Garbage in Garbage out

                                         

Ted Bundy a serial killer granted an interview to Dr. James Dobson. At the time of the interview he was on death row in Florida and was scheduled to die there a short time later. Ted had one thing on his mind and wanted to let the public in on his secret. He became addicted to pornography at a young age, and his obsession with it led him to a life of crime and brutal murder by the age of twenty-seven.

He spoke of how he became hooked by exposing himself to explicit material and from that point, he led a life out-of control. His obsession was fairly tame and soft-core, but it engulfed him over time and became stronger and stronger. Soon, he was insatiable, and he needed more and more pornography and more hard-core material. When that no longer satisfied him, he turned to more deviant behavior.

Soon he became a rapist and a murderer. What started as a choice to expose himself to some seemingly insignificant pornography ended when he was executed. He had confessed to the killing of twenty-eight people. He was only forty-three years old when he was put to death for his crimes (Garbage in garbage out -Scott Prewitt).

In Philippians 4:8,9 we read, “finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Paul begins with the word, "Finally". Paul is indeed in the home stretch of his letter to the Philippians. Chapter 4 is a section of short commands. Verse 1 – Stand firm, verse 2 - Live in harmony, verse 4- Rejoice, verse 5 - Be gentle, verse 6 - Don't worry, pray. And now, in verses 8 and 9 we have two commands as well.

The command in verse 8 is – Dwell on these things and in verse 9 -Practice these things. Verse 8 has to do with our thoughts. Verse 9 has to do with our actions. These two are connected. Actions flow from thoughts. Sin begins with thoughts and intentions. And then it proceeds to actions. Righteousness also works the same way.  

Paul gives the Philippians a list of virtues to dwell on.  Each of these virtues and the sum total of them are what the people in his day prized as the best moral virtues a person could display. He starts with “dwell on whatever is true”. The spiritual battle is not a power struggle but a "truth struggle".  The battle rages daily and to remain spiritually stable, we must stand on the truth every day.

Sin began when Satan deceived Eve by his craftiness (Gen. 3:1-4). Since then deception permeates every corner of society. Satan is the ruler of this world (John 12:31) and he is a liar and father of lies (John 8:44). People no longer ask "Is it true?" but "Does it work?" If you go with the flow, you will be carried far from God’s absolute standard of moral truth.

The world will tempt you to compromise the truth. You will be fooled into thinking that you can accomplish greater good by ignoring the truth. That may be true but every life and every system which are not founded upon truth crumble sooner or later. The falsehoods which now stalk across the world, and seem so strong will soon pass away.

A Christian’s life ought to be permeated with truth; Christians are to be true in word and deeds.  You can take them at their word because their yes is yes and their no is no (Matt 5:37). They are guided by the Bible and it is the prime source of truth. Everything God says on any given subject is true! It speaks of what is valid, reliable and honest.  When the word of God dwells richly in us, we automatically run everything we encounter through its grid.

Ultimate truth should take precedence over temporary truth. For example it was a fact that Paul was in an unpleasant prison and death was imminent. But the ultimate truth was that Paul would sooner or later die anyway (Heb 9:2).  Death did not scare him (Phil 1:21-23) because he was a citizen of heaven and death would only take him home. Once home his current corruptible and mortal body would be replaced by an incorruptible and immortal body(I Cor. 15:54-55).

Paul was secure and his live was eternal (John 10:28).  He could rejoice in prison because he dwelt on this ultimate truth. The faith of the early believers triumphed because they focused on the reality that they were foreigners on earth. If they had been thinking of the life they had left behind when they received Christ, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country a heavenly one.

Some of them courageously endured torture, jeers and flogging,  chains and imprisonment, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection (Heb. 11:14-16, 35-36).  They joyfully accepted the confiscation of their property, because they knew that they had better and lasting possessions. Dwelling on the ultimate truth kept them from shrinking back to destruction. (Heb.10: 34,39).

Asaph (Ps. 73) and Job (Job 21) observed with surprise that the wicked were prospering while the righteous were suffering. The ultimate truth is that even if a wicked person prospers throughout life and lives for hundred years, compared to eternity his days are like grass or a flower;“In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered (Ps. 90:6, 103:15-16). His blissful life on earth is very brief but his eternity will be Hell.

Considering that ultimate truth, Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he persevered because he saw him who is invisible (Heb 11:24-27). Jesus asked “what does it benefit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the end (Mark 8:36).

The next virtue in Paul’s list is “honorable”.  An honorable person is honest and worthy of respect. He is principled and takes his life seriously. Christians are not to treat life as a perpetual joke. We live in light of eternity, keeping in mind the uncertainty of this short life and the reality of Heaven and Hell. We can appreciate clean humor, but our overall tenor should communicate to the world that we must all stand before a holy God someday soon.

Dwell on whatever is right; this is a legal term describing what is right under the law.
Right refers to that which conforms to the set standards. For many people today right living is an obsolete virtue. Corruption and manipulation is highly rewarding and they have chosen it as a way of life. Believers are to dwell on matters and ways that are consistent with God’s eternal, unchanging standards. Whatever they do must be worthy of Gods approval.

Noah, “a preacher of righteousness” and Lot “that righteous man” were oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men among who they lived.  Their righteous souls were tormented day after day by what they saw and heard, while living among them. They did not yield to the evil ways because the Lord knows how to rescue the godly (2 peter 2:5-9).

Dwell on whatever is pure. This world is full of filthy things ; like lot are exposed to them and tormented by them every day.  The Christian’s mind should dwell on what is holy, morally clean, wholesome and chaste. Paul gives a strong warning “ there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of greed, because these are improper for Gods holy people, nor should there be obscenity , foolish talk or coarse joking which are out of place…for of this you can be sure: no immoral , impure or greedy person… has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God (Eph 5:3-5).

Dwell on whatever is lovely; Lovely is a relationship word, it is a combination of two words "toward love". It refers to that which calls forth love. It describes what is pleasing, agreeable and amiable. A mind so set on vengeance call forth bitterness. A mind so set on criticism call forth resentment. The mind of the Christian should be set on the things that produce harmony and peace.

Dwell on whatever is of good repute; This refers to that which is highly regarded. It is something that deservedly enjoys a good reputation. We are subjected to a lot of bad and negative reports. These can keep us worried discouraged and almost in despair. Don’t dwell on thoughts that tear you down or curtail your spiritual progress. A worried and discouraged Christian is a bad testimony to the world.

In the last two qualities there is change in sentence structure introduced by "if". The two qualities serve to sum up the preceding qualities. If there is any excellence; when anything in nature properly fulfills its purpose, that fulfillment is referred to as excellence. The tool that works correctly is “excellent” because it is doing what it was made to do.

When a believer’s mind dwell on the listed virtues he will demonstrate moral excellence by living the way he (now having the mind of Christ), has the potential to live. If he exhibits these praiseworthy traits, he will be living in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (Phil 1:27). He will commend himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God (2 Cor. 4:2).

The key word in this passage is "dwell". We are to dwell on these things throughout our lives. This mindset should be your lifestyle. If you are a Christian, you have within you the power to obey every command in this passage. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13)   His divine power has given you everything you need for a godly life (2 Pet. 1:3)

Thoughts are seeds planted in the heart. If you nurture them, with time they bear fruits. Thoughts become actions; actions become habits; habits become character and character determines your destiny. Galatians 6:7-8 warns” whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. for the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption , but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life”.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality…hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition …and the like... those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law…Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:19-25).

Paul concludes by saying “the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things”. Paul has lived out his own teachings and he invites the believers to follow his example. Then he gives a conditional promise “practice these things and the God of peace will be with you”.

The peace of God is one test of whether or not we are in the will of God. If we are walking with the Lord, then the peace of God and the God of peace will exercise their influence over our hearts. Whenever we disobey, we lose that peace and we know we have done something wrong.

Paul is calling us to break from the decadent mind-set of a decaying society and reorient ourselves toward God. Whoever or whatever you allow to control your mind will also be what controls your world. How many of us just let our minds be filled with rubbish? What if you walked through your life and viewed and approached your world with the same mind that Christ had when He was here on this earth?