CREATURE VERSUS CREATOR

Chapter 13

FOOLISHNESS VERSUS SOBRIETY

We must diligently study God’s Holy Bible in order to completely learn just how sinfully sinful we fallen human creatures are in God’s Sight. And when we read in clear detail in the Bible just how awfully sinful we are, we must cry out to God to help us fully believe His Word and to keep us from deceiving ourselves into thinking we are better than we are. Doing so will work great spiritual wonders for us. It will drive us to true humility, which is a most needful and terribly lacking virtue among present-day Christians. It will also drive us to constantly cling ever so closely to our Lord, depending on Him for continual salvation and cleansing as we journey thru our life here on earth in our frail bodies of flesh.

Isaiah 64:6 is one of the many scriptures that vividly describes how sinful we are. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

“Almighty God, keep me from attempting to run away from Thee by refusing to face up to my sinful condition that the Holy Bible so clearly teaches to me. Please help me to diligently read and study the Bible and to honestly acknowledge that I am just as sinful as Thy Holy Scriptures proclaim me to be, in this Scripture in Isaiah and in many others like it in the Bible. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

But in this chapter I want to preach on a different verse that clearly declares us to be awful sinners, Proverbs 24:9a. “The thought of foolishness is sin.” Have you ever had a foolish thought or notion? Sounds like a trick question, doesn’t it? Unless God works a miracle in your heart, likely you will not believe that thoughts of foolishness are sin. “All of them, Brother Richard?” Read Proverbs 24:9 for yourself and see if you can find any exceptions listed.

“Lord Jesus, please open the hearts of the readers as I preach against the sin of foolishness. The entire human race is overflowing with this sin and we Christian believers are so prone to believe that there is nothing wrong with “good, clean, wholesome” foolishness. Save us from our grievously mistaken thinking. And save us from the sin of foolishness. Almighty God, it will require a miraculous and powerful Divine Work of Thine in the heart of the readers to convince them how sinful foolishness is. So I beg Thee to please work powerfully in the heart of each person who reads this chapter, for Thy Great Glory. Do great wonders for each of them, Lord, I pray. Thank Thee; Lord, for hearing and answering this prayer. Amen.”

“But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” (Romans 7:13b) Ask God to teach you how exceeding sinful all sin is. In particular, ask Him to reveal to you how sinful and destructive to the human creature and to the cause of Christ foolishness is. During this life on earth, God places many choices before us. The right choices lead to life and the wrong choices lead to death and destruction. May we always sincerely desire to make the right choices and may God guide us and help us to do so.

“Almighty God, help me to fully submit myself to Thee for the purpose to Thee creating in me a sincere desire to make all the right choices in life concerning all of the many things I regularly choose to do of my own free will. Please guide me in all my choosing and help me to be attentive to and obedient to Thy Guidance. Cause me to always think on the fact that the right choices lead to life and the wrong choices lead to death and destruction. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

We are created as living beings that must be fueled in order to sustain our lives. The proper fuel nourishes and sustains life. Improper fuels destroy our being and bring on death. The human creature is a triune being. Not only does our physical body require wholesome food in order to live and to stay healthy, but also our soul and spirit need proper nourishment in order to stay healthy. The sin of foolishness will destroy the soul that feeds on it.

Likely it surprised you to see that I put “sobriety” in opposition to “foolishness” in this chapter’s title. Listen carefully as to why I did that. Adam and Eve, upon becoming fallen, sinful creatures, thereby filled the human race with problems, hardships, troubles, pain, sufferings, misery, death, destruction, and I could go on endlessly with that list. Also, the earth likely could not contain the volumes of books that would be required to record each and every hardship people have encountered since Adam and Eve were turned out of the Garden of Eden. We naturally desire to do something about life’s many problems. We seek help for them and relief from them. And the proper thing to do is cleave to our Creator God, daily living and walking with Him in order to receive the help and victory necessary in this life on this sin filled, problem filled planet. Tho God’s Grace is always sufficient for any difficulty, it is most regretful that so few people seek God’s Help for their many problems. So, how do the majority of people attempt to solve their problems?

One foremost tendency is to rely on self and other people, but that will never, ever suffice. “Vain is the help of man.” Another major tendency is to seek a means of escape from troubles and heartaches. But attempting to run away from adversity is futile and most methods of attempting to escape are destructive to us. Many children of the devil are known for trying to drown their many sorrows in a bottle of liquor, getting drunk on intoxicating liquor as a means of escaping life’s problems. In addition to the age-old curse of liquor, drug use is now epidemic, as people attempt to remove their minds from reality by taking an unlimited variety of drugs. The various mind-altering conditions caused by various drugs can rightly enough be considered as forms of drunkenness. There is a wide assortment of other similar means of escape attempts from reality that destroy the human creature.

Not only do children of the devil attempt to escape harsh reality on this sinful planet, but we Christian believers are plenty prone to attempt that escape also. But we typically opt for “good and proper” means of escape that are harmless, or so we believe. But we are often deceived in our thinking concerning this. Many Christians attempt to escape the harsh reality of life by staying intoxicated on foolish thoughts, words, and deeds, believing that to be an innocent, harmless means of escape. But that is mistaken thinking. “The thought of foolishness is sin.” And there is never anything harmless about any sin, no matter how innocent or beneficial it may seem to be.

“The mouth of the foolish is near destruction”

Please read the following, easy to understand scriptures about foolishness.

“Heavenly Father, please teach me just how grievous is the sin of foolishness. As I read these Scriptures concerning foolishness, please send Thy Holy Spirit to teach me everything I need to know about their meanings. And please save me from the sin of foolishness. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” (Psalms 5:4-5) “But Brother Richard, the “foolish” spoken of there doesn’t refer to me because I am a Christian.” Then cease being a foolish Christian.

“Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.” (Proverbs 9:6) The clear indication here is that not forsaking the foolish leads to death. “Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.” (10:14) “Foolish” is paired up with “destruction”. “A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.” (12:23) If you proclaim foolishness, God’s Bible calls you a fool. “Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.” (14:7) God commands us to get away from foolish people. “The crown of the wise is their riches: but the foolishness of fools is folly.” (14:24) Think on those 3 underlined, interrelated words and note that God puts them in contrast with a wise person. “The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” (15:2) Again, if you pour out foolishness, it is because you are a fool. “The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.” God calls the person who feeds on foolishness, a fool. (15:14) “A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.” (17:25) “The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the Lord.” (19:3) Foolishness will certainly lead you astray and pervert your way. “A foolish son is the calamity of his father.” (19:13a) God commands you to honour your father and your mother. But if you are foolish, you are a calamity to your parents.

“And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. (Mark 7:20-23) While here on this earth, our Lord Jesus spoke these words from His Own Mouth, saying that foolishness is an evil thing that defiles you. May He help us to truly believe that. “Their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:21d) Foolishness darkens one’s heart and turns that person into a spiritual imbecile. “Let it not be once named among you…foolish talking.” (Ephesians 5:3-4) Foolishness is so sinfully detrimental that God absolutely forbids foolish talking by Christian believers.

“Heavenly Father, teach me the importance of this command of Thine, forbidding foolish talking among Christian believers. Thou knowest how rampant foolish talking presently is among Christian believers. Thou well knowest how much we delight in it, how proper we esteem it to be, and how that we seldom or never think on Thy command forbidding it among us Christians. Show all Christians throughout the world just how far we have strayed from this command of Thine, and how sinfully disobedient we are to Thee concerning foolish thoughts, foolish speech, and foolish actions. Amen.”

“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity”

All down thru the ages, the hearts of sinful mankind have fared sumptuously on foolishness. But never before in all of this planet’s history, has foolishness abounded like it does in this end time age, due to the ability of the devil’s high tech world to spread just one human creature’s foolishness all over this planet by means of the printed page, audio, and video. Foolishness is big business; big money (big bucks) like it has never been before. Just think of all the one-frame cartoons, comic strips, comic books, magazines, books, comedies, plays, dramas, concerts, TV shows, movies, and videos, and such that contain various degrees of foolishness, some of them majoring on it. Practically all comedy derives its humor and laughs from foolishness. Tho the Holy Bible clearly tells us that the thought of foolishness is sin, it is the daily job of masses of people in the entertainment industry to sit down and think as hard as they can on foolishness to produce the most foolish thoughts their God-given brains are capable of contriving. These people are the many writers who come up with all the foolish thoughts that make up the humor in the entertainment industry. Think on how they must practically totally give their minds over to foolishness to come up with all that humor. But God says, “The thought of foolishness is sin.”

Why do they so intensively work at committing the sin of thinking foolish thoughts? For the love of money! Look at what high salaries comedians are paid. Consider the tens of millions of dollars of filthy lucre a popular comedy movie will take in. Consider the high salaries of the comedy writers and all the workers involved in comedy in general, big money paid to them for the express purpose of them straining their God given brains to, and even beyond, the limit to contrive the most foolish thoughts possible for the purpose of feeding those foolish thoughts to the world-wide masses of dumb zombies who have no better sense than to commit the sin of feeding their minds on the foolish thoughts of other degenerate sinners. Without the progress of the devil’s kingdom (this present age high tech world), it would be impossible to spread foolishness throughout the world to the great degree it is presently being spread. “The thought of foolishness is sin.”

The many modern printing methods and high tech audio and video recording and broadcasting capabilities of the devil’s world presently enable the human masses on this planet to constantly soak their heads in all that foolishness of the entertainment industry, turning the masses into foolish idiots who in turn spew out that foolishness from their mouths and through their actions. People’s minds become cesspools of foolish thoughts that they readily manifest in word and deed. When any number of people come together, take notice of just how natural it is for them to feed on each other’s foolishness. Truly, we have become a sin-laden nation and a sin-laden planet, habitually and continually drunken on foolishness, foolish thoughts, foolish words and speech, and foolish deeds and actions. “The thought of foolishness is sin.”

Tragically, Christianity loses no time in jumping on the bandwagon of sinful foolishness. (And here I am going to tie right in to the “flesh” I preached against in the last chapter.) When pastors and church leaders see the entire populace headed into foolishness, many of them come to this foolish conclusion. “If you can’t lick them, then join them.” So the church begins to give people the foolishness they crave, in hopes of keeping them coming to church. The song leader (or whoever starts a church service) “jumpstarts” the church service by saying the most foolish thing he can think of. When the pastor first stands before the people assembled for a service, he too tries to liven things up with foolish words. And he laces his sermons and Bible teaching full of foolishness to keep the listeners’ attention. Sunday School teachers do the same. The trend spreads and increases till church services become abominable foolishness in God’s Sight. They are filled with much laughter and the people leaving them have become more empty and vain spiritually but their flesh is all aglow from feeding on that lust of the flesh as they cackle with foolish laughter while commenting on how exciting that church service was.

But the church services are usually mild compared to the church social gatherings where no pretense is made about assembling for anything other than the express purpose of carrying on as much bold foolishness as possible. The roar of laughter rising up from the church social functions of foolishness is practically identical with that coming from a drunken crowd in a bar or tavern. What an awful stench it must be in the nostrils of a Holy God, Christians believers at church functions and yet drunken on foolishness. “The thought of foolishness is sin.”

“Be sober minded”

Prayerfully read the following New Testament Scriptures about sobriety. A few of them speak against intoxicating liquor, but I believe a lot of them are talking about being sober minded as opposed to being foolish minded.

“Lord Jesus, please save me from the sin of foolishness. As I read these following Scriptures about being sober minded, please teach me how important it is to live soberly as opposed to living intoxicated on foolishness. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou are beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.” (Acts 26:24-25) Paul’s strong preaching almost persuaded this King Agrippa (Festus) to be a Christian. That persuasion did not come from foolish speech, but from speaking forth words of truth and soberness.

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3) Here, Paul puts unduly high thinking (vain, proud thoughts) regarding self, opposite to thinking soberly.

“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” (I Thessalonians 5:6-8) I believe that Paul is speaking of spiritual sobriety here.

“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. (I Timothy 1:9-10) “Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” (Verse 15) Sobriety and shamefacedness here speak of a serious disposition as opposed to one of foolishness.

I Timothy 3 gives the qualifications for bishops and their wives. “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine. (Verses 2-3) The bishop is not to be given to wine. Therefore “sober” in this passage likely also refers to not being drunken with wine. “Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.” (Verse 11) In this verse, “sober” likely means sober minded, as “grave” lends to that definition.

Titus 1:8 again gives “sober” as a qualification for a bishop. Chapter 2 of Titus also speaks of sobriety. “That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, Sound speech that cannot be condemned. (Verses 2-8) I believe this “sound speech” is grave and sincere speech as opposed to foolish speech. “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” (Verse 12)

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 1:13) I believe this speaks of being sober minded as opposed to being foolish minded, as do also 4:7 and 5:8. “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Spiritual sobriety is a state of the human mind produced by temperance, which is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23). Spiritual sobriety is outwardly manifested by a serious and grave disposition regarding life. In order to gain and maintain this Spiritual sobriety, a Christian believer must walk in the Spirit and live in Spirit. He must crucify the flesh. He must mortify the members of his body. As you think on being spiritually sober, think on the things of the flesh that I preached against in the last chapter.

“The thought of foolishness is sin.” Foolishness comes from our flesh, our carnal man, our sinful nature. “For to be carnally minded is death.” Salvation from thoughts of foolishness and from being carnally minded comes by a believer submitting himself to God for his flesh, old man (sinful nature), to be crucified with Christ. This deliverance from the flesh comes by the believer choosing to mortify (put to death) the members of his flesh, put off the old man, and put on the new man.

“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.” (Colossians 3:5) Because God commands us to mortify the members of our flesh, we can know it is not a deed automatically done by us putting our trust in Christ. Read verses 5-10 and think on what that passage teaches us.

“Lord God, please help me to obey Thy command to mortify my members which are upon the earth. Teach me exactly what that means and enable me to obey it. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“Quit you like men”

My fellow preachers, we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders as we plead with lost men to repent and as we be whatever help we can be to our flock with their many troubles and sorrows, and regularly try to comfort bereaved people as we preach the funerals of their loved ones. How often we feel like we just must have some relief and temporary escape from the heavy spiritual burdens we bear. By God’s grace, we do not seek escape by means of liquor, tobacco, drugs, etc. But we are so prone to seek escape by getting drunk on foolishness. Thus when a few preachers get together in an informal, social setting, sometimes their foolish speech and actions (all good, clean, and decent, of course) would be hard for anyone to outdo. Please listen carefully to what conviction the Holy Spirit works in your heart concerning that. And let us ask God to help us to always honour Him in all the things we do to make our hearts merry. There is nothing wrong with having a merry heart. But we must be careful to choose the proper source of that mirth. Don’t choose foolishness because “The thought of foolishness is sin”.

“Lord God, set a guard before my mouth and keep me from choosing foolishness to make my heart merry. Help me to always please Thee in what I choose for a source of mirth. I pray this for all other people also. I pray especially for the men of God who carry a heavy spiritual burden for the flock of people and for the work with Thou hast entrusted with them. Please sustain them and help them to always make the joy of the Lord their strength. Amen.”

I am no longer young, and I have had the opportunity to observe many preachers (men of God) for several decades. Each preacher appears to make a basic choice as to what “kind” of preacher he will be. I have observed several preachers who appeared to have chosen to use foolishness for putting “life” into their preaching. That “life” is of the flesh. It is the flesh. It is being carnally minded. And thus it is in reality spiritual “death.” Some such preachers appear (on the surface) to be quite successful at the start, as like-minded, carnally minded people who live in and walk in the flesh flock to them to laugh and wallow in the drunkenness of the preacher’s foolishness. Those listeners proclaim how exciting his preaching is. And with his foolishness, likely the preacher can draw a crowd of foolish minded people. But it is all of the flesh. And in the last chapter, I quoted the scriptures that decree that the flesh profiteth nothing, that those who are in the flesh cannot please God, and that God has decreed that He WILL NOT pour out His Holy Anointing Oil on the flesh. So a preacher’s foolishness accomplishes absolutely nothing spiritually. And with the passing of time, such foolish preachers just wither up and die on the vine, and drop off dead spiritually. “For to be carnally minded is death.” You will never get around that deadly, spiritual truth. Flee foolishness. Crucify and mortify the flesh. Down thru the years, I have keenly observed as I watched God turn certain preachers and other Christian believers into spiritual morons (air heads), apparently because they chose to major on foolishness. So God gave them the desires of their hearts, which sent leanness into their souls and caused them to become worthless in His service. “The thought of foolishness is sin.” That is what is so terribly wrong with foolishness. It is sin.

“Lord God, please help me to see foolishness for exactly what it is, sin. Help me to hate this sin, as I should. Help me to shun it. Save me from committing this sin. I pray this for all other people also. I pray for all Thy preachers to be saved from resorting to attempting to use foolishness as a tool with which to preach the Word and with which to serve Thee. Please save us all from the sin of foolishness. Amen.”

“Casting down imaginations”

The vast majority of present-day Christians have given no thought to Proverbs 24:9 warning us that the thought of foolishness is sin. Many Christians have never even noticed that Scripture. Of those few who did notice it, very few of them gave any thought to it and thus ceased their sin of foolish thoughts (which lead to foolish words and foolish deeds, more and more sin for God to record and for the sinner to meet on Judgment Day). Most Christians are well content to be ignorant of God’s words (or ignore them) and just go on drunken on foolishness. In the same manner, most Christians do not obey (or even notice) II Corinthians 10:4-6. “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”

Upon trusting in Christ, the new, immature spiritual babe typically thinks like this. “I’ve got it made now. I’m saved and on my way to Heaven. All the problems and troubles are over. I am home free.” But in reality, upon receiving Christ and becoming a child of God, at that time the person enters into spiritual battle that will continue as long as he lives on this earth in his fleshly body. Basically, it is a battle in which we allow Almighty God to fight through us, but by no means are we to be passive in this battle. We are to be a most active participant and soldier. We are to actively use these spiritual weapons of our warfare that are mighty to pull down the strongholds of the enemy. Look at what the Scriptures say we do with these weapons.

“Lord Jesus, please help me to be a good and faithful soldier of Thine, standing for Thee and fighting for God and right. Teach me now about spiritual warfare and make me strong to do battle for Thee. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“Casting down imaginations.” We are NOT to let our minds run free, daydreaming and fantasizing on anything and everything that excites our flesh (old nature). Casting down imaginations would eliminate practically all fiction. Fiction is nothing more than the imaginations of fallen men’s fallen minds. God’s Scripture tells us exactly what we are to do with those imaginations; we are to cast them down. But because we give absolutely no thought to doing what Almighty God tells us to do, this world is full of fiction, on the printed page, on the stage in plays and drama, and on recorded audio and moving pictures. The devil is ever so pleased with all this fiction, the imaginations of sinners. Think on how “far out” modern fiction has become, and thus just how far those writers of it had to elevate their minds to come up with all those far out, imaginary thoughts. “Casting down imaginations.” May God make each of us desirous to obey that.

Fiction is a primary means with which the ruler of this world (Satan) brainwashes people’s minds for the purpose of bringing the entire human race under his power and control. “But, Brother Richard, there is much good, clean, decent fiction, even Christian fiction.” ALL fiction, when we dwell on it, transports our minds into a fantasyland that easily becomes too real in our minds, resulting in us mentally living in those fantasylands of fiction instead of mentally living in reality. Doing so is most detrimental to us spiritually. It is astounding the power fiction has to make those fantasy worlds become reality in our minds. Listen to worldly-minded people talk of their favorite movies or TV shows, all of which are fiction. You would think they were talking about reality, the way their minds are caught up in that fiction.

Back in the 1980’s, a group of Christian women in a fundamental Baptist church had their monthly ladies’ meeting, during which they had a time of prayer. As they shared prayer requests, one lady requested prayer for “Sue” who was soon to have surgery. The other women present didn’t know “Sue,” so someone inquired who she was. It turned out that “Sue” didn’t actually exist. She was only a figment of some sinner’s imagination. “Sue” was merely a fictitious character on a TV soap opera. But that Christian woman was so caught up in that sinful fiction that it had become real enough to her for her to request prayer for “Sue.” No wonder modern day Christians are worthless to their Creator for doing spiritual warfare. It would behoove us to cast down our imaginations, as God tells us to do.

That fictitious TV soap opera had such a detrimental effect on the mind of an adult Christian. So seriously consider how much more detrimental it is to little souls who constantly stare at a TV screen practically from the day they are born. As their minds develop, those minds form on those fictitious imaginations of sinful men. That becomes the means for the devil to rob them of the ability to distinguish fiction from reality, and that is most destructive. More than 1 teenage murderer afterward testified that the murder he committed in reality seemed no different to him than the many fictitious murders he had watched on a TV or movie screen. Young people get addicted to video games whose objective is for the player to kill as many characters as possible. It is training those kids to not be able to distinguish reality from fiction and to go out and murder for real just as calmly as they kill all those fictional characters on the video games they constantly play. By means of fictitious imaginations in moving pictures, Satan has produced a planet full of murderers. Soak your mind constantly in those imaginations for entertainment if you like, but then don’t be surprised if you are the next one that is murdered in reality. When that becomes your fate, from then on you will certainly always be able to distinguish reality from fiction. There will be no more fiction for you after this life. Heaven and Hell are eternal realities.

“Casting down imaginations.” That is what God commands us to do with imaginations. And what are we to do with our God-given minds instead. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” That is what God ordained that we constantly do with our minds, in order to fully discover the unsearchable, unlimited, deep spiritual riches that are in Christ Jesus, and thereby become a spring of living water, springing up and overflowing to everyone around us.

“Heavenly Father, help to obey Thy Bible by casting down my imaginations. Teach me clearly just exactly what it means to do that, and by Thy Almighty Power, please enable me to do it. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“And every high thing”

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.” Do you remember the first 3 chapters in this book, the much I preached against rising and explained in much detail how prone we are to desire to and attempt to rise? That rising is rebellion against our Creator. Therefore we are to repent of it, forsake it, and instead, use these spiritual weapons to cast down every high thing in our being (thoughts, words, and deeds) that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.

“Almighty God, please reveal to me every high thing within my being that exalteth itself against the knowledge of Thee. And by Thy Power, please help me to cast each and every one of these sinful things down. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“And bringing into captivity every thought”

“And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Meditate seriously on what that scripture tells us to do with our imaginations and every thought, cast them down and bring them all in captivity to the obedience of Christ. You are not to be a captive and slave to your imaginations and thoughts, letting them run wild and out of control by you and letting them control you. God ordained the opposite, for you to bring them all into captivity and submission to you. This is spiritual victory. This scripture is not just speaking against unclean, impure, immoral, evil, sinful thoughts and imaginations. It also includes nice, clean, decent daydreaming. “If only I had a million dollars.” “How wonderful it would be if Prince Charming would ride up on a white horse and ask me to marry him, and we would live happily ever after.” Those are just 2 short examples of a mind full of imaginations and thoughts, each and every one of which we should cast down and bring into captivity to the obedience of Christ. You may feel so helpless and already defeated as you read that, thinking it hopeless for you to obtain such victory. But believe me when I say that you are not to strive with your own ability alone. You are to totally submit yourself to Almighty God and call on Him with His Spiritual Weapons that are “mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” Nothing is impossible with God. Call on Him to fight for you and give you the glorious victory He desires you to have.

“Almighty God, I praise Thy Name that Thy spiritual weapons are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Please help me to bring into captivity every thought of mine to the obedience of Christ. Please give me victory over and control of my thoughts, for Thy Honour and Glory. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

One deadly liability of our fallen nature is a craving for suspense, horror, and such. Such themes make big money on the printed page and in moving pictures. Feeding your mind on such putrid, sinful garbage robs you of spiritual victory and makes you vulnerable to evil spirits of fear. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (II Timothy 1:7) With God’s Help, resist your depraved craving for fearful excitement and feed on God’s words in order to have a sound mind of God’s love and power.

“Almighty God, please save me from my depraved nature’s craving to feed on horror and fear. Please help me to feed my being on Thy Holy Scriptures in order to have a sound mind of God’s Love and Power. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

The human mind is a marvelous creation of God. It is a living entity, and it is always active. Because it is living it must be fed, and it must be fed constantly because it is always active. In order to please your Creator God, you must always feed your mind properly. “So, what is the proper food, Brother Richard?” “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” (Psalms 1:2) God’s words are the proper nourishment for your mind, soul, and spirit. Meditating on them constantly, all the time, without ceasing properly nourishes our minds in the way God ordained. “That sure sounds boring, Brother Richard.” That’s because you are rebelliously living in the flesh instead of living in the Spirit, loving the hilarity of foolishness and craving to feed your God-given mind on foolishness, fear, and such, all of which is sin. It would behoove you to call on God to save you from that sin.

“Lord God, please save me from loving to feed my mind on vain and foolish things, and on much fiction which is the high imaginations of many sinners’ minds. Please cause me to delight in Thy Law and love to meditate in it day and night. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3) Perfect peace of mind is a most valuable treasure that ever so few people possess, even Christian believers. The secret to having perfect peace is to keep your mind stayed on God. In order to do that, you must cast down imaginations, bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, and keep your mind stayed on God by meditating in His law day and night. “Stayed,” means always there, never wandering, but always meditating on God. We must dedicate our minds to God, surrendering them completely to His Control, while asking Him to help us to always keep our mind stayed on Him. What a rich, full, and victorious life we can have when we do so.

“Lord God, please help me to totally surrender my mind to Thee and dedicate it wholly to Thee for Thee to completely control. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“And made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”

Read that passage in Ephesians 2 and see that it is spiritual reality that we Christian believers are now seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. God created your mind for much higher and more lofty and noble things than to plug it into all the high tech sewer pipes of the devil that dump all the filthy, worldly, sinful sewage of Satan into your mind. You can have a marvelous life of untold joy and victory if only you will choose to live seated together in heavenly places with Christ Jesus instead of choosing to swim around in all the gutters, slime pits, and cesspools of the devil’s sewage. It is your choice. Make the right one and submit yourself to your Creator and call on Almighty God to bring your right choice into reality for you.

“Heavenly Father, help me to truly desire to now live in the reality of being seated together in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. Help me to totally submit myself to Thee for Thee to work that reality in my life. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

When under persecution, the body of Christ is most sober. I heard that back about the 1970’s a Russian Christian woman was allowed to emigrate to Australia. She testified of what a joy it was to her when she learned that she had been granted permission to leave the bondage of communist Russia and how she looked forward to the blessings of fellowshipping with Christians in a free “Christian” nation where people have total religious freedom to fellowship and worship to their heart’s content. How disappointed she was to see how worldly the church is in the free world. I understand that she soon applied for and obtained permission to return to Russia, and returned there for the blessed, spiritual Christian fellowship (with no foolishness) that the persecuted church there enjoyed. Anytime God gets fed up with Christian foolishness, He will bring any Christian nation under persecution to purify it of foolishness. Let history be our warning and let it call on us to forsake the sin of foolishness before it reaps more death and destruction.

“Hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne”

As you have read this chapter, I pray that you are listening carefully to what God’s Holy Spirit speaks to you concerning the sin of foolishness. It is a sin that is steadily increasingly being indulged in unreservedly by Christian believers. That sinful trend is steadily rendering the body of Christ spiritually powerless and useless to our God. The sin of foolishness is not harmless, as many Christians believe it to be. May God open all our eyes to these important facts and create in each of our hearts a Holy Hatred for the sin of foolishness.

All sin grieves our Holy God. All sin robs Him of the glory He ordained that our lives give to Him. Knowing these things should motivate us to forsake the sin of foolishness. But last of all; do not forget that Almighty God remedies all sin, and that His final method of remedying it is JUDGMENT. Have you ever been summoned to appear in court? Even if you are not the accused, even if you are just a juror or a witness, it is sobering to be summoned to court. Likely you have heard the expression, “Sober as a judge.” Also, being summoned to appear before a judge on a docket sobers up the person who must face the judge. A longhaired, slouchy dressed bum with a week’s growth of beard commits a crime and is apprehended by the police. But when he appears in court, shaved and with a neat haircut and wearing a nice suit and tie, you would not think it to be the same man the police slapped the handcuffs on. Also, he has a gentle, sober, and meek demeanor as he sits in the courtroom. In the presence of the judge, he does not carry on any foolishness at all. Why the great change in him? It is because he desires to give the judge the impression that he is a much better person than he actually is, in hopes of finding favor with the judge. He may have been drunk on liquor when he committed his crime, but now He is stone sober in court.

In my lifetime, I have observed several people whose doctors told them that they were terminally ill, and the doctors told them how much time they likely had remaining in this life. It is amazing to see the change that comes over a person who receives news that he or she is terminally ill. It sobers them up. They no longer have any use for foolishness. That should cause us to seriously consider the truth that every human creature on this planet is terminally ill. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) Each of us has an appointment with death, which could come at any time, as we have no promise of the future. A person “medically” terminally ill, told that he has 3 months to live, might die at the time of the doctor’s prediction. But during that 3 months in which that “terminal” patient still lives, a mass of other people will die on this earth, who had no thoughts that death was coming their way so soon. Because we each have an appointment with death and with judgment thereafter, it behooves us to always live soberly, just as a medical patient tends to do after learning he is terminally ill.

“Lord God, please help me to do that, to always live soberly and righteously instead of being foolish. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

Our nation of America (and much of the world) is drunken on foolishness. But the Almighty Judge of the Universe has the ability to instantly sober up us drunks. Just think how that all foolishness instantly vanished from people’s minds and our nation in mass became stone sober in the wink of an eye on September 11, 2001, when God allowed terrifying destruction to fall on our sinful nation in a way we had never been hit before. It was much more terrifying than the attack on military targets at Pearl Harbor by enemy military planes in 1941, because the attack in 2001 was carried out by secretive suicidal terrorists (supposedly) who targeted the civilian population of men, women, and children.

The blood in people’s veins turned to ice water in paralyzing shock, as we shook our heads in stunned disbelief pondering if that destruction was actually reality. We instantly became a sober nation with friends hugging each other in public and weeping. People were praying in schools and public places of the devil’s kingdom where laws prohibit praying (and no one really objected to it). Famous comedians were commenting, “I feel so useless.” Everyone instantly lost their desire to be entertained by foolishness that now seemed so out of place and unnatural.

Likely you recall that it only took a week or so for people to start recovering from that devastating, sobering up shock, and gradually turn back to foolishness. All down thru the ages, God has struck sin-laden people with destructive judgment against their sins. It typically brings about some degree of temporary repentance (genuine or faked). All these sobering judgments are previews of God’s Final Judgment that will eradicate all foolishness permanently.

“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17)

Any comedian would certainly feel useless standing there among those perishing people during the end of the world and trying to get them drunk on the humorous foolishness he poured from his mouth. Each and every comedian will not only feel useless, but will be paralyzed with terror when he or she soon stands before The Judgment Bar of Almighty God to receive his or her just sentence for each and every foolish thought, word, and deed he or she did while living on this earth. This final Judgment will totally eradicate all foolishness from God’s creation, leaving foolish people with only one remaining thought concerning foolishness. “HOW FOOLISH IT WAS OF ME TO HAVE BEEN SO FOOLISH!”

Almighty God, please create within me a sincere, genuine, earnest desire to be saved from the sin of foolishness. Help me to totally yield myself to Thee for Thee to save me from foolishness. Make me fully aware of just how sinful and destructive foolishness is, and how it robs Thee of glory due to Thee from me. Help me to constantly bear in mind the fact that I am soon to meet Thee in Judgment, and what a blessed thing it would be to receive a “Well done” from Thee when I am judged. Please help me to daily live soberly and righteously in fear of Thee. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

(This is the end of Chapter 13 of Creature Versus Creator)

Chapter 14

home missionary newsletters sermons books