What Will Be Your Thoughts When Your World Ends?
Dick Schell
Midland SDA Church
October 2, 2010
Scriptures: Prov. 4:23 - The emotional attachments you make determine the direction of your life.
Scripture: Matt. 6:21 - Whatever project you invest your money in will have your attention.
Scripture: Jeremiah 17:9 – Who can understand men’s hearts, devious, deceitful.
Scripture: Joel 2:13 - Tear your heart, not your clothes.
The head (mind) is the citadel (fort) of the person. From it are the issues of life and death. The NAACP has the saying “a mind is a terrible thing to waste”.
· The brain is the master organ in the body:
· Emotion-Fear-Anger-Hate-and Love all begin in the brain.
· It stores information from past experiences. From here we learn, remember and think.
· It selects and combines messages from the senses with memories and emotions to form our various thoughts and reactions.
An anonymous wit once declared:
“5% of the people think; 10% think they think; and 85% would rather die than think.”
A high % of people may not sink their intellectual teeth into anything very solid; they may prefer a kind of mental pabulum; but like it or not they must do some thinking.
Recent studies: seem to indicate that every impression made on the mind is retained, never to be wholly lost. Everything that we feed the mind becomes a permanent part of the real “us.”
All ideas should be screened: Sinful thoughts ejected at once, lest they take up permanent residence.
Let us not forget that is it is in the mind that a person entertains sin, becomes familiar with it, and finally develops a love for it.
We are what we think, not merely what we do. To live right we must think right.
We cannot become spiritual giants if we feed on a diet of ideas that are false, dishonest, unjust, impure, and unlovely. We can grow in grace only as we supply our souls with an enriched diet of inspired trust.
Let us aim to possess the mind of Christ. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”.
They are already thinking about the 100 year anniversary of the Titanic if you have been paying attention to the news.
But let’s go back to 1912, you are in Southampton England, you might be: newlyweds; emigrant, wealthy landowner; crew, captain, radio operator or world traveler.
You are preparing for the most wonderful experience or your life. You are going to take passage on a ship that has recently been christened and this will be it maiden voyage.
Days before the trip what would you be doing and thinking? Probably looking forward to a new world, new beginnings, adventure. I would guess few would be considering their eternal destinies. If you recall the boat was considered unsinkable.
A happy occasion – momentous – good-buys until we see you again.
Sailing out of the harbor with the wind in our faces and chills running up and down our spines, we congratulate ours selves for being one of the lucky ones to book passage on this memorable voyage.
Everything is going smoothly; sea is smooth, food is wonderful entertainment has been grand and so many people to meet and share experiences with. After a few days of excitement and the adrenalin slowing down we settle down to the routine of a transatlantic crossing.
To bed early tonight, we will be arriving in NY soon to waiting loved ones.
What was that shudder? Oh it must be nothing! A shop this size is unsinkable.
The captain(Smith) on the bridge also felt that shudder but he knows it means something ominous. He rushes below deck to find the boiler room being invaded by the sea.
There is much activity and consternation.
Up the stairs he heads to the room of the naval architect who designed this ship.
He states to the architect the circumstances. After giving a complete account of the ships condition. He asks the question? How do we stand? The reply: we are going down. How long do we have is next question? The answer: Maybe 2 hours.
What might have been the thoughts or words of the following people after the felt shudder?
· Captain – I have been lax.
· Naval Architect – I was negligent!
· 1st Officer – I must give of myself. Save people
· Card players in the lounge – Let’s continue to play
· Band Member – I need to continue to keep a feeling of hope. I will play until the end. Nearer My God To Thee – Imagine your thoughts racing as you stand on a listing deck. It is dark, The North Atlantic is cold, it is early spring. You are facing death!
· Wife – This is terribly inconvenient. I will not leave my husband.
· Emigrant – I want to live to see a better land. I must save myself.
Those terrible moments before the large ship plunged to its grave might be similar to our last moments. The sound of crying, anguish and for some breathing their last breath was mind terrifying.
The equivalent of 3 747’s crashing simultaneously was the fate of the Titanic and its occupants that cold night.
The hour is late! Our civilization has a rendezvous with destiny. Like the animals of the forest before a natural calamity, we have sensed it.
We have sniffed the odor of a global powder keg. And yet somehow life goes on as usual.
We are consumed with sports, fashion and trivia. We spend precious hours with our modern toys.
· Have you ever given thought what the people of Babylon were thinking and doing on that fateful night in 538 BC. Before the Persian soldiers moved in and captured the city.
· What might the people of Carthage been thinking and doing just before the Roman army moved in to ravage the place and butcher thousands.
· What were the people of Pompeii doing and thinking just before the red-hot volcanic lava made it deadly flow down into the city. Burying them forever.
· What were they doing and thinking in Armenia and Haiti just before the earthquake struck?
· And did you every wonder what the passengers on Pan Am flight 103 were thinking and doing just before that fatal bomb exploded.
· And finally what were the thoughts of the people trapped above the 76th floor of the World Trade Center on that terrible day on September 11, 2001. Especially the ones jumping. What were your thoughts when you witnessed this terrible tradegy?
The theologian Anselm speaks about our hearts (mind) being like a mill.
Every grinding which a certain Lord gave charge to his servant, enjoining that he should only grind in it his master’s grain and telling him that he must subsist on the produce.
But, that servant has an enemy who is always playing tricks on the mill. If unwatched, he throws in gravel to keep the stones from acting, or pitch to clog them, or dirt and chaff to mix with the meal.
If the servant is careful in tending the mill, there flows forth a beautiful flour, which is at once a service to his master and subsistence to himself.
But, if he plays truant and allows the enemy to tamper with his machinery, the bad out come tells the tale. His Lord is angry and he, himself is starved.
The mill ever grinding is the heart and mind. On the produce of this mill you and I must live. We must be careful what we put into this mill. “The mind, the soul, is built-up by that on which it feeds; and it is up to us what it shall be fed.” The watchful enemy who is always playing tricks on the mill is obviously Satan. He is ever seeking to tamper with the machinery and to throw in bad thoughts.
The mind was designed by God for better things, formed to serve Him perfectly. We have been dwelling upon foolish things, instead of eternal interests.
And those of us who give up the mind to be diverted with foolish stories, idle tales, have the imaginations fed, but the brilliancy of God’s work is eclipsed to us.
The mind is led directly away from God.
A moment of thoughtlessness, a single misstep triggered from past input – may turn the whole current of our lives in the wrong direction, and we may never know what causes our ruin until the sentence is pronounced: “Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.”
Daily thought, daily input, daily actions should help us to see what our reaction could be to a life and death situation.
It is a solemn thing to die, but a far more solemn thing to live. Every thought and work and deed of our lives will meet us again. What we make of ourselves in probationary time, must remain to all eternity.
Death brings dissolution to the body, but makes no change in characters; it only fixes them forever beyond all change.
Huxley in his book Brave New World predicted that modern technology would develop a compulsive addiction to worldly amusements and entertainment and this would atrophy serious thought and moral responsibility.
Post in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death contends that modern man has all but lost the ability to weigh arguments and form intelligent judgment based upon exposition, hypothesis and logic. The mass media has transformed science, education, journalism, politics and even religion into bite size amusement and performance.
In this culture children have difficulty learning right from wrong and that spells disaster for human survival on this planet. “I shot them because I wanted to see what it was like to kill someone.”
Research indicates that “use it or lose” applies to brain as well as body. New research show that continued mental challenges can lead to larger brains, healthier brain cells, and ever more efficient thinking.
People can continue to learn and modify their behavior throughout life. Dr. Warner K. Schale, a psychologist at Penn State University states it is very clear that in the absence of disease, those individuals who do not decline in their old age are typically individuals who have maintained a very high level of interactions with their environment.
Senility is not a part of the normal aging process. The work now going on points to the fact that in the healthy brain a significant number of nerve cells is not lost in many areas.
Dr. Kra of Yale University contends that behavior and memory changes observed in the elderly which in the past would have been dismissed as inevitable may often result from improper medication, depression, or other treatable conditions.
It’s very clear that you have to exercise your mind. You have to think about how you can make your life more stimulating
The mind should be disciplined that all of its powers will be symmetrically developed. Satan has a thousand ways of unsettling the minds of people.
We must set a watch upon our minds that they may not be allured by the enemy’s temptations.
Where are we mentally feeding (grazing) on these days?
· Soaps
· Movies with no consequences
· Words with no real depth and meaning
Or have we found good pasture and tall grass!
Satan knows to a great degree that the mind is affected by what upon it feeds.
The natural mind leans toward pleasure and self-gratification. It is Satan’s policy to fill the mind with a desire for worldly amusement, that there may be no time for the question, How is it with my soul? This must be asked before any life and death situation is faced.
Satan is constantly preparing inducements to attract minds from the solemn work of preparation for scenes just in the future. He doesn’t want us to ask. How is it with our soul? We just might get serious!
I wish to remind you that that the human mind is susceptible to the highest cultivation. Through study of God’s word your mental powers can be aroused to earnest activity. There can be an expansion and development of the faculties, and the mind will acquire power and efficiency.
Right thinking lies at the foundation of right actions.
We need to be impressed with the fact that all our powers of mind and body are a gift from God., to be preserved in the best possible condition for His service.
A judicious system of physical work should be combined with mental work, so that there can be a harmonious development of all the powers.
In order for us to have well-balanced minds, all the powers of the being should be called into use and development.
“As a man thinketh in his heart (mind), so is he.” We have a work to do to resist temptation.
If were not to fall prey to Satan’s devices we must guard the avenues of the soul and avoid reading, seeing, or hearing things that will suggest impure thoughts.
God requires the training of the mental faculties. He designs that His followers shall possess more intelligence and clearer discernment than people of the world.
Upon us lays the obligation of developing the intellect to its fullest capacity.
If we place ourselves under the control of the Holy Spirit, the more thoroughly the intellect will be cultivated, the more effectively it will be used in the service of God.
Kurion was a port city of 20,000 on the Mediterranean sea. It was July 21, 365 and the inhabitants had no warning that this would be their last day.
The fateful moment came just before dawn, an earthquake struck with lightning speed, and those who escaped the quake became victims of the tidal wave that followed.
Neither age, wealth, nor sex spared anyone in that doomed city. Would they have thought differently had they known that they would not live to see the light of another day?
A 28 year old man instinctively threw himself in the path of falling debris in a desperate attempt to shield his wife and 1/1/2 year old child. In spite of his gallantry, all three members of this young family died instantly. The young father who died trying to shield his wife and child was wearing a Christian ring on his finger.
Perhaps, he would have attempted to make some matters right with his neighbors, if he had known that July 20 was his last day.
Would the inhabitants have thought differently had they know that they would not see the light of another day?
We do not know anymore accurately when our last day will occur for us than those 4th century people. It should indelibly stamp upon our conscience the importance of living in a state of preparedness so that our day does not come upon us unawares.
Paul wrote in Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
We must ask God to give us a new direction to our thoughts, new ideas and impulses must not control us; new principles must be practiced; through Christ’s life and death we can receive a new conception of love.
Elsie Robinson was walking along the streets of San Francisco when she came to a corner where her favorite, happy Tony was selling flowers he loved. While she was trying to decide which flowers she wanted, she noticed that Tony was dampening his gardenias with a misty spray. She asked him why he was dampening the petals and leaves when the stems and roots were already in cool refreshing water.
Tony grinned his eyes widening in amazement that she seemed to know so little about the needs of flowers.
He said to her: “Why Miss Robinson, don’t you know, it’s not enough to feed just the roots and stems; the heart must be fed.”
Let us choose carefully what we feed these hearts of ours so that we may never have to wonder about the caliber of the issues of life that proceed from within. For if the heart is right, all will be right.
Francis Bacon wrote: “Reading maketh a full man.” By reading we fill the mind either with thoughts that are ennobling or thoughts that are degrading. Our characters are to a great extend molded by these ideas. Read the best,
There is not time for another kind.
There is a saying “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. The mind that is continually striving to rise to the height of intellectual greatness will find no time for cheap, foolish thoughts, which are the parent of evil actions.
In order to make life a success, the thoughts should be steadily fixed upon the object of life, and not left to wander off and b occupied with unimportant things or be satisfied with idle musing.
What are your idle musings? Money, pleasure, power.
Castle building depraves the mind.
“Caste down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
It’s hot in the desert (As always!)
· Lo on the horizon – Strangers – Good day!. You must come and abide with us.
· Sit a spell and enjoy the shade and a cool drink.
· Your strangers to this land aren’t you?
· You are on your way to where?
· To do what?
· To destroy it?
· Why would you want to do that?
· What power do you possess to do something like that?
· You know I have relatives there?
· Forgive me my Lord for not recognizing you!
· What is it going to take to change your mind?
· How about 50 good people?
· Maybe 40….30….20…..10
· Lot and his family should account for at least 10+
Fairest among the cities of the Jordan Valley was Sodom, set in a plain which was “as the garden of the Lord” in its fertility and beauty.
Here the luxuriant vegetation of the tropics flourished. Here was the home of the palm tree, the olive and the vine and flowers shed their fragrance throughout the year.
Rich harvest clothed the fields, and flocks and herds covered the encircling hills.
Art and commerce contributed to enrich the proud city of the plain.
The treasurers of the East adorned her palaces, and the caravans of the desert brought their stores of precious things supplying her marts of trade.
With little thought or labor, every want of life could be supplied, and the whole year seemed one round of festivity.
Their useless, idle life made them prey to Satan’s temptations, and they defaced the image of God, and they became satanic rather than Devine.
Idleness is the greatest curse that can fall upon man, for vice and crime follow in its train.
It enfeebles the mind, perverts the understanding, and debases the soul.
Satan lies in ambush, ready to destroy those who are unguarded. He is never more successful than when he comes to men in their idle hours.
In Sodom there was mirth and revelry, feasting and drunkenness. The vilest and most brutal passions were unrestrained. The people openly defied God and His law they delighted in deeds of violence.
Though they had before them the example of the antediluvian world, and knew how the wrath of God had been manifested in their destruction, yet they followed the same course of wickedness.
And now the last night of Sodom is approaching, already the clouds of vengeance cast their shadows over the city. But men perceive it not.
While angels drew near on their mission of destruction men were dreaming of prosperity and pleasure. The last day was like every other than had come and gone.
Evening fell upon a scene of liveliness and security. A landscape of unrivaled beauty was bathed in the rays of the declining sun. The coolness of eventide had called forth the inhabitants of the city, and the pleasure-seeking throngs were passing to and fro intent upon the enjoyment of the hour.
Lot went out to warn his children. He repeated the words of the angels, “Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.”
But he seems to them as one that mocked.
They laughed at what they called his superstitious fears. His daughters were influenced by their husbands. They were well off. They could see no evidence of danger. Everything was just as it had been.
They had great possessions, and they couldn’t believe it possible that beautiful Sodom could be destroyed.
The bright rays of the morning seemed to speak only prosperity and peace to the cities of the plain.
The stir of active life began in the streets; men were going their various ways, intent on the business or pleasures of the day.
The sons-in-law of Lot were making merry at the fears and warnings of the weak-minded old man.
Suddenly unexpectedly as would be thunder peal from an unclouded sky, the tempest broke.
The Lord rained brimstone and fire out of heaven upon the cities and the fruitful plain; its palaces and temples, costly dwellings, gardens and vineyards, and the gay pleasure-seeking throngs that only the night before had insulted the messengers of heaven.
All were consumed.
The flames that consumed the cities of the plain shed their warning light down even to our times
Are we in Sodom this morning and do not even know it? Is the fire ready to begin and are we like the sons-in-laws with our minds on our toys and lacking deeper thoughts.
This morning we need our hearts renewed by the grace of God and a burning-bush experience to reveal to us the true nature of our minds and the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit.
“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.”
Where are your thoughts today?
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