Meditation For Freedom (Transcript)

I’d like to begin by quoting a great verse of Scripture from Philippians 4:8. Some of you may have memorized this verse. It goes like this:

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things."

In connection with this passage on what we should be thinking about, what we should be meditating on, I’d like to read also the verse from John 8:31,32 which says this:

"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Much of what we decide to do or not do in life is decided by how we FEEL about it. And this is not automatically bad. Emotions certainly are a gift from God. To be able to feel often means to be able to enjoy. To be able to feel often means that we don’t just live as robots, but that we live with zest and passion and COM-passion and focus and fun.

Of course our emotions also may allow us to feel grief, despair, depression, rage, and misery.

But how do we take these wild mustangs of emotion and drive them into the corral, and train them to do what’s best for them? To be able to value them, and not dread them? To get them to help us in making decisions in life that are wise decisions? Without becoming robots?

It has to do with what we think about, meditate about.

When we think about things that are bad, we tend to feel bad. When we think about things that are good, we tend to feel good.

Now this is actually good news, for three reasons:

1. We can limit the bad that we take into our minds.

We can’t eliminate it, because it assaults us through our eyes, our ears, and even internally from repetition of past bad things. But we can limit it. We can stay away from input that we know contains great amounts of bad, whether it be books, TV shows, or a particularly destructive person.

2. We can fill our minds with good.

The most obvious source of this truth, this good, for the Christian is the Word of God. Secondary sources may be trusted teachers of the Word, including books, spoken messages, and so forth. But filling our minds with good things tends to set us free.

3. Our emotions are the result of our thoughts.

Now the reason this is good news, is that if you can limit the bad you take in, and if you can fill your mind with good, and if your emotions will respond to that good, then you can be made free. Free in your thinking, free in your feeling, and free in your decision-making.

Now I’ve heard teachers say, don’t let your feelings make your decisions for you, use wise thinking. But they’re in a sense denying a normal thing, and that is the simple reality that SOMETIMES our feelings decide for us. And it’s important for those feelings to be directed by the true, the noble, the just, the pure, the lovely, that which is of good report, that which is virtuous and praiseworthy. As our verse for today tells us.

Another word about what is true: The Bible is big book, and some truth is just plain more important that others. The geneologies are good. But some truth affects our emotions in a good way.

So there’s a lot of truth in that wonderful book. Now the Bible itself says, in 2 Tim. 3:16, that "ALL scripture is inspired by God and profitable." And I sure believe that. There is no scripture that should be left untouched or unread, from the genealogies of Genesis, to the obscure symbolism of Revelation.

But, having said that, we have to realize that when it comes to our daily lives, and truth that brings right thinking, which leads to right emotions, and good decisions, in other words, what we meditate on, there are some scriptures which are just plain more important than others.

There are some rich gems in the genealogies, and digging them out is a wonderful thing. But lets’ face it, there are some truths of the Bible that if we don’t have a good solid handle on, we are just plain messed up. And by “messed up”, I mean “in bondage” of one kind or another. We’re not free in our thinking and in our feeling.

So let’s just look at a couple examples of these foundational truths that tend to set us free. These things that are more important to meditate on than perhaps some other more obscure parts of the Scripture.

Some Extra-Important Things To Meditate On

1. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” -- John 14:6

Whenever we talk about truth, primary in our minds should always be Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus Christ was the Truth and is the Truth upon which all other truth is based. Just meditating on that fact, even just meditating on that passage that “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life’”...that has so much in it that can change our thinking, and therefore our feeling, that just to meditate on that truth alone is a valuable thing.

It reminds me of that Scripture which says, “Be still and know that I am God”. Such a simple thing on the surface, and yet the truth of that small passage is so incredible.

2. Secondly, let’s look at the idea of Righteousness.

Romans 3:21 says, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction."

Meditating on righteousness is a great and valuable thing, too. One of the things about the Gospel is that it reveals the righteousness of God, to those who otherwise never would have understood righteousness at all.

You see, because as the Scripture teaches, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, that when we’re born into this world and inherit the sinful nature from Adam, our forefather, we have no righteousness within ourselves.

If we’re to be righteous at all, if we’re to gain any kind of righteousness, it has to be given to us from elsewhere, as a gift. And that’s exactly what God did.

He said that Jesus became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. And when we meditate on that truth, that we have been declared righteous by God, that He has given us His righteousness, and now it’s ours...when we meditate on that, it can turn our thinking around. And cause great joy and feelings of gratitude and enlightenment, that nothing else can do. So that’s a great one.

3. The third one is we need to understand and meditate on the fact that we died too, when Jesus died on the cross. Those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ...when He died, we died – in a way that, while mysterious, is very clear in the Scripture.

We look at Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who delivered himself up for me.”

Romans 6:11: “Reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to god.”

See, when we died, we died to sin, and became alive to God in Christ by this miracle.

Romans 7:6: "But now we have been released from the Law, having died
to that by which we were bound."

See, when we died in Christ, we also died to the Law. We were released from the Law, so that the Scripture says that we’re no longer under law but under grace.

Galatians 2:19 "For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God."

So something amazing has happened here, and worth meditating on. Talk about that which is noble and of good repute! This is an amazing thing that God has taken us with Him in Christ, and allowed us to die, our old self to die, and be made new, a "new creation". "Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).

4. O.K., fourthly, is our Unconditional Love and Acceptance.

Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...”

Boy, is that worth meditating on.

And Romans 8 goes on to say that “NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ, the love of God”. He accepts us in the Beloved, and there is nothing we can do to make Him accept us more, and nothing we can do to make Him accept us less.

He accepts us in Christ.

He loves us in Christ.

That alone is a worthy cause for meditation.

5. Fifthly, the Sovereignty of God.

This is one of the most important ones, to understand simply that things are not out of control. That God has control over ALL things.

Philippians 4:11 says, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content”.

Paul says that he has learned to be content in any circumstances. Why? Because he understands that God is sovereign. That no circumstances come into his life that God has not planned and allowed, for good. And that even things that are bad are being worked together for good.

Romans 8:28, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, and are the called according to His purpose.”

When we can meditate on that, and really get a grip on that, we have no cause for [undue] sadness. We have no cause for despair or depression, because all things are being worked together for good.

And if we can meditate on that, get a hold of it, it can revolutionize our lives.

Contentment comes from understanding that God is good, and that God is in control. That’s the sovereignty of God.

6. And then lastly, the fruit of the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit.

What a wonderful thing to meditate on. This leads to surrender.

This is the wonderful fruit of the Spirit that comes into us as we meditate, commune with Christ, surrender to Him, are filled with His Spirit, are walking in truth.

And this only comes from the Word of God and the Spirit of God, as we look upon Him. As we meditate on Him and His Word. As we move our eyes from ourselves, and onto Him. As we surrender to grace, and get off the ground of law.

In comes this fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Those things alone are great to meditate on.

As we meditate on good things, we are filled with the truth of Christ, and the truth of Grace, and the truth of who we are in Christ, and the truth of His great love and acceptance of us, and we naturally tend to respond in our feelings, and with that comes a freedom we may have never known before.

Well, let’s close by reading that great verse again, Philipp 4:8:

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things.”

And you know, God has made us fearfully and wonderfully in a particular way, and that is that our minds can only think or meditate on one thing at a time.

So as we set our minds on these things that are good, on these things that are true, it actually crowds out of our minds those things that are bad, and untrue, and that cause bondage.

Meditation For Freedom

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Meditation For Freedom

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Being A Protestant Monk...Sometimes (Transcript)

So much has been written over the years about how the Church should be, how it should meet, and what's wrong with the way we do things.

Now, I'm speaking primarily of the Church in the United States, because that's where I live. And some of what I say will apply in other areas of the world, and some of it probably won't. But I hope to bring in some spiritual principles that will apply to every Christian everywhere.

I've had my own complaints with various church practices and states of being. And I admit to sort of swaying back and forth from time to time, on the one hand from being too picky and perfectionist about the Church, and on the other hand saying, “Oh well, there's no perfect church, so just bite your tongue and don't say anything.”

Neither of these extremes are probably biblical, and they're certainly not satisfying. But what's at the bottom of the What's-Wrong-With-The-Church conversation? Why is it always a discussion? Or in some cases, why is it forbidden to discuss, as though one were being disloyal and merely critical?

Legalism An Ongoing Problem

Now, if you have followed my writings at all, you know that I think a big problem with the Church has always been legalism, the idea that our individual performance is not only what's ultimately important, but that our individual performance is how we earn God's love and favor.

And you know that I believe that this legalism stifles the spirituality of the church, because it doesn't honor the radical grace of God by which we are not only saved initially, but kept and favored by the Lord Who loves us, even when our performance falls short. And that when we DO understand this wonderful grace, it actually encourages us to follow the Lord willingly and lovingly. Which furthermore is the desire of our own spirit, because we have been given a new nature, indeed made a new creation who loves Christ and hates sin in our heart of hearts.

Fellowship With Christ Revolution

But as I've written elsewhere, this grace is not for it's own sake, but that we might have a close fellowship with Jesus Christ. That His very life might flow through us, as we commune with Him, rest in Him, and think His thoughts.

And it's this fellowship with Christ where I believe we have the most opportunity to revolutionize the Church. It's this fellowship which is the fountain from which flows the water of a spiritual life. To switch metaphors, It's this fellowship which forms the tree from which the Lord produces the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, etc.

And that's why I believe this fellowship with Christ is where we have the most opportunity to revolutionize the Church.

Protestantism

Now I should make very clear that I am a Protestant. I believe the Bible teaches that salvation comes completely by grace through faith, and that this comes through the regeneration brought about by the Holy Spirit as He, like the wind, blows wherever He wills, and causes those whom He has chosen before the foundation of the world, to be born again.

I believe the Bible teaches that neither baptism, or any other sacrament, is instrumental in our salvation. I believe the Bible teaches that no good deed, no good work, no following of any law or ritual, has anything to do with our salvation.

I believe the Bible teaches that we are declared righteous, justified, by faith alone in Jesus Christ, through His dying on the cross to pay for our sins, and to give us the free gift of His righteousness. He redeemed us, purchased us, saved us, as a free gift, without our deserving it in any way, and without our doing anything except believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. And even that faith was a gift from God Himself.

Roman Catholicism

I say all that because I strongly disagree with Roman Catholic doctrine, which is, at it's core, a religion of “grace” PLUS works. And Paul the Apostle makes clear that if you add works to Grace, it is no longer Grace (Romans 11:16).

Although God will indeed cause us to do works, good works, by His Spirit in us, and the law that He has put in our hearts and minds, those good works have NO part in gaining or keeping our salvation.

So what I am going to say about being a “sometimes monk” has nothing to do with Roman Catholicism. I hope I've made that clear.

Regenerate Catholics?

However, having said that, I have observed that throughout the history of the Church, there have always been those who obviously loved Jesus Christ. Many were trapped in the religion of Catholicism, which had dominated Church History for hundreds of years until the Reformation in the 1500's.

Yet God broke through, and they “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ”, and they were saved. It's not for me or you to specifically guarantee that any individual was or was not saved, but yet if you are a believer, you may very well have a sense that someone else is likewise a believer, by their language, by their fruit, by their heart and life.

False Doctrine Sidenote

This brings up a sidenote about false doctrine. We speak of some false doctrines as “damnable”. In other words, it is so false as to deny the Gospel, and by it one can't be saved, or may even be misled so far from the truth that they are “damned” by the falsehood. For example, if you were to “evangelize” by going around telling people that if they try their best to follow the Ten Commandments, then God will reward them with salvation, you would be preaching a false Gospel and not only could no one be saved by your teaching, but it's likely that it would be the instrument of their damnation.

Now this is serious business, and I say it because any religion which teaches that works or sacraments are necessary for salvation, have that potential to bring damnation to those who are taught it.

But there is one more factor that has to be recognized, and I take this concept from Paul's letter to the Galatians. Here's the concept: one can be born again, saved by Grace through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, being truly repentant of their sins, and be a true child of God...and THEN be taught false doctrines of legalism, which although potentially harmful, do not nullify the salvation by Grace which these folks have received. Paul calls this “falling from Grace”, not a loss of salvation (that is impossible), but a misunderstanding where Grace is supplemented by meritorious works.

Having taken that side road about false doctrines, let me say that I believe that not only has God had His people, His remnant, throughout Church History, but has had them WITHIN the false religion we call Catholicism.

And within this remnant have been men and women who have not only loved Christ deeply, but have entered into a fellowship with Christ which is mostly foreign to modern-day believers in Protestant churches.

Godly Monk Types

Some modern-day Protestants have “tapped into” these godly men and women, and learned something from them, and have profited greatly.

I hesitate to give examples of specific people in this context, for two reasons:

1. They would readily be considered “heretics” by many of my Protestant brothers and sisters who may be listening today. And while I appreciate the biblical discernment which would cause that reaction, yet I don't want to stifle the ability to glean from those I consider true believers in Christ, some things that would richly bless the lives of today's Protestant believers.

2. The second reason I hesitate to mention specific ancient believers is that some of my hearers may NOT be very discerning, and I wouldn't want to so wholeheartedly endorse anyone as to recommend everything they may have written, since there is every reason to assume that these ancient believers have a mixed bag of docrine, some good, some bad. This is why I took such pains to explain why I am a Protestant.

But though I hesitate to mention these men and women for those reasons, I will mention one for purposes of illustration, and for a base from which to make my simple case for Protestant monkhood.

Brother Lawrence

The man I will mention is known as Brother Lawrence. If you have read The Practice of the Presence of God, you have read Brother Lawrence. You may be surprised to know that he was a Carmelite Monk in a real monastery in the 1600's, in France.

But the theme of his life and writings is exactly what I believe is missing in the lives of countless Protestant believers today, who think that accurate theology, systematized in whatever system they choose, is Life.

It isn't.

“He who has the Son has life, and he who does not have the Son does not have life.” (1 John 5:12) May I add that he who is in close fellowship and communion with the Son has abundant life, and he who is not in close fellowship and communion with the Son does not have abundant life?

Even the Bible, which you know I treasure, if you know me, is not the ultimate source of Life. Jesus told the Pharisees, “You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.” (John 5:39)

So back to Brother Lawrence. What I really like about him, and I've read his book I mentioned many times, is that he was spiritual, but he was practical. By that I mean that, as a monk, he could have told us all that you need to be cloistered away in a monastery retreat to really have spiritual fellowship with Christ, but he didn't.

Practical Spirituality (Oxymoron?)

He understood that the cloister is not Life either. And he gave practical advice -- tested in his own life -- practical advice on how to fellowship with Christ even in the noise of daily life.

Brother Lawrence mostly had kitchen duty among the Carmelites. He spoke much of washing pots and pans. And he spoke much of the sweet communion which he had in the midst of the clanging of pans in the kitchen of his monastery.

And it's this type of practical instruction, yet spiritual instruction, that I would love to see brought to the church in abundance. It's this type of practical Monk-hood that I would love to see Protestants practicing daily.

Bad Contemplativity (Say 10 Times Fast)

There is a fair amount of literature written today about meditation, contemplative prayer, sacramentalism, and such. But too much of it is not only unbiblical, but so strongly tainted with Eastern Mysticism as to be more Buddhist or Hindu than Christian. And people are being led astray to think that spirituality is “blanking out the mind” or “meditating on God” in such a way as to be at “oneness” with all the World, or “tapping into the Universal Mind who is God”, and so forth.

This is not only counter-productive, but guaranteed to lead away from Jesus Christ. It may soothe the nerves, calm the beating heart, and give a warm feeling. But this is not Christ.

Practical Advice

And so I leave you with some practical advice, yet spiritual advice, biblical advice, in being a Protestant Monk...sometimes. By “sometimes”, I mean in your day-to-day life, at least for a time each day, as opposed to moving into a monastery and making it a vocation.

Here we go:

1. Practice the Presence of God throughout the day. Recognize and remind yourself that He is with you always, indeed Christ in you, the hope of glory, if you are a believer in Him. I would highly recommend that you read (with biblical discernment) The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence, for much practical advice on how specifically to develop this mind and heart for fellowship with the Lord.

2. Pray the Scriptures. There are books on this, but just DOING it is quite amazing in itself. The practice is simple, and you want to read the Bible anyway, don't you? In addition to your normal reading, studying, etc., just pick a passage, read it slowly line-by-line, and pray to the Lord something related to that passage, taking care to “listen” as He speaks to your through those sections of the Word of God.

This is one of the most powerful ways to fellowship with the Lord.

3. Meditate. Not to “blank out your mind”. That is utterly unbiblical. But to dwell on those things that are “true...honorable...right...pure...lovely...of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8).

Meditate on the Word, meditate on God Himself, meditate on Jesus and what He did on the cross, meditate on various doctrines, meditate on the Lord's Grace. Meditate on His great amazing love for you. Do you know that understanding the greatness of His love for you is the best way to increase your love for Him? Meditate on that for awhile. Do you know that understanding His goodness is the best way to lead to your own daily repentance? Meditate on that one.

4. Not to be so practical that you think I'm not being spiritual, but don't hesitate to write down a simple plan for these things. You can change the plan tomorrow if you want. You can complicate it more, or simplify it more. You can make a 10-point list to check off, or a 1-point reminder statement for yourself. Don't be burdensome or legalistic about it. Don't be discouraged when you fail to complete your plan for the day. This is a rest-of-our-lives joyous journey.

Just don't think that it will happen without a little planning. Time flies by, and we forget the simple things that lead to drawing near to the Lord.

Be a Protestant Monk, right in your home, or car, or workplace. Or feel free to go out in the woods, or down by the river. You don't need a brown robe and hood. Take some time away from the hustle and bustle and noise.

But also Practice the Presence of God throughout the day. It's really hard at first. But like most things, it gets easier with practice. Just ask Brother Lawrence.

Finally, you may find that when you spend this time in fellowship with Jesus, that it makes it more natural to share Him with others. When His Life flows through you, when your are filled with love for Him, then it's no big deal to tell others what He has done for you.

Being A Protestant Monk...Sometimes

This week's audio message:

Being A Protestant Monk...Sometimes

Grace For Life audio archives are here.