[0:00] Would you take your Bibles and turn to 2 Corinthians 10, verse 3? I want to talk to you about thinking like a believer tonight. Thinking like a believer tonight. I really want to talk to you from my heart and from the Word of God.
[0:15] And I want to show you that so much goes on in our lives and we don't think correctly. And you can't think like a regular person thinks. You're a born-again believer. Before I read the Scripture with you in 2 Corinthians 10, and we go through a lot of verses, let me explain to you what it's like to be a missionary in a foreign country.
[0:36] When you go to a foreign country, you have to completely learn a different way of doing everything. They don't do anything the way you do. They actually dress differently.
[0:48] I was in Russia years ago, and when I met Sam, actually, or the time before that that I was in Russia, actually the first time, and I asked a Russian guy, would you ever mistake me for Russian because they're white?
[1:02] And he said, oh, no, absolutely not. You don't even look Russian. I said, you're white? I'm white. He said, oh, you don't look Russian. And it was my clothes. It was the way I walked. It was the way every move I made.
[1:13] I said, if I don't say a word, you might think I was Russian. He said, oh, no, none of us would. None of us. So to get to Russia to move in, you'd have to learn a whole new, I mean, you've got to learn new body language.
[1:25] I listened to a thing this week about cross-cultural stuff. In our country, you take your fork in your hand, and then you move it over to this hand, and you move it back, and you kind of think that your mama taught you it's rude.
[1:40] If you cut your meat, you know, you bring your fork back over here to pick up your meat, and your mama taught you all that. And in Europe, Great Britain, they leave it in the left hand, and they never take it out of the left hand, and they don't know why you're doing that.
[1:51] It's a whole different way of doing things, a whole different way of doing things. You learn to think like they think. You see things in another country, and you're like, why do they do that?
[2:03] The reason you think that is because you don't know how to think like they think. Now, you got saved. I remember the first time I was in Haiti, I asked them to tell me a Haitian joke, and they told this joke about a lady being so poor she only had two stones.
[2:17] And I just, okay? You need three to hold your kettle over the fire when you cook. You need three stones. And if you're that poor, you're down to two. You can't even let your pot sit over the campfire well.
[2:30] Okay. Yeah, I don't quite get that one. I've never even cooked a meal over three stones, so I don't know. When you get saved, you don't know how to think. You keep thinking like who you were and not who you are.
[2:43] You keep thinking like who you were and not who you are. And that means that you don't think right. You don't understand right. You don't know what's going on. And this afternoon, the Spanish church had a pastor appreciation thing, took all of us, the pastors in there, and they had a meal.
[3:00] And they did all this stuff, and they talked to us, and they gave us little cards. And they're just really nice to all of us. And, I mean, I was in there, and I understood exactly what was going on.
[3:10] But we sat there, and everybody in the room just about talked to us before it was over. That's just the way they do things. It's just the way they do things. So if you really want to have success in your Christian life, you must learn to think like a believer.
[3:24] Read with me 2 Corinthians 10, verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, I might still have a body, and I might still live here on earth. We do not war after the flesh.
[3:36] We don't war like human beings. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, not fleshly, not this worldly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
[3:47] We have weapons that can go tear down castles. And we cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. And we bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
[4:02] I'm going to share five things with you and a whole bunch of verses, and that's why I changed the order of the service so you would still get out on time. We just might cut some other things. But let's have a word of prayer. Father, I love these people.
[4:13] I think about them in the night when I get up. I think about them in the day. I don't know of a time I'm not thinking about them and trying to love them. And I know you love them a million gazillion times more than I ever could.
[4:24] And God, I want them to enjoy what you've done in their lives. And I want them to not be so beat up by Satan. And I want them to have victory. And so I would ask that you would please deal with our hearts so that we could please you and enjoy what you have for us.
[4:37] Please do a work, and I'll give you praise for all you do. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, you can take notes, and they'll throw all the verses up. I hope they'll keep up. And you can take notes. You don't have to look up every verse because I am going to use a lot of Scripture.
[4:50] We're going to be all over the Bible, unlike we were this morning. The first thing I want you to write down is this. Your thinking determines everything. Your thinking determines everything. The Bible says in Proverbs 23, 7, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
[5:05] So what I'm thinking is going to affect who I am and how I act. What I'm thinking will affect who I am and how I act. In Proverbs 4, verse 23, the Bible says, Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.
[5:21] So in other words, when Solomon, the wise man, was writing, he said, You know what you need to really take care of is your heart. That's your mind. That's the center of your mind, your will, and your emotions.
[5:31] He said, You've got to take care of that because out of your heart comes everything in your life. Some of you have a gym membership, but you don't have a private devotional membership.
[5:43] Some of you have a time to go to the restaurant or to the table and to take care of yourself physically, but you never think about spiritually and who you are and what ought to be happening. So you keep your heart because out of the heart everything comes.
[5:56] In Mark chapter 7 and verse 20, it's what's in you that's going to mess you up or do whatever to you. The Bible says in Mark 7, 20, Jesus was talking. He said, That which comes out of the man, that defiles the man.
[6:09] He was talking about the food they ate. If you eat the food, that's not near as nasty as what comes out of you. And he said, But from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulterers, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
[6:31] All these things come from within and defile the man. So you are what you're thinking biblically. You are what you're thinking.
[6:41] You're supposed to learn to think like the new man you are in Christ. I'll show you all that in the scripture if you go along with me. So at the first thing I want you to know, the real war in spiritual warfare, the reason we fall in sin, the reason we mess up, the reason we don't enjoy who we are in Christ.
[6:57] It's all we haven't learned how to think like who we are. We have not learned to think like who we are. Second thing I want you to write down. Second thing, you have to learn how to think. You have to learn how to think.
[7:10] And here's the reason you have to learn how to think. Because in the past, you thought differently. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2. I mean, I wish you would fast up in your Bible.
[7:21] You'd look these things up. In time past, in time past, you walked according to the course of this world. Back in the old days, you did what everybody around you did.
[7:33] You thought like all the other people of your ethnicity, of your language bank. You thought like all of them. Basically, even in the political world, they make comments about how many people just think whatever they're told to think.
[7:47] And that race thinks like this. And that group thinks like this. And women think like this. And men think like this. In the time past, you thought like everybody around you. Now look at the verse. According to the course of this world.
[7:59] And then it says, what you didn't realize is when you think like all these people around us, you're thinking according to the prince of the power of the air. And if you got your Bible open, or maybe you make a note later, that's the devil.
[8:11] That's the devil. So when you think like a regular person from Alpharetta or Ball Ground or Dahlonega or Cumming or John's Creek, whenever you think like one of them, you're thinking like the devil thinks.
[8:25] I know you don't like that. But read the verse. According to the prince of the power of the air. And who is he? The spirit that works in the children of disobedience. All around this church are people who do not want to obey God.
[8:40] We're not talking morality here. We're talking about realizing they're a sinner and they're needing to be saved. They live a life saying, I don't really need God. I have enough money. I have enough life. I don't need God. Which is exactly what the spirit that works in all the children of disobedience thinks.
[8:54] Which is exactly what the devil thinks. Which is exactly what the world thinks. And he said, in the time past, that's what you used to think. Verse 3, he said, among whom also we had our conversation in time past.
[9:06] In the old days, we used to do that. Our manner of living, our conversation. The way we lived, we lived and thought and talked and acted like those people who didn't know God. Well, we didn't know him.
[9:17] So we did do what they did. It says, among whom we had our conversation in time past. In the lust of our flesh. Before, we just did whatever we wanted to do. Do what you want to do.
[9:27] The lust of your flesh just means whatever I want to do, I'll do it. Hey, they make music about that. They write songs about that. They make commercials about that. The lust of our flesh.
[9:38] And fulfilling the desires of our flesh. Whatever I wanted. And the desires of your mind. And we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
[9:49] That's who we were. So here you are one day. One day, you have now lived 20 years, 10 years, or 30 years. But you've lived all that time like everybody around you. Tennesseans tend to think similarly.
[10:01] And Georgians tend to think similarly. And Peruvians tend to think another way. We all got our way of thinking. And we think like in a group. Today, Sean Bateman saw some people from up there in his town.
[10:14] And he told one of the missionaries. He said, the people at my home church there, the church back up in the hills there. They said to tell Austin Teal, said, we're praying for Ewans. And so Austin Teal said, well, you tell them that we're praying for Ewans also.
[10:29] We don't talk like Ewans. Or use guys. Or Ewans. We don't talk. It's a different thing. But that's how I used to be. I used to live in that area. I used to do what they do. But we get saved.
[10:40] And we have to change minds. I've got to really reach in here and take out my computer. Pull my computer out. Put it off to one side. And say, I need God's computer. And I need to put that in.
[10:51] Read your Bible with me. Look at Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 22. That you put off concerning the former conversation or the former manner of living, the old man.
[11:02] Don't. You need to get rid of what you used to do. You need to take off the things you used to do when you were old. Why? Because they are corrupt. Look at the verse.
[11:14] They are corrupt according to the deceitful lust. Because you didn't think you were desiring wrong stuff. But your desires, your desires trick you. I think I told you this.
[11:26] But I heard a comedian motivational speaker. And he said, I'm not going to teach you how to get what you want. I'm going to teach you how to want what you got. And the whole point is, in fact, is everything you got, you wanted it one time or another.
[11:42] And so you've got to train your mind. Look at the verse. It says in verse 23. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Get a new mind. Renew your mind. Wash your mind.
[11:53] They used to say, improve. They used to say stuff like, you don't need to go to that guy's church. They wash, they're mind washers up there. I used to tell them, we don't wash brains in our church. We wash hearts. That takes care of the brain.
[12:03] Amen. But look here. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And then he said in verse 24. And put on the new man. So Austin Gardner, you've got the old man that you had. That's the Tennessee hillbilly.
[12:14] That's the guy from Buckstorch. That's the guy that had an outhouse. That's the guy that thinks about cows and horses and pigs and chickens all the time. That's the guy that thinks of this world and never thinks about me. You put that off and you go over here and you put on this thing of loving me and seeking me with all your heart.
[12:27] You go put that on. It says, and put on the new man. You have to learn how to think. You have to learn how to think as a believer.
[12:38] In Romans chapter 12 and verse 1, the Bible says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service.
[12:49] There are four words in that verse that do not go together if you think like a human. Living sacrifice, reasonable service. That doesn't work. No human being thinks you want me to be a living sacrifice to God and you call that reasonable.
[13:02] We'd say, no, being a living sacrifice. Okay. That's sacrificial living. But when you would give your life as a living sacrifice to the God of the Bible, he just goes reasonable. He doesn't even go, wow.
[13:13] He just goes, yeah, I was expecting that. That's reasonable. We're like, reasonable. That's not reasonable. That's crazy. And he's like, no, we just call that reasonable up in heaven.
[13:25] Down on earth, y'all call it crazy. Down on earth, y'all call it fanatic. In heaven, we just go, yeah, reasonable. Look at your Bible. Romans chapter 12 and verse 2. He said, be not conformed to this world. That means don't be pressed into this world's mold.
[13:36] Don't be like this world. Don't think like them. Don't talk like them. Don't act like them. Don't walk around like them. We don't belong here. This world is about my home. I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
[13:49] This is not my home. And you will not get me to live like that. You'll not get me to be like that. Be not conformed to this world. Be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind.
[14:00] I need a new mind. I need a new way of thinking. I need a new way of reasoning. That's what I need. I need to learn how to think because we now reject the world and we accept the word.
[14:12] We reject the world and we accept the word. Look in 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 3. The Bible said, in time past, in time past of our life. You should underline, in time past.
[14:23] This is who I was before. In time past of our life. May it suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. In the past, maybe we did what lost people do.
[14:34] Back in the past, we did just like our neighbors do. And we walked in all the parties and the drinking and the terrible idolatries. And now that we've changed, they think it's strange, according to verse 4, that we don't run to the same excess for them.
[14:51] We're a new group of people. You see, what I think like, if you think American, you can't be a good missionary. When you get to the missionary, you can't think American, you've got to think Christian.
[15:03] You can't go down there and say, I brought an American flag. I plan on planting it here in your country. I'm not here to talk about the Declaration of Independence.
[15:13] I'm here to talk about Jesus. It's a whole philosophy that goes with who we are and what we do. So, who I am, what I think determines who I am. But I have to learn how to think.
[15:26] I have to work at learning how to think. Open your Bible now. Look at 1 Corinthians 2, verse 16. Third thing, you have a new mind. You need to write this down somewhere.
[15:38] You already have a new mind. You have a new mind. When you get saved, something miraculous, supernatural happens to you. God gives you a new heart.
[15:50] God gives you a new mind. God changes your want-tos. God changes your desires. You are not who you were before. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 16, the Bible said, For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?
[16:03] Then he said, but we have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. So, also, what do you think the Lord would think about? Oh, don't worry. I know what he thinks. I got his mind right here.
[16:14] I got his mind living in me. I know what the Lord thinks. See, we have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1, verse 7, God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and love.
[16:28] And notice this, a sound mind. So, God in heaven said, also, when I saved you, buddy, I prepared you to live a different life. So funny, Peruvians used to ask me, this is 30 years ago, but Peruvians used to ask me all the time, they say, could a Peruvian learn English if they were born in America?
[16:47] And they say, because, you know, we just naturally speak Spanish, and y'all just naturally speak English. And so, if one of our people were born among your people, would they learn how to speak like you guys? I said, if they lived running English speakers, they'd speak like a hick.
[16:59] That's what they'd do. And it shocked them. They were like, really? We thought our tongues were different. I said, no, your tongue just learned how to do that junk. I said, but you get a new mind. When you get saved, you get pulled up out of the world and how they think.
[17:13] This political correct stuff, that's this world's thinking. That's not God thinking. And doing what everybody else thinks about doing, that's what the world thinks like that. And just saying, well, he doesn't agree with me about gender, and he doesn't agree with me about sexuality, and he doesn't agree with me about morality.
[17:31] I just need to understand him. Oh, no, no, no, no, the world says that. But God says something different. I got a new mind. I think differently. The Bible says in Ephesians 4, verse 20, one of my favorite verses that I'll go over tonight with you.
[17:49] Ephesians 4, verse 20, it says, You have not so learned Christ. I like that verse. So when people were doing wicked stuff in the church, Paul said, Now, y'all didn't learn that from Jesus.
[18:01] You didn't pick that up from Jesus. You picked that up from the world. You picked that up from rebellious people. You picked that up from people that want to do what the devil wants to do. You didn't learn that from Jesus. You didn't learn that from Christ.
[18:12] Verse 21 says, If so be you have heard him and been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. So, see, do you know what happened when you got saved?
[18:24] You got a new mind. You got the mind of Christ. You don't think like you used to think. You don't act like you used to act because you are a new creature. And old things are passed away. And behold, all things are made new.
[18:35] But that's true. But you might not experience that because you don't know how to think. So, you got to learn how to think. Let's try to give you a little bit about how to do that. Number four.
[18:47] I'm flying. You're going to get out and party early tonight. 1 John 4, verse 1. You have to test every thought. So, write this down somewhere. The believer needs to try or test every thought.
[18:59] The believer needs to try or test every thought. Now, okay. We have learned something so far tonight. We have learned that there's one mindset that belongs to the world and those who do not love God.
[19:12] And we've learned that there's another mind that belongs to those that love God and think like God wants them to. So, there's two different mindsets. That means there's two massive streams of ideas and thoughts flying through the world.
[19:23] Some coming from over there and some coming from over here. And when a thought hits your brain, as a born-again believer, you say, hold it, thought. Stand at the door. I'll figure out where you are. Pull out your ID. Let me look at it.
[19:34] I need to know where you come from. I need to know who you are. You know, you don't want to let the guy that says he's from the Atlanta Gas Company in unless he can show you an ID. But you'll let a thought in and you don't care where it came from.
[19:47] Which means you're dumb or a rock. Somebody said they're keeping a dictionary on all my dumb sayings. Well, there's another one. You're dumb or a rock. 1 John 4.1.
[19:58] The Bible said, Beloved, believe not every spirit. Try the spirits, whether they are of God. Because many false prophets are going out into the world.
[20:11] So, I need to understand that there's a Holy Spirit and an unholy spirit. There's a worldly set of thoughts which are rebellion against God. And there's a God set of thoughts. And that's going on about everything.
[20:21] And so, whatever thought comes into my mind, I say, Wait a minute. Let me see where you come from. I want you to know Satan can mess with your mind. It is biblical.
[20:31] You need to understand this. Just because you have even a religious thought or a spiritual thought, it might be from the devil. The Bible says in John chapter 13 and verse 2 that the devil put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him.
[20:45] That's what the Bible says. Oh, Judas is sitting there and he's just sitting there eating his fillet. And I was thinking, I got an idea. I think I'll betray him. And you're like, Well, I guess God did that.
[20:56] Well, the Bible says the devil did it. The devil. Hmm. And you're thinking about that sin, aren't you? You're just sitting there idly one day and all of a sudden, boom, a thought pops into your head about doing something you know wouldn't please God.
[21:11] And you're like, I wonder why I'm thinking that. Okay. Well, here's what you do. You say, Stop, thought. Let me see your credentials. Is that out of the Word of God? Is that out of God's way of thinking or is that out of a human way of thinking?
[21:23] Is that out of rebellion thinking or right thinking? Which one is it? I'm not accepting it unless it's true. Not only did it say that, but in Acts chapter 5 and verse 2, it said that Satan filled the heart of Ananias.
[21:35] Ananias to lie to the Holy Ghost. It says Satan filled his heart. Satan filled his heart. Did you get that? So all of a sudden, I got this idea over here.
[21:46] Well, I might just be homosexual. I ain't sure. But I think I might be. Boom. Hold it. Stop. Stop. I got to make sure.
[21:56] Did you come from God? Did you come from the devil? Did you come from the world? Did you come from the Word of God? Hmm. Show me some ID. Hey, wrong ID, out of my door. You don't come up here impersonating.
[22:08] You come up here saying this is what the Word of God says. You don't accept any thought. You say, I'm watching TV and they said this.
[22:19] And you go, I believe it. No, you don't watch any TV and believe it. You watch every TV thing. Hold on one minute, filter. Not sure. I don't believe that. You listen to a politician talk. Filter. You listen to the pastor talk.
[22:31] Filter. You listen to the deacon talk. Filter. Because we know we're going to check every thought. Now, James chapter 1 and verse 14. This is how we fall in sin according to the Word of God.
[22:44] James chapter 1 and verse 14. Satan tempts you. First, let me say this. We'll start with this. You are not tempted of God. James 1.13. You are not tempted of God.
[22:55] So, when you do wrong, it is never God saying, hey, why don't you commit adultery? It is never God saying, why don't you commit homosexual behavior? It is never God saying, won't you steal that?
[23:06] It is never God saying, why don't you lie? Just, he does not. You say, I don't know why God's put me through these tests. He's not. You may be tested, but he will never try to get you to do wrong.
[23:18] James chapter 1 and verse 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, and he doesn't tempt any man. Neither tempteth he any man.
[23:30] But Satan tempts you because he knows you. He knows who you are. He knows where you live. He knows what you want. He knows it because he's watched you in the past. He's watched how you're living. He's watched what you're talking about.
[23:41] He's watching your activities. You say, well, sometimes I don't understand. Why do I have these thoughts if it's not God? Why do I feel like this if it's not God? Well, the devil knows exactly who you are.
[23:51] He knows what you've been looking at on the Internet. He knows about the porn you've been looking at. He knows about the wicked thoughts you've been having. And them demons are over there saying, we got this sucker. We know exactly what. You know fishermen can figure out what a fish wants to bite?
[24:04] I mean, you ever go fishing? You're up there fishing. You're throwing in. You're not getting anything. The other guy's catching you. You look at him and say, what lure are you using? He's like, they ain't biting that. I knew they were biting on that a couple of days ago. Today they're biting this.
[24:15] The devil looks at you and goes, I know what you're biting. I'm keeping up. Look at what it says. For James 1, 14, every man's tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed.
[24:26] Not the devil. And not God here. It's what I want. Because I'm still hanging on to want to's from back when I was a lost man. See, if you hang on to want to's from when you was a lost man, you might be a saved man saying, I don't know why I want to.
[24:40] But you're wanting to from when you was a lost man. That's your own lust. And then the devil shows up and tempts you for what you already want. And he tempts you for what you already want. And when you sin, it brings forth death.
[24:51] James 1, 15. Then when lust, James 1, 15. When lust, when desire has conceived, when what I want and the opportunity meet, it brings forth sin.
[25:02] And sin, when it's finished, brings forth death. Y'all don't be making mistakes, my dear brothers. Do not err. That's what he said. That's what he said. Now, here's how you know thoughts.
[25:14] You see, you have to learn how to test every thought. And here's how you test a thought. I think you don't really believe this. Even though you come to a church where we just push teaching the Bible.
[25:28] People even talk about how, man, you go to that church, they study the Bible a lot. Go to Sunday school here, and every Sunday school teacher opens the Bible. Everything's Bible, Bible, Bible, Bible. But I'm not sure we believe that. Here's how you know what thoughts are.
[25:42] The book. In Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, the Bible said the Word of God is quick. That means it's alive. And it's powerful. It's powerful. And it's sharper than a two-edged sword.
[25:54] It can divide even soul and spirit and joints and marrow. But this is a great thing. I want you to outline in the verse for now. It is the discerner of the thoughts and the intents of your heart. So if you're reading the Word of God, all of a sudden the Word of God goes, stab you and say, I know what you're thinking.
[26:08] See, it's the Word of God. So if you become a, that's why you need to be in the Bible every day. You need to be in the Bible every day. Some of you still haven't read your Bible through. That's why you can't make good decisions.
[26:21] You need to learn to think like a believer. You say, well, I read me a Psalm every day. Well, there's 65 other books. God ain't the Psalmist. God's the Bibleist.
[26:32] Huh? He didn't write one book. He wrote a whole bunch of them. And that's why we teach and preach all of them. He's a discerner of your thoughts. He even knows what your intentions are. If you get in the book, it's like opening an x-ray machine.
[26:46] It looks down deep inside of you and says, uh-uh, that ain't right. You know why we don't read the Bible, don't you? Oh, D.L. Moody was a great evangelist from years ago. And D.L. Moody said, the Bible will keep you from the Word, or the Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Word.
[26:59] You know what happens when a person is in sin? They're like, I don't really want to hear what the Bible's got to say. Kind of like me and the scales. When I'm on a diet and I'm losing weight, I'm like, I don't mind standing there one bit. When I stand there, I go, hooray, you lost a pound.
[27:11] And when I know I haven't, I just walk by and say, not even asking to shut up. Because I know if I was standing there and I'd say, oh, four people can't be on the scale at one time. Because you don't want to know what you don't want to know, amen.
[27:23] You don't want it. You don't want to know what you don't want to know. You have clear teaching on what to think. You have clear teaching on what to think. Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8.
[27:33] And I have done enough of this, I'm not going to do it all, but I want you to really look at what it says in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8. Every thought has to be honest. It has to be true.
[27:44] It has to be honest. It has to be just. It has to be pure. It has to be lovely. It has to be a good report. It has to be a virtue. It has to be a praise. If it gets through all those filters, you can think about it. Got to get through those filters.
[27:55] It says at the end of chapter 4 and verse 8, the last few words of Philippians 4 are, think on these things. Think on these things. So all of a sudden I'm sitting here and this thought pops into my head.
[28:10] Maybe I ought to commit adultery. Maybe I ought to be a homosexual. Maybe I ought to steal. Maybe I ought to, maybe I ought to, maybe I ought to. And I go, whoa, let me think. I don't mind. We need to discuss that. We really do. Let me see. Is what you're saying true according to the word of God?
[28:22] Okay, if it's not, I don't have time to think that. If it gets past the true one, it's got to get to the honest one. If it gets past that, it's got to get to the praise one. The devil comes along and says, you know, you stink. You're not a very good person and God doesn't love you.
[28:36] You're going to, wait a minute, is that true? Well, you might say, well, I probably do stink and I probably am a sinner. And that's probably even honest. But you know what? It ain't lovely. And the truth is it ain't good report. It ain't what the Bible says about me.
[28:47] And so I need to stop that thought and say, you just wait a minute. I know who's talking here. I know who's talking here. It's your fault. Y'all know why I am like I am, don't you? It's all y'all's fault.
[28:59] Who told you to think like that? In the Bible, you don't find that at all. In the Bible, you find it's your fault. In the Bible, there's a mirror. Look in there and say, I'm doing wrong. Last thing I want to say.
[29:13] Fifth thing, the believer needs to bring all of his thoughts into captivity. That's the verse we started with. This is a life-changing passage. 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 3.
[29:24] I challenge you. I beg you. We need to think like believers. And believers do not think like regular people.
[29:38] We just don't think like them. We just don't think like them. I was sitting in Mexico in 1987. And I'm a redneck.
[29:52] The only reason I even know how to get clothes that match is I married Betty and she started dressing me. And I'm in Mexico. And I'm trying to learn how to think like a Mexican. And there's about six or eight Mexican young people hanging all over me.
[30:06] They got their arms on my legs. They got their arms around me. One of them is about sitting in my lap. And they're just all over me. And I'm thinking, think like a Mexican. Because in America, I'm kind of like, my daddy was like, don't touch me. My son David, he likes to hug.
[30:18] And he makes fun of me. He says, dad's hugs are boom, bam, bam, boom, bam. Because I'm like, that's it. We hugged and now move on. Well, David's like, let's hug till Jesus comes. I'm like, that's enough hugging.
[30:29] That's how my dad, my dad, my dad didn't even hug me. I mean, so we, I mean, I was lucky if he shook my hand. And so I get to Mexico and these Mexicans are all over the top of me. And I'm sitting there going, man, this is different. I'm trying to learn how to think like they think.
[30:41] And then I looked across the parking lot and here come an American. And I thought, oh no, that American's going to see me and think, what in the world is going on? I'm sitting in this store, all these kids all around me. You see, you got to learn how to think. Differently.
[30:53] The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10, 3, we walk in the flesh, but we do not war after the flesh. We have a right way to live. We have a right way to have victory. We have a right way not to fall into sin. We have a right way for God to make a difference in our lives.
[31:06] And I want you to look at the verses. I really wish you'd look this one up. I know you didn't look up most of them. Look this one up. 2 Corinthians 10, verse 4. The first thing we're going to do is we're going to pull down strongholds. We're going to pull down strongholds.
[31:18] So for the last 25 years of your life, the devil's been building strongholds in your mind. Some of the thoughts are racist thoughts. Some of the thoughts are nationalistic thoughts.
[31:29] Some of the thoughts are about sexual immorality. Some of the thoughts are whatever they are, your self-righteousness. He's been building all these towers, and it is not what God says.
[31:41] It is what my culture says, but it is not what God says. It is what everybody where I come from says, but it's not what God says. And when I get really right with God, I want to go over to that stronghold, and I want to pull it down with the power of the Word of God and what it's doing in my life.
[31:57] I've got to say, I will not believe what I believed all my life because I want to believe based on the Word of God. What the Bible says is what I believe, not what everybody taught me to believe. I was raised to be a racist.
[32:10] They didn't know what to mean that. It was just a stronghold. They didn't know they was racist. We just knew that's just how we are. They used to tell me in Proof, they'd say, I've got a bad attitude. You can't blame it on me.
[32:20] It's just how you made me. I said, whoa, that's a stronghold. Say amen right there. I can't figure out my gender. That's a stronghold. That's a stronghold. That's something the devil built in you and you accepted.
[32:33] We're going to pull it down. Chapter 10 and verse, or he's going to pull it down through the Word of God. Chapter 10, verse 5. We're going to cast down imaginations. You know what imaginations are? It's all that junk you're thinking.
[32:45] And we can think really good stuff. We can think really bad stuff, but we've got real stuff to think. That's just, you're looking at a cloud and say, that looks like a giraffe. That's an imagination. If I told you in Proof people see Jesus in the clouds, take pictures of it and sell it, or they see Jesus in the side of a mountain and they sell it, you'd be like, that's the craziest thing I ever heard.
[33:05] I'm telling you, you've got a lot of imaginations. And you're going to cast down your imaginations. And here's why. In every high thing, look at this, you need to underline this in the Bible, that exalts itself, underline this, against the knowledge of God.
[33:18] I know what God says. God said, I created the world in six days, took a break on the seventh. But we've got a whole big stronghold that says, no, actually it took about five billion years or however many billion it took you.
[33:31] And you say, well, there's a lot of science. I know there's a lot of stronghold there, isn't there? There's a lot of stronghold. But what's the word of God say? What's the word of God say? And you know what that's, humanism. You know what that is?
[33:42] That's an against God philosophy. That's an against God philosophy, against the knowledge of God. But every high thing exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Well, I'll just go ahead and tell you, y'all's sin's a lot worse than my sin.
[33:55] That's against the knowledge of God too, huh? Because God has said, no, buddy, back up. All of us have sinned. You just stop that talk. There's only one righteous. That's Jesus. Amen. Against the knowledge of God. Then it says, and bring every, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
[34:09] And so you'd have to take every thought you have. You got to say, all right, I'm trying to figure out my gender. I just can't figure this out. I've been reading a lot of books, I've been on the internet trying to figure out my gender, and here's what he would say. Well, take it and come over here and say, what's the word of God say?
[34:21] What's the obedience to Christ say? Well, it doesn't matter what you feel like, doesn't matter what you want, it's what's the word of God say, huh? Well, I'm thinking about this immorality I want to commit, and everybody's doing it now.
[34:33] It's like everybody does this. It's accepted in our country now. And he said, well, take the thought. Bring me the thought. Bring me the thought. Now, put it right here and say, obey Jesus. Does that thought obey Jesus?
[34:44] Well, kick it out if it doesn't. And if it does, you obey it. How do you think? You think like a believer. You reject wrong counsel, and you reject a wrong way of thinking.
[34:59] Every believer has to decide, I will not accept wrong thinking. I will not accept wrong thinking. Psalm 1-1 says, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.
[35:10] I don't even want to hear what lost people got to say about it. The last thing I need is a lost person telling me about sin. Last thing I need is a lost person telling me about how I got here. Last thing I need is a lost man telling me anything spiritual.
[35:24] I don't need that. What I need is verse 2. His delight. His delight is in the law of the Lord. He's like, I want to know what God's got to say. That's what I want to know. And in his law, does he meditate day and night?
[35:37] And at the end of verse 3, whatever he does will prosper. Last verse. James 1-21. You have to bring every thought into captivity.
[35:49] So everything that's going on in your life, everything that's going on in your world, you've got to say, what's God think about this? I'm thinking about marrying that girl. She's not saved, buddy. But what's God say about it?
[36:00] I'm thinking about marrying that guy, but he doesn't want to go to church. What's God say about it? I'm thinking about how to manage my money. What's God say about it? I'm thinking about doing this business. What's God say about it?
[36:11] Because you don't think like a lost person. This isn't out of horrors in our church, isn't it? Boy, he's being mean tonight. But it's a fact. Look at James 1-21.
[36:22] This is like, what a verse. I don't know how many millions of times I've quoted this verse. It probably couldn't be a million. But lay apart all filthiness.
[36:33] You know what filthy is? Opposite of clean. You know what clean is? God. You know what filthy is then? Everything is not godly. It's like the devil's filthy, God's clean. And so if I really want to get my thoughts under control, I've got to say, wait a minute.
[36:46] Is that clean or filthy? Then all filthiness and all this abundance of naughtiness. Junk you knows. You know, people always ask me, tell me how to witness this kind of person.
[36:58] I just tell them they're all going to hell. That's what you tell them. Tell them Jesus died for them. They've got to get saved. They don't need, you say, well, they don't believe like we do. Who cares how they believe? Tell them the truth. They know it. They know it in their heart.
[37:10] Somebody says, I need to prove to them it's the word of God. I say, you don't have to prove it. Stab him with it. He'll figure it out. The truth is that people know in their heart they've sinned against God. The truth is they stand up in China and share the gospel in China to a bunch of atheists and they're like, boy, that rings true.
[37:26] You know why? Because it's the word of God. I don't excite the fire to you. It's God's word. Lay apart all this abundance of naughtiness and receive with humility, with meekness, the engrafted word.
[37:44] I'm going to tell you, I really believe, I don't think you love us enough. You can't get enough of this on Sunday morning. You listen to what I'm telling you.
[37:56] You can't get enough of this on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Thursday night. You can't get enough of this on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Tuesday night for guys, whatever that, the TNT, she, or whatever that is.
[38:06] And then on Thursday night, and then on Friday night, you're having some kind of expound on it. And somebody else is regurgitating Bible for you. That's good stuff. I'm glad you're getting all that. But you need some of this on your own. You need to engraft it.
[38:18] That means you need to cut away the nasty stuff and put in the good stuff. That means every thought that comes into your mind, you've got to say, now, what's God think about that? There's so many hundreds of things in my life over the last 60 years, in my life, 55 years since I've been able to think that I was taught all of this.
[38:36] And there was a day I had to say, let me find out if God even agrees with this. And you know what I found out? A bunch of Tennessee hillbilly junk I heard. It wasn't in the Bible. I mean, every tub might sit on its own bottom, but God didn't say that.
[38:51] I mean, they had all kind of junk. Old wives tell them, I need to get the book in me. Listen to me. You're not enjoying who you are because you say, well, I think God must want me to do something wrong because I have so many desires.
[39:05] You have so many desires because it's wickedness and it's filthy. And you need to look at the ID card of the guy bringing the message to you and say, that's not what Bible says. That's not what God says. It's get out of here.
[39:15] I will not accept that thought. That's what you've got to do. You've got to say it's the Word of God. It's not the Word of God because vision likes the Word of God. It's not the Word of God because it's cool at vision.
[39:28] It's the Word of God because it's the Word of God. Because we know God spoke to us. I mean, would you like to know what Jesus would say if he came here right now and had got a chance to talk?
[39:40] I'd tell you what he'd say. Go ahead. I'm not sure which book he'd choose. But he'd just start talking and you'd go, that sounds like Bible. And he'd be like, well, of course it does. I am the Word. Can I get an amen right there?
[39:52] He's the Word. That's why we like this book so much. So how do you think like a believer? Well, you know that how you're thinking determines everything. Some of you are getting a living slot beat out of you every day of your lives because you believe lies.
[40:07] You can't quit looking at porn. You say, I just can't quit looking. That's a lie. The only person who told you you couldn't quit looking at porn is the devil. God's like, oh, yeah, you can. I'm in you. And so you have victory. You do not have to do anything you don't want to do.
[40:18] You can do what I want you to do because I gave you victory. And you're going, no, I can't. No, I can't. You're God. You don't know nothing. The devil and me, we figured this out. God's like, there's the problem, you and the devil again. Lay apart all that filthiness.
[40:32] Huh? And graft the Word. I need to say something to you. It is not that easy to get the Word in you.
[40:45] It goes against everything about a normal human. It's boring. It's hard to read. Come on. I know what you said.
[40:56] I would never say that. Your wife goes, oh, yes, you would. He's going to preach out of numbers next. Oh, Lord. Numbers? What a dumb book.
[41:07] Oh, I didn't say that, God. You didn't hear that. Come on. Tell the truth. It takes work. None of us ought to. I don't want you to think that. I mean, you just wake up tomorrow and go, oh, I just love reading the Bible.
[41:17] No. No. You probably might not. Just do it. You say, would you love getting sermons for us? Not always. There's sometimes I look at the passage of Scripture and say, oh, Lord, I ain't even sure what you put this in here for. And I keep studying.
[41:28] And finally I go, I think I found out why. But it ain't that easy. It's the Word of God. Hey, when a human tries to think like the God of heaven and creation thinks, it's a lot of work to do that. I mean, this little flea can't understand the creator of the universe.
[41:40] In fact, as the psalmist said, I think that's true. It goes, what is man? What is man that thou art mindful? What is a man that you'd even think about him? But God does.
[41:52] So engraft the Word. So how do you think like a believer? How do you think like a believer? You have the mind of Christ. You have it in the Word. You have it in the Spirit. Live it in you. But you have to train yourself to think.
[42:05] The first thing we do is find out what the Internet says. Well, what's it? The Internet's full of lies. If you think there's fake news on television, the fake news on television is a lot truer than that junk you're reading on the Internet.
[42:18] There's more junk on the Internet than there is on fake news. Huh? But there's no fake news in here. There's no fake news in here. You have the mind of Christ, but you've got to work at it. And you've got to take every thought.
[42:33] She winked at me. I got what in mind. Just one quick. Text. One quick sweetness here. God wouldn't mind. Yeah, He would. Lay apart all filthiness.
[42:46] Now, I sometimes think I was meant to be a woman. I got all the paraphernalia for being a man, but I think something's wrong somewhere. And you're thinking it? Let me just say what you do as a Christian.
[42:57] Lay apart all filthiness. And superfluity of naughtiness. And receive with meekness. And graft your word to save your soul. And you're just saying, well, I know the Internet says I might be. And I know my mom and daddy even might say I might be.
[43:08] But the word of God says, and that's what I believe. Here you go. You all mad yet? You ought to think like a believer. You ought to think like a believer.
[43:19] We are not like regular people. You know what? You're a weird bunch of people. The Bible calls you peculiar. You're an owned bunch. You see, those that love Jesus and have the mark of Jesus on them, that's a small number compared to the rest of the world.
[43:33] There's only two races on the planet, his and theirs. His and Lord's and the rest of them. It had nothing to do with your color. It had to do with your heart. We all got the same color heart, washed in the blood of Jesus.
[43:45] And so we think differently. You say, well, people at work say I'm weird. Well, say thank you. I appreciate that. I wouldn't want to be like a regular filthy person. You don't have to say that part.
[43:57] You just think that part. Just say thank you. You get the idea.