Things We Should Do - PH85-01
Advanced Bible Doctrine - Philippians 4:8-9

People call me on the phone from time to time. Very often, they are tape-listeners who are coming to town. A man called me yesterday. The upshot of the conversation was that he was in the charismatic Pentecostal trend. He was looking for a church. He seemed like a very bright person. I shared some things with him, and then I suggested that he might like to get our sessions that deal with the issue of tongues; the charismatic movement; and, the healing movement. I told him that if those things were problems to him, those might be useful to him. I suggested that one never knows he's right until he hears the opposition. He said, "Well, it wasn't a problem to me before I started talking to you."

After I hung up, as I prayed for him, and prayed that the Lord would bring him to enlightenment, immediately, I couldn't help but think about the rich young ruler. I almost could enter into what the Lord must have felt on that occasion, as the rich young ruler came into a position by the grace of God where he had the opportunity of his lifetime (and I mean of his whole eternal lifetime) to come into new life with Jesus Christ; to come into eternal life; and, everything that that connoted for all eternity for him. And he blew it. He was one of a select few that had direct contact in conversation with Jesus Christ. This is just as you are among those select few who have direct communication with Jesus Christ through the written Word of God explained to you on the basis of the languages of the Word of God.

So I couldn't help wondering whether that man was going to be a rich young ruler who indeed will show up and say, "I've got to find out about this," or who may not realize (as I happen to know) that he stumbled into a goldmine of information when he rang that number. His whole life; his whole eternal life; and, that of his family can be affected dramatically if he follows through, and all can be lost if he does not follow through. That man doesn't realize how providential his contact was. He'd had an opportunity to be alerted to something that he is sincerely in, which the Word of God condemns, and which Satan is using to his destruction. So we commend to you a positive attitude toward the Word of God, and to never be indifferent to the fact that God has made it possible for you to be here at this moment.

Our Subconscious

For this reason, in verse 9, the apostle Paul directs the Christian to focus mentally on things which he says are true, honorable, right, pure, winsome, attractive, and in general, lofty, and praiseworthy. The subconscious, or we may call it the directive function of the mind (the function that determines actions) is in effect an automatic guidance system placed in the soul by God for us to reach goals. These goals may be good or bad, and the mechanism within us functions according to the programming that we put into it. So focusing mentally, even upon evil things that we despise, or the actions of evil people whose actions we despise, is a dangerous thing because the subconscious is programmed even then. If our focus is upon evil, and if our focus is upon the things that are wrong, even if they are in other people, and even if we reject them, our focus upon that will program us so that we will find ourselves doing the very things that we have been ready to condemn in others.

The Imagination

Programming to evil is the natural inclination of every human being. In Genesis 8:21, God makes a statement that recognizes that fact – that the old sin nature within man is naturally inclined to program his subconscious toward evil goals: "And the Lord smelled the sweet savor, and the Lord said in his heart, 'I will not again curse the ground anymore for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I again smite anymore every living thing as I have done.'"

Following the flood, God made a solemn declaration that He would never again cover the whole earth with a flood at one time, and wipe out living things. He said the reason for this was that He would deal with man in a different way, but that man's evil would continue, because man's natural inclination in his thinking is to evil. So from his youth, the imagination of man's mind is evil. All thinking, therefore, is to be focused on divine viewpoint to ensure obedience to the will of Jesus Christ, and thus to produce personal happiness.

A very vital function of the role of imagination, we pointed out, is seeing yourself in an acceptable self-image. It is important how you view yourself. To view yourself in the wrong way would be to program yourself to goals that are going to bring unhappiness into your life. For example, dwelling on your shortcomings will simply cause your subconscious to be programmed with your failures, so as to ensure that you'll repeat them. Therefore, the Bible makes it very clear that when we fail (when we sin), there is a way to handle that real guilt and that real break in temporal fellowship through confession of sins. Then it is important to forget it. To focus on it is to ensure that you'll do it again. Christians fail to see themselves in terms of positional truth, and you must remember that God sees you in terms of your position in Christ and all that that connotes.

So whatever failures disgust you about yourself, and whatever shortcomings are a tragedy to yourself, and a personal agony, remember that in God's eyes, He sees you in a totally different light. Therefore, He acts upon a totally different image of you, and you must act upon the image that God has of you – not of the false image that you may have of yourself. That doesn't mean that we have an image of ourselves which is not true; which does not recognize our weaknesses; or, which imagines that we are something that we are not. The Bible also warns about the fact that a man should not think of himself more highly than he should – that he should not evaluate himself beyond what he really is and what he really can do.

So there is this balance that the self-image has to be a true self-image, and that ultimately our complete image of ourselves has to be in terms of positional truth – of what God sees us in Christ. That is an image of absolute perfection.

So the subconscious guides our actions in accordance with what we think is true about ourselves. It will do this sometimes even if what we think is true about ourselves really isn't. It very frequently will move us in the direction of that becoming true. So we should think in terms of what we would like to be on the basis of the principles of the Word of God. Doctrine should give us an image of where we should be going. That's the image we should have of ourselves.

The reason the imagination is so important is because the subconscious cannot tell whether it is being programmed by real experience or whether it is simply being programmed by something you're imagining about yourself. So therefore you can go through an experience of good or evil, and be programmed, or you can imagine an experience of good or evil, and be programmed accordingly. God the Holy Spirit uses either one. The creative imagination is the thing that distinguishes us from animals.

So the Holy Spirit takes the divine viewpoint which is stored in the subconscious to guide the believer into happiness and into successful living. This is done because divine viewpoint is fed into the subconscious (or the directive mind) from the human spirit where you have stored God's truth. The human spirit which is devoid of divine viewpoint has no information for the Holy Spirit to use. Therefore, you will then be programmed to operate on mere human viewpoint concepts.

So in verse 8, the apostle Paul has shown the role of thinking relative to your personal happiness. Now, in verse 9, he takes up the role of action relative to your personal happiness. Not only must you think in a certain direction to be programmed for happiness, and not only must you focus your thoughts upon certain kinds of things, but you must also act in a certain way – in obedience to the doctrine which you have learned.

So verse 9 says, "Those things which you have both learned and received, and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace (or of happiness) shall be with you." "Those things which" is the relative pronoun "hos". What Paul is referring to by this little word is the Bible doctrine which the Philippian Christians have received from him and from their other teachers. He is now going to deal with the external performance (as he has in verse 8 dealt with the internal performance) of a Christian person relative to his happiness. Paul said, "Internally, you have to act in a certain way in your mind for happiness." Now he says, "Externally, you have to act in a certain way in order to ensure happiness."

Learned

"Manthano" is active voice, indicating that it is by the choice of these Philippian Christians. They took the effort to learn, just as you took the effort to learn. You have taken the effort. You have taken the place of a learner. It's indicative, so it's a statement of fact. So the first point that Paul makes in what you must do externally, he describes in terms of what you have learned. You have learned certain facts concerning doctrine.

Concerning the word "both" that we have here, the translation is a little awkward in the King James Version: "Those things which we have both learned." The word "both" is the Greek word "kai." This word will reoccur several times in this verse in the Greek Bible. It really should be translated here by the word "also." As a matter of fact, it stands before the word learned in the Greek. First you have "kai," and then you have the word "learn." What this indicates is that the translation should really be: "Also the things which you learned," or "the things also which you learn." With this word in the Greek Bible, Paul is indicating that he is giving another side to the picture of how to be happy. He's already dealt with the internal side. Then he says also there is an external side to this. Here's what you must do on that account.

Received

What is this describing? Well, this is simply describing a believer who has, first of all, taken the step of "manthano." He came out to Bible class. He took the role of a disciple. Then he appropriated in Bible class what he was being taught by the teacher (by Paul; by Epaphroditus; and, by others). "Paralambano" means that he took from the presence of the teachers, and he went positive. So now he has learned doctrine. Because he is positive, he has stored it in his human spirit. This again (as all four of these words are), is an aorist active indicative. Aorist is viewing the believer's action as a whole. He has positive response. Active is his choice. He decided. Nobody can force you to accept the Word of God. You have to decide to come. You have to decide to accept it. Indicative is a statement of fact.

Heard

This is very important. They did it by hearing. I am amazed at what a monumental amount of negative response comes when the point is stressed that God has a local church structure with certain officers in it. It begins with an elder (who is a pastor-teacher), and he is assisted by a variety of deacons in various capacities, over all of which is the congregation under the Holy Spirit, who is bringing glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, and who is fulfilling the will of God the Father. That is a local church structure, and you can see that the key point of the congregation's spiritual well-being is at the point of the pastor-teacher and the performing of his work. What does he do? He explains doctrine in words.

The resistance of a vast number of Christians today is monumental at this point, because they don't want to accept the fact that the pastor-teacher is the means whereby they're going to come to divine viewpoint understanding. They want some other means. So they join organizations. We've got vast organizations that are non-church organizations. They are outside of the local church. These people are all caught up in these groups. There are scores of them. There are thousands of Christians (really born again people) who have mistakenly attached themselves to these groups as the means whereby they are going to go forward in their Christian life. Yet these non-church organizations are all characterized by one thing – that they continue to run hotshot rallies of some kind – hotshot spiritual binges. Vast sums of God's money are constantly invested because they've drawn it off, usually from businessmen who are not too discerning, and they have drawn vast sums of money from people to run these hot shot operations.

So what do they do? They'll have a great rally in a stadium. Everybody will light a match and hold it up in the dark, and sing "This Little Light of Mine." They all go out there and say, "I really felt close to God," and they're as ignorant as they were when they walked in. They are fools.

Currently, we're going to have a big prayer rally for guidance in the national election. Dr. Billy Graham was asked to join. As a matter of fact, I noticed that they've already published his name and his picture in the advertising. And I heard on news the other day that he declined to participate. He said that he has learned the hard way about politics, and he has begun to get some divine viewpoint about these spiritual binges.

There are thousands of Christians who feel that if they can just get into a wonderful rally and get a bunch of people together everywhere, having a day of prayer and fasting, and personal self-denial, that somehow God is going to be pleased, and somehow God is going to pour blessings upon us, and upon them personally. What fools! God sits in heaven and shakes His head in absolute disbelief at these creatures that He has created, and even given new life to, who are that kind of spiritual dullards and have that kind of a low spiritual IQ as to think that that is going to accomplish anything of any substance for the individual believer's personal spiritual maturity. It doesn't even do much for the unbelieving world, let alone for the Christian.

So this is a very critical word. When Paul says, "Remember what you "akouo," he is saying, remember what you learned when you sat face-to-face, and were instructed by my voice (and of your other teachers who had the gift of teaching spiritual things). Remember what you were instructed in God's thinking. That is the way you received it. That is the way you will continue to receive it."

I noticed in a piece of literature that I received this week, that these non-church organizations have become so apostate, that in this current spiritual binge, they have indiscriminately mixed even charismatics. One charismatic face after another of a prominent leader lies there upon the page, intermixed with people who are leaders in the evangelical Christian camp. The apostasy has gone so far that the evil spirit (the demonic, spirit-dominated, charismatic movement) is not even seen for what it is, and it is being accepted as part of the group that's going to rally to pray for guidance in a national election.

I agree that we ought to pray for guidance in a national election. All you have to do is look at the candidates to know how much we need to pray. Never in the history of the American republic has so little been offered to so many. Never have so many had such opportunity to select from so little. There's not much, and it's going to take prayer for many to try to choose from so little.

Well, when you bring that which is so contrary to the Word of God, and which is of the demonic world, can't you just imagine how Satan and the demon spirits must chuckle in hellish glee at the confusion and spiritual disorientation they create through these organizations with their hotshot, rah-rah, hooray rallies and events of one kind or another. Out of this, somebody along the line is saved and they justify it that way. Don't ever forget that the doctrine of election declares that God has chosen eternal life, and you're going to get there. You're going to get there through the witness of a faithful Christian someplace along the line. Any organization that comes in outside of the church with its cute little techniques and devices and gimmicks may happen to be tolerated by God to bring the gospel to someone that's elect. But God would have gotten that information in a decent and orderly local church ministry expression.

It is because the local church has become such a poverty struck place when it comes to "akouo" teaching – teaching that people hear in face-to-face instruction of the Word of God, that these organizations have had a chance to come into existence in the first place. And innocent people pour money into those by the thousands of dollars, not realizing that God's order is the local church organization. No Christian ever goes on to spiritual maturity through these campus organizations, and these reaching of teenagers, and the salvage operations, because that's what they basically are, of one thing and another – salvaging what the local church should have done. No Christian ever goes on to spiritual maturity through those organizations. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking they do. Personal spiritual growth for the individual believer comes first and foremost through the organization that God has provided. That is the local church with a pastor-teacher in that local organization with the authority to exercise the teaching gift in that particular church – his right church, with his congregation.

I also tell you that much of what is in printed form is defective, and it is, at some critical point, leading Christians astray. I am appalled at how much deception; how much misconception; and, how much error is in publications that are widely publicized among Christians, and are written by well-known Christian leaders. Nobody's going to be able to read a book and say, "Well, I agree with all of these viewpoints; all of these conclusions; and, all of these applications." But the thing that amazes me is that at some very critical point is where the error comes. It isn't just, "Well, it could it be this way, or it could be that way. Maybe the antichrist will look like this. Maybe he'll look like that." Those things don't make any difference. It's at a critical point. That's where the book goes wrong.

You hesitate to recommend the reading of Christian literature to God's people, because his majesty the devil has so cleverly come into book after book. (I've described some of those to you in detail in the past.) At some critical point, the devil will get his point in, and a distortion will be sealed in the minds of thousands of Christians. So you are almost inclined to say, "Don't read any Christian literature unless you're really a stable, mature Christian, because you're going to start picking up some wrong ideas at some major point that can have major consequences in your life."

Local church organizations are caught up in what is called the Body Life notion – the idea that Christians minister to one another, and that's how a person grows spiritually. This is the latest fad. This is the latest hot-shot gimmickry device, and whole congregations come into being. There's a certain type of temperament that gravitates toward those churches – the person who tends to be emotionally dominated.

However, no one can minister very much to another person's spiritual development who has not first been thoroughly taught by a pastor-teacher in a local church. You can't help somebody else spiritually until some pastor-teacher has done a big job for you, and until you have done a big job for yourself in positive response, both in the thinking factor, and in what you practice. That's what we're talking about now. So consequently, you have this ludicrous condition that here you have a group of people who envision a spiritual maturity structure at the super grace level. That's what it's all about. They're going to get each other there, mutually, in their ignorance via emotions.

I'll tell you that nobody walks the path from babyhood to spiritual maturity via emotions. Until you become mature, you can't help anybody along the line. So here you have this vast congregation of Body Life churches who are scattered out along this scale of spiritual maturity. They're under the illusion that they can help each other spiritually when they haven't arrived at the point of capacity to do it.

And so what happens? Well, it devolves into social services. It devolves into a sugary sentimentality. It devolves into code words of expression concerning love for one another. It devolves into doing things that people think they need to have done for them. It all is done under a lack of divine viewpoint understanding. Remember that Body Life folks gather together for the explicit purpose of sharing experiences. Experiences are the name of the game in the Body Life church movement. Because they are sharing experiences, they automatically shoot for emotions. That's what the purpose of the experience is. That's why we say that a Body Life church is a charismatic group, minus tongues, healings and miracles.

I've taken the trouble to sit in both groups: charismatics; and, Body Life. I've listened to the terminology, I've listened to the ideals set forth. I've been amazed to find identical language; identical goals; and, identical challenges. I could close my eyes, and if I didn't know where I was, I couldn't tell whether I was in a charismatic meeting or whether I was in a Body Life meeting. Emotion and experience are the dominating factor of both. Satan and his demons chuckle with hellish glee over the kind of monumental stupidity that they've been able to pull off on the local church today. The result is that this has become so popular that people think that if you're not in this, you're not where it's at.

Consequently, where it really is at (where the Word is being taught from the languages under a pastor-teacher authoritative gift), that's where people don't go. That's because they're caught up in the common delusion that it's people ministering to one another that is the path to personal spiritual development. It is in these outside non-church organizations with their hoopla that great things are done for God, and where you will go forward in His will. Life in the body of Christ is developed into a strong, stable spiritual maturity through your pastor-teacher – not through some clowns who are playing good Samaritans to one another. The government does enough of that for us, without getting Christians and church members into the role of good Samaritans. If that's what you want, and if you want a Christian department of welfare expressed in various ways to give you some experiences that will warm your emotions, then Body Life is where you want to go, because that's where you'll get it.

But don't ever forget the word "akouo." Paul says, "Remember 'akouo.'" This is what you have heard because you gathered in a body and you listened to your God-appointed and God-given instructor. This was true of the church from the very first. In Acts 2:42, we read, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship" – in the Word of God as delivered to the apostles, and in the fellowship with the apostles. That's what they continued in – in doctrine of the apostles and in fellowship with the apostles, as they were taught by them. Along with that, they shared in the breaking of bread, the Lord's Supper, as well as other meals, and in prayers. That constituted the life of the body ministering to the body. It was through fellowship with the apostles (the teachers), not through fellowship with what people could do for one another. That had minimal contribution.

"Akouo" is aorist tense. This is your attendance in class and your listening viewed as a whole. It is active. These people chose to come to hear. It is indicative – a statement of fact. The word "kai" is added again, and another point is added.

Seen

What have they seen in an overall view? What have they learned by an overall view of Paul? They have learned by his example. Paul, to them, in the performance of his own Christian life; in how he functioned under the divine institutions; and, in how he functioned under the principles of doctrine was also teaching them. It is aorist – the life of Paul viewed as a whole. It is active. The Philippians saw the life of Paul themselves when he was among them. It is indicative – a statement of fact.

Here's the chain. Let's get it clear. There are some external things to do for spiritual maturity. First of all, "manthano" – to become a learner. This is to take into your perceptive mind God's viewpoint. "Paralambano" is to receive, and to have positive response to what you have learned, and to put it into your subconscious. "Akouo" means that you receive it by sitting in a class where you hear the teacher, and you face him, and you are instructed. By the way, basically you sit there silently. You are listening. You are paying attention. You are not carrying on a discourse. You are listening to a monologue. There are places for discourse. But first, you have to know something, so you know what to discuss. Then, "horao" – you see how this is put into application through the one who has instructed you. You see how this works out by your observations in experiences all around you.

The Greek has a word "next," which is left out here in the English translation. I don't know why they left it out. It's the Greek word "houtos," and it stresses "these things." It's a demonstrative pronoun, neuter, and plural. It means "these things." What things? Well, everything that they have received in the way of Bible doctrine information – through these steps that he has just referred to.

Do

By the way, you cannot reverse this. Don't get caught up in this positive thinking idea that if I start thinking positively now, I'm going to reverse this. It literally takes days and days to do this. Someone who's made some analysis of this says it takes at least 21 days for you to reverse what you have programmed yourself to do. Your subconscious takes a good three weeks before you can see that you are changing the direction of what you have been doing.

Many people become discouraged because they say, "Well, now I'm going to think in a different direction. I'm going to have a different viewpoint on this. Then they find themselves doing the same old thing. Don't be discouraged. Just be aware of the fact that you took a long time to program yourself and you can't erase it. This is one thing that's different from a normal natural computer. You can erase information on a regular computer immediately, but your subconscious takes more time to make the change.

So he says, "Here's your thinking. That has programmed you. Now your doing has programmed you. And these things that you have received in a local church pastor-teacher instruction context, you are to do. You are to practice them. And all of your happiness is going to be dependent upon your practicing these divine viewpoint principles. A Christian's actions are to flow from the directive mind, which is acting upon the divine viewpoint sent up by the Holy Spirit from your human spirit. This is in the present tense. That means that this is a constant action of your life. You are constantly to practice these principles. It is active. It means that you have to decide to live according to Bible principles. And this time it is imperative. God is telling you to do it. When he says, "Do," He means, "Do." He commands it. That's the point.

You can see the relationship of verse 8 and verse 9. Just notice the word "think" at the end of verse 8. That's the point of that verse. Then notice the word "do" in verse 9. That's the point of that verse. These two factors together are put in here, without the apostle explaining them. It took us until the 20th century to learn more about this. Without explaining, the reason he puts these two factors in here is because this is what guides your actions. Your thinking programs you, and your doing programs you. So the next time you think something that's dirty; vile; sinful; and, that God condemns, you better stop and think through a little more carefully what you're doing. The next time you are willing to participate in an action that the Bible condemns for moral reasons; for kindness; or, for any other reason, you'd better stop and think. Realize what it is that you're doing to yourself.

The end of verse 9 tells us the result of obedience. It begins with the word "and" which is again our word "kai," indicating that he is now going to show us the consequences of practicing doctrine. "And the God," and that's how it is in the Greek. It has the definite article "the." It is "the God," referring to God the Father, and He is described as "The God of peace." Here's our word "eirene" again. "Eirene" is a mental attitude of harmony. It is the word which is equivalent to happiness. It is contentment and tranquility in the soul. Here God is called the God of peace.

Remember what we saw in verse 7. The promise was that the peace of God (the happiness of God), which is beyond human comprehension and ability to grasp, shall stand as a guard detail upon your mind through Jesus Christ. It will stand there guarding your happiness. God's happiness is guarding your thinking so that you do not go astray to destroy that thinking.

Well, now here He is described in verse 9 as the God of peace or the God of happiness. It is this God whom he says, "Shall be." The Greek word is "eimi." This is the word for an existing condition. It is the condition of the Christian who is practicing the doctrine he has learned. It is future. After learning and then practicing it, the future will be that this God of happiness will be with you. It is middle tense this time (future and middle). This means that it is to your personal benefit. When you practice doctrine, you are the beneficiary of it. It is indicative – a statement of fact. "With you" means the presence of God with the Philippian Christians. God is present to give happiness to those who practice doctrine.

We're going to deal with another very vital factor that affects how you respond to the command to do doctrine, and how you respond to the command to be happy. Part of this is affected by the fact that there reside four distinct basic types of people. We're going to talk about them in detail. People are viewed as being born with certain basic traits. These traits influence their actions. A certain type of person is a result of these traits.

How you express your basic temperament is what determines your personality. This is what people see. What basic temperament type you are, the raw material (so to speak) of what you are composed, can be expressed in a variety of ways. Your personality can be a veneer that just completely deceives us as to what kind of a person you really are, and what your real temperament is? The temperaments have strong points, but all of the temperaments have some very terrible weak points, and they are the source of a great deal of unhappiness.

So it's helpful, to tie up this study on happiness, to try to get an evaluation of what kind of a person you are by what your parents gave you in your genetic structure. You will find this monumentally helpful to be able to pinpoint yourself in a certain type as the result of what your parents gave you by inheritance. It will help identify your particular areas or weaknesses that are the threat to your happiness.

The idea of temperaments is very old. It was first propounded by a man named Hippocrates 2,400 years ago. He is viewed as the father of medicine in the ancient world. He observed the fact that people seem to fall into four basic categories. He attributed it to certain fluids in the body. So the names that he gave to these particular temperament types are the result of a misconception that he had that they were due to certain fluids which were surging through this particular person.

Nobody is of any one particular temperament. Usually people are of a combination: at least two; and, maybe three. But everybody is a certain dominant type. Your temperament type has a very definitive bearing upon your happiness. The purpose of this is for you to focus upon yourself, and for you to identify the kind of raw material that God has made you out of, and, therefore that which is going to affect your personal happiness. That is what we're interested in – putting you in a place where God can bless you. So in the next session, we will look at these basic temperament types and see how they affect our happiness.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1973

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