There are already some serious questions that keep coming up about cloning, such as:
• Could you clone Larry King, or would it have to be living tissue?
• If we clone our generation will there be enough of them working to support Social Security when I retire?
• If Larry King clones himself and interviews himself on his show, wouldn't that pretty much make nuclear war something we can all look forward to?
These are some of the problems that cloning presents.
BUT LET’S LOOK AT CLONING FROM A MORE SERIOUS APPROACH.
For example, if a person could be cloned, would they be an exact duplicate of the other person in every way?
You see, every man is A TRICHOTOMY; man is made up of body, soul and spirit.
WHY DID GOD CREATE US IN THIS FASHION?
Each part of our life is extremely important! For example:
• Without the body, we would have no contact with the world.
• Without the soul, we would have no ability to think or feel.
• Without the spirit, we would not have the ability to commune with God.
One of the serious SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS that is being asked about cloning is, “If they could clone a human being, WOULD THAT CLONE HAVE A SOUL?”
I think not; only God can put a soul in a man.
Illus: I remember reading an article that a preacher had written, and he said that science has discovered that in the human heart there is a compartment that he said doctors could not explain the purpose of. He said that this is where the soul of man dwells.
May I say with as much kindness as I can muster-up; “THAT IS RIDICULOUS!” The heart has been explored in all areas and they know the purpose of each of these compartments in the heart.
Evidently, a lot of folks must not know that most likely the soul of man is in the mind. It is the seat of . . .
• The intellect
• The will and the emotions
It is where we think, feel and decide. It is because the mind is so important to us, that Satan attacks our minds every day.
Prov. 23:7 says it this way, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..."
Satan knows that if he can get us to think wrong, we will soon do wrong! We have to do everything we can do to protect our minds.
I want to share four simple steps that teach us how to build a wall of protection around our minds.
We see we need to -
I. BUILD THE WALL OF PRAISE
Look at verse 4, we read, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
Paul commands the believer to, "rejoice". This word means, "To be glad!”
Notice that the word “rejoice” is in the present tense, active voice and imperative mood. This means that the believer is commanded to, "go on being glad in the Lord."
One of the great secrets to the Christian life is to go through life REJOICING IN THE LORD!
HOW DID PAUL LIVE A LIFE OF PRAISE?
Don’t assume that Paul talked about living a life of praise because everything was going well for him? Actually, when he wrote this, things were NOT going well for him.
Illus: Someone said that you can tell when you have a bad day:
• You wake up face down on the pavement
• You call suicide prevention and they put you on hold
• Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles
• You turn on the news and they are showing escape routes out of the city
• Your twin sister forgot your birthday
• Your income tax check bounces
When Paul wrote this, he was having a VERY BAD DAY from the world’s viewpoint! But you would never know that by the way Paul lived his life. HE WAS ALWAYS PRAISING THE LORD.
In fact, when he wrote this letter he was in a Roman prison.
Paul knew the secret to living the victorious life is to live a life of PRAISE during the GOOD TIMES and the BAD TIMES!
Regardless of the circumstances, we need to praise God.
WHY SHOULD WE PRAISE GOOD DURING THE BAD TIMES?
You see:
• People will change
• Circumstances will change
• Life constantly changes
But the Lord never changes!
God never changes. That is why we are told to, "Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS!"
Illus: Suppose on a SUNNY DAY you go down to the car dealer and buy a brand new car.
You are thrilled with your new car. It is everything you wanted and much more and wherever you go you praise your new car!
It is dependable, it does not break down one day and run good the next! It does not change from day to day; it is dependable and reliable transportation.
But after you BOUGHT THIS CAR ON A GOOD SUNNY DAY, suppose the weather turns bad and it becomes cold and icy.
Would you stop PRAISING YOUR CAR because the circumstances around you have changed? Of course not! Your car is doing everything it is supposed to be doing and you have nothing but praise for it.
Listen, God never changes! So why would we stop praising Him because things around us change?
God does not change. He is still the same loving God He has always been, so we should continue to PRAISE HIM!
One of the best things we can do to live a victorious life is to BUILD A WALL OF PRAISE around our minds.
We see we need to BUILD THE WALL OF PRAISE and –
II. BUILD THE WALL OF PATIENCE
Look at verse 5a, we read, “Let your moderation be known unto all men.”
The word "moderation" literally means "gentle or gracious spirit."
This means that as you and I come into contact with people, we are to be gentle and have a gracious spirit. Do not let the devil put the wrong kinds of thoughts into our minds.
The thing that robs us of our joy more than anything else is PEOPLE!
Cars, washing machines, refrigerators, lawn mowers will rob us of our joy, but nothing in this life will rob us of our joy like PEOPLE!
Illus: People will sometimes say, “How is the world treating you?” And most of the time we can say that the world is treating us just fine, but the people in the world are giving us a hard time.
If we are going to be able to overcome the devil in our life, we are going to have to learn to build a wall of patience in:
• OVERCOMING CIRCUMSTANCES
• OVERCOMING PEOPLE
Illus: One day, someone may come along and tell you what they think of you. Now you may not agree with their assessment, but nevertheless they unload on you. THIS CAN BE DEVASTATING!
When this happens, we can do one of two things:
(1) Tell them what you think of them and their assessment
(2) Look to the Lord for the strength to, “Grin and bear it!”
HOW CAN YOU LEARN TO, “GRIN AND BEAR IT?” You can only do this if you LOVE THIS PERSON more than you LOVE YOURSELF!
Illus: A young lady was married to a young man and he was cheating on her in their marriage. After this happened several times, her dad said, "Why don’t you just leave him!” She looked at him with tears in her eyes and said, “Because I love him!”
Love makes it possible for us to endure! God wants us to BUILD A WALL OF PATIENCE for others around our lives so that we can live the victorious life.
We see we need to BUILD THE WALL OF PRAISE, BUILD THE WALL OF PATIENCE, and –
III. BUILD THE WALL OF PRAYER
Look at verses 5b-7, we read, “…The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
When things are going well in our life, we do not have a difficult time living a life of victory. NOT AT ALL!
But the devil will see to it that someone will come and rattle our cage. This is why the Bible tells us to pray without ceasing.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger and his wife were in Florida and they stopped at a zoo on the side of the road.
It was a large zoo and they had a guide to take groups through the zoo.
The guide told the group that baboons do not like you to stare at them.
While they stood there, Dr. Belger drew a bead on a baboon with both eyes. As the group walked away, he was at the end of the group and he kept his eyes on this baboon
The baboon started making some unusual noises like “HU! Hu! Hu!” Dr. Belger continued to stare at the baboon and the baboon kept his eyes on him.
After about fifteen minutes, the baboon was not just making noises, he was jumping around in the cage.
Listen, after about 20 to 30 minutes, that baboon was so agitated he was bouncing off the bars. As Dr. Belger walked away to get in his car and leave, that baboon was completely beside himself.
Listen, I do not believe in evolution, but mankind is that way. People will come along and rattle our cage and we get so agitated we go berserk.
• It might be a CHILD doing this to us
• It might be OUR PARENTS doing this to us
• It might be a CO-WORKER doing this to us
• It might be an EX-SPOUSE doing this to us
There are people out there that will rattle OUR cage, and if we do not learn to BUILD A WALL OF PRAYER around ourselves, WE WILL GO BERSERK!
The word "keep" in verse 7 means, "to garrison, or build a fort around, to post a guard".
The Lord promises to post a guard around the heart and mind of the person that PRAYERFULLY trusts Him with the needs of life.
Isa. 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
We see we need to BUILD THE WALL OF PRAISE, BUILD THE WALL OF PATIENCE, BUILD THE WALL OF PRAYER and –
IV. BUILD THE WALL OF PURITY
Look at verse 8, we read, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Every day, the devil will put before us as much evil as we allow him to put before us. He knows that if we do not build a wall of purity around our minds, he can fill our minds with the garbage of the world.
What we have here is a call to fix our minds upon the things of God. In other words, if we will fill our minds with the Word of God, then there will be:
• No room for evil
• No room for worry
• No room for fear
• No room for vengeance
• No room for confusion and trouble
A mind filled with and led by the Word of God is a stable mind! To protect our minds we have to BUILD A WALL OF PURITY.
Conclusion:
Your mind is a precious gift from God. It can be used for good or for evil, and all the forces of good and evil are battling for your mind all the time. Only you can determine who wins the battle.
No one can control your mind, but the only way you can control it is to:
I. BUILD A WALL OF PRAISE
II. BUILD A WALL OF PATIENCE
III. BUILD A WALL OF PURITY
IV. BUILD A WALL OF PRAYER
