By John Thiel
Jesus was not elated by applause or censure from his enemies.
He was never elated by applause, nor dejected by censure or disappointment. Amid the greatest opposition and the most cruel treatment, He was still of good courage. But many who profess to be His followers have an anxious, troubled heart, because they are afraid to trust themselves with God. They do not make a complete surrender to Him; for they shrink from the consequences that such a surrender may involve. Unless they do make this surrender, they cannot find peace. {DA 330.3}
The following statement helps us to understand what Christ likeness is;
To be a Christian is to be Christlike, to possess humility and a meek and quiet spirit that will bear contradiction without being enraged or becoming insane. {2T 572.3}
Jesus did not become irate when he was opposed. Jesus remained peaceful with opposition and he was not elated, his spirit was not aroused to elation when he was applauded. That characteristic, a meek and quiet spirit will bear contradiction without becoming enraged or insane. As we focus on Jesus we have a wonderful gift and that is a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
What has God given us? Not fear, but power, love and a sound mind. Do you want a perfectly sound mind? Do you need it? Modern man is losing his mind. When I look around at humanity about me, I really am amazed at this time. People are losing their sanity. Just hearing on the news how people are looking for same sex marriage and passing laws. Isn’t that insanity? Passing laws so that people can marry within the same sex. As you see people with their modern ways dancing and their general behaviour in partying, its insanity. If their paths are crossed there is an insane reaction.
Today the world is mad: an insanity is upon men and women, and is hurrying them on to eternal ruin. Every species of indulgence prevails, and men have become so infatuated with vice that they will not listen to warnings or appeals. {Mar 108.1}
Here is the condition and we are in need of a sound mind. Society is in need of a sound mind. Let us examine what causes the mind to become distressed and unsound that people are like this. The world is mad. Why? What is happening? What is causing it?
You have not the elements of a contented spirit. You dwell upon your troubles; imaginary want and poverty far ahead stare you in the face; you feel afflicted, distressed, agonized; your brain seems on fire, your spirits depressed. You do not cherish love to God and gratitude of heart for all the blessings which your kind heavenly Father has bestowed upon you. You see only the discomforts of life. A worldly insanity shuts you in like heavy clouds of thick darkness. Satan exults over you because you will have misery when peace and happiness are at your command. {AH 112.1}
The insanity that comes exists from this source where people in their brain are trying to adjust their circumstances to meet their desires. Stress is the source of insanity. A worldly insanity. They dwell upon troubles, imaginary want, and poverty, they feel afflicted and distressed. They see only discomforts of life.
As you examine these points about dwelling upon troubles, imaginary want and poverty because of the future, what is the underlying condition of those statements? Isn’t it fear? Fear for the future? Fear of the troubles that are around me? Fear of poverty? Fear of not having enough? All this is fear. Fear indeed is stress.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
To escape fear, we do insane things. The best example of an insanity was when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and God who came to speak to them lovingly and kindly was someone they ran away from. They ran for their life. Notice what Adam answers God. Notice the insane thing they are doing;
Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
It was a pleasure to them to meet God in the cool of the evening. What did they do? They hid themselves.
Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?
3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.
Through sin, insanity takes place. The God who loves us we run away from. That is what people do. There was a very interesting thing as I was meditating and preparing this study. I was reading a very interesting example of insanity. Here was a man, a doctor, a physician. Notice what was written as an example of insanity.
We visited Dr. Lewis. . . . We think him near insanity. He has a house in which he has put two hundred and thirty thousand dollars and he is yet making improvements. We stepped into apparently a little bedroom, four by six, sat upon a nice sofa, and were hoisted by an elevator up four stories to Dr. Lewis’ room; and yet there were four stories above the doctor’s rooms. We could look all over Boston. The doctor has been engaged in business so long that he has a diseased brain. He told us frankly all about his condition. I think this statement of his case helped father. [She is writing to her children because Br White was overloaded] It certainly explained things to me I had not before understood-Letter 15, 1871. (To Edson and Emma White, November 15, 1871.) {5MR 397.1}
Back there in 1871, how much was $230,000? Today, $230,000 is quite a bit. In today’s terms its 23 million dollars. This person, a doctor, had spent $230,000 and was still not happy and was still making improvements. Here is an example of insanity. If this man was spending all that money embellishing his house, look at people today, they are spending like that today. Look at the people of Hollywood, they spend much on clothes. We live in an insane world but God has given us a sound mind in the gospel. People look upon religion and claim religion makes people insane.
Satan is the originator of disease; and the physician is warring against his work and power. Sickness of the mind prevails everywhere. Nine tenths of the diseases from which men suffer have their foundation here. Perhaps some living home trouble is, like a canker, eating to the very soul and weakening the life forces. Remorse for sin sometimes undermines the constitution and unbalances the mind. There are erroneous doctrines also, as that of an eternally burning hell and the endless torment of the wicked, that, by giving exaggerated and distorted views of the character of God, have produced the same result upon sensitive minds. Infidels have made the most of these unfortunate cases, attributing insanity to religion; but this is a gross libel and one which they will not be pleased to meet by and by. The religion of Christ, so far from being the cause of insanity, is one of its most effectual remedies; for it is a potent soother of the nerves. {5T 443.4}
The religion of Christ is one of the most effectual remedies for insanity. It is a potent soother. A potent soother. Potent means very powerful. It soothes the brain nerves. Let us look at it again. As you look at Jesus you see him the son of God taking our place and removing all guilt from us. What a soothing thing that already is. Whenever you see how faulty you are and anxious about yourself, we are not to be anxious about what God thinks of us but what God thinks of Christ our substitute. Doesn’t that soothe your fearful mind? When you look at yourself and see your frailties and others and the world and you worry about yourself and are anxious about yourself, don’t worry about what the world, or God thinks of you, understand what God thinks of Christ your substitute. Remember, for God so loved the world, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If God and Jesus is so much for us,
Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God [be] for us, who [can be] against us?
8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? [It is] God that justifieth.
8:34 Who [is] he that condemneth? [It is] Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Is God for Jesus? Then I’m not to be anxious about what God thinks of me but of what God thinks of Christ. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
Romans 8:1 [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Isn’t it tremendous to go through life without any sense of condemnation? Can we do it? Do we have a sound mind? He has come to give us a sound mind. When Adam ran away from God, he demonstrated his love to them and gave them hope. Fear has torment. As you contemplate the amazing love of God, it drives away insanity.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
If stress, fear, trouble mindedness, fear of the future, the imaginary want, the feeling of fear, distress, the discomforts of life, if all these things trouble your soul. Release yourself and embrace the wonderful love of God. God is in control, he is on the throne and he thinks highly of Jesus who is my substitute. Because the love that we contemplate in the beauty of Jesus is so soothing, what should you do with your troubled thoughts? Do you have troubled thoughts? Don’t we all sometimes have troubled thoughts?
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
What sort of a mind did he have? He had a sound mind. He was perfectly in tranquillity of thoughts. He cast himself upon Gods mercy, let this mind be in you. Let it.
Let us, then, take our minds off the perplexities and the difficulties of this life and fix them on Him, that by beholding we may be changed into His likeness. . . . {HP 166.5}
What must I do with my mind? As my mind is affected by my perplexing surroundings, what must I do? Take my mind off the perplexities and the difficulties and fix my mind upon Christ. Let the mind of Christ be in you. Let it. It is a deliberation of mind. How does this actually work? How do I do this? I take my mind off the perplexities. How do I do it?
Philippians 4:8 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.
That is what you do. As thoughts come up within you that are troublesome, is that something of good report? No. If there are some horrible things happening around you, some corruptions, is that pure thoughts to think about?
If there is something happening in the home that is not pure or lovely, should I think about that? As you go through this verse you can see that there is some deliberation that involves letting this mind in you which is in Christ Jesus. It is to place my mind into thought activities that fit into that frame of verse 8. If there is anything that doesn’t fit into that frame, I dismiss it. It will give me insanity.
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
You will keep your mind, you won’t lose it. As you focus your mind on Jesus, there is only beautiful things to think about there. You will discard all the thoughts and perplexities around you. This will give you sanity. Of all the sources of insanity will not be yours any longer.
The power of right thought is more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir. . . . We need to place a high value upon the right control of our thoughts, for such control prepares the mind and soul to labor harmoniously for the Master. It is necessary for our peace and happiness in this life that our thoughts center in Christ. As a man thinketh, so is he. Our improvement in moral purity depends on right thinking and right acting. . . . Evil thoughts destroy the soul. The converting power of God changes the heart, refining and purifying the thoughts. Unless a determined effort is made to keep the thoughts centered on Christ, grace cannot reveal itself in the life. The mind must engage in the spiritual warfare. Every thought must be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. All the habits must be brought under God’s control. {HP 164.3}
Ophir was a very precious gold in the middle east. Look at the detail of Christ so every time a thought comes in that doesn’t fit into the tranquillity of Jesus Christ it is discarded. We can say I love Jesus all we like but if my thoughts are not centered in that which I possess then grace cannot reveal itself in the life.
We need a constant sense of the ennobling power of pure thoughts and the damaging influence of evil thoughts. Let us place our thoughts upon holy things. Let them be pure and true, for the only security for any soul is right thinking. We are to use every means that God has placed within our reach for the government and cultivation of our thoughts. We are to bring our minds into harmony with His mind. His truth will sanctify us, body and soul and spirit, and we shall be enabled to rise above temptation. {HP 164.4}
As soon as an evil thought comes in, a thought of fear or stress, it is a sense in you that must immediately see it as foreign. What are you thinking? At the moment, you are probably thinking about what you are hearing, but when you go home, and go back to your daily activity, what are you thinking? When fear, stress and anxiety is upon you, things we have just studied need to be put into action. May God grant you to make this the sense of our life that my thoughts are going to be of the sound mind that has been given to me in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
