Seven Things to Think About

The Purpose of the Message and the Call to Press On

All right, if you would, and you have your Bibles, if you would open it up to the book of Philippians and the fourth chapter, Philippians chapter 4. There are a number of verses I want to look at this morning, and we'll get to them in a moment.

But I do want to just say a few things before we actually look at the text. I want to set forth in the beginning of the message my purpose. And I want to make clear what my desire is this morning. And I pray it would be, in many ways, the desire of all of us.

That is, I truly want to encourage us. I truly want to encourage us. I want to exhort us to move on, press on, move upward in the things of Christ. And so to do that, I might seek to provoke, but I truly mean to provoke us in love, again, to press on.

So that is my purpose. I want to make sure that it is clear as we go through it that we will, if you will, see more of God's majesty this morning, more of his beauty, more of his greatness, more of him.

You see, friends, that's what we really need more than anything else. We need to see him. We need to see him high and lifted up. We need to see him not as we think of him, but as he truly is. So I do have that desire.

Seven Things to Think About in Philippians 4:8-9

And as we look at these verses in Philippians chapter 4, we'll focus our minds on verses 8 and 9. And I've titled it, and I'm not that big on titles, but I know I should title it somehow. So the title is Seven Things to Think About.

Seven Things to Think About. And I hope to make, well, I hope to show you that in these two verses that we're going to look at, there's seven things that Paul says we ought to think about. So I think I'm at least entitled.

I think I'm in the same ballpark. Seven Things to Think About. There are seven things in these two verses that the Apostle Paul speaks to that church at Philippi. And he speaks to them of these seven things with that same purpose, I believe, that I've said to you already, that he wanted to encourage them, that he wanted to exhort them.

He wanted them to meditate and consider on these seven things and then he says, if they do it, that they will find the peace of God within them. And so if I were to end the message right now, I think I would have been in line.

But there's more to say. So let us look at these verses. And again, we'll just read these two. But previously, Paul has been, this was a beloved church of Paul's. And he is moving through these issues.

And so he says, finally, in chapter 4, verse 8, finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.

The things which you have learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Let's just ask God's blessing again. Father, your word, this morning, we pray you would make it real to us, as only you can, that we would truly think of these things, think on these things, to the end, that you might be glorified, and that we might grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Son of God, who so loved us that he gave himself for us.

Amen. Seven things to think about. And as I began to try to prepare for the message, I began to have this thought. And the thought was, I began to wonder how many different things we think about in a given day.

I began to wonder, if you will, how many thoughts do we have in a day? Now, you might say, well, that's an odd thought. I'm an odd man. But I began to think how many thoughts we have in any given day.

And so I tried to go back and to do some research and to look at some studies that are done on the brain and on the mind of men. And again, I'm not trying to say that they are absolute. But I do think that they are able, by God's grace and mercy, to understand things, even if it's just from a physical perspective, that can be helpful.

And so I tried to find out some information about how that works. And a number of those studies were done. And so there were other people that were thinking just like I was, how many thoughts does somebody have in a day?

And here's what they did. They gathered people up and brought them in and hooked them up to some sort of brain scan. And what they did was they tried to consider how many times the brain was stimulated.

And they associated that with a different thought. Now, again, that's about as medical as I could be right now. But I thought about that. And they have thought about it. And this is what they came up with.

And again, I'm not saying it's absolute. But this is what they came up with. And I thought it was interesting. They said that the average person who gets eight hours of sleep and is up for 16 hours has somewhere, some of you are already like, who gets eight hours of sleep?

But nevertheless, that was their baseline. Somebody that gets eight hours of sleep and is up for 16 hours that they came up through this brain scan and whatever testing that they did, that the average person, and it varies depending on more sleep or less sleep, the average person has between 6 ,000 and 7 ,000 different thoughts in a day.

Again, unless you can help us understand better how they conduct this test, I don't know. But I do believe that there's some value in thinking about it, that the average person has somewhere between 6 ,000 and 7 ,000 thoughts in a day.

And what they didn't do is they didn't consider the duration of the thoughts, but rather every time the brain was stimulated and they associated that stimulation with a new thought. So they came up, again, with that number somewhere between 6 ,000 and 7 ,000.

And I would say, and I hope you would agree, the mind of man is a mysterious thing. And yet, there is some things that we are able, by God's grace, to consider. So here's my conclusion, even if that reveals something, or even if it begins to come close, and that is this, that our thoughts are many, friends.

I ask you to consider with me this morning seven things to think about. And as you think about what I've just said, that's a lot of thinking. That's a lot of different thoughts. And again, I'm not counting duration.

But to have that many thoughts, to me, many times our thoughts are like shooting stars. They just kind of streak across our mind. Do you ever get up early in the morning? I'm an early riser. I call Brother Mike at 2 o 'clock in the morning and he probably will answer the phone.

But I get up early in the morning and sometimes it really confuses me. I get up and I'm sound asleep and then I wake up and all of a sudden, I've got like all 6 ,000 thoughts are running through at the same time.

And I'm like, what? Can't I just have a cup of coffee? Because we are, in that sense, we're constantly, by the grace and power of God, thoughts are constantly entering in and then we process them. And then we, ultimately, we act out or act on a number of them.

So I do think it's worthwhile. And also, I will submit to you this, that as it says in the Proverbs, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So, if you think about it, if we can focus in on what God says we ought to think about and we can move, in essence, the scale of those six or 7 ,000 thoughts to be more in line with the things that God would have us think about, then I would suggest that the result will be we will walk closer with God, we will be more God-like and we will be worth more to others.

Because, for truth, the Lord Jesus Christ did always the things that pleased the Father. And although he didn't always please those that opposed him, yet he was good, only good, and always good. So, that's what started this all this morning.

That's what started in my mind. And so I wanna spend the rest of the time this morning looking at these seven specifics. But before we look at each one, let me just ask us to think about this. The apostle doesn't just give us a general thing.

He doesn't just throw out general terms. In other words, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are a good report, he doesn't just say, hey, Church at Philippi, here's what I need you to do.

You just need to have happy thoughts. You just, as long as you have happy thoughts, your day will be happy. Well, let me ask us a question. What happens when we're in sad times? You think happy thoughts will carry us through sad times?

I don't think so. I think happy thoughts in many ways are just like clouds without water. And as soon as the sun comes up, those happy thoughts are gone. So he doesn't just tell them, oh, just be happy.

There are many people in this world would suggest to us that the way to find peace is just to have happy thoughts. There are those in this world that will tell us that the real way to have peace is just to have positive thoughts.

Just think positive. I would say, what do you do when things aren't positive? What do you do when things are, in that sense, negative? Will those positive thoughts just overcome the negative thoughts, and is it net gain?

I don't think so. What happens to those positive thoughts when the trees begin to blow so hard by the wind that you think they're about to break? Think just positive thoughts will get them through it?

You see, friends, there's certain things to think about, and these certain things are the things that will carry our souls regardless of the situation. There's a promise, and I believe it's a promise.

It's a promise that Isaiah spoke in Isaiah 26, and you don't have to turn here, just the verse, but it says this. It says, you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.

Doesn't say you ought to think about positive things. Doesn't even say you ought to think about happy things. I'm not saying that the things that we think about or the things that Paul speaks of are not things that could be understood as positive and happy and joyful, but there's more to it than just that, that God says he will keep us in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him because we trust him, and that, my friends, is my real hope this morning and my real prayer is to encourage us rather to think of the things that God has given us to think about, and that those truths, those things, those things that endure forever because God given to us that you and I will be able to weather the storms of life, and one last thing before we begin to look at the text itself and I wanna say this to the young people here this morning.

Again, if you're 50, you don't fall into that group, so I wanna tell, say this to you kids, all you kids, listen to me, look at me for just one minute, okay? You have thoughts in your mind too. You think, matter of fact, those thoughts that grownups have, many of those thoughts you have in a smaller size, so you think when you first get up in the morning, there's thoughts that enter into your mind, so I'm asking you, I'm telling you, I'm exhorting you, think about what we're thinking about this morning.

Think about what we're thinking about this morning. I hope you didn't come here this morning just to sit here while someone says something to older people. These things are important for you, and I also wanna say this before we go any further, I wanna talk to the older people because older people might have longer memories, bigger memories, there's more stuff, there's more storage, it's a bigger zip drive, but that could be a hindrance too, and so you and I need to think about the things that God says we ought to think about.

Not only does he say we ought to think about it, he says we ought to meditate on it. He says we ought to give ourself to it, so if you think that this is an unimportant subject, you're wrong. Young, old, in the middle, everyone.

You need to think about the things that we think about this morning or the things that the apostle lays out. Okay, having said that, let's begin to look at him and to consider him. He says and starts with this, finally, brethren, finally, brethren, this is a repeated, I looked through it and I found out, this is a repeated saying in the epistles by Paul.

Actually, seven different times in his epistles, he addresses those that he's writing to as finally, brethren, and he doesn't just mean men, finally, if you will, brothers and sisters, young brothers, young sisters, older brothers, older sisters.

Finally, and when he says that, it doesn't really mean as if Paul has run out of things to say, but what he is seeking to do is to cause them to consider both what he had said and what he's about to say and to really settle in on it.

Look, in other words, it's not just, I have nothing else to say, but rather, furthermore, or in conclusion, or in summary, brethren, give attention to the following. And so I encourage you, I will try to stay as close as I can to my thoughts, but if you're here this morning, young, old, and you ignore God's word, then you will have to deal with the consequences.

Amen. Because you are accountable for your thoughts. You are accountable for your actions. Every idle word, every idle thought that a man, woman, boy or girl shall think or speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

So you don't get a pass till you're 18. So I say this to you, finally, brothers and sisters, listen and take heed to what Paul says. And so he starts, whatever things are true, whatever things are true, we are to think on, we are to give ourselves to.

So I began to think about that and try to break it down in my mind and consider what some of the other brothers have said concerning this, and I'll suggest to you what it really means. When Paul says to think about whatever things are true that he's talking about, think of the things that pertain to God, because God is true.

I hope, again, this morning, everyone here realizes God is true. God's not a myth. God's not a fairy tale. God's not just some story that was told long ago. God is true. Whatever things are true, not only is it true, but God, there is no lie.

God never lies. We've learned to be good at it. God doesn't lie. Whatever things are true. This is an exhortation. This is an encouragement to think about the things that are real. We live in a world, friends, where so many people live in some invisible world of their own minds.

They don't live in the real world. They don't think like the real world, and Paul says to the Church of Philippi, we are to think whatever things are true, and the things that are true are the things that God says.

It's interesting how he says it too, right? Whatever things are true. That really means everything that's true. It's not selective. Shame on us if the only time we ever think about what God says or what God declares to be true is when we're sitting here, and the rest of the time, we're off in some make-believe world in our own minds, and then we wind up living a make-believe life, and then we suffer real consequences for living in a make-believe world.

Who was it? It wasn't, see, we're all corrupt. I was just thinking about Fred Rogers. Remember him? He used to have the kids show, and he used to say, do you wanna go to the land of make-believe with me?

Y 'all looking at me like I'm absolutely crazy. Somebody knows about Fred Rogers, right? All right. Well, we ought to think about what the things that are true, and those are the things that God gives us, and so when Paul says that, we ought to give ourselves to it.

And again, I honestly have been thinking about you young people all week, as I've been working on this message, and I wanna encourage you to think about the things that God says are true, and not necessarily the things that other kids tell you are true, because God never lies.

Sometimes your friends will lie. Sometimes other kids will lie. Sometimes social media will lie. Google does not always tell the truth. I'm not trying to be funny. I'm saying we need to think about the things that are true, and not be moved and persuaded into thinking about the things that this world thinks about, because in so many ways, this world is full of garbage.

And not only that, there's just multitudes of people out there that wanna fill our ears. Listen, doesn't it even, doesn't it even settle in our mind, even the evil one himself wants to fill our minds with things that are false.

And so sometimes he'll whisper, and sometimes he'll shout. Do you ever have that happen? Listen, brothers and sisters, they didn't mean for us to play religious games. I would hope that you would all agree with me that as a child of God, there are some times when we'll have thoughts that are totally evil, and we don't even know where they came from.

I'll tell you where they come from. They come from the cesspool that's still in us. Whatever things are true, we ought to think about those things. Whatever's true about the Lord Jesus Christ is the surest, safest, most graceful, most pleasant, most safe things to think about.

I'll challenge you young people this week, if you could, or even if you could do it for one day, I challenge you to try to think about the things that you think about, and see how many of those six or 7 ,000 thoughts that come into your mind concern God's truth.

Older people, you too. Whatever things are true. Then he says, whatever things are noble. And that word, it really, and I believe in some of the translations it says, whatever things are honest. Whatever things are noble is the translation in the New King James, but I do believe in some it says, whatever things are honest.

And really, it's a word that intimates dignified. Of a worthy character. Of a good character. I think the thought is, in part, that we should focus our minds on doing the things, now listen to this, please, listen to this.

We ought to think on things that will not only honor the gospel, but the God of the gospel. You see, because in reality, if we are the children of God, you really can't separate the gospel from the God of the gospel.

Whatever is right and upright in the affairs of life should be that which guides our thoughts and our manner of life, regardless of the situation. How many of us would not rightly admit that outward things have such great sway over our minds and the things that we think about, and therefore, the things that we do?

Whatever things are noble, whatever things are honest, I thought about what Paul says, if you remember what he says, he says we ought to provide things honest in the sight of all men. And you again, imagine if some of those 6 ,000 thoughts were more dedicated to displaying godly character, rather than the things of the flesh.

Anger, wrath, malice, carelessness, selfishness. We could just, we could spend another 30 minutes just throwing out words. Here's what I thought about, and again, I thought about how perhaps this is what allowed Paul, you remember Paul was in jail at Philippi, right?

And his companions? And you remember that it wasn't HBO, Netflix, when all that stuff in our prison, it was dirty, it was filthy, it was a dungeon, they were in the stocks. It was not the place that you wanna be.

And I wondered how, if thinking about these things, things that are true, things that are honest, the things that we will consider further, I wonder if that's what it was, that by God's grace allowed Paul to want at midnight, what was he doing?

Singing hymns. Was his thoughts based only on his external situation? No. Singing hymns. What was the result of that? Was it not that which contributed to the Philippian jailer being saved? And not only him being saved, what does it say?

His whole household. Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, plus a minute or two on the next one, whatever things are just. I wanna mention, many of these things have overlap. Many of these things have overlap that Paul is speaking of, but I believe there's a real strong understanding that we need to have.

It's because there are many parts to being God-like. There are many different ingredients, spiritual ingredients that are to be involved and mixed together to bring glory to God and to honor him. And again, I'm gonna go back at you kids.

You probably never gonna wanna hear me again, but that's okay. You kids, you younger people, you ought to be thinking about the things that you should do to bring honor to God, regardless of the situation.

Do you know how many kids that have been, that have lived a godly character that has been used by God to convert a parent? So again, this pertains to you. Whatever things are honest. Then whatever things are just, and although these things kind of overlap, Paul does use, by the way, seven different words here.

He doesn't say the same thing over and over and over again. He uses seven distinct words. So when he says whatsoever is true, it's one word. Whatever things are honest, another word. Whatever things are just, another word.

Because again, there are many facets. And the word here that he uses for just can also be rendered pure. And perhaps in your translation, it'll say that. And it means to train our minds on things that are pure.

And to live our lives, and to live our lives before God and before men in a just way. Let me ask you to think about this, again, since we're thinking about thinking. How many of our thoughts each day are more concerned with how we are perceived by others, especially those who don't know God?

You know, I really believe there's enough common grace still in the world. I really do, by God's mercy. Absolutely by God's mercy. There's enough common grace still in the world that people will actually esteem someone who has a honest and just character.

It still carries weight. It's also becoming more and more rare. It's still admired by men. Let me ask you to consider this too. What we're talking about this morning is no easy task. What we're talking about this morning is not just some simple thing that you and I can say, okay, I got it, switch on.

Not when those other 7 ,000 thoughts are flying across our minds. And the 7 ,000 thoughts are many times provoked by outward situations. It is amazing how it still holds weight with men. Maybe that's in part what Jesus meant when he said that, let our light so shine before men that they may see.

See what? See the grace of God. See what God does in taking sinful, dead, dry sinners and creating them anew. You remember the Pharisees, didn't you? They had a lot of thoughts, the Pharisees. And you remember how the Pharisees, they always were trying to find something dishonest, something faulty with the son of man.

And they couldn't, praise God, could they? So what did they do? I got a thought, let's have somebody lie. Let's have some false witnesses say, we saw him do this or he said that. And why? Because they could not find anything that was true.

And so they had a scheme. You see, friends, you and I, these things are important. Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, and that word that's used there, it carries the thought of being modest or clean.

And I'm gonna suggest to you, and this one's gonna hit home a little bit. And again, you younger people, I guarantee you, if you will listen, you will agree that what I say happens to you even in a smaller body or a younger body.

He says that we are to whatever things are pure. And it really has to do with being modest or clean in the sense of fleeing from lust and uncleanness. Fleeing from lust and uncleanness. To meditate on things that are holy, not things that are fleshly.

You know what I'm saying? I'm not preaching to you, I'm preaching to me. You're just in my way. This same apostle says we ought not to make any provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. You young people, let me ask you, do you have holy thoughts or do you have selfish thoughts?

You older people, do you have holy thinking and holy thoughts or lustful thoughts, selfish thoughts, self-gratifying thoughts? How much of that makes up those six or seven or if they're right, or even if they're in the same, even if it's close.

You know, friends, there's such a lack of holy living in our day and you know why? Because there's such a lack of holy thinking. As a man thinks, so he is. As a man thinks in his heart, so he is. You want to know why people don't live holy lives?

Because they have unholy thoughts. And unholy thoughts lead to unholy actions. It's not education, it's not the economy, it's not this, it's not that. It's not where you live, it's what you are. I'm amazed and I don't know about you, so I'm not a kid, I'm not old.

I've fallen somewhere, whatever. I'm amazed that we've come to the point in our world on regular news stations, in the paper, on billboards, we have no problem spelling out disgusting things. Although we still have a little bit of grace because what we do is we just use the first letter and the last letter.

But we make sure we use enough letters to make sure everybody knows that we're saying something disgusting. I'm amazed when I, as I drive my car, and I don't know why, I fixate on bumper stickers. And it's amazing to me that some people have the most disgusting things on the back of their cars and people will actually honk because they think it's cool.

I think what Paul's saying is to think about things that are holy and not necessarily things that are fun or happy. Because I will submit to you, friends, there's no more fun to be had than to think God's thoughts after him.

And if you don't think that's true, it's because you haven't been thinking God's thoughts after him. I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind has stayed on me because he trusts in me. The Apostle Paul is laying these things out because he has a desire, and again, that's what I said to you in the beginning.

My desire is that we would see him higher and more exalted in our life. And by doing that, we will be able to live our lives in a way that brings him glory and that prospers us. Whatever things are clean are to be welcomed in our mind, friends.

And whatever's not ought to be kicked out. Don't say, well, I can't help it. You can. You have ungodly thoughts. I have ungodly thoughts. We ought to rid ourselves of them because if you let them stay there, they will mess you up.

And again, don't say you don't have them because you would just be lying, lying, whatever things are pure. And then he says this, friends. Whatever things are lovely. I'm gonna read a quote on this one.

It's from Alfred Bonds. I like reading Alfred Bonds. He is just a good commentator on many ways. But this is what he said about this. Whatever things are lovely. He said, whatever things are lovely, the word used here means properly what is dear to anyone, then what is pleasing, and here it means what is amiable.

Such a temper of mine that one can love it or such as to be agreeable to others. A Christian should not be sour, crabby, irritable in his temper, for nothing almost tends so much to injure the cause of religion as a temper always chafed, a brow always stern, an eye that is severe and unkind, a disposition to find fault with everything.

And yet it is to be regretted that there are many persons who make no pretensions to piety, who far surpass many professors of religion in the virtue here commended. A sour and crabby temper in a professor of religion will undo all the good he attempts to do.

You see how it's connected, friends? If you're sour in your mind, guess what? You'll be sour in your life. My wife reminded me the other day. She said it takes 12 muscles to smile and it only takes 11 muscles to frown.

So you gotta rise above 11, but a sour disposition. And it doesn't mean a wimpy, hey, he's not saying, when everything's loving, you just go around and not be a man or not be a woman. Lord knows. I sometimes scare people.

I don't know why. I really don't. I'm not trying to be scary. Little kids sometimes are afraid of me. I don't know why. But I gotta work on it because again, I have to be, I have to bring everything into captivity, don't I?

I have to not need to be crabby or sour in my heart or even in that sense, in my appearance. Are we responsible friends for all of this? Are we really thinking about these things in our daily lives? Or is it just those things like the stars?

You're shooting across the universe and once in a while, one will stay for a second before you know it, it's gone and we're back chasing something else. As a man thinks in his heart, so he is. I hope we will all agree that these things that we're thinking about this morning, there's a lot for us to do yet, friends.

We could be theologically sound as could be and practically as wrong as could be. We really need grace. You young people, you need grace. You need grace more than you need to get out on your own. You need grace to get out on your own.

You need grace more than you need money. You need grace more than you need friends and let me add this and I say this to all of us. Be careful about the friends you choose because if they're thinking ungodly thoughts, they are going to impact your thoughts.

How many people will say I should have never listened to so and so or such and such? Stupid stuff on, what is that, TikTok stuff? Swallow a laundry pill and come on, you know what I'm talking about. People actually do that stuff until they bury somebody.

Whatever things are lovely. Then he says whatever things are of good report. Whatever things are of good report. In Ecclesiastes, it says that a good name is better than precious ointment and that's what it really, I believe that's what Paul's trying to say.

Whatever things are of good report. In other words, we ought to demonstrate, portray Christ-likeness. It doesn't mean we only can do this or do that. Look, I'm preaching, I don't have socks on. I hope that in some ways I demonstrate a good report.

The problem with us is we think in such terrible ways. We put everything in boxes and we imagine this has got to be this way and this has got to be that way. No, what it really means is that we have to be of good report.

People ought to see something in us that they don't have. You know how many wives have been used by God to convert their husbands because their husbands saw in them a good report? Or the other way around?

You know what I was thinking of? When the apostles, in the opening chapters of the book of Acts, you remember when the issue came up between the Hellenistic Jews and the Greek Jews and the ministration of the need for the widows and all that stuff that was going on.

You remember what the apostles said? They said they couldn't, weren't gonna leave the word of God in prayer. And they said, choose you out. Let me read it to you just exactly the way it says. Here's what it says.

Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom who we may appoint over this business. Whatever things are of good report. Friends, we ought to seek to display a good report.

We ought to associate with other people of good report. I'm just gonna go ahead and say what I think. Deacon, you know how many churches will raise up servants, deacons, even elders and pastors based on status of life rather than good report?

Well, he's a contractor. He'll make a great deacon. Oh, you just don't know how many gifts brother so-and-so has. He's got to be the pastor. Does it matter? They were to be men of godly character. Not anything else but character and the spirit of God.

Again, I just want to remind you over and over again. Remember what Paul says? He says evil company corrupts good morals. It does. You young people, find friends of good report. And if you can't find friends of good report, don't have any friends.

You're better off by yourself. You've got enough problems for your own soul. Why would I take somebody else's trash in? I'm sorry, kids. I'm really talking to the older people. We ought to be careful.

Just think about these things. Whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, look what he says. If there be any virtue, if there be anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. Thoughts count.

Actions count. The glory of God counts. The hymn that says count your many blessings, name them one by one. Maybe we ought to work on counting your thoughts one by one. Bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Listen, it'll radically alter us. Again, I wonder sometimes people, especially people that have been in the faith for a while. I'm a Christian. Yeah, yeah, we go to church, you know, we read a Bible. Hope of what?