Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 12:5-6 (You Are What You Think) (Part 45)

Please turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Proverbs, the 12th chapter, where we'll read as our text verses 5, 6 and 20 and consider the subject, you are what you think. Proverbs 12, 5, 6, 20. Hear now God's word. The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the counsels of the wicked are deceit. The words of the wicked are lying in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them. In verse 20, deceit is in the heart of them that devise evil. But to the counselors of peace is joy, and thus far the reading of God's holy word. You are what you think. That's what the sermon title says. But I'm afraid that the title's a little ambiguous. They can be taken in at least two ways and they're really quite different from one another. You know, the title of the sermon could mean you are what you think you are. You are what you think of yourself, you are what you think you are. And I'm afraid that many people indulge in just that conceit. Many people without thought and without honesty and without good self examination really believe that they are what they think of themselves. They are what they think they are. And in fact, many seductive religious groups not only engage in that kind of thinking, but promote that kind of thinking as a program for success in life. They actually promote the idea. If you will visualize just the right things or think of yourself in a certain way, or if you have a positive mental attitude and on and on and on, then you will be those very things that you want to be. And so on the one hand, we have people who just mindlessly, thoughtlessly believe about themselves whatever they think that they are. And then we have religious groups that say, yeah, go ahead, think something about yourself. It'll become true if you do that. But I'm afraid this is not at all what the Bible teaches. Not at all what the Bible teaches. You are not necessarily what you think you are. And I'd like to go through a series of texts with you this morning to make that point very vivid. In the book of Proverbs, if you look at chapter 20, verse 6, you notice that the wisdom of God teaches us most men will proclaim every one his own kindness. But a faithful man who can find the book of Proverbs is very down to earth. It says most men think of themselves as goodly people. Most people think they are infused with goodwill, that they are interested in the welfare of others, that they are tender hearted and kind, courteous and polite. Most people think of themselves that way and will actually say, well, I think I meant well. And yet the rhetorical question that follows really puts the lie to that one and says, but who can really find a faithful man? It's easy to say, not nearly as easy to do. Proverbs 25:14. As clouds and wind without rain, so is he that boasteth himself of his gifts falsely. In the ancient desert community of Israel, there in the land of Palestine, it was a real letdown when the billowing clouds would come in, or when you would feel the afternoon winds, but then no rain would follow to take away the scorching heat and to supply the nourishment of your crops. And here the book of Proverbs likens a man who boasts of his gifts falsely to that kind of thing. As wind without rain, as clouds without rain, as someone who's just puffed up, but there's nothing really there. You aren't necessarily what you think you are. Proverbs 30:12. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their own filthiness. The word for filthiness here is a really despicable one. They are polluted, and yet in their own eyes they are what? Pure. And they would protest their purity, they would defend and vindicate their purity, they would aloud speak of how pure they are. And yet in God's eyes they are filthy, unclean and polluted sinners. Now, the Bible does not teach that you are what you think you are. In fact, the Bible has a lot to say about self deception, about thinking something of yourself. That is not only flattering and untrue, but is very misleading, very deceitful. Turn to Luke, the 18th chapter in the New Testament, the story of our Lord Jesus Christ, the publican and the sinner. Luke 18:9. The story commences. He spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and set everyone else at naught. I mean, so we know immediately what this is going to be about, about those who have a certain self conception that they are righteous. Are you what you think you are? Let's read on. Two men, he says, went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee, of course, was a religious leader. The Pharisee was meticulous in his observance of the law and the traditions of the elders, or so it was thought. The Pharisee stood up and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, Extortioners, unjust adulterers. And even as this publican, I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I get. But the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus concludes, I say unto you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled, but he that humbles himself shall be exalted. Are you what you think you are? Well, this publican knew what he was and he said, God, be merciful to me. But the Pharisee, was he what he thought he was? No, he wasn't. He thought that he was right with God. He thought that God was probably to be very happy that this Pharisee followed after the ways of the elders. This Pharisee prided himself in the things that he did, his religious accomplishments. He thought of himself as a good man. And Jesus says, he is not justified. He is self righteous and he is deluded. In Revelation the third chapter, verse 17, you will see some very devastating words that Jesus speaks through the apostle John to the church at Laodicea. We tend to think of the church of Laodicea because of that famous remark in verse 16 here, that you're neither hot nor cold. And because you're lukewarm, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth. But in verse 17, I want you to notice an equally devastating judgment on that church because you say, I am rich and have gotten riches and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I counsel you. And Jesus goes on with the exhortation in the way of repentance and restoration. But you notice what it is he has against this church because this church thinks it's just great. This church thinks it's rich, it's gotten wealthy. That's the self conception. Are you what you think you are? Jesus says, don't you know you're wretched and you're blind and you're naked and you're poor. The Bible does not encourage us to think what these many seductive cultic groups are telling us, that if we just think certain things, it's got to be true. The Bible does not encourage us to be lackadaisical in our self conceptions, but rather bids us to examine ourselves, to see what we truly are made of, what kind of people we really are. 2 Corinthians 10:18. Paul says, for not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. It's much more important what God thinks of you than what you think of yourself. In fact, in James 1:26 we read of those who think that they are very religious people. James 1:26. James says, however, if any man thinks himself to be religious, while he doesn't bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart. And this man's religion is vain, pure religion and undefiled before God and our Father. Is this to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keep oneself unspotted from the world. Talk means nothing, action means a lot. And if a man thinks that he is religious, but he doesn't know how to take care of his mouth, and there are other examples that could be given, but James is dealing with that one here. If he doesn't live a religious life, then he deceives himself. James says in Galatians 6:3. To take one more example, the apostle Paul echoes the words of James when he says, for if a man thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. The Bible speaks quite openly and illustrates quite frequently this spiritual malaise of self deception. Jeremiah the prophet put it well when he said, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The rhetorical question is, who could possibly really know his own heart because it is so deceitful it lies to you, it is so desperately wicked and yet thinks it is so clean that when you think about yourself, you cannot trust the conclusions you draw. Your judgments about yourself are unreliable because your heart is dirty. Your heart is filthy, polluted and bent and depraved. So the Bible does not encourage us in any way whatsoever to believe that we are what we think we are. You see, we just have to reckon with that horrible reality that we deceive ourselves. Deception by the self, of the self and for the sake of the self. See, we don't often see ourselves as we really are. That's a hard thing to swallow. And I think part of growing up and becoming mature has a lot to do with getting to the place where you realize you are not what you think and getting beyond the childish, self centered ways of thinking that allows ourselves to think, well, what I did was all right because I thought it was all right or I was motivated correctly so I don't care what people think of me. See, we don't often see ourselves the way people around us see ourselves the way a room full of people who knew us well would see us. We don't often do that. And more importantly, we don't see ourselves the way God himself looks upon us. Friends, we need to develop the healthy habit of checking ourselves against the impression we have given to others. That isn't to say, you need to go to your biggest enemy and say, what do you think of me? Now, granted, there are some people that have it in for you. There are some people who will not speak to you in a constructive way, who will not try to help you and be honest with you, but will rather try to cut you to ribbons. There are people like that in this world. And I'm not saying you need to go out and be a masochist, a spiritual masochist and say, would everyone please say as mean a thing as they can about me? No. But there are people around you nonetheless who do know you well and for all of that, still love you. Isn't that amazing? There are people around you who know you and care for you and endure you, and they're the ones you want to ask, what kind of impression am I making? Develop the healthy habit of checking yourself against the impression that you've given to others rather than trusting your own heart, rather than trusting your own possible rationalizations. This is a very hard thing to do, and I'm loathe to use myself as an illustration, but I'm thinking, this other evening we're having a presbytery meeting, and the debate gets very strenuous. The presbytery's divided over a matter, and people are arguing pretty vehemently on two sides of an issue. Your pastor stands up at what turns out to be about the conclusion of the debate, and I try to speak very forcefully to three points that I think should settle the issue. And we're going to vote. Well, then right after I speak, someone else stands up and says, well, I think we have to remember to be kindly to the person we're talking about and that sort of thing. And immediately my heart goes, did I say something that sounded unkind? I was trying to speak about principle and doing things the Presbyterian way and all that. But did I sound like I was being personal? So immediately and almost instinctively I turned to my elder and I said, was that harsh? Did I speak too strongly? Now, again, I really am loathe to think now and you all be like me. I have so much to learn in this area. But that habit of saying not. I know that I was right. I know I meant well. So that's all that counts. We've got to get rid of that. It is very important to ask people who will be honest with you and loving about it. What about this? Am I rationalizing? How am I coming across? We need to develop the healthy habit of checking ourselves. But even more, we need to develop the further habit of checking ourselves against the life of honest prayer before the throne of God. Do you know what honest prayer is? You know, so much of our prayers are so childish, so much of our prayers are so self centered. And I'll be the first to admit it, that's true of my prayer life too. We have such shallow prayers which I'll tell you where you find a truly prayerful Christian, where you have someone cry out as David did in Psalm 139, God, search me and try me to see if there's any wicked way in me. We don't go like the Pharisee to God and just presume, well, of course everything's alright between us. Lord, you must be really happy that I'm talking to you today. Now I know none of us would say that, but is our attitude that of David? God, see through me, purge me, take away those things that are wrong in my life. I don't trust myself. And I'll tell you, if you struggled and agonized in prayer that way on a daily basis, it would change your life. You wouldn't be near so prone to self deception. In fact, I think you probably would walk very consciously throughout every day thinking, am I deceiving myself? Am I doing what God wants? Am I that kind of person that he's looking for? Or am I displeasing myself? And so I want you to ask yourself some questions this morning. I can't possibly touch on every conceivable application of this, but do we deceive ourselves? Are we what we think we are? Are you kind and patient? Really? Are you? If we were to do a survey, is that what people who know you would say? They'd say, boy, that's high on the list. That's a kind person, a patient person. We all want to think we are, but you know, we don't all come across that way. Are your cutting remarks about others really good natured as you think they are? Are they really funny? Or are they at the expense of someone else? Do you show humility? I'm not asking what do you think I'm saying what do you think others think about that? What do you think God thinks about that? Do you talk too much? Does your conversation center on yourself. I have never known a person about whom it was true that his or her conversation centered on himself or herself that thought that was the case. And yet everyone around them tends to say, boy, you notice how often he or she talks about this, that, and they're always related to himself or herself. What about your reasons for not reading the Bible daily? Are they really good ones? Now, I know in your heart of hearts you think, well, hey, it's all right. God understands. Does he? You think God is not going to ask you about your rationalizations and your laziness and your lack of organizations. Is God not going to say, now, wait a minute. What are your priorities? What's really important to you? You could talk on the phone for a half hour today, but you won't let me talk to you for five minutes. Do you think God doesn't see through us? He does. Are you a complainer? Do you nag? Are you vain? What do you think? More importantly, what do others think? What does God think? Is there really a good excuse for you being absent from worship service, from Bible study, from prayer meeting? Now, I know we all have got our explanations about how we need our rest or we are so busy or we live in such a complex age and on and on and on. But I'm telling you, the day is going to come when all of that is going to be like thin snow blasted away by the hot heat of God's searing judgment. And on that day, what will we say? No, God, I had to sleep in. I couldn't pray. No, God, I couldn't come to church because there was something else going on that I thought was more important. I'm telling you, we don't have any idea how deceitful we are. I can't begin to give you the questions that will jog your mind and make you say, boy, what have I been doing? Do you demonstrate integrity? Are you a person of principle? We all want to say we are, but are we people without compromise? You know, the sad thing is people around us know our compromises. They know how we fudge on the truth here to get what we want. They know how we'll bend a rule here. I mean, everybody's doing it. I was counseled to do it this way. We have all sorts of reasons to do things that we know are not honest. We still do it, so how are we known? What kind of person are you? The first point I want to make this morning is because of self deception. I don't think you really know. You are not what you think you are? Well, what's the antidote to this poison? How can we deal with this self deception? Well, I'm going to give you a more biblical way to decide what kind of person you are. You are not always what you think you are. And so what does the title of this sermon mean? I mean, why did I put that down there? Why did I say you are what you think? Well, you see, the title of the sermon points to a way in which you can better examine yourself and better evaluate yourself. It indicates there there is an antidote available. There's an antidote to your inflated and misleading self conceptions. It's a much more reliable way for you to settle on a judgment about your own character. And it's just this, what do you think about? Just that simple, what do you think about what occupies your thoughts? What are you interested in? What kind of plans do you make that lead to action? What do you listen to? What do you say? The book of Proverbs, with an inspired wisdom that goes beyond anything humanly available, tells us that what we think about, what we plan, what we listen to, reveals our inner character. In short, the kind of person you really are is reflected in your thought life, in your verbal behavior, and of course, in your outward deeds. So we all need to engage in the biblical mandate for self examination. In Haggai 1:7, the Prophet says, thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. God never encourages you to look at your motives and say, now what do you think? What kind of evaluation would you make of your he says, look at your ways. What do you really do? What do you talk about? What do you listen to? What do you daydream about? What do you think about? Because you know what you are what you think think not what you think you are, but you are what occupies your mind. In 1 Corinthians, the 11th chapter, verse 28, which I'd like you to look at briefly, the apostle Paul speaks in the context of the Lord's Supper and says, but let a man prove himself, and let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Let a man prove himself let him examine himself. Let him be confident that as he looks at the evidence, yes, he is in the faith. In 2nd Corinthians 13:5, Paul puts that and puts it in just those words, Second Corinthians 13:5, he says, try your own selves. Whether you are in the faith, prove your own selves. It is important that you examine yourself, but that you not examine yourself simply on the basis of what you think or what you would like to be, or what you rationalize your motives as being. But prove yourself, consider your ways. And when you do this, you're going to take seriously into account not what we feel our motives are, not what we'd like to believe about ourselves, but rather the kind of thoughts we have, the kind of words that we have, and the kind of deeds that control us. So let's go through the book of Proverbs briefly here this morning and take note of this fact that our inner character is revealed by our thoughts and our words and our deeds. Proverbs 12:5,6 says the thoughts of the writers righteous are just where in the Hebrew the word thoughts refers to plans and intentions, the kind of things you daydream about. Let's just stop and think. What do you daydream about? What occupies your thoughts when you have some time to just kind of let your mind drift? You dream about having more time to evangelize. You dream about cleaning up your life so you can come before God in prayer. Do you daydream about having a bigger house or a nicer vacation? Do you daydream lustful thoughts? Do you daydream selfish thoughts? And I can't tell you because I can't see your hearts. You're probably very glad about that. I'm glad you can't see mine. But God sees all of ours. God knows what we're thinking. We read here that the thoughts, the plans, the daydreams, the policies of the righteous are just. And when justice and holiness prevails your thought life, then you're a righteous person. But if it doesn't, don't fool yourself. A holy person doesn't indulge lustful thoughts. To take a very obvious example. Now, Martin Luther said, I can't keep the birds from flying into my hair, but I can certainly keep them from building a nest there. Satan will give us wicked thoughts. I'm not telling you. If you ever have a wicked thought, boy, there must be something wrong in your life. Probably. If Satan gives you a lot of wicked thoughts, it's because there's something right in your life and he wants to bring you down. But what do you do with those wicked thoughts? You say, now wait a minute before I dispatch that and get it out of my mind. Let me think about that for a little bit. Luther says, you don't have to let the birds build a nest there. So what do you think about? What do you dwell on? What occupies your plans and intentions? You see these daydreams, these thoughts, these intentions and policies of yours are going to show your true character. And the next verse says, and the words that come will show it as well. The words of the wicked are like an ambush. Be careful when you talk to wicked people. The words of the wicked are like lying in wait for blood. Because when the wicked speak to you, they're looking to bring you down. Do you know people that are like that? You know, people who speak in such a way that, boy, just about anything you say, they've got you and they love that. Or do you know people who like to say certain things, but then there's always this undercurrent of another meaning in what they're saying. You know, they love to say something that sounds nice and good and wholesome on the surface, but then when you think about it, boy, there may have been a real dagger in it too. The words of the wicked are like that, like ambush. Gotta watch out for them. What about the righteous? On the other hand, the mouth of the upright shall deliver them. Here, I don't think the mouth of the upright delivers those who have been ambushed. The thought is, the words of the upright deliver the upright. The sincerity of the righteous delivers himself. His words acquit him, his words set him free. Whereas the words of the wicked are always trying to ambush others and bring them down. What kind of words do you speak? What kind of words do I speak? You know, this is the toughest lesson of all to look at our mouths. The Bible says the filthiness of our sin is all over our mouth. So what do you daydream about? What do you think about? What do you like to meditate upon? When do you have free time? What do you reflect upon? And what kind of person are you when it comes to talking? What kind of mouth do you have? These things will tell you whether you are righteous or wicked, whether you're right with God or whether you are an enemy of God. These things will tell you what really is your character. Proverbs 12:20 we read, deceit is in the heart of them that devise evil. But to the counselors of peace is joy. The plans that you make, the plans that you shape will tend to shape you. And I don't mean that in this cultic way, that if you just visualize, you know, you're going to have prosperity. I mean, it really works the other way. The sorts of things that you want to accomplish in this world, the kind of priorities you have, will turn out to shape the kind of person you are. So set good goals, set idealistic goals, seek those things which are holy and pure, because those things are going to make a difference as to the kind of person you are. Verse 20 also says that what we pursue for others and the way that we pursue it for others leaves a mark upon our state of mind, leaves a mark upon our character. You see that to the counselors of peace is joy. To those who counsel and plan and have policies of peace, joy comes to them. When you think of the welfare of others, your own welfare gets taken care of as well. So what kind of thoughts do you have? Do you have mean thoughts about people? Do you struggle with that like I do? Do you know if you have mean thoughts about people, the Bible says it's not going to come back as joy to you. It's going to shape your character and make you bitter. It's going to make you shrivel up spiritually. It's going to make you very hard. Do you have well meaning thoughts about others? Do you counsel peace? Do you plan for righteous things? Turn to Proverbs 14:22 and we'll try to survey this morning, real briefly, a handful of other passages that teach the same thing. Proverbs 14:22 says, do not they err that devise evil, but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good? Again, here's this question of devising. What kind of thoughts do you have? What kind of plans do you have? What kind of policies do you make for yourself? What have you devised? And sinners mislead themselves. Those who devise evil, they err, they go astray, they hurt themselves. And yet good natured men find people kind and true to them. So the second part of the verse tells US or Proverbs 14:33 Wisdom rests in the heart of him that has understanding. But that which is in the inward part of fools is made known. Doesn't that scare you? That that that is in the inward part of fools is made known? You can't hide your foolishness. You can't keep your lack of understanding from being seen. You can't keep your dirty mind and bad attitudes and unpeaceful thoughts from others. What is hidden inside the fool is paraded before all. Even though the fool says, nobody really knows me, but they do. And I read that verse and I go, oh no. Here I thought I had hid it inside. But you see, what I'm holding inside is shaping my life. And even if the most wicked thought I have inside me is not ever uttered or made known to someone else, that wicked thought has so controlled the kind of person that I am that that kind of person is seen. So, yes, people don't know the details of what are in you, but they know your character. And they see it because your thought life, your plans, your hopes, your dreams, what you reflect on, what you talk about, what you want to hear talked about. These things shape you. Proverbs 15:2 the tongue of the wise uttereth knowledge aright, actually, does it well. The tongue of the wise knows how to speak well, utters knowledge well. But the mouth of fools pours out folly. Do you think fools think they're pouring out folly? No, they think they're pouring out knowledge and wisdom and insight. What it says here is, when the fool talks, people just listen and say, what a fool. Better for a fool to be quiet and do a little better job of hiding the inner character. Notice in verse 7 in Proverbs 15, the correlation between lips and heart. Proverbs 15:7 says, the lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the foolish doeth not so. Lips and heart reflect each other. That's the message we've learned from Proverbs before, so I won't dwell on it this morning. Let's move on to Proverbs 15:21. Folly is joy to him that is void of wisdom. But a man of understanding makes straight his going. You know, someone proposes to you some plan that is really foolish, not exactly righteous, doesn't have full integrity about it. It's folly in the eyes of the Lord. You know what the Bible tells us that's a joy to him, that's void of wisdom. Propose something like that to somebody that has no inner character, and you say, yeah, sounds like a good idea. Let's go do it. But the contrast is the man of understanding who says, no, I'm going to make straight my going. You propose we deviate a little to have some fun. I'm going to make straight my going. You propose we act kind of foolish and not live the way Christians are supposed to live. But I'm going to make straight my going. You really. I mean, the sorts of things you buy into, the sorts of things you're willing to do, even though you're counseled by somebody to do it or encouraged by somebody to do it, or enticed by ads or whatever it may be to do it. The sorts of things you give into show the folly that's in your heart. And so not only ask, what am I daydreaming about, what am I reflecting on, what are my plans and my policies, what occupies my thoughts, but ask yourself, what interests me what entices me? What do I like to do? What do I give into? What do I listen to? Proverbs 15:21. That's what we just looked at. I'm sorry. Look at 1622 then. 1622 says, Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that has it. But the correction of fools is there folly. Proverbs 16:27. A worthless man devises mischief, and in his lips there is as a scorching fire. You see a person planning some mischief, doing things that are not right. Well, you know what a worthless character he has, because that demonstrates it. Proverbs 17:4 says, an evildoer gives heed to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue. Boy, that is one of the most important verses in all of Proverbs, I think, because I can preach to you and you'll understand readily. I think without a whole lot of background that we are not supposed to speak in a wicked way. We're not supposed to speak lies. We're not supposed to gossip. But you know what this verse says? Puts the shoe on the other foot. Actually puts it on the feet of the hearer. And in this verse we read, it is wicked of you to listen to that kind of thing. An evildoer gives heed to wicked lips. An evildoer says, oh, I just love it. Give me some more gossip. Tell me some more lies. Say some more mean things. Do you ever find yourself like that? That hurts, doesn't it? Because it's so true. And, you know, it's so easy to do. Because we tend to think, well, if that person's not saying what they should, then of course they're doing what's wrong. But I didn't say it. No, you didn't say it, but you listened to it and you relished it. You said, yeah, give me more. God says, you see, you show what kind of person you are by what you want to hear. Do you want to hear a lot of dirt about people? Do you? I want to know which one of you is so crass and hypocritical as to say, no, that's not true of me, Pastor. It's all of us. Yeah, we listen to wicked lips. We give ear to mischievous tongues. And that makes us liars. It makes us wicked in the eyes of God. Proverbs 20:11. Even a child makes himself known by his play, whether his work be pure and whether it be right. This is an amazing verse also, you know, sometimes stand at your kitchen window and look out into the backyard. If your kitchen window's on the backyard and watch your children out there playing, you say, well, they're just kids. They're just playing. But you know what? The way they play shows their character. See, there is no safety zone in life where you can say, well, God, don't make any moral evaluations. This is playtime. But the book of Proverbs says no. Everything you do, even a child, reveals his or her character by the way he or he or she plays. Pardon me. And you children listen to that. You covenant children in this congregation, don't think when you go home and you fight with your brothers or your sisters, or you're selfish, or you won't share, or you won't do what's nice for others. Don't think that doesn't say anything about your Christian testimony. Don't think that doesn't reflect upon you, because this isn't really important. We're not grown up yet. We're just playing. Well, but you adults remember, too, that if God takes seriously the play of little children, boy, you better know he takes seriously the serious business of adults. Even a child, in the way he plays, demonstrates his character. Proverbs 22:11. He that loves pureness of heart for the grace of his lips, the king will be his friend. You know, our tendency is so much to think that, well, we either have to show integrity or we have to be charming. We have to get along with people or we have to be honest. What this verse says is, they go together. One shouldn't compromise the other. We should be people of truth and honesty and integrity. And yet people who can speak with gracious lips, very hard to find that delicate balance, isn't it? So we tend to think, once we're right, once we have to take a stand for purity, then we can talk any way we want. Or on the other hand, if we think no, we've got to say things in a very nice way and we have to be charming, we have to show graciousness, then we can't ever say anything harsh. But the Bible says you need to be able to do both. Are you able to? Are you willing to? The answer to those questions says a whole lot about your character. Proverbs 23:7. Actually, we have to read verse 6 to get the context because this verse has been so often misused in little devotional books. You know, you go into a Hallmark store and you can buy this little thing as a man thinketh, you know, and we have this idea that as you think in your heart, so are you. And Often the general platitude made out of that is not at all what this verse is saying. So let's read it in context. Verse 6 says, Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties, for as he thinks within himself, so is he. Eat and drink, saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee. The word think here actually means to reckon up, to do math. And so here's someone who invites you in. He says, oh, go ahead, eat. It's perfectly all right. And every time you take something off the plate, he's going, that's $1.33 there. He's thinking about how much it's costing him to entertain you. And yet what's he say? Outwardly, oh, eat and drink and be merry. Of course you're welcome here. Here's the man with the evil eye. He's stingy, but outwardly he's so nice, he's so inviting, he's so cordial. As a man reckons in his heart, so is he. That's the point of today's sermon, right? The kind of things that occupy your thoughts, the kind of priorities you have. What really seems important to you, what you daydream about, what you want more of, what you want to hear, what you want to talk about. Those things tell you your character, not what you would say about yourself, not what you would say about your motives. One more verse, Proverbs 24:8, and then we'll come to a close. He that deviseth evil, he that deviseth to do evil, men shall call him a mischief maker. And that's really the point I was making early in the sermon. You devise to do evil. No matter what you say about yourself, men around you are going to know you. They're going to say, you know, he's a troublemaker, watch out for him. He makes mischief. My friends, you've got to take seriously the desperate wickedness and deceit of your heart this morning. You don't know who you are. You are not who you think you are. If you want to know who you really are, what you're really like, if you want your inner character to be laid open before you in a mirror, then I ask you again, what do you think about what occupies your thoughts? What kind of plans in life do you make? What are your priorities? What do you like to listen to? What words do you relish? How do you speak with your own mouth? How do you play? How do you actually act in the presence of Others, what would people say about you? And so 2 Corinthians 10, 17, 18 says, but he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord, for not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. What's important this morning is not what you think of yourself because you're bound to be wrong. What's important is what God thinks of you. And that's very bad news. Because you see, what God thinks of us is bound to be very, very low and humiliating. You know how low and humiliating what God thinks of us is. Jeremiah says all of our, excuse me, Isaiah says all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in his sight. Everything we take to be good and wholesome and right about ourselves, everything that is pure and noble and valuable about ourselves is in the eyes of God. Filthy rags. Not just filthy rags, literally menstruous cloth. It is so impure, it is so defiling. And that's not our sins as we would call them. That's not when we say, God I know I've done this wrong, that's when we say we've done what's right. That's our righteousness, that is filthy rags. And so let's be cleansed of this self deceit that we are all right and let's admit what we are. Because when we look at our thought life, we are what we think we are, what we want to talk about, what we want to hear. The only glory that's left for us then is not any glory in ourselves. It's only the glory of the Lord. Because when God thinks about us, he says, what I want to think about is the righteousness of the my son, and I love you so much that I will impute to you his righteousness. And I'll take what I think of you and impute it to him. And so God made him to be sin for us, the one who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. You know, if you feel pretty bad about this morning's sermon, then you should feel pretty good about the grace of God. Because God says, you know how bad you should think of yourself? I think of you like Jesus and what I could say of my Son, the holy, undefiled Son of God and your Savior. What could be said of his righteousness and his character? Remember, his righteousness was such that death couldn't hold him. Hell, the place that unrighteous people belong, could not hold the righteous Son of God. And what I think of his righteousness that's what I think of you. If you humble yourself and find your glory not in yourself, not in your own works, not in your own accomplishments, not in your own rationalizations, in your own self evaluation, not in your Pharisaical prayers, but if you trust in the Savior, if you say God, I'm nothing, fill me with Him. God, I have nothing to offer to you but the righteousness of your Son. If your faith is in him, then you glory in the Lord, for not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends. And who does the Lord commend, but above all, Jesus. And so, friends, make sure you're in Jesus this morning. Make sure that your thoughts are of Jesus this morning. Make sure that you trust him and you love him, and that your faith is entirely in Him. And if it is, then you know what Paul says in Philippians 4, verse 8 will be true. It says, finally, brothers, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, 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. And when Jesus takes your life and turns it around, and when he by his powerful Holy Spirit gives new life to you and enlightens your eyes and guides you to the Scriptures and teaches you to love him with all that is in you, when that Holy Spirit has made you a new person, then you won't want to daydream about lustful thoughts and selfish thoughts and mean thoughts. You'll want to daydream about what is pure and holy and righteous and just and good. God will change your thought life. God will change your inner character. God will make you a person who doesn't want to hear gossip. God will make you a person who doesn't look for some little mean thing to think about or hear about or say. God will make you a person so that even in your playtime you will demonstrate that you're his child. Let's pray. Lord, we confess it's hard to pray because we really don't know who we are, what we are. But we know from the holy teaching of your Word that it's not very good. It would probably be very difficult for us honestly to see and confess ourselves to be as wicked as yous see us. But we know in principle that that is true, Lord, and we confess it. We know that if you should mark iniquities, not one of us could stand. We are not the people we think we are. Our hearts are wicked and desperately so. We deceive ourselves. And so we don't come to you this morning with any pride or with anything in our hand to offer you. We don't come to bargain with you or to plead our goodness. We come wholly leaning on Jesus name. And we ask that you not see us for what we are, but you see us for who Jesus is. We ask that his holiness and his righteousness would somehow by your mercy and wondrous grace, be imputed to us, and that what you think of us and all of your justice and truth would be laid upon him and carried away and atoned for by his death on the cross and vindicated by his resurrection. You know these truths are too wondrous for us, Lord. They truly speak of amazing grace. That yout should love such worms as we are and so transform us, Father. Make us new people. Not just people who talk about newness, not just people who talk about being born again, but make us to be born again. Make us new. Raise us from the dead spiritually. Turn us around and convert us. Put our feet in the ways of righteousness. Change our hearts and our character, change our thoughts and our deeds, change our words and our hopes and our plans, so that, Lord, when we look at what we think about, we'll see what is pure and holy and right and of good. Report those things which please youe, Lord. We ask that yout would fill our thoughts with youh, that we would be centered on youn in our lives, that yout would take control, and that everything that we do would be done in youn presence. And for the sake of glorifying youg and obeying youg Word, Lord, fill us with youh holy Word. Make its thoughts and its truths and its infallible teachings to be the meditations of our heart, that we might not sin against you. We ask these mercies and plead with you for your grace in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.