Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, said he to you; but his heart is not with you. I. THE INFINITE IMPORTANCE OF MEN'S THOUGHTS. This text, in counselling for a particular case, and bidding us test the sincerity of one who invites us, asserts a principle of wide application. You do not know a man until you know his thoughts. God knows him perfectly, because He knows his thoughts. 1. You cannot know a man merely by listening to his words or watching his actions. There is always more, and often better, in men than comes into expression. 2. The revelations of close and trustful friendships are revelations of the thoughts. 3. The claims of God reach beyond right action, and demand right thought. The law of God searches the secret intents of the heart. 4. The redemption that is provided includes in its scheme the sanctification of the very thought. 5. All sin is represented as springing up out of, and finding expression for, lust in the sphere of thought. Show, by appeal to Christian experience, the difficulty found in the restraining of thought. In the unrestrainedness of thought often comes to us the feeling and the mastery of sin. II. THE AMOUNT OF CONTROL MAN HAS OVER HIS THOUGHTS. If he had no control over them his moral responsibility would be gone. We cannot help the evil thoughts coming to us. We have control — 1. Over the material of our thoughts. The materials are the sum of past impressions. Thinking is the combining, comparing, and rearranging of the actual contents of the mind. We can direct ourselves away from the evil and towards the good. We can fill our minds with good suggestions and associations. Illustrate from going into scenes suggestive of vice; reading questionable or immoral books, etc. 2. Over the processes of thought. There may be the nourishing of the evil. There may be the swaying of the mind through the power of the renewed will, and with the help of the indwelling Spirit. Apply to wandering thoughts in the house of God. Do we make the mastery of such evil the subject of real effort? III. THE HELP GOD RENDERS MAN IN THE EXERCISE OF SUCH CONTROL. An attempt to regulate thoughts will bring the conviction of human helplessness. When a man has mastered conduct he cannot say that he has mastered himself. When he thinks he has mastered "thoughts" he will surely find that he needs to cry unto God, saying, "Try me and know my thoughts... and lead me in the way everlasting." (Robert Tuck, B.A.) Parallel Verses KJV: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. |
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