2nd Corinthians
10:5, “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.”
This is one of the most important truths you'll ever learn from the Word of
God. Here is the key how to live right. When we have a sinful thought, we
are to immediately captivate that wrong thought, and force it into
submission to the Word of God. Jesus is the living Word of God. The Holy
Bible is the written Word of God. We live for Jesus by abiding in the
written Word of God. John 15:7, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in
you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
For example: If we have a thought of hatred toward another person, which is a sin, we ought to immediately capture that thought, seize it, and think about about what the Scriptures teach. That means we must abide in the Scriptures so that we will know them. This is why the psalmist said in Psalms 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
If I have a sinful thought of hatred toward someone, I am going to arrest that thought and say in my soul, “No, I will not hate anybody. God doesn't want me to hate anyone. Jesus died for everyone, because we are all dirty sinners. Who am I to condemn anyone? The Bible commands me to love my enemies. I am to love everyone with God's love.” I will think of a Scripture; such as, 1st John 4:20, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” And then I will pray for that person, asking God to work in their heart and life, according to God's will. And I will pray for myself, for God to help me love everyone, and never hate anyone.
If I have a thought of lust toward the opposite sex, I will immediately captivate that thought, and say in my heart, “No, I will not have a dirty mind. God doesn't want me to think like that. I want to please God. I want to honor my God. I don't want to help the Devil. I want to be a godly man. God deserves better than that!” Then I will think of 1st Peter 2:11, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” And then I will pray for God to help me think right, do right and live right.
Now, I am a sinner just like anybody else. One of the most helpful, precious and practical sermons I have ever heard, which I am listening to right now, is by Dr. Jack Hyles, titled... THE GOOD MAN VERSES THE SPIRITUAL MAN. I promise you that it will be something you've never heard before, and you'll be so glad that you heard it. If you care at all about living for God, please listen to this AWESOME MP3 sermon. It is probably my favorite sermon by Brother Hyles. When I have faltered and sinned in my life, it is because I drifted away from abiding in Christ and His words in the Holy Scriptures. It is so easy to backslide. Proverbs 14:14, “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.”
I don't care if you feel hatred toward someone else, or lust, or a thought to steal, or complain, fifty times a day, each and every time, you captivate those sinful thoughts... BRINGING EVERY THOUGHT TO THE OBEDIENCE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!!! Force your mind to ignore the fleshly nature and instead obey the Lord Jesus, by obeying the Holy Scriptures.
We all sin every day in one way or another. Every time we watch something on TV that we ought not see, it is a sin. Every time we worry instead of trust God in prayer, it is a sin. Everytime we gossip, it is a sin. The bad part about us is not what we have done, it is what WE ARE. You are rotten to the core, and so am I. The biggest whoremonger in this city has no more adultery in his heart than the best Christians in the world!!! We are all unclean, desperately wicked, and saturated with sinfulness. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The human heart is as rotten as Satan himself. Every sin that a man can commit is in EVERY PERSON'S SOUL!!! Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” The best Christians merely have the worst of sins in remission. Therefore, we ought never condemn others when they sin! But by the grace of God, there go I. I am to love you, pray for you, be kind toward you, but never condemn you!
There is not a Christian in the world who doesn't sin, BUT WE REPENT AND GET BACK UP. Proverbs 24:16, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Ungodly people don't even try to live for God. They want to sin. They continually entertain sinful thoughts in their heart. They have no desire to please God. The Christian person has the Holy Spirit living inside their body, in their soul, and God will scourge and chastise them when they sin (Hebrews 12:6-8).
The most miserable people are those who do not fear God. Proverbs 28:14, “Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.” It is not wrong to have sinful thoughts enter into our mind. We can't help that, because we are only human. But it is our fault if we set some wicked thing before our eyes, that entices us to sin, which brings death. Psalms 101:3, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” The television is the single most destructive invention that ever came into this sin-cursed world!!!
We cannot prevent having sinful thoughts enter into our mind, because we are sinners by nature. BUT WE CAN decide whether or not to ponder those thoughts! We cannot stop a lustful thought from beginning, but we have complete control over what we do with that unholy thought. Lust toward the opposite sex to whom we are not married is a sin (Matthew 5:28). We cannot stop feelings of hatred from beginning, BUT WE CAN stop those thoughts before they fester, becoming a problem. Behind every tragedy in human character is a slow process of wicked thinking!!! Bob Jones Sr. said that, and he's absolutely correct! My friend, when you become as good of a Christian as you want to be, you're as good of a Christian as you're going to get!
2nd Corinthians 10:5, “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.”
