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The Heart, the Mind and the Spirit in Man
Fred R. Coulter—October 23, 1999
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{transcriber's note: article being read is from an unknown source}
The heart keeps the body working as one harmonious whole. The other half makes up a very large unmediated neuro-connection with the emotional brain in our head and carries on a 24 hour a day dialog between the heart and the brain that you are not even aware of.
That's quite a thing! How does it work?
The heart responds to messages sent to it from the emotional brain, which has been busy monitoring the exterior environment of dynamic state such as the emotions, the autoimmune system, guiding behavior, contributing to our sense of identity.The emotional brain makes a qualitative evaluation of our experience in this world and sends the information instant by instant down to the heart and returns. The heart exhorts the brain to make the appropriate response. Of course, all of this is done on a non-verbal level.
That's why it's so easy to get people involved with their emotions the wrong way, because there is this constant connection that is going on.
In other words, the responses makes the heart affect the entire human system. Meanwhile biophysicists have discovered that the heart is also a very powerful electromagnetic generator. It generates an electromagnetic field that encompasses the body and extends out anywhere from eight to twelve feet from it.
It is so powerful that you can take an electrocardiogram reading from as far away as three feet from the body. The field the heart produces is holographic, meaning that you can read it from any point on the body and from any point within the field.
No matter how microscopic the sample is, you can receive the information of the entire field. The intriguing thing is how profoundly this electromagnetic field affects the brain. All indications are that it furnishes the whole radial wave spectrum from which the brain draws it's material to create our internal experience of the world.
This can have very profound effects. We'll talk about this later.
Perhaps most importantly, we now know that the radio spectrum of the heart is profoundly affected by our emotional response to our world. Our emotional response changes the heart's electromagnetic spectrum, which is what the brain feeds on.
Ultimately, everything in our lives hinges on our emotional responses to specific events.
Then it gets into how it affects children, but it also affects adults in quite a similar way. I'll save that one for how it affects the children. Suffice it to say, children operate on an emotional level. Therefore, all of the things that happen to them when they are growing up on an emotional level from the outside, not only the relationship of mother and father and the caring that they receive from the mother and father, but also all of the things that they are exposed to such as television, video games and various other things like this that have direct input into the mind.
I'll talk about it a little bit later on when I get to the section on children. But they have it now that they specifically design the television programs to stimulate an emotional response from the children, and also from the adults, too. When you sit in front of a television screen—or a computer screen can have the same effect—for hours then your whole system kind of shuts down.
What they have done is elicited shock responses. That is designed to shock the senses on an emotional basis so that you will come out of the doldrums of shutting down because of watching too much TV.
Have you ever noticed that if you sit and watch TV for a long time, you get up and you're almost 'brain dead'? What is happening is that the electromagnetics coming out of the tubes interferes with the electromagnetics of the body and it creates this doldrums that takes place. So, they need to shock them and stimulate them. This is why you see so many children today that can't control themselves. They've been shocked and stimulated deliberately so much that they can control themselves.
This is what is wrong when they get into school. When they get into school and instead of saying to shut down all television, all of this nonsense, here are the rules you will obey. NO! Especially in the grade schools and junior highs, they have too many emotional women teachers who can't even handle their own lives. What they do is get the children on Ritalin, which is a derivative of cocaine! There's so much of it that they're even thinking of putting a medical station in all school so that they can drug the children with Ritalin, inspect them for venereal diseases and provide them with birth control pills and condoms.
That's just a little bit. I didn't want to get into that much about it with the children, but this is what has happened. You can see the same thing happening with adults; exactly the same thing.
There is good new on the other side. That is, if you stop all these outside influences coming in on you, and you might try it. Since I've been preaching and thinking on it, I'm watching a whole lot less television than used to. As a matter of fact, I got criticized for saying the kids watch too much TV and I did this on a video. Some people were watching and said, 'Here you're saying it on a video and it's an impersonal way, therefore, take us off your mailing list because you're a hypocrite.'
They fail to see that there's a good use of video, a good use of audio, a good use of these things. What I was talking about was the uses that are no good. But it shows an emotional reaction by the person not thinking it through. A little stinkin' thinkin'!
Here's good news for all of us who are over 20-years-old.
"Brain May Grow New Cells Daily by Nicholas Wade Oct. 15, 1999) {nytimes.com/1999/10/15/us/brain-may-grow-new-cells-daily.html}
In a new challenge to the longstanding belief that adults never generate new brain cells, biologists at Princeton University have found that thousands of freshly born neurons arrive each day in the cerebral cortex…
right here at the front
…the outer rind of the brain where higher intellectual functions and personality are centered.
which is good news
If the new brain cells, or neurons, are involved in memory and learning -- perhaps with each day's batch of new cells recording that day's experiences…
This is why it's important to get the proper amount of rest. This is why in brain washing that one of the things that they do is deprive you of sleep. They do it over and over again so that your brain won't function. It is all deliberate to do that.
…scientists will have to make major revisions in the longtime view that the adult brain's neurons are static in number and that memory is stored only in the way they interconnect.
No! Memory can be added to every day! Also, this is good thing to understand. Not only can you overcome them, but you can change the way that you think over a period of time. You can overcome thought patterns of the past. And with God's Spirit, this shows that God has allowed for conversion and change, and a whole spectrum of what God has created us for.
In addition, if the brain's cells are in constant turnover, as the new finding suggests, physicians may discover ways to use the brain's natural regeneration system for replacing cells that are lost in diseases of aging.
…Dr. Fernando Nottebohm of Rockefeller University, who showed that canaries grow new neurons to learn new songs, and recent studies showing that new cells are formed in the hippocampus, a brain region where initial memories of faces and places are formed.
They found that a stream of new neurons were generated in the monkeys' brains in a zone just above the brain's fluid-filled central chambers. This zone was recently identified by other scientists as the home of the brain's stem cells, the source cells from which an organ is replenished.
The new neurons migrated toward the cortex, matured and sent out axons to make connections with other brain cells, the Princeton biologists found.
The researchers looked for new neurons in four areas of the cortex, and found them in three areas where memories are known to be stored: the frontal cortex, used for decision-making, and two areas on the side of the brain used for visual recognition….
You think about that in relationship to all the visual things that we have in use today.
Whatever the new cells are doing in the cortex, they affect regions of the brain that are central to human thought and identity. The Princeton work, said Dr. Ronald D. G. McKay, an expert on brain stem cells at the National Institutes of Health, ''places new neurons in the region of the brain involved in the highest level of personality: it's the frontal cortex that is important in determining who you are in a very human way.''
Dr. Gould said it was possible that the new neurons arriving in the cortex would be particularly sensitive to recording information for a certain period while they matured.
"They would become integrated in the circuitry and represent the information being learned at that particular time," she said….
Whenever you apply yourself to learn, the brain is made to do so.
In other words, the conveyor belt of new neurons might record successive days' experiences almost like a moving tape.
That's why with certain experiences when you have such an emotional response, such as an accident, you can remember it very clearly, because it is indelibly put upon your brain.
Now let's something in the Bible concerning the heart and the mind, and let's understand the great connection that there is between the heart and the brain and:
- how that interacts with the spirit of man
- how God looks at it
- how Satan looks at it
- what happens when there is sin
- what happens when there is righteousness
this really shows us that
- we can change
- we can grow
- we can overcome
with the Spirit of God!
Let's look at something that is very profound that Paul wrote. I think that when new thing like this come along it helps to give us added meaning to verses that we already know.
Remember that every day your mind is automatically set to begin a renewal process!. This is very important in your thinking. But for conversion Paul says:
Romans 12:2: "Do not conform yourselves to this world… [to the world's way; to the world's way of thinking] …but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…" God has made it possible to be renewed. But now with the Spirit of God, it can renewed even greater!
"…in order that you may prove…" (v 2).You must use your intellect, your emotion, everything about you to prove; that is using the Word of God to do so.
"…what is well-pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God" (v 2). That's why God made us the way that we are, so that we can have this connection with Him! So that we can receive the Spirit of God!
The heart is also involved, and the heart response is very important.
1-Sam. 16 is the account where David was selected to be king over Israel. Let's look at what God told Samuel. Samuel same down and Jesse, David's father, was all in trepidation and said, 'Do you come in peace?' Yeah, I come in peace. He probably thought that Samuel was coming to bring some judgment on him, or something.
1-Samuel 16:6: "And it came to pass as they came in, he saw Eliab and said, 'Surely the LORD'S anointed is before the LORD.' But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his face, nor on his height because I have refused him, for the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart'" (vs 6-7).
We know that David was called a man after God's heart. In another place it says that David's heart was perfect with the Lord! That's interesting, because you can have your heart response perfect with God, howbeit, you have a sinful nature by nature. That's what God looks to.
A lot of people, because they're trying to overcome—which they need to—but they get the focusing on all of the emotional down and negative things, and you wonder if you're ever accepted of God, because He wants you to be perfect. The truth is, you can—through Christ—be perfect in heart and also in mind. That's all a part of what we call conversion. God looks up the heart!
Let's see concerning the spirit in man. So, you have the heart and you have the brain. You have the brain that produces the neurons and is the very seat of your intellect. You have the heart that is the seat of your emotions. Then there's the spirit in man that gives man consciousness and choice that animals do not have.
Job 32:6—I like Elihu who was quite a young man: "And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, 'I am young, and you are very old; therefore, I was afraid, and dared not show you my opinion. I said, "The aged should speak… [they have white hair] … and the multitude of years should teach wisdom." But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding'" (vs 6-8).
After sitting there and listening to all of this going on, and the arguments back and forth, he finally got the exploding point:
Verse 18: "For I am full of the matter; the spirit within me constrains me"—I must speak!
Let's see that God is the One Who forms this spirit within us. This is the spirit of man, which is given to us, I believe, right at conception. I have suspected that for a long time, but now I can say that I believe that it is without necessarily being speculation. I think that this information that we have gives added validity to the fact that in order for a human being to be a human being, that spirit has to be give at conception!
Zechariah 12:1: "The burden of the Word of the LORD for Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches forth the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him." God is the One Who does it!
God wants to have a counterpart for that spirit being His Holy Spirit, so that when you receive the Spirit of God, His begettal, it unites with your mind and you become literally a new creature, though you may not necessarily feel it right away. But through the process of growing and overcoming, you are to be created in Christ Jesus!
I think James is the clincher in proving that the spirit has to be given at the time of conception, because with conception there is life! It is a new life, and it is so profound that when the seed of the father unites with the egg of the mother the egg puts an invisible cast iron shield around it so that it cannot be further penetrated by any more seed. It's a miraculous thing that takes place!
James 2:26: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, in the same way also, faith without works is dead."
In order for that new life to have life it's got to have the spirit of man right at the instant of conception! That's what makes that a human fetus at that particular point. It has to have life.
Let's carry this one step further. God also looks at the heart. God proves the heart! So, now we have the brain with the spirit of man and let's connect that with the heart, which is the seat of the emotion. It also has neuro cells in it just like the brain. That's amazing, to think that the heart has neuro cells just like the brain. You see the connection there!
I'm sure that that has lot to do with health, health of the brain and the health of the heart, and the interconnection together. Not only the dietary things that God wants to have. But what we put in our mind greatly affects how we think, and our heart affects our mind.
I was amazed just looking up how many references there are to the heart. If you want a special Bible study that you can do on your own, look up all the references concerning heart.
Psalm 17:1: "Hear the right, O LORD; attend unto my cry; give ear unto my prayer, for it is not from lips of deceit." In other words, his heart is right, his mind is right; you're not saying one thing but thinking something else.
Verse 2: "Let my judgment come forth from Your presence; let Your eyes behold things that are upright. You have tried my heart… [that's why David was a man after God's heart] …You have visited me in the night; You have tested me, and You shall find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress" (vs 2-3).
So, it shows the whole emotional inner action. I don't know about you, but every once in a while I wake up and can't sleep. I think of things, and I think that there's a time when God deals with us in a special way at night that He doesn't do at any other time. Why? Because you're not distracted by anything! You can concentrate fully on what you're thinking or meditating on; or whatever it is that you need to come to understand or that God wants you to understand or trying you for.
- God is the One Who judges the heart!
- God is the One Who judges the mind!
- God is the One Who judges the action as a result of the heart and mind!
Psalm 26:1: "Judge me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in the LORD without wavering. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart" (vs 1-2).
There is something about the human mind as well as the heart that says try my reins! There's another Psalm that says in the nighttime He has tried my reins. So, it's really quite profound how God does that. I don't know exactly how everything works, but God has a special way of keeping track of everyone.
Verse 3: "For Your loving kindness is before my eyes; and I have walked in Your Truth." This also gives us a hint how we can keep our heart right: walking in the Truth and always having loving kindness before His eyes!
In other words, the way that you overcome is constantly live under the grace of God. God's grace is what inspires you to have the desire from the heart to overcome vs being carnal and wanting to conceal your faults and conceal the things that you do wrong. Therefore, you put up this lying front that no one can penetrate lest they find out what you're really like.
With conversion it all changes, and it all becomes open before God. This is how it operates. It works quite a tremendous way.
In Jer. 17 we see the good and the ugly! There's no bad! This is profound, because there are certain things that once you have done, you are never the same after that. There are quite a few life experiences that you go through where it will be a first time experience. When that happens you are never the same because something takes place in your heart.
Here's what happens when people give themselves over to evil, and give themselves over to evil so much that there is absolutely nothing good.
Jeremiah 17:1: "The sin of Judah is engraved with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond; it is carved upon the tablet of their heart and upon the horns of your altars." There are some things that are so indelible.
We can say one thing was like that with the Apostle Paul when he persecuted the Church. He never forgot it! He was able to forget a lot of other things, because he said forgetting the things that are behind and moving forward to the things that are before (Philip 3).
Within each one of us there is perhaps one thing in our lives—maybe two or three—that have been indelibly etched upon our mind in a wrong way. Sometimes it takes years of God's Holy Spirit, conversion, overcoming and the Word of God to begin to flush these out to where you want to have that removed from your heart. God will do that!
Verse 5: "Thus says the LORD, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited'" (vs 5-6).
Here's the contrast, the other, v 7: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose hope is the LORD." Why? Because his heart is right with the Lord!
Verse 8: "For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit."
This is the positive aspect! This gives great encouragement that you can grow, change and overcome in spite of the fact that the human heart is very deceitful.
Verse 9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings" (vs 9-10). God is the One Who is going give the reward!
Now let's see how Satan works. Remember that the report talked about the electromagnetic field that is around human beings. It also said that many of the modern day implements that we have today interfere with that electromagnetic field. I think it can also interfere in such a way that it causes damage to the immune system; therefore, you are more susceptible to more diseases. They know that if you have a lot of radiology, which affects it, that you're more susceptible to diseases because your immune system goes down.
But also, there is Satan who is called 'the prince of the power of the air.'
Ephesians 2:1: "Now, you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you walked in times past according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" (vs 1-2).
The Greek there is very interesting. It is inner-working! So, Satan's power is able to influence people in such a way that they may not even be aware of it. But they have to, first of all, give themselves over to the lust of the flesh and all of this, so that they make themselves open to it.
Verse 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world."
This is something how Satan can influence! Think of how much he can do right now. I mean, in this room that we are sitting in right now today, if we had the various receivers here we could pick up scores of radio stations, because the sound waves are coming in here. If we had the right kind of satellite dish we could pick up everything coming from Direct TV or others, and we could pick up anything we wanted to.
But we can't hear it and we can't see it because it's not on the frequency for the receptors. It is known that when people have had certain metal put in their teeth that they will actually pick up a radio station. They'll go along and hear a radio station. They think they're being 'bugged.'
There's equipment today that some of the unsavory agencies of the government—such as the CIA—use where they can take three different vehicles and triangle a particular house and they can send radio waves in there and they can actually get the outline of your body and see exactly what you're doing in the house. They've done this to try an track criminals to see what they are doing. But that means they can do it to anybody!
I saw on TV that it showed how there's a center somewhere in Washington, DC or Maryland, where they can track every single transaction everywhere in the world all at once. They can monitor all Internet activity in the world everywhere all at once.
The same way with television; they can put in a little teeny camera there and monitor whomever is sitting in front of it. It's also very important to understand that you've wanted to know how we're going to become 'enemies of the state.' There you've got it! They can monitor all phone calls. They pick up certain key words, and then it starts monitoring all the calls automatically, especially if it has to do with going against the President or plotting some thing like blowing something up.
We, as God's people, are going to be an easy target when the time comes! Right now we're hard to find, but we'll be an easy target then.
Let's look at some of the other negative things of the human heart and human nature. I am constantly amazed how the Bible is ancient but modern, which tells you that it's eternal! Why is it eternal? Because it's from the Spirit of God! So therefore, it is totally meaningful to us today, as it was to them in whatever age that they lived in.
We can receive new material such as I just read to you today in these reports, and it fits right in with what's in the Bible. There is no other book, no other literature where this is true. You can't say that of any other law book, novel, history book or any other thing.
About the only thing you can get from history is that it will probably repeat. But it's not like the Bible where it's up to the minute and it's meaningful, and tells us about the days that we are living in and ourselves.
(go to the next track)
Ecclesiastes 8:5: "Whoever keeps the commandment shall feel no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment…. [here's the good part] …Because the word of a king is that which has power, who may say to him, 'What are you doing?' For he does not know what shall be; for who can tell him when it shall be?" (vs 5-7).
That's true today. We can 'see through a glass darkly' but we truly don't know.
Verse 8: "There is no man who has power over the wind to restrain the wind…" That's a profound statement! If you had power over the spirit to retain it, you wouldn't die. The body without the spirit is dead! If you had the power to retain the spirit you wouldn't die. That's why no man has that power!
"…nor power over the day of death; and there is no discharge from war… [it's going to be done] …nor shall wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I have seen, and I gave my heart to every work that is done under the sun…." (vs 8-9).
What happened to Solomon's heart? It said that his heart was not perfect like David's, his father! He let wives and concubines lead his heart astray. He had so many experiences that he no longer understood right from wrong.
"…There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt. And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the Holy place. And they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This is also vanity. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore, the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (vs 8-11).
It shows that the heart can become set to do evil and do the things that are wrong. Haven't we seen that with 'zipper gate' in Washington, DC? Yes! The morals have gone down that much more, all because of the example of President Bill Clinton, and many other besides.
Let's see what certain physical activities do to the heart. We'll show the whole flow of things, and what happens when people make the decision. It starts with the heart because their emotion is dictating to them that they need to be released from the restraints of God's Law.
When they follow their heart to do that, and begin rejecting God's way, here's what happens: God also responds to them!
Hosea 4:6: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being as a priest to Me. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will also forget your children."
We're going to see, also, that the Law of God is very important to have in our heart. Let's see why it's so important. This is why Protestants cannot be truly converted. Protestants are 'anomians': against law! Contrary to law! They may be nice people, but even nice people, who have impeccable morals that really don't believe in God the way that God says that they ought to believe in Him, are in essence atheists! They are depending upon their own morality!
Here's what God wants, Hebrews 10:16: "'This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,' says the Lord, 'I will give My Laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds.'" Isn't that interesting that it is in both places: in the heart and in the mind!
- in the mind it's intellect
- in the heart it's emotion
The proper response to emotion!
What was the proper response to emotion that Joseph showed when the wife of his master was trying to seduce him? He ran away, because it was in his heart and in his mind! So, with us!
Some things you can mentally say, 'Okay, forget it!' Other things emotionally you have to say, 'Run! Get out of here! Be gone!' because you're going to be trapped! So, it's in both places, in th heart and in the mind! Now, let's see what happens:
Hosea 4:6: "…Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will also forget your children." Is that happening today in this world? Yes! No question about it!
Verse 7: "As they were increased… [Have we had a population explosion? Yes!] …so they sinned against Me. I will change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of My people, and they set their heart on their iniquity" (vs 7-8).
Tie that in with Jer. 17:1, where instead of having the Laws of God engravened and inscribed upon our heart, now the sin is engravened and inscribed upon the heart. What happens when that takes place? It's awfully hard for them to even understand what's right or wrong!
Verse 9: "And it has become, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their doings, for they shall eat and not have enough. They shall commit whoredom and not increase because they have stopped taking heed to the LORD. Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart" (vs 9-11).
A very profound verse! Think of this, not only in the sense of wine, but think of it in the sense of drugs along with alcohol. Think of it in the sense of early education of children, beginning in kindergarten under the guise of age protection, they show the things that are absolutely pornographic of every sex act. They try and introduce it to them as early as they can.
I'm convinced that when the high school that is about four or five blocks from us, and I leave the house and go somewhere I have to come down to the main street where all the teenagers are walking. They all look down and depressed and miserable, just unhappy and rotten. Why? Because of all of the 'stinkin thinkin' and stinking sex things that they're taught in school!
It's amazing! It takes away the heart! What was the most profound and important thing that took place that has taken the morals of America down? The acceptance and the introduction of evolution into the school system! That has had the most profound effect on the morals! And the removing of the Ten Commandments and so forth.
I'm anxious to see what sort of response they're going to get with this latest movement to put the Ten Commandments in the schools. Then you have to ask, 'Which version?' That's what happens! It takes away the heart! When it takes away the heart, it takes away the mind! If you can steal the heart, you can corrupt the mind!
I think that this is all very profound and important information to know and understand, and also to disseminate. This gives us an understanding on how we can approach people coming out of the world today.
Not only does it have to be approached on an intellectual basis, but it also has to be approached on an emotional basis, which will pierce through the hardness of the heart to illicit them, prick their hearts with God's Spirit unto repentance.
That's what's wrong with all of these church things where they try and get new people in by lowering the standards of morality so that you can get new people to be 'churched.' God doesn't want them 'churched.' He wants them converted!
Proverbs 6:16: These six things the LORD hates; yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked imaginations… [note Rom. 1:19-31; we will see what we are to do with our imaginations] …feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and he who sows discord among brethren" (vs 16-19).
Proverbs 10:20: "The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver; the heart of the wicked is worth little." That's what God thinks of the intellects of this world!
Proverbs 11:20: "Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the LORD, but the upright in the way are His delight."
Prov. 18:2 describes the modern age and nothing else can. This describes the modern thing of self-esteem. This describes an awful lot of modern education.
Proverbs 18:2: "A fool has no delight in understanding, but only that his heart may discover itself." Man, I've got to find myself!
Where have a lot of the movie stars gone to discover themselves? India! To Hinduism! They come back with gurus or whatever!
Isn't it interesting that the 'lotus position'—cross legged—with your hands on our knees and your thumb and forefinger so that you are able to meditate. What you're really doing is turning into demonic wavelengths! You're using your electromagnetic field as a generator in welcoming them. Most people don't know that.
What they're told when they 'meditate' is that you're to get everything out of your mind, vacate your mind, get all thoughts out of your mind. If you do that then the demons can come in, because you have no resistance!
God doesn't want that! In the meditation that God wants you to do is:
- think upon His Word
- meditate on His Law
- meditate on His goodness
- meditate on His graciousness
It's quite different!
Something else can happen to the heart, and this no one should ever do! This is why God ordered in His commandments and laws that murderers be executed, child molesters be executed, rapists be executed, because something happens to their heart and they cannot control themselves from that moment on.
Proverbs 28:14: "Blessed is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart shall fall into mischief."
That's what happens! When people reach certain life experiences that are gross abominable sins, then their hearts are such that they are hardened! This can happen in war where men are out killing each other. Their hearts become very hardened so they can kill without even the thought of what that other person is going through. That's the whole purpose of making soldiers the way they are today:
- so they can kill with no compunction
- so they will have no conscience
- so that they will have no remorse
They will be happy that they do it! Harden the heart!
It's the same way with God's Word. Some people have hardened their hearts to God's Word. That is not what it should be!
I had another thought for the title to this sermon, which is the heart of David and the mind of Christ! That's what God wants us to have.
Let's see some positive aspects. If the heart is not hardened, or so gross, there is hope for repentance. Now you understand why God did what He did to Saul, to call him. He knocked Saul off his horse, donkey, whatever, because his heart was getting hard from killing the Christians. God had to do something drastic.
Does that not tell us something about how our approach needs to be toward the world today. It means to be more drastic to get their attention. They are so calloused and desensitized! Here's what trouble does:
Psalm 77:1: "I cried to God with my voice, to God with my voice; and He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble I sought the LORD; my hand was lifted up, and my tears ceased not in the night; my soul refused to be comforted" (vs 1-2).
- there's a purpose for trials and tests and calamities
- there's a purpose why some people go through such horrendous things
Hopefully that they would return to God!
Verse 3[transcriber's correction]: "I remembered God and was troubled…" He could see himself as he is. Hasn't that been your experience when you've been really sick and lying in bed miserable and rotten, and don't feel good? You've got a terrible temperature and your attitude is bad, you're grouchy and miserable. You just all of a sudden it comes into your mind how wretched that you really are.
There's a good side of that! It leads you to repentance and it gives you understanding!
"…I moaned, and my spirit fainted. Selah" (v 3). You can complain all you want, but you have to repent!
Verse 4: "You keep my eyes awake… [couldn't sleep] …I am too troubled and I cannot speak. I have pondered the days of old, the years of ages past. I remember my song in the night; I commune with my own heart, and my spirit made diligent search" (vs 4-6).
Here's where repentance begins! That's how it happens, you begin to think on it. You begin to meditate on it. You begin to entertain the fact that you have been wrong. That's hard to do!
Verse 7: "Will the LORD cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? Is His mercy gone forever? Has His promise failed for all generations? Has God forgotten to be gracious?…." (vs 7-9). David was low, wasn't he? This is about as low as you can be!
"…Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah. And I said, 'This is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High could change.' I will remember the works of the LORD; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your doings. Your way, O God, is in Holiness; who is so great a God as our God?" (vs 9-13).
Then David is praising God for all the things that He did! Let's see an example of this in the New Testament. Here's an example of it, exactly the same way. This is the story of the prodigal son. You need the heart as well as the mind to repent!
Luke 15:11: "Then He [Jesus] said, 'A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me that portion of the property which falls to me." And he divided to them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered everything together… [this was in his heart and what he planned] …and departed into a distant country. And there he wasted all his substance, living in debauchery" (vs 11-13)—riotous living, and everything that that means!
We just read that wine and new wine and whoredom take away the heart. That's what he was doing, that's what the riotous living is all about.
Verse 14: "But after he had spent everything, there arose a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need. Then he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine" (vs 14-15). For a Jew this is a pretty hard task, feeding the swine! You can't ask him to do anything worse than that.
Verse 16: "And he was longing to fill his stomach with the husks that the swine were eating, but no one gave anything to him. And when he came to himself…" (vs 16-17). That ties right in there with Psa. 77 where David communed with his heart! That's where you come to yourself! That's what David was doing.
Psalm 77:6: "I remember my song in the night; I commune with my own heart, and my spirit made diligent search." That's the beginning of repentance, expressed right here in:
Luke 15:17: "And when he came to himself…" Coming to yourself in repentance is a change of heart and change of mind. Remember that the neurons are working, and the Spirit of God is working either with you or in you. It is God Who leads you to repentance!
"…he said…" (v 17)—the prodigal son; he was communing with himself. There's always a constant conversation going on in your mind with yourself. The reason is, is because you are a thinking being. God intended that!
"…'How many of my father's hired servants have an abundance of bread, and I am dying of hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him…'" (vs 17-18). It took a lot of courage to come to this point, because he had taken everything and left.
"'…"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; and I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired servants"'" (vs 18-19). That took a lot of humbling!
Verse 20: "And he arose and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him…"
I don't know if the father was out there watching every night like Jacob was looking for Joseph and mourning over Joseph. You know the scheme that the brother plotted against Joseph to sell him off into Egypt and brought back the coat with goats blood on it and said that Joseph was dead. I imagine that the father was out there waiting.
He saw him, "…and was moved with compassion, and ran and embraced him, and ardently kissed him. And his son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son'" (vs 20-21).
This is what we need to come to when we repent to God. This kind of repentance. The heart and the mind are capable of that with God's Spirit to lead you to repentance!
Verse 22: "But the father said to his servant, 'Bring out a robe, the best robe, and clothe him, and give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet.'" This is what God does when He calls us and forgives us. He cleans us all up. There's no more sin, it's all clean and washed away, and we put on the garments of Christ and righteousness!
Verse 23: "'And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead, but is alive again; and he was lost, but is found.' And they began to be merry" (vs 23-24).
There's always the Pharisee hanging in the background. This will be tough on a lot of people when God calls new people in with us, which He will! That will happen! They've gone out and have done with their lives like the young son here. God is going to treat them the same way that He treats us. We need not have the response of the elder son.
Verse 25: "But his elder son was in a field; and when he was coming back, and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And after calling one of the servants nearby, he inquired what these things might be. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come home, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him safe and well.' Then he was angry and would not go in. As a result, his father came out and pleaded with him. But he answered and said to his father, 'Behold, I have served you so many years… [complaining] …and never did I transgress your commandment; yet, you never gave me a kid, so that I might make merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.' Then he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But it was fitting to make merry and rejoice because your brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, but is found'" (vs 25-32).
This is what God wants! God says that He 'does not delight in the death of the wicked' (Ezek. 33). He wants them to turn. There comes a change in the heart when this turning takes place, and this begins the change and conversion of the heart with God's Spirit!
Proverbs 3:1: "My son… [this could very will be the father of the prodigal son when he came home] …do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commandments." This was actually written by David to Solomon. But Solomon didn't do this!
Verse 2: "For they shall add length of days, and long life, and peace, to you. Do not let mercy and Truth forsake you…" (vs 2-3). Why? Because it hardens your heart!
"…bind them around your neck; write them upon the tablet of your heart" (v 3). What do we find written on the tablet of our heart?
- the Laws of God written in heart and inscribed in our mind
- we have mercy and truth written on the table of our heart
Or we can go the other way and have sin written with the point of diamond written upon our hearts!
If you do it God's way, v 4: "And so you shall find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart…" (vs 4-5).
Isn't it interesting how this ties together? When you remember the mercies of God and write them upon your heart, then you're going to be trusting in God because you know it's right. Another thing that this will do, too; it will help you see the greatness of God and the great power and understanding of God! That also brings you to an attitude of repentance all the time, which is a profound thing. That will happen! The older your get and the longer you are in the Church, that is going to happen, because you then begin to understand and realize the depths of human nature and how it can be.
You begin to understand how you need to stay right with God and have the heart of David and the mind of Christ and be tenderhearted and repenting.
"…and lean not to your own understanding" (v 5). That way then you're not going to have the wavelengths of Satan the devil coming in and leading you astray with the lusts of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
Verse 6: "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil. It shall be health to your navel… [the innermost part of your being] …and marrow to your bones" (vs 6-8)—which supplies your blood! If you don't have good blood and your insides aren't working right, you're in deep trouble.
Notice how that ties in with the heart and what you put in your heart. So, your heart, as the report says, affects your whole body. It works with your mind, but it affects your whole body:
- it affects your ability to resist sin
- it affects your ability to resist sickness
- it affects your ability to stay right with God
All of those things are right there. So, I think this is quite profound the way that is report has really brought out the things actually confirmed by the Bible and have been there thousands and thousands of years.
This kind of attitude in repentance is a heart-changing experience; Psalm 34:4: "I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears…. [which is heart motivated] …They looked to Him and were radiant; and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried… [because he understood himself] …and the LORD heard, and saved him out of all his troubles" (vs 4-6). Notice: all fears and all troubles!
Verse 7: "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them." How many times have we been delivered? Many times not even knowing!
I look back and see some of the things that I did and went through as a child, and I just have to say that God had an angel there to keep me from all kinds of trouble. I don't know how else to explain it. It certainly wasn't because I was good, and it certainly wasn't because I made the choice. It was in spite of it.
Verse 8: "O taste and see that the LORD is good…" You understand the will of God as you do it; that's how you taste it. You live it!
"…blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. O fear the LORD, all you saints, for there is nothing lacking to those who fear Him" (vs 8-9).
You're not going to be like the world just striving after every wind that comes along.
Verse 14: "Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are of a contrite spirit" (vs 14-18).
That is a matter of really understanding repentance. When there is the repentance, then you have a broken heart, which God heals, and you have contrite spirit, which God loves. He dwells with the humble.
So, you can see how the heart and the mind all work together, and how our spirit and God's Spirit works with us. It's really quite a profound thing that even now scientifically they understand how some of these things work.
All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version
Scriptural References:
- Romans 12:2
- 1 Samuel 16:6-7
- Job 32:6-8,18
- Zechariah 12:1
- James 2:26
- Psalm 17:1-3
- Psalm 26:1-3
- Jeremiah 17:1, 5-10
- Ephesians 2:1-3
- Ecclesiastes 8:5-11
- Hosea 4:6
- Hebrews 10:16
- Hosea 4:6-11
- Proverbs 6:16-19
- Proverbs 10:20
- Proverbs 11:20
- Proverbs 18:2
- Proverbs 28:14
- Psalm 77:1-13
- Luke 15:11-17
- Psalm 77:6
- Luke 15:17-32
- Proverbs 3:1-8
- Proverbs 34:4-9, 14-18
Scriptures quoted, not referenced:
- Philippians 3
- Romans 1:19-31
- Ezekiel 33
Also referenced:
Article: "Brain May Grow New Cells Daily by Nicholas Wade Oct. 15, 1999) {nytimes.com/1999/10/15/us/brain-may-grow-new-cells-daily.html}
Sermon: Stinkin' Thinkin'
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 8/19/18
