The importance of right-thinking is talked about in the Bible. Study together the following passages:
“as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”he honors me with his lips; but his heart is not with Me.” Proverbs 23:7. It has been said that “we may not be everything we think we are; but what we think, we are!” A wise man once said; “a man is what he thinks about all day long.” It is often been heard in the same fashion when men say: “you are what you eat.” The Bible says, “you are what you think.”
“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matthew 12:35 The word heart, in this passage, means mind. The good man is able to bring forth good things because he has a good treasure, that is a right-thinking mind. The evil man brings forth evil things because he has an evil treasure, that is a wrong thinking mind. All our actions have as their origin, the thoughts of our mind. If we think right, we do right: if we think wrong we do wrong.
Paul writes:” let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that he may know how you ought to answer each one.” Colossians 4:6 Through the years we’ve heard many fine messages concerning the purity of speech, morally and doctrinally. There was a time, it seems, when brethren had far more concern with their manner of speech: concerned that there be no uncertain sound given in their messages—then we find today. In our time, a man can think the most foolish, divisive and unscriptural statements, greatly damaging to the truth, and of the kingdom, and if someone dares speak against him, there is a great rush to defend the person whom they think is “picked on.” Sound men are called mean, vicious and judgmental in daring to rebuke such dangerous speech. The question is never asked from whence or by what authority did their message emanate?
Often times, we are hearing and reading pure sectarianism from our pulpits and in our papers. Some of our preachers and teachers are not sound enough in the faith to study from those who were members of the body of Christ before them. They run great links to read from sectarian volumes, from men who never found out enough about Christ to become a Christian or a child of God, and are yet quoted as authority. There is no question that there is wisdom in men who are not Christians but in following the sacred book it would seem wise and sound to at least have the record of a man’s obedience to the gospel if you put such trust in his exegesis of a verse of Scripture!! We need to pour over the Divine Volume to find out what God said on a given subject, and less concerned about what Doctor ? has taught or said. May we be anxious to fill our sermons with citations from the Bible, and be content with biblical language instead of bending over backward to try to quote someone who is not even a member of the body of Christ. We need to speak simply New Testament lingo, as Paul wrote Titus: “sound speech, that cannot be condemned.” Titus 2:8 Those who try to be novel and shocking to the brethren, need to labor to see how true they can be to the Bible, and how scriptural they can be in the use of terminology and expression.
Sympathy will not replace truth. If a man enters the pulpit and uses language, teaches doctrine that is not found in the Scriptures the word of God, he needs far more than sympathy, he needs loving instruction. Sympathy for these brethren will not help them. They entered the pulpit intending to say what they said, and there is no excuse for coming forth with uncertain sounds. The idea of allowing people to do wrong because you feel sorry for them is not a tenant of New Testament doctrine but a present context of liberalism that denies the truth of the word of God!
