of our mind it talks about here.

[28:00] It's talking about like putting the belt on and it's getting ready for action, getting ready for launching out. Gird up the loins of your mind and get ready. Be sober. Hope to the end for the grace that was brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[28:14] It's saying exercise control over your mind. You know, it's like the the restless, the weightlifters put that heavy belt on, don't they? As they're about to lift the weights, they've got to gird up.

[28:27] They've got to get ready. This is something that's going to be something of strain, of intent. And Peter's saying here, gird up the loins of your mind. Get ready to control your mind.

[28:40] To think soberly. Put it under God's control in the decisions that we make. Now some people can have trouble making up their mind. And friends, if you've ever gone driving with me in an unfamiliar place and pitching my poor wife and she usually says go left and so I go right.

[28:58] Or I'm like that with the nav man sitting, you know, when you think, oh this is a better way than that way. And I end up getting, thankfully it redirects, doesn't it? But, you know, there's that sense where I'm double minded.

[29:09] You know, you come to the fork in the road and I'm often, I'll leave it to the last minute and just turn it just at the last minute to go the right way. And we can all be double minded in the sense that we don't always know what way we should go.

[29:23] This is James 1, verse 8. That we can be unstable in all our ways when we have trouble making up our minds. Some people like that spiritually, aren't they? They sit on the fence, they sit on the fence, they don't trust Christ and then, you know, they leave it and leave it.

[29:40] It's like, some would think, oh, when I'm older I'll make a decision to trust Christ. But friends, there's no guarantee of tomorrow. And we can be double minded with salvation and we miss heaven.

[29:52] It's a great mistake, isn't it? So, make up your mind, make up your mind, make up your mind to follow Christ, to trust Him, make up your mind to be a Christian that walks with God.

[30:04] And the Bible talks about how we can have a sound mind. 1 Timothy, sorry, 2 Timothy 1, verse 7. Paul tells Timothy that He's not given, God's not given to us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

[30:19] There's a wholeness there, a healthy mind. So, it's time, friends, I'll put to you tonight to leave you here with a bit of a challenge to make your mind up. Where will you set your affection?

[30:32] When we make our mind up, it's about what we've got a love for, what we've got affection for. And we can be guided by the Word of God. It gives us the mind of God.

[30:43] As there's a kind of famous quote about the Bible, and you might be familiar with this, some of you. And this unknown writer has put it like this about the Bible.

[30:54] He says, this book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable.

[31:11] In other words, they cannot be changed. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and the comfort to cheer you.

[31:23] It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian character. Here, paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.

[31:37] Christ is its grand subject, our good, its design, and the glory of God, its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the theme. Read it, slowly, frequently, prayerfully.

[31:50] It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts, and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ.

[32:04] Yes, to glory itself for eternity. This is the mind of God. It's the voice of God. It's His Word. So surely, truly, brother, sister, God's Word should fill our mind.

[32:18] It should fill our mind. Get that, happening. Let it, let it pour into your head, the Word of God. Amen? That's what we need, don't we? More and more of the Word. More and more of it.

[32:29] I know a brother was reflecting earlier. They want to spend more time with the Word. That's a good use of your time, isn't it? A great use of your time. The best use of your time. That the Word of God should fill your thoughts, your thinking, your pattern of thinking.

[32:43] And it matters what gets ingrained in our minds. It says in James, lay apart all filthiness. And superfluity of naughtiness, which is the sense of an overflowing of wickedness.

[32:55] I'll kind of paraphrase it there. Lay aside that which is filthy and wicked. And receive rather with meekness, with humility, the engrafted Word. Let it, let it be engrafted.

[33:06] Let it be, um, planted and, and become part of you. Let it be ingrained in you, engrafted in you. The Word of God, which is able to save your souls.

[33:19] So what is ingrained in us? What's implanted in our thinking? Now sometimes we can have things implanted in our thinking without even realising it. We can say things without even thinking, what are we saying?

[33:31] Because it's ingrained in our thinking. There's a bit of a funny story here. How there was a, a wedding ceremony and there was a jewellery store manager who exchanged rings with a soon-to-be spouse.

[33:45] And as he slipped the bride onto the, the ring rather, onto his bride's finger, he says, with this ring we guarantee a full refund if the customer is not completely satisfied.

[33:55] He was kind of using his language of the, of the, uh, jewellery shop. There's a guarantee with this ring if you're not satisfied. A full refund. Now his, his sales picture was so ingrained in his mind that the words came out.

[34:08] But it's the same with, with us, isn't it? What can be ingrained in our thinking, in our mind, maybe from our culture, from our upbringing, you know, there's, there's words that I still say wrong because I've got that plumbing training.

[34:22] There's certain words that I know that I'm not pronouncing, uh, in, in dinky-dye Australian yet. I'm still learning to speak Australian because of that ingraining that I've had of speaking, you know, really the, the proper English, the, the Queen's English, you know, from the, the Queen's, the Queen's, England.

[34:39] But, no, friends, it's that ingraining that happens. We can all get ingrained with things. Is it the word of God that's ingrained? That's what matters, isn't it? Isn't it? We can have our mind refreshed, renewed.

[34:51] It tells us here, Ephesians 4, 23, we can be renewed in the spirit of our mind. And there's a call throughout the word to exercise willpower and, if you like, weight power as well.

[35:06] What does occupy us our thinking? Do we occupy our thinking with biblical truth and practice like praise? Do we occupy our thinking with prayer, with truth, with uplifting thoughts?

[35:18] Is it the word of God that comes to mind when we face a situation and we need wisdom on it? Is it the scripture that comes to mind? Believe God. He's got more than 7,000 promises.

[35:32] 7,000, someone's reckoned. More than 7,000 promises. So the scriptures need to be our new frame of reference as we develop that right thinking. So just as we think on these things, as we meditate on the word of God, I pray there's been something here that's provoked our thinking, that's made us to make the decision, I'm going to make up my mind, make up my mind in a good way.

[35:57] God wants you to engage your mind in the things of God. And the more, brother, sister, that you engage your mind and thinking with the biblical worldview, it will be countercultural to the world around us.

[36:11] We know the world around us, I know Barry's a big subject of creation, evolution. We know evolution is the load of hogwash because the Bible is very clear. Yeah, the beginning, God created.

[36:23] You know, it's right there in the beginning, God created. And the more we have our mind engaged with God's truth, we can combat the lies all around us. In Nehemiah, it says the people had a mind to work.

[36:36] That's an important mind to have too, that we have a mind, yeah, what can I do for God? What can I deliver? What can I engage in? How can I contribute? How can I participate?

[36:48] What can I lend my knowledge or abilities to? The people had a mind to work. Think about prayerfully what God would have you to do. Learn to pray, reprogram your mind, and guard your mind through prayer.

[37:03] Use your brain. Friends, make up your mind. Let's just close with a final verse, some verses here, from Philippians 4. Very wonderful scriptures here, very dear scriptures to many, I'm sure, and it says this on Philippians 4, verse 6 through 9, it says, be careful.

[37:24] In other words, don't be full of care for nothing. Be careful for nothing. In other words, don't worry. Don't be full of care for anything. But rather, it says, in everything, by prayer and supplication, which means asking God to supply, asking God to supply your need of supplication.

[37:45] So in prayer, in supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. And it reads on, and the peace of God, don't you want that in your mind?

[37:58] The peace of God, shalom, shalom. Shalom, shalom, shalom. The more the better. The peace of God, which pass of all understanding, it says. This is mind-blowing, isn't it?

[38:09] It's going to pass all understandings, beyond all human comprehension, that the peace of God, which pass of all understanding, shall keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.

[38:21] And it reads on, and these are lovely scriptures to reflect upon as you think on these things. Paul says this as he kind of encapsulates it here.

[38:35] He says, finally, brethren, finally, brethren, this is it now. I'm cutting right to the bones of it here. He says, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.

[39:08] And those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, Paul says, do. And the God of peace shall be with you.

[39:20] Paul's telling the Philippians, you've learned it, you've received it, you've heard it, you've seen it in me. Paul says, do that. And the God of peace shall be with you.

[39:32] Amen. Friends, tonight, really, I can't end this without one urging to anyone that's here or hearing this to know the one who is the Prince of Peace.

[39:50] To know the God of Peace. To know him. To know the one who gives peace peace beyond our comprehension, peace that passes all our understanding and peace with God that we who are hostile at enmity, at hatred, hateful to God, against God, that he can receive us as his own beloved friends and more so as adopted sons and daughters of God the Father.

[40:29] Friends, to know that, that peace, that peace of salvation is the first point. And then as believers it's about that washing.

[40:41] Think of this silly creature with the water going into his head. The washing of water by the word. It's the mind, isn't it? Brothers sisters, honestly, use your brain in a spiritual way.

[40:54] Make your mind up. Make your mind up to say, yes, I want to know him, to follow him, to be in his will. And the God of peace shall be with you.

[41:06] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for these things that we can think upon, things that are wholesome and good, honest, just, pure, lovely, things of good report, things of virtue, praise.

[41:18] Lord, we know the world would fill our minds with the contrary. Lord, help us to have our minds as it were washed with the water of the word, that we can have our mind filled with godly thinking, that we can be reprogrammed, that we can be brainwashed, as it were, in a wonderful, beautiful way, that our thoughts can be transformed, that you can replace thoughts that are destructive or defiled, thoughts that would be hurtful to us, thoughts of bitterness, of hate, of bad memories, of anything of that.

[41:52] Lord, it's junk, we know, and we want to be removed from us, Lord, and we know that we can bring every thought captured to serve you, every thought come under your authority to obey you, our Lord, that every thought can be captured and harnessed and dealt with and brought under your Lordship.

[42:16] We pray that each one here might know to make their mind up to trust you. God helping us, Lord, you're helping us, we can trust you and we can set our affection on things above.

[42:31] Lord, we pray that each one here that they know that peace of God in their soul, the soul-saving peace of salvation and as a Christian that we are growing as a vessel on your wheel, as you mold us and shape us like a potter, you're making us more like you and that our mind would be the mind of Christ, that we would have that humility, that love, that other worldliness that you have that is beyond human reckoning.

[43:06] Lord, we praise you for that. Lord, do a work in us, we pray, by your Holy Spirit's power, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.