Stinking Thinking Part I: Out Of The Heart Series

What am I Missing Here?

Steps to Recovering Your Joy

February 13, 2011

Calvary Baptist Church

Proverbs 4:20-23

SERMON 5A: Stinking Thinking, Part I: “Out of the Heart”

What am I missing here? What is wrong with me? Why am I not finding joy in the Lord?

• First, may I say to you, that it is good that you have noticed this.

• It is only by the Holy Spirit’s work in your life that you even care.

• Furthermore, it is a good sign of genuine conversion.

• For the lost man or woman, there is no thought of this.

• To them, they are just fine and see no need of the question.

• But to you, whose spirits resonate with this preacher’s question, you know that something is missing.

• You see in the faces, in the lives of others, a light, a joy, a power.

• And as you honestly evaluate yourself, you must admit that you do not have this light, this joy, this power!

REVIEW OF PREVIOUS SERMONS

1) Dispositions differ

2) Emotions are not the test of our spiritual state.

• #1: FAILURE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN HIS STANDING (OR POSITION IN CHRIST) AND HIS CIRCUMSTANCES.

• #2: PERHAPS YOU LIVE TOO MUCH IN YOUR FEELINGS, TOO LITTLE IN YOUR WILL.

• #3: PERHAPS YOU HAVE DISOBEYED SOME CLEAR COMMAND

• #4: PERHAPS YOU LOOK TOO MUCH INWARD ON SELF, INSTEAD OF OUTWARD ON THE LORD JESUS

• TODAY: WE BEGIN SECTION 5 OF THE OVERALL SERIES. I HAVE ENTITLED THIS PORTION, “STINKING THINKING.” WRONG ACTIONS FOLLOW WRONG FEELINGS WHICH FOLLOW WRONG THOUGHTS.

NOTE: THE FOCUS OF THIS MESSAGE WILL BE THE WRONG THINKING OF A BELIEVER. TIME DOES NOT PERMIT MUCH DISCUSSION OF THE WRONG THINKING OF THE UNSAVED MAN. NOR IS THE MESSAGE ABOUT THE VALUE OF THINKING BEFORE SPEAKING, ACTING, ETC. IT IS NOT ABOUT THE THOUGHT LIFE, PER SE. IT IS ABOUT THE WRONG THOUGHTS THAT AFFECT OUR WELL-BEING, OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOD AND OTHERS, ETC. SINCE I AM STARTING THIS ON THE SUNDAY BEFORE VALENTINE’S DAY, I WILL PREACH ON THE “OUT OF THE HEART” THEME. THAT WILL BE MESSAGE 5A. THEN I WILL PREACH ON THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR THOUGHTS IN 5B. 5 C WILL MOVE TO THE INSTANCES OF WRONG THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD, OTHERS, AND OURSELF. WE WILL CONCLUDE THE SERIES BY COVERING PHILIPPIANS 4 I HAVE COMBINED SEVERAL STARTER SERMONS INTO THIS ONE, SO IGNORE THE OTHERS.

HERE ARE SOME RESOURCES

Logos – Elwell, Topical Analysis

Logos – MacArthur Topical

Logos – Thematic Bible and Passage Register

Wordsearch – POSB Master Index

See both “Thinking” and “Mind”

SC.COM See Tony Bazen (under thoughts, thinking) on Sermon Central. “It’s the Thought that Counts”

Wordsearch - SEE QUICK REFERENCES FOR COUNSELING UNDER “TRUST, FAITH IN GOD”

SERIES OUTLINE

Part 1: Introduction – “Out of the Heart” (for Valentine’s Day)

Part 2: The Importance of Right Thinking

SERMON ONE (SERIES 5A)

“OUT OF THE HEART”

STINKING THINKING

ILLUS: Brian Noblitt on the day we opened the new addition. Our septic system didn’t have enough capacity for the added toilets and sinks. The toilet downstairs overflowed. That was a stinking mess. So can our thoughts stink!

QUOTE: God has strategically placed our nose! It is right over the spot where the food goes in. If our nose is working properly, then it will protect us. There are some who cannot get past the small of a thing, even if it is clearly proven that the food is safe and good for us. (Example: certain cheeses). I wish that our spiritual noses had such sensitivity. I am preaching this morning in an attempt to awaken our spiritual sense of smell. Not to recognize bad food that is still outside the body and thus not take it in, but rather to smell what is behind our nose, in our mind, and recognize that something that is already inside of us needs to be cast out. We want to get rid of rotten, stinking thinking.

I. INTRODUCTION: “Out of the Heart”

• On this Sunday before Valentine’s, we introduce our series on our thinking, with a message entitled, “Out of the Heart.”

THEME: MY CHRISTIAN LIFE IS AN INWARD BATTLE

A. The Centrality of the Heart (Prov. 4:20-23)

Proverbs 4:20-23 (KJV) 20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

QUOTE: Keep your heart with all diligence and God will look after the universe. A. W. Tozer

Heart – leb. Literally, the chest area which contains the heart or the heart itself. Figuratively, it is the inner self of the person, the center of his moods, emotions and intellect. Because it is often associated with reasoning and understanding, it could be translated as “mind.” (CBL)