September - October 1999 The Sabbath Sentinel
Becoming Fervent In Thought Control
by Ernest P. Bergmann
Verse 5 of 2 Corinthians 10 captured my attention. It tells us
to bring into captivity every thought. What a challenge! My
first question was, HOW? How can I react quickly enough to my
thoughts to preclude them from becoming words? There are many
dynamic situations in which we have no time to reflect on each
thought and edit the evil ones.
Clearly, withholding troublesome thoughts is one meaning of this
verse, but another meaning is plausible. In a more leisurely
pace, we can capture each thought in the Bible and apply it, in
effect, internalizing it.
Upon further reflection both viewpoints are indeed applicable.
Let us examine the text and try to capture some if its meaning.
Verse 1
"Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but
being absent am bold toward you:"
Paul needed to awaken the Corinthians to Christ. They seemed to
think Paul had two personalities; one when he spoke and one when
he wrote. Apparently Paul was meek in person, but his writing
was bold. Many can think more boldly with a pen in hand than
verbally, on the spur of the moment.
Verse 2
"But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am
present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold
against some, which think of us as if we walked according to
the flesh."
Paul's position as an Apostle was in dispute in certain
churches. He had not accompanied Christ during Christ's earthly
ministry. Paul's teachings were hard to take if one didn't
understand the spiritual basis for them. Paul's spirituality
was not seen by all. There were some who thought Paul's
theology was too worldly. Not legalistic enough. For some, his
theology was not philosophical enough; Plato would have
presented a loftier teaching.
Often a wrong image is captured about a godly person. We expect
teachers and preachers to act in certain ways. When they don't,
it makes us uneasy with their message. Paul's words take some
getting used to. At times, relating how God works in us can be
seen as bragging. Paul tended to tell the listener to act as he
acts and believe as he believed. To some it was a prideful
attitude, even though Paul was meek. Humility can be seen as
covered pride. That wasn't the case for Paul. He was giving
his best imitation of how Christ acted. Often we think all
Christians have the same failings as we, and many do, to some
degree. But that doesn't mean we can give up on improving.
Christian maturity is a goal seldom reached.
Verse 3
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the
flesh:"
Wouldn't it be nice to always be totally under God's control and
always walk in the spirit. But, we all walk in the flesh at
times. It is a constant problem to a struggling Christian. We,
as was Paul, are continually in a conflict. It was not physical
warfare. It is a spiritual war. Think of Job and his conflict
with Satan. Job didn't know his adversary. He didn't even know
the rules of engagement. He tried to fight God, his friends and
his wife. He wasn't strong enough to walk in the spirit. He
wasn't trained enough. Few are.
Verse 4
"(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)"
Fighting a spiritual war is not "natural." The weapons
are peculiar. The battle is uneven. We cannot hope to win the
war without help. We allow Satan to build strong holds in our
lives, which cause conflicts within us, within our family and
with God. Our weapons must be spiritual. They must be mighty
because Satan is mighty. We can't fight Satan alone. If we
try, we will lose. Look at Job. He was a righteous man. He
lost.
Verse 5
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"
Paul tells us how to fight Satan. We have the armor of God. We
also have challenges. Paul tells us to cast down all
"imaginations." We are to get rid of all untruth. It
sounds easy, but it isn't. There are hundreds of books written
expounding "truth." Few actually do. We are too human
and "imagine" what the word of God says. In my old
age, I still didn't know the "truth" because it's
depth and breadth are too deep for my human understanding.
Often, we are too steeped in man-made doctrine. Regularly, we
do not rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us to truth and teach us
its details.
If we know part of the truth, and continue to seek it, we can go
to the next step: capture every thought. What does the word of
God really speak to us? We are to examine it. Meditate on it.
Let the word become part of us. The Holy Spirit is a great
teacher. When I used to write sermons I was often stuck on an
idea expressed in the Scripture. It froze the writing until I
could "capture" the concept, understand the idea, see
how it opened up the Scripture, and be able to express it in a
way that was understandable. Then, and only then, could I
finish the sermon.
Meditation takes time. It requires concentration and a
"soaking in" period. It is difficult to
"bring each thought to the obedience of
Christ."
The Old Testament gave us laws. Christ gave us God's
principles. If we see the principles we can apply God's laws to
every situation we will encounter, but, we have to let our
spirit be controlled by God's Spirit. It isn't easy. It isn't
continuous. Still, when it works it is marvelous to behold.
Each day and evening we should ponder what God's Spirit has
revealed to us. Compare each thought to Christ's standards, and
principles, coupled with humility, mercy & grace. Keep the
godly thoughts. Learn to live them. And ask God to get rid of
Satan's strongholds.
Verse 6
"And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience,
when your obedience is fulfilled."
We must learn to get rid of all disobedience to God's word. We
need to learn our weakness. We know them, but we must face and
overcome each one. Let God help. He does not work on our
strength. He turns our weakness into strength.We must learn to
not react to evil thoughts. Learn to see evil situations
developing, and learn to not react to them. Nobody said it was
easy. Every rosebush has thorns. Learn to perceive God's roses
gently, carefully, and completely.
TSS
September - October 1999 The Sabbath Sentinel
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