A Sound Mind

By John Thiel, mp3

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.

God has given us not fear but the opposite to fear is a sound mind because we recall that fear hath torment.  Our mind is not sound when it is tormented.  We have an enemy of souls Satan himself who comes to torment our mind with all kinds of torment. What is an unsound mind?  A mind that is tormented. That is an unsound mind.  What can it be tormented by?  Behind all unsound minds there is the troubling of the soul by Satan. He begins to possess our thoughts and begins to stir our thoughts with something or another.

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.  {5T 443.4}

Ninety percent of physical disease comes from the sickness of the mind from the torment of the mind.  This statement is very true.  Allot of people don’t want to know it.  Allot of diseases we suffer come from the torment of the mind.  What is it?

Perhaps some living home trouble is, like a canker, eating to the very soul and weakening the life forces.  {5T 443.4}

A home trouble that occupies the mind.  Some kind of troubling fear that occupies the mind is a canker.  There is an unsound mind.

Remorse for sin sometimes undermines the constitution and unbalances the mind.  {5T 443.4}

What is it?  Remorse for sin.  If remorse for sin is not alleviated it finally drives a person really out of control.  Then comes;

There are erroneous doctrines also, as that of an eternally burning hell and the endless torment of the wicked, {5T 443.4}

There are people that are tormented with fear because when they see themself sinful and when they can’t remove the remorse for sin they feel they are going to be burning in hell for the rest of eternity and that drives them insane.  That together with all the other influences that cause your mind to row around, trouble mindedness. Another thing I read that creates unsound mindedness.

Let no thought of criticism enter your mind, to torment you.  {UL 38.5}

What torments your mind?  Thoughts of criticism.  Have you got something to criticise about someone else? That torments the mind.

Let no thought of criticism enter your mind, to torment you, for Satan is near. He will do this work without your help. Refuse to cooperate with the accuser of the brethren. Gather.  {UL 38.5}

What is it that will torment your mind and make an unsound mind?  Criticism which Satan stirs as he is the accuser of the brethren.  He continually tries and comes to get our minds occupied with the criticism of someone else.  That is something we must permit to torment our mind. God has not given us those things he has given us a sound mind.  The question comes, if he has given that to us, how did he give it to us?  How did he actually give it?  Why have I not got it if he’s given it to me?  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.  He has given it to us.  He has given to this planet a sound mind.  Where is it?  It is the mind of Jesus that he connected with our sinful flesh when he became a human being.  When Jesus came, he gave to the human race a sound mind, the mind of Jesus.  How is it then that that mind can truly be transferred to me? It said, let it.

That means it doesn’t have to be part of you if you don’t let it, you can block it. It’s there but you can block the sound mind.  So the scripture says let this mind. We have a wonderful illustration of that in the story of the demoniac.  Recall the demoniac that was listening in the congregation to Jesus preaching about the release he would give to the captives. As this demoniac which was a mental case, was stirred by Satan thoughts, as he heard, he wanted release and as he went forth to get help but the devil spoke in his place. This man wanted the sound mind that he could hear was coming from Jesus.  How did the demoniac come in possession of it? How was it that the demoniac received the possession of a sound mind?  As Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to leave him, the people now make this statement;

Luke 4:36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word [is] this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

You recall we had read different bible texts that the people were amazed that when Jesus spoke the word, it was not like the Pharisees it was with power.  Here they were saying what sort of a word is this that when he proclaims the word, it has power and so this demoniac under the power of the word of Jesus Christ gained his sound mind.  That is how.

The religion of Christ means much more than the forgiveness of sin. It means taking away our sins and filling the vacuum with the Holy Spirit. {UL 38.3}

Those who have remorse for sin, through the religion of Christ, that remorse can be removed and the vacuum filled with the holy spirit.  How?

It means divine illumination, rejoicing in God. It means a heart emptied of self, and blessed with the abiding presence of Christ. We need the vital qualities of Christianity, and when we possess them, the church will be a living, active, working church. There will be growth in grace, because the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness pervade the chambers of the mind.  {UL 38.3}

It is the word of Jesus, Christianity, the gospel that as it is been heard, there is a ray of light as it came to the demoniac and he came forward really crying for help and although the devil spoke through him, Jesus knew the cry of the soul.  Each one of us with the deep seated yearning in our thoughts and heart, as we hear the word of God, we are to come forth like the demoniac and place ourselves weak and helpless as we are, and let the command and authority of Gods word penetrate because the bright rays of the son of righteousness pervade the chambers of the mind. Every man is free to choose what power he will have to rule over him.

Those who will consent to enter into covenant relation with the God of heaven are not left to the power of Satan or to the infirmity of their own nature.  {DA 258.6}

Do you have an infirm nature?  Do you have trouble keeping your thoughts under control?  Do you have guilt feelings that trouble and torment you?  Do you have difficulties in conquering your sinful habits?  Then there is only one way by which the power of God can release you. It is for me or you to choose to open the heart to that power and authority. When Jesus spoke, his word of authority released that man.  in the exact same fashion will our minds be released from torment?  When we submit to the authority of the expressions of Jesus Christ.  Whatever they are.  When self is laid aside because self is always the blockage that will not obey the authorities.  When we obey the authority, we will have peace.  We have to make a choice which authority I’m going to obey.  If self is there, it is the authority of Satan.  If Jesus word is there, then I will submit to that authority.  The internal conflict will cease, there will be no more torment.

The means by which we can overcome the wicked one is that by which Christ overcame,–the power of the word.  {DA 258.5}

Do you have some troubled thoughts sometimes?  Remember Gethsemane?  Why did he have trouble walking straight?  The disciples had to hold him up as he was walking towards the internal garden.  It was in the realm of his thoughts that all the sins of the people that were laid on him were troubling him.  He said let this cup pass from me.  What helped him out of this trouble mindedness?

The means by which we can overcome the wicked one is that by which Christ overcame,–the power of the word.  {DA 258.5}

It’s the power and authority of the word that commands our thoughts if we will let it happen.

God does not control our minds without our consent; {DA 258.5}

I must consent and then God will control my mind.  If I don’t consent, if I still hold onto my thoughts then God cannot control my mind. The reason why we have long periods of trouble in our mind you will discover every time, if I have trouble mindedness, I am not letting God take control of my mind.  Simple as that.  The moment I say here I go again forgive me, he controls my mind and there is peace.  He is always waiting for our consent and cooperation with him.  The moment I am occupied with my own self as to what I think and trouble comes,

I must immediately say sorry Lord, here I go again, sorry Lord, you take over. As we read let not criticism enter as Satan is near.  He will come along and turn your mind to this or that wrong, discomfort.  He is right there and if you permit it, he will come along and stir as he forces himself on us.  We are to let not, resist the devil and he will flee.  Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. The authority and power of Gods word is more powerful than Satan. When the demoniac came forth Satan didn’t want to let go but the command is get out of there and Satan had to go. So it is with every single one of us.

God does not control our minds without our consent; but if we desire to know and to do His will, His promises are ours: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” “If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching.” John 8:32; 7:17, R. V. Through faith in these promises, every man may be delivered from the snares of error and the control of sin.  {DA 258.5}

What a wonderful hope.  What a precious comfort this is to my soul.  As we were singing in the hymn, dear Lord and father of mankind, reclothe us in our rightful mind, if we pray that prayer and permit Jesus to come into my heart, as it goes onto say, drop thy still dews of quietness till all our strivings cease.  Take from our souls the strain and stress and let our ordered lives confess the beautify of our peace. If that prayer is uttered from the depths of my being and I seek to obey Gods command and authority, then it will happen.

Those who take Christ at His word, and surrender their souls to His keeping, their lives to His ordering, will find peace {DA 331.2}

He will not force himself upon you, he will not control you.  But if you take him at his word and surrender and let go of self, surrender means I am yours, totally with nothing there anymore.

…surrender their souls to His keeping, their lives to His ordering {DA 331.2}

If it goes contrary to what I really had set my heart on, then surrender and I will be free of my troubled mind.  I have seen this time and time again if I stuck to what I wanted, I was troubled because it wasn’t happening as I wanted it and I created allot of trouble to others around me because I manipulated and forced my opinion and it created trouble in my fellow beings and trouble in me.  But when I let go and surrendered myself to whatever happens without saying I don’t want this, there is peace. We have to understand this principle as we head on to the end of the world because we would like to see things comfortable to ourselves.  As we get closer and closer to the end, everything that we have depended upon for peace of mind and comfort is going to be ripped about us and we won’t have external peace of mind.

If I don’t learn now how to submit myself to the authority of Gods word to say peace be still as he spoke to the troubled sea, if I say how can I be peaceful when all this trouble is going on around me, no, submit, surrender.  If I get tossed about by the trouble around me, doesn’t matter, it is true, I know it by experience, when that is done, it doesn’t matter what others are doing around me.  If they fall off the cliff after I told them not to, I am comforted by the Lord. This is what the Lord is saying only with your eyes you will see the reward of the wicked.  As you see this, are you going to church up inside of yourself?  Children being destroyed, and people suffering and our minds are troubled, it says only with your eyes you will see it.  It is possible for us to have perfect peace of mind in the midst of absolute chaos if we practise what Gods word says.  We don’t have to go into any criticism.

Nothing of the world can make them sad {DA 331.2}

That includes the loss of a loved one, it includes everything that this world is causing you trouble with today.

Nothing of the world can make them sad when Jesus makes them glad by His presence. In perfect acquiescence there is perfect rest. {DA 331.2}

Do you know what acquiescence means?  It’s a beautiful word of perfect harmony, surrender, giving over, and totally letting God have his way with me and in tune with what he wants and not what I want.  In that perfect acquiescence there is perfect rest.

The Lord says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.” Isaiah 26:3.  {DA 331.2}

God will keep our mind, a sound mind, as we are so acquiesced to him that we trust in him no matter what is going on around.

Our lives may seem a tangle; but as we commit ourselves to the wise Master Worker, He will bring out the pattern of life and character that will be to His own glory. And that character which expresses the glory–character–of Christ will be received into the Paradise of God. A renovated race shall walk with Him in white, for they are worthy.  {DA 331.2}

They have come to perfect acquiescence, they have come to perfect rest in submitting entirely all of self and letting God and his authority have full control.  Let him control.  He will not force himself or control me by fear, you do as I say, he won’t do that. In the kingdom of heaven there is no force, it is all love that we are called upon to respond to. These are the rays that come into the chambers of the mind that release us from a unsound mind.

As Gods children, it is our privilege ever to look up, keeping the eye of faith fixed on Christ. As we constantly keep Him in view, the sunshine of His presence floods the chambers of the mind. {FLB 248.4}

If ever you are in troubled mindedness, in that state, his presence is not flooding the chambers of your mind.  If his presence is flooding the chambers of the mind, there is perfect peace, therefore it’s not happening.  You must say oh Lord I want your mind.

The light of Christ in the soul-temple brings peace. The soul is stayed on God. All perplexities and anxieties are committed to Jesus. .  {FLB 248.4}

These perplexities are from an unsound mind.  They are released.  Commit it to Jesus

As we continue to behold Him, His image becomes engraved on the heart, and is revealed in the daily life. . . .  {FLB 248.4}

At the end of all this meditation, there is one conclusion to take, the authority of Jesus in my life.  He will not force to be under his authority, he will not force me to control my mind.  If I consent and let go of my struggle and stop trying to work things out, Aah perfect peace because I have committed myself and all my anxieties and perplexities to him who I know has authority over the devil and over all the circumstances around me. If he is permitting all these circumstances to take place, he has a plan, to finally destroy them.  We know in all the prophecy studies we have studied, it is going to happen in the end.  When you read Psalm 78, David was troubled until he went into the sanctuary and then he saw the end of all those so let it happen.  Don’t try and solve it out in your own self minded way.  Obey the command as the demoniac did and he was released and so will you be. We are not left to the power of Satan or the infirmity of our own nature.

Amen.