Sins of Thought

Sermon / Week Two: Sins of Thought:

We have been bought with a price to be ambassadors of Christ and our salvation is nearer than when we believed so let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God so that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him in His coming.

Start Here READ: Matthew 15:18-20

Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

Pray: God, if there is any room for conviction, of any sin in my life, [and I know there is] bring me the conviction; burden my heart over the sin in my life.

Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:” (look at 18-20)

a. Sin begins in the heart of man. This was always the first place Jesus looked when He met someone. Concerning sin, Jesus taught that it begins in the heart.

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”

7 Points of Thougths:

1. Types of Thoughts (pg.17-23 of the book; 9 of the study doc.) Christ Centered, Earthly, Evil thoughts.

a. Christ Centered:This is what Jesus had to say in Matthew 6:19-21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” We need to have Christ centered thoughts. To do that we need to have a Christ centered heart; a heart like Christ. Jesus was all about sharing the “gospel message.” We need to be sharing the gospel message of Jesus. Proverbs 11:30 “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” Think about your family tree and how big it is; now think about your “tree of life.” It’s the fruit of righteous; it’s the tree of those you have led to Christ. I don’t know about your tree but mine is looking pretty bare. We need to be very much in prayer about this. We can pray God give me fruit for my labours but what do we say when HE answers “I have?” So if you have no fruit it is because you have not labored. Instead let us pray for opportunities to share Christ. We like to think we are okay; that we are Christ centered, but are we? Our thoughts must become more about HIM and less about ourselves.

b. Earthly:This is what the word of God say about those who think on earthly things: Philippians 3:18-19 “(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)” Paul tells us (God says) if we are thinking on earthly things we are the enemies of the cross of Christ. We all get caught up in earthly things: wanting a bigger home: an extra or nice vehicle: toys: vacations; earthly things. God’s word reveals that this is a sin.

c. Evil: Genesis 6:5 “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” We need to think about that, God sees our wickedness right down to our thoughts. HE knows the evil of your mind. Some of us have wicked evil thoughts that are so bad, so wicked we wouldn’t even act upon them; yet we’ve thought them. Thoughts such as wishing someone were dead: or would get fired from their job: or some other harmful desire. I heard one preacher accuse, from the pulpit, people of wishing someone would die that they might have that person’s spouse. What about those of you who think of ways to take advantage of someone, or how to take advantage of and get over on the system, (whatever that might be).

i. What are your evil thoughts? You know you have them, we all do. You need to confess them to GOD and seek His forgiveness and His help. God’s word reveals that this is a sin.

d. Reflection:(pg17) This needs to become one of our life verses: II 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.” We need to get away from earthly, evil and self-centered thoughts and let our heart and our minds be on Jesus Christ.

2. Unclean Thoughts

a. Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Yes, we are talking about you having lustful, unclean thoughts; both men and women. There are some that get so caught up in these thoughts they struggle to functions in day to day life. They are addicted to pornography. They are addicted to sex and to lusting and to fornication. Their every thought is on unclean things. It would be my opinion they are trying to fill a void in their life; a void of love. God’s word reveals that this is a sin.

b. Reflection:If this is you perhaps you don’t understand what love really is. Confess this sin to GOD: ask HIM to show you HIS love and to help you to understand what true love is and how it is found in true sacrifice, such as the one Jesus made for us.

3. Priority of Thoughts

a. Colossians 3:1-3 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” What should be the priority of our thoughts? God, of course. Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” God is to be the priority of your life and therein the priority of your thoughts. Consider, what is it that excites you; what gets you pumped up and your blood flowing? Is it GOD or is it some earthly things, something like a ball game, or your grandchildren?

b. Reflection: Is you priority where it needs to be? God’s word reveals that to have a different priority than HIM is sin against Him. Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

4. God’s Will for our Thoughts

a. Psalm 1:2 “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” How about you, do you delight in reading and studying the word of God? Be honest! Do you allow your heart and your mind to meditate on HIS word day and night? This is the secret to withholding the enemy. This is the secret to keeping him from attacking you. You take up the Sword of the Lord, the very word of God and you stand ready. Ephesians 6:13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” This is how we secure God’s will for our thoughts, we take up the armour; we take a stand. The bible doesn’t say we need to attack the enemy, just take a stand against him. Not to take a stand is to stand outside the will of God; it is a sin.

b. Psalm 119:15-16 “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. 16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.”We need to cling to the word of God. We need to have scriptures ready in our heart to recite in the face of the enemy that he may flee from us. When Jesus battled the temptations of Satan HE used the written word to defeat him. This is God’s will for our thoughts that we might meditate on HIM day and night. Only then can we withstand the enemy.

5. Motive of our Thoughts

a. James 4:3 “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”The motivation behind our asking the LORD for anything is to be salvation or spiritual growth of someone else. We need to have an intercessors heart. As servants of Christ our focus is to be on others not on ourselves; not that we might gain but that other might be saved.

b. Reflection: We ask amiss when we ask according to what we want rather than what God wants. We cannot be motivated by our own desires; by the lust of the flesh. The motive of our heart must be the will of GOD. Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” To do otherwise is to sin against God.

6. God’s Displeasure w/ insincere worship. (We think so little of our worship)

a. Matthew 15:8-9 “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” RIGHT HERE! This is where many are going astray. We talk the talk but we don’t walk the walk. Our heart is not where it should be. Oh we may not teach the commandments of men but our hearts are not where they need to be. This needs to be one of our greatest prayers, that GOD would convict our heart that we might plead for HIS forgiveness and draw closer to HIM. GOD tells us in the book of Amos what HE thinks of our vain worship; what HE things of those who show up on Sunday morning pretending to be here to worship GOD yet their heart is full of iniquity.

b. Amos 5:21-24 “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” We are gathered here in a “solemn assembly.” Will GOD hear us? Will GOD see our repentant hearts and hear our songs of praise? Will HE see sincerity or vain worship? Will HE see our desire for holiness or will our wickedness be prevalent? We must plead for the conviction and forgiveness of a holy God before we can expect HIM to receive us. II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

c. Reflection: One of our prayers, one of our simple but sincere prayers, should be along the line of Psalms 60:1 O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again. We need to be praying for GOD to turn us and to also turn to us that we might repent of our sins.

7. Pursuit of Holiness

a. Hebrews 12:14 “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” We are here to pursue the holiness of GOD. We are to pursue that which is right or righteous. I Thessalonians 4:3 says “that ye should abstain from fornication.” This holiness is the kind of holiness we are to pursue if we want to see GOD; O God, that we might see you!

b. I John 3:3 “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Once again, the crux of why we are here; that we might purify ourselves before GOD that HE might send a revival. Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

8. Conclusion to the thought and an ending to the service.

I trust that you have considered the types of thoughts you have and whether or not they are clean thoughts or unclean thoughts.

I trust you will give consideration to the priority of your thought and seek to see if they are in accordance with the will of God.

It is God’s will that we meditate on HIM day and night and that we pursue His holiness. Anything less is a sin against God and HE takes displeasure in it.

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Is holiness your top pursuit? If not ask God to grant you a hunger for His holiness that is genuine.Ask Him to revive you and to make you hunger for Him.