Stinking Thinking #2

Feast of Tabernacles 1999 – Day 6

Stinkin' Thinkin' #2

Fred Coulter - September 30, 1999

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It's really quite a thing when you understand about how the whole world has been deceived, and deceived by changing their thinking pattern. Remember, the thinking pattern is this: stinking thinking is emotions equal facts!

Facts are facts. Emotions are emotions, and you must always get your facts first, then the emotion can be added to it. If you don't get your facts first and you let your emotions run away with you, what do you come to? You come to a lot of wrong conclusions very easily because emotions get hurt very easily!

I know every time I've let my emotions get away with themselves, my stinking thinking, well I got myself in trouble because I made a lot of conclusions and things that weren't true. Yet, in my own mind when I made them I thought they were true because I felt so right about it. This is stinking thinking.

I think we can understand a little bit more about why God has said that we must come out of Babylon the Great.

Revelation 18:2: "And he cried out… [this angel from heaven] …mightily with a loud voice, saying, 'Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hated bird; because all nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication with her…" (vs 2-3).

Revelation 17:1: "…the great whore who sits upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication" (vs 1-2)—which is stinking thinking!

You analyze all the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and how they justify their traditions, how they justify everything they do, and their idols, and it is all stinking thinking. It's all emotional thinking.

Revelation 18:3: "'Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the power of her luxury.' And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, My people…'" (vs 3-4).

We have to come out of the thinking of this world! That's where it starts. Remember how I brought out that there is:

• God-think
• world-think
• Satan-think
• human-think

They are the ways of thinking!

You always have to come back to God's way of thinking with the mind of Christ; that is how you overcome stinking thinking. That's how you get out of Babylon the Great.

"'…so that you do not take part in her sins, and that you do not receive of her plagues, for her sins have reached as far as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she has rendered to you; and give to her double, even according to her works. In the cup that she mixed, give her back double. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give to her as much torment and sorrow. For she says in her heart, "I sit a queen enthroned, and am not a widow; and in no way shall I experience sorrow"'" (vs 4-7). Then all those plagues are going to come! What are her sins?

Revelation 12:9: "And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…"—and he's deceiving the world with wrong thinking:

• by changing the definitions
• by changing the standards
• by bringing the Word of God down to a point of view of men
• by bringing Christ down to just another man,  not the Son of God

Once you do that, then as I mentioned we have all the New Age Bibles, which take away the Word of God! You've got the whole psychological thing, and as Dean Gotcher mentioned, you don't have to make people atheists for them to reject God. What you do is:

• you remove God from the public
• you remove God from the schools
• you remove God from the government, you remove God from the workplace

you bring in:

• the emotional thinking
• exalting human beings

Then you've got them! You take away the fear of God and you substitute it with the fear of man!

This is where the world has come, and this is why they are able to bring in the United Religions of the World. First of all, they say that 'you can worship God in your own way. You can have your God, and I can have my god.' In other words, all those who join that united religion have given up all moral principles concerning the Word of God, so that they can get together with human beings. That's the whole goal of this new one-world thing: get along and go along.

Psalm 53:1: "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, and have worked out abominable wickedness; there is no one who does good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understand, who are seeking after God. Everyone has turned away; they have altogether become corrupt; no one is doing good, no, not even one" (vs 1-3).

This is what happens when you have this kind of emotional thinking that predominates, and emotion is translated into becoming fact because you feel so strongly about the feeling and the emotion that without getting the true facts it's so easy to be convinced that what you feel is true. And you can see this on everything.

What I want you to do is, I want you to, when you watch television, watch the ads. Listen to what they have to say.

• How many facts are really there?
• How much emotion is there in the sales job?

You will see that it is almost all emotion. It has to do with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the mind, and the pride of life, all appealing to human reasoning. And that's why every one of them is gone backwards. They're all deceived into this because this kind of thinking is everywhere.

• it's in the schools
• it's in politics
• it's in the workplace
• it's in everything that you do

And it gets down to self-esteem!

Let me explain what self-esteem really means: you feel good about yourself regardless of what you do! As long as it feels good it's got to be right, which means:

• adultery is right because it feels good
• fornication is right because it feels good
• lying is right because it feels good and it gets you out of trouble

This is translated over into what is called outcome-based education, where the outcome is not whether you learn anything, but how you feel about yourself. If you say two and two is five and you feel good about it well you've tried hard. So, they're bound to accept it because you feel good.

What this leads to is group esteem. You go from self-esteem to group esteem. Group esteem is what transpires when you get into the group-think. Let's follow that a little bit further: In schools and in the workplace it is group grades.

• you'll find this in businesses
• you'll find this in schools

you'll find this group-thinking everywhere

• you even find it in the Churches of God

to where you stay with this group regardless

Rather than the fact is you need to stay with God! Do you see the difference? God wants you to think in facts beginning with Him, Who is the greatest fact because He is!

Then you also have group participation. Now I mentioned a little bit earlier how that the Boy Scouts now have had to take a step back on their stance on homosexuals. What they did, it was very clever, they got a lean young, I think he's about 19-years-old, Eagle Scout who earned every merit badge there could possibly be. He was good looking, he was masculine, and they brought it to an emotional level. Rather than fact: homosexuality is wrong! Now they have the whole Boy Scouts into dialogue unto consensus, which is, 'How can you condemn this nice looking man? After all, he didn't tell anybody. After all, he never seduced anybody. And you want to kick him out of the Boy Scouts when he has earned all these merit badges, and he has done all these things.'

They said, 'Yes, we need to reevaluate our stance, and we need to adopt something like the military: don't ask, don't tell.' Gotcha! As soon as you get into dialogue to consensus!

That is done in a group more than ever. What they want to do with this dialogue to consensus is this: all of the Boy Scout leaders now are going to have to have sensitivity training, which is corruption thinking! They don't tell you that. They say:

'We want to corrupt your mind so that you will accept homosexuality. If you are against this fine upstanding boy just because he's a homosexual, there's something wrong with you.'

• It's in the government
• it's in the military
• it's in civil service
• everywhere

When you give rights to sin you have stinkin' thinkin'! Regardless of what it is:

• homosexuality
• thievery
• divorce
• child-rearing
• promiscuity
• the outcome based education
• the total quality management within business

As Dean Gotcher has pointed out with those!

Let's see what happens. The ultimate goal of group thinking is to get you to fear men instead of God. Why is that? That way you set your principles aside and you set God aside, because you can't bring God into the conversation.

If you bring God into the conversation then you are a 'loose cannon' or a 'loose brick.' If you bring God into the conversation they will put you down and say, 'That is your point of view.' When you shut up and say nothing, you have been compromised at least to that much. If you don't retain your values internally you'll be compromised even more down the road! It's known in the Scriptures as 'a little leaven leavens the whole lump'; that's exactly what has happened to them.

Dean Gotcher said that 'if you teach men to fear men then you become like the animals,' and here are the two Scriptures he used. We are to fear God, not man. 'Don't be afraid of what man can do to you,' Christ said.

Psalm 111:10: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom …" Why? Because if you fear God you'll want to keep His commandments, you want to do what He says! That's why it's the beginning of wisdom. If you don't fear God you have your own wisdom and you're out there in the world with self-think, self-esteem, world-think, which then is Satan-think!

"…a good understanding have all those who do His commandments.…" (v 10)—which then tells you that those who do not keep His commandments do not have a good understanding, so therefore, any conclusions they come up with concerning morals is wrong.

"…His praise endures for ever" (v 10).

If you fear man then you become as an animal. God says, 'Do not be afraid of men.' But here, if you fear man, and remember that is the outcome. That is the outcome just like one man said that if he brought up concerning homosexual behavior in the workplace, his boss said he would be fired. What is that now? That is so you will fear man!

When God first started calling me, and I know what he used to call me, was when I went into the paleontology class and the professor came out and he waited until it was all silence. He just stood up there in front of the class and the first thing that he said, he said, 'If you believe in God and want to bring up the Bible in this class, there is the door.'

All group-thinking! If you fear him, because if you don't please him you don't get a grade. If you bring up God, you're kicked out of the door. So much for facts in education! Now mind you, that was many, many years ago that that occurred!

Genesis 9:2: "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon all that moves on the earth, and upon all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered."

If you fear man you are no different than a beast! I think that is very clear.

Let's look at some more of the fear of God and why the fear of God is good. In fearing God and doing God's way, the proper way, there are blessings.

(go to the next track)

Psalm 34:4: "I sought the LORD…" That's what you need to do, continually seek God because He is. Then you can get all your facts.

Proverbs 16:3: "Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established."

If you have trouble with ruling your mind, and your mind drifts around, commit your thoughts to God, your ways to Him and He will establish your thoughts! That's why we need to have the Word of God in our heart and mind. That way we can think properly. Do you think that God at any time has ever thought improperly? Of course not because He's God and He's perfect. So therefore, if you put His Word in your heart and mind and you use that as the framework from which you think then you're going to think right! You won't have stinkin' thinkin'! So, seek the Lord, He will hear you.

Psalm 34:4: "I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears." He will deliver you! He promises to do that! You can claim that promise! You don't have to fear men!

Verse 5: "They looked to Him and were radiant… [all who turned to God] …and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard, and saved him out of all his troubles" (vs 5-6).

What happens if you have stinkin' thinkin'? You get lots of troubles. There's no way around it. Be you

• an adult
• a child
• a youth
• old
• young

It makes no difference!

Verse 7: "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them…. [in this satanic world today, we need deliverance] …O taste and see that the LORD is good..." (vs 7-8).

That doesn't mean that you're going to eat Him. That means that you're going to eat His Word! You're going to take it like the Apostle John was given the 'little book,' and so was Ezekiel given the 'little book' to eat. But because of the warnings and the plagues that those things said, it was bitter in their belly. But when you're not having to deliver a message of plagues and doom and gloom, "…O taste and see that the LORD is good..." and it will rescue you from all those things!

"…blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. O fear the LORD, all you saints, for there is nothing lacking to those who fear Him" (vs 8-9). He'll provide everything!

Verse 14: "Depart from evil… [you have to know what evil is; you have to have the facts] …And do good…" In order to do good you have to know what the facts are! All the commandments of God are good!

"…seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles" (vs 14-17).

It doesn't mean you won't have difficulties and problems. It just means that God is going to deliver you. The way He will deliver you may not be the way that you would do it! That's why you have to walk by faith, and you have to trust in Him. Whatever your troubles are, cast them to the Lord, because He cares for you.

Verse 18: "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are of a contrite spirit.…. [which is the exact opposite of self-esteem and group-esteem] …Many are the afflictions of the righteous…" (vs 18-19).

You're going to have troubles and difficulties. Why? Why would God, Who is love and merciful, put you through a lot of afflictions? Because human nature is designed in such a way that it will not really learn unless there are experiences. That's how you build the character of God.

Whenever you ask God, 'God, help me to have faith and trust in You,' then you've got a trial. That was an answer to prayer. 'God, help me to love more,' then you have an argument with your husband or wife; or a knock-down drag-out with your kids. That was a trial so you could exercise love.

Then you ask yourself why you didn't have love: because you didn't exercise it! You asked for love, but when it comes time that you need to exercise it, the way you're going to learn is that you need to learn to control your stinkin' thinkin' and your emotions. Then you will have the proper love. I've got to learn it. I've learned it that way. I'm not perfect. I don't want anyone worshipping me, or following me because I'm me. I have faults and mistakes like everybody else. And I've had my bloopers, some of them big, some of them little. It's kind of like a baseball game. You hit a foul ball and some of them just kind of dink out. That's not too bad. But when you hit a mammoth foul ball that's just inches away from a home run. You know those great big arches going down the foul line and it just misses, you know then you feel real bad. Well I've had some of those, too.

Proverbs 9:6: "Forsake the foolish and live; and go in the way of understanding." That's what happens. What you have to do. Stinkin' thinkin' is foolish! If you avoid the facts and just go on emotion it's going to kill you. I know I've done that.

When I've gone on emotion, I've laid there in bed at night and couldn't sleep. I'd toss and turn and I'd think of all the things that I went through, and all that were done to me. I remember sitting up in bed at 2 o'clock in the morning and just shouted out loud, 'They can't do this!' Well, dodo, they already did. What do you mean they can't, it's already done. But I was operating strictly on emotion rather than seeking God and asking Him, 'God, what are the facts of these." Well, God was merciful and later revealed the facts, and I'm very glad I was delivered from them, but the way I was delivered was one of the afflictions. So, forsake the foolish!

Verse 7: "The one who rebukes a scorner gets shame to himself…" When you try and tell some of these people who are just emotion wrecks that 'you're emotional' they won't believe you.

"…and the one who rebukes a wicked one gets himself an insult…. [he's going to be marked] …Do not reprove a scorner, lest he hate you; give rebuke to a wise man, and he will love you" (vs 7-8).

Why? Because a wise man will see that he shouldn't continue in that way! Now that's what's important.

Verse 9: "Give instruction to a wise one, and he will be still wiser…" That's what God wants you to do! Be wise and be yet wiser. That's how we are to have the mind of Christ!

"…teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning" (v 9). We are to ever increase in learning.

Let's just rehearse: Dialectic means to be changing. There is a proper changing in human growth and growing in Godly character that God wants. Part of it is here if you teach a just man, that is someone who is justified by Christ—and this means man or woman—he will increase in learning, because life is to be an ever increasing learning and changing and growing experience in Christ!

Verse 10: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding." It tells you how to do it! Not only does it tell you what to do, it tells you how to do it.

Verse 11: "For by me [wisdom] your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased. If you are wise, you shall be wise for yourself; but if you scorn, you alone shall bear it'" (vs 11-12).

So in other words if you're a scorner it really doesn't make any difference. Other people are just going to pay you no mind and you're just going to bear it yourself. So, you're out there all mad and scorning.' All emotions, all worked up, stinkin' thinkin' blasting away. When stinkin' thinkin' is blasting away, you think you're right! I've done it. I've thought I was absolutely right. But I was absolutely wrong because I had emotions out there instead of getting facts.

• Did I do it Godly?
• Did I do it lovingly?
• Did I do it correctly?
• No!

I came on blasting like a bulldozer that had a high-speed race engine in it and dragged down the road and tear everything up at once. Not only that, but you have those big forks hanging down in back, and you just dig everything up behind you, and plow it, and you've just left everything in a mess. God doesn't want that.

Proverbs 28:13: "He who covers his sins shall not prosper…" The way you cover your sin is, you don't recognize it and you don't repent of it. You justify it, you gloss it over with stinking thinking!

"…but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy" (v 13). It cleanses when you repent! Repentance cleanses and straightens you out! That's what repentance does. That's a proper emotion because then you are using emotion of repentance to get back to the fact of God's way.

Verse 14: "Blessed is the man who fears always… [fearing God] …but he who hardens his heart shall fall into mischief."

Now let's see what happens to people who do not fear always. God warned them so many times. God told them to fear Him, to love Him, and all this sort of thing.

Deuteronomy 12:28: "Be careful to observe and obey all these words, which I command you, so that it may go well with you…"

The greatest stinking thinking that the world has is that God doesn't want it to be well with them. That God, Who was the God of the Old Testament is mean and hateful and cruel and destroying. Well they don't know that He was the One Who became Jesus Christ. They don't know how many times He said, just in the book of Deuteronomy, you do this:

"…so that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever when you do that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God" (v 28).

In other words get the facts straight, have the commandments straight, do those then the blessings will come, then you can have right emotions, then you can have it rightly channeled and rightly directed.

Verse 29: "When the LORD your God shall cut off the nations before you, where you go to possess them, and you take their place and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you do not become ensnared by following them…" (vs 29-30)—by stinkin' thinkin', because that's how you are snared. You are deceived on an emotional level by following them!

"…after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not ask about their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods that I may also do likewise?'" (v 30).

Remember the first commandment is 'I am the LORD your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other gods before Me' Fact!

When you go and inquire after other gods you're going after emotion. Now it's okay to understand their false practices, but don't go to their false practices and say, 'That's how I'm going to do it to the Lord. Why that is quaint. I really think the kids have a wonderful time with this Easter. Look at how they go out and have fun looking for Easter eggs and having an Easter egg roll. Why, that's great.'

Verse 31: "You shall not do so to the LORD your God, for every abomination to the LORD, which He hates, they have done to their gods; even their sons and their daughters they have burned in the fire to their gods"—offered them, and then the priests then ate them! The priests of Baal were known as Canna-Bals because they ate human flesh.

Another way of doing it is to pass through the fire, to walk through the fire. They've even had that in shows on television showing how that people get… I watched a documentary on that one time and they had this hypnotic music going all the time. They get them in a hypnotic trance so they can walk over the hot coals and not burn their feet. Well, that is demonic! God says do not do that.

"…for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. Whatsoever thing that I command you, be careful to do it. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it" (vs 31-32). Why?

• Is God God? Yes!
• Is He perfect? Yes!
• Does He know what is right and good? Yes!
• Can you add anything to it that is going to improve it? Not a thing!
• Can you take away anything from it that will improve it? Not a thing!

If you add to it, you become God in your own mind! See, most people don't think of that. They think: 'this is a good idea, we'll do it.'

Deuteronomy 13:1: "If a prophet rises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder." It appeals to your feelings! It appeals to something you can see!

Just like today, there are apparitions of Mary. If there is any Catholic population around there they all come out and they look up on the tree or on the side of the house, or up on the glass to see this apparition of Mary. And, lo and behold, after a while what happens? You have people out there on their knees with their rosary and just all this sort of nonsense.

Verse 2: "And the sign or the wonder, which he foretold to you comes to pass, saying, 'Let us go after other gods…"—meaning, 'Let's worship God in the way that these people worship their gods.' Or 'Look, this other god has signs and wonders, but the Lord has no signs and wonders.'

"'…which you have not known, and let us serve them,' you shall not hearken to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul" (vs 2-3).

Everything that God does is going to test you. When everything comes along there will be tests. Do you really love God? Are you going to follow the facts of God's commandments and ways?

Verse 4: "You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has spoken to turn you against the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slaves, to thrust you out of the way… [God's way is a way, not a religion] …in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put the evil away from the midst of you. If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is like your own soul, lures you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods'—which you have not known, you nor your fathers, that is, of the gods of the people who are around you, near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth—you shall not consent to him nor hearken to him. Nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare, nor shall you conceal him. But you shall surely kill him.…" (vs. 4-9).

We are not under the administration of death today so we cannot do that, so we have to separate ourselves, and as we saw at the beginning, 'Come out of her My people.' Get out of it! That's what we have to do today. God will take care of getting rid of them.

Let's see where we are not to fear man what he can do to us. That's so important because if you believe God and God is, and God is able to resurrect you from the dead, what does it really matter if you die before whatever age you would die normally anyway. If you die because you're serving and loving God and obeying Him:

• Have you not made it into the Kingdom of God? Yes!
• Is that not the whole goal of what we're going through? Yes!

Matthew 10:28: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but do not have power to destroy the life; rather, fear Him Who has the power to destroy bothlife and body in Gehenna"—and God can do that!

If someone slits your throat and you die, your physical life dies. God is able to resurrect you! And in a sense, even though your soul ceases to exist as a physical part of your being, they still haven't killed you in the sense that they've take your life and God can't resurrect you.

Let's see what God has given us. He's given us the power, He's given us the help and the strength, showing us the way that we can do things as God wants us to do them, and what kind of mind we are to have.

2-Timothy 1:7: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear… [that is toward men] …but of power, and of love, and of sound-mindedness."

Why? Because you keep the facts straight! You have God first, you have the mind of Christ, you keep your facts straight, and that gives you sound-mindedness! Anyone who practices sin does not have sound-mindedness. Why? Because they have stinking thinking and they're operating off their lusts! They are operating off their feelings.

Someone asked me a question about this, and I think I have the answer. If we are to fear God, why does God throw the fearful into the Lake of Fire? Now we have the answer:

Revelation 21:8: "But the cowardly, and unbelieving…" This means that you fear a man more than God, and those who are fearful and give up on God because of a man will lose their salvation. That's what it's talking about.

"…and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death" (v 8).

That's why. If you fear God you're going to be in the Kingdom of God. If you fear men, you're not going to be in the Kingdom of God.

Let's do a little bit more on this group-think, because too many people are involved in it:

• whether it's school
• whether you're young
• whether your old
• even men have clubs, secret societies

The Masons say, 'You better fear us because if you reveal the secrets, we're going to cut your heart out and lift your liver away.' That's the pledge that you take! You come into the Masons and you say, 'I know nothing, and I'm coming to you for all wisdom.'

• it's all satanic
• it's all based upon emotion
• it's all based upon mysticism
• it's a group think

If you belong to the group you will be blessed; you will succeed in business.

Always remember Mordecai, sitting at the gate of the king. He was ragged, didn't have enough to eat, was rejected and despised, and he didn't belong to the group. Haman the Agagite was the Persian pope, if you could put it that way, and Mordecai would not bow down to him. He persuaded the king of Persia to kill all the Jews on a certain day at a certain time. Because Mordecai feared God, God turned the whole tables on Haman the Agagite, and he was the one then who died. All of his henchmen were hung on the gallows that they raised up to hang the Jews on. So, God is able to take care of the group.

Proverbs 1:7: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…" In another place, it says 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' So, if you fear God you're going to have wisdom and knowledge.

"…but fools despise wisdom and instruction…. [because they have stinkin' thinkin'] …My son, hear the instruction of your father and forsake not the law of your mother, for they shall be an ornament of grace to your head and chains of honor around your neck" (vs 7-9).

This is for all people who still live at home with their parents, you are to obey your father and your mother. Christ did! Are you better than Christ?

Verse 10: "My son, if sinners… [group] …entice you, do not consent. If they say, 'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood… [this is gang mentality] …we will watch secretly for the innocent without cause; let us swallow them up alive as the grave, and whole, as those who go down into the pit; we shall find all precious substance…" (vs. 10-13).

• we're not going to have to work
• we can steal
• we can sell drugs
• we can do all of these things
• let's get us a 'chop shop' and steal cars
• we'll run them in there and we'll chop them up and we'll make different cars out of them
• we'll take them down to Belize, south of the border near Mexico, and we'll sell them, and we'll get money

Did you know that almost every car down in Belize, that's an American, is a stolen car and they can't get them back? It is amazing!

Verse 13: "We shall find all precious substance; we shall fill our houses with plunder; cast in your lot among us, and let us have one purse" (vs 13-14).

• a group
• group-think
• group-fear
• group-esteem

Verse 15: "My son, do not walk in the way with them! Keep back your foot from their path."

In other words, the facts are God says don't do it. Leave them! Walk away! It has to do with anything. It's the same way even in a church group. If the minister stands up and brings false doctrine, and he shows that he won't repent of it, that he won't change, then he is on a power trip and he wants to have his own way, and he's going against Deut. 12:30-32, and adding to or taking from. Then you leave. Walk not with them!

Verse 16: "For their feet run to evil and make haste to shed… [innocent] …blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird" (vs 16-17).

You're not going to catch a bird if you go out there in the daytime and lay out the nets, and they're all up there in the tree looking down at you putting out this net. Same way with God! He sees what's going to happen!

Verse 18: "But they lie in wait for their own blood… [they don't realize it, but they do] …they watch secretly for their own lives…. [they think they're taking someone else's] …So are the ways of everyone who gets gain by violence, who takes away the life of its owners. Wisdom cries outside…" (vs 18-20).

In other words the facts are always there. God is always there. His Word is always there, His Word is true, and the group is not going to succeed.

Verse 22: "How long will you love simplicity, simple ones?…."—not simple things, it means stupidity. It's stupid to go out and do these things that are against God, and are against the wisdom of God.

"…And will scorners delight in their scorning? And will fools hate knowledge?" (v 22).

'That will never happen to me. Why, you know, I can control this cocaine. I can control my drinking. I can control my emotions. I don't have to be in by 10 o'clock.' Or if you're already an adult, 'I can stay out and do anything I want to with anyone anywhere at any time, because I know what I'm doing.'

They just ran a test at a high school. It was an anonymous test. All those who wanted to have a blood test to see who had AIDS. Of course, that means they're all below 18-years-old. Guess what the percentage was of those that had the HIV virus in the high school? Twenty-five percent!

How long will fools hate knowledge and delight in their scorning, see. Because it's all based on emotion. They go ahead and commit adultery and fornication, and have sex—male and female, male to male, female to female—and guess what's going to happen? It's going to come! They do not realize it but there are over sixty venereal diseases.

Verse 23: "Turn back at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you."

In other words, if you repent and change you can come out of your stupidity. You can come out of group-think. You can come out of group-esteem. And you can come out of all of these things if you turn to God.

Verse 24: "Because I called, and you refused to hearken, I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention; but you have despised all my counsel…" (vs 24-25). You wouldn't listen! You're emotionally bull-headed because of your emotional stinkin' thinkin'.

"…and would have none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes… [because then it's going to be too late] …when your calamity comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and pain come upon you, then they shall call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me…. [wisdom] …Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, they would have none of my counsel; they despised all my correction. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. For the waywardness of the simple shall slay them, and the complacency of fools destroys them. But whoever hearkens to me shall dwell safely and shall be secure without fear of harm" (vs 25-33). In other words, you won't have to fear, it's not going to come and disturb your life!

More group-fear, and we've heard this group-fear in the past before—haven't we? 'If you leave this church you lose your salvation.' That's group-fear! Rather than, 'If you stay in this organization and we all leave the commandments of God, you're going to lose your salvation, but if you leave this group and keep God's commandments you're going to retain your salvation.' Yes, even one man says that if you don't love hierarchy, your baptism is not valid.

Nicodemus, who was a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night. Why? Because he was fearful. Fearful of men! He didn't want to be seen with Jesus. Later he repented.

Let's see what group-fear can do. Group-fear with Protestants and Catholics, and other religions is really prevalent. They're afraid to quit their abominable practices and keep the commandments of God, so they stay.

John 7:13: "However, no one spoke publicly about Him for fear of the Jews." There's your:

• group-think
• group-mentality
• group-control

This becomes even more prevalent today than ever before, because there's a coming one-world government and a coming one-world religion.

1-John 2:15: "Do not love the world…"—which is an emotion! You are to love God, but first of all you establish Who God is through His Word. Then you love Him.

"…nor the things that are in the world…." (v 15). That's all emotion to have things, because it makes you feel good, it looks good. Things of themselves are not wrong if they are used properly. But when you lust after them they're not right.

"…If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (v 15). Why? Because you cannot love the world and love God, because that creates stinking thinking!

Verse 16: "Because everything that is in the world—the lust of the flesh… [an emotion] …and the lust of the eyes… [an emotion] …and the pretentious pride of physical life—… [an emotion] …is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world and its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever" (vs 16-17).

So, there is the correction for the stinking thinking, doing the will of God. So the fact is: God is here! His laws are here! Are you doing His will? That comes before any emotion. That comes before anything else. That's the only way you're going to find your way out of this thing because it's so prevalent, it is everywhere.

Let's see that there is Satan out there who can tune into human beings and turn them on and get them going, and he's the one who stirs it up to where it feels so good, and it feels so right.

Ephesians 2:2: "In which you walked in times past according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience."

So, there is an inter-connection, a spiritual connection that comes from Satan, which perpetuates all of this stinking thinking!

• he does it through all forms of media
• he does it through the press.
• he does it through government
• he does it through education
• he does it through the workplace
• he does it through other people
• he does it through his own direct intervention to people, working in them

Verse 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct… [that is before repentance and coming to the truth of the facts] …in the lusts of our flesh… [which is emotion] …doing the things willed by the flesh… [which feels good and is an emotion] …and by the mind…"

There's nothing more satisfying to the human mind than to do something that you thought of that is really good, or you have made, or you have invented that is really good, and you now become somebody. That's the pride of life, and that's of the mind! 'How good I am.' That's all self-esteem! Self-esteem is all mental. Self-esteem is 'I love myself regardless of what goes on around me, and I am accepted as good because I accept myself. Now if you accept me that way, I'll accept you that way.'

How many times have I've said the book I'm Ok, You're Ok by Thomas Harris[transcriber's correction], which is called the Dianetics, which is just another term for dialectic. That's all it is, and it leads to stinkin' thinkin'!

"…and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world" (v 3). This shows how the whole system works!

Satan appeals to emotion just like he did to Eve. 'Well, look at it. You know, touch it, smell it.' And whatever else he said to her to get her to do it, you see. 'Well you know I love you, and I have such a strong feeling for you.' We'll commit adultery. 'Well that's okay. It just feels so good.'

When something like that happens with adultery or fornication or homosexuality, then you're sinning against your own body! The same thing with stealing or taking drugs, or any of these things, it makes you feel good for a while because there's pleasure in sin for a while.

Let's see what we need to do. We can get rid of stinking thinking! But we need to have the mind of Christ in us, which means that you need to study the Bible on a regular basis every day more than just on the Sabbath. If you only study the Bible on the Sabbath alone, and that's the only time you ever do, you're going to be in deep trouble because the rest of the time you're operating on your own thinking instead of thinking with the mind of God!

Now let's look at stinking thinking when they try and intertwine God with it:

James 4:1: "What is the cause of quarrels and fighting among you? Is it not mainly from your own lusts that are warring within your members? You lust, and have not; you kill, and are jealous, and are not able to obtain; you fight and quarrel, but still you do not have, because you do not ask…. [So, they say, 'Ok, I'm going to ask.'] …Then you ask, and you do not receive, because you ask with evil motives, that you may consume it on your own lusts" (vs 1-3).

In other words if you're going to approach God with just your feelings and emotions alone and it's always just for something physical for the self, God is not going to answer that, because it's to be consumed on the lust.

Verse 4: "You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever desires to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." Why? Because if you have

• world-think
• self-think
• group-think
• Satan-think

You're an enemy of God, and that's what enmity means.

Verse 5: "Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, 'The spirit that dwells in us lusts with envy'?" In other words, you need to understand the pulls of human nature and the law of sin and death!

Verse 6: "But He gives greater grace. This is the reason it says, 'God sets Himself against the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.' Therefore, submit yourselves to God…." (vs 6-7).

Fact: To His laws and commandments
Fact: To His way and Truth

"…Resist the devil…." (v 7).

• push him away
• get rid of stinking thinking
• get rid of those lusts through the power of the Holy Spirit

"…Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded!" (vs 7-8). If you have stinking thinking you are double-minded toward God!

Revelation 18:4: "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, My people…'"

That is, get rid of the thinking of the world, the thinking of self, the group-think, the self-esteem, and all of that sort of thing which holds you in the world: Babylon the Great.

"…so that you do not take part in her sins, and that you do not receive of her plagues" (v 4).
You can get rid of stinking thinking! Well, I'll have some more to say about husband/wife relations, and child rearing as it impacts on this because this helps open up a whole new understanding of how we survive in a world that's filled with stinking thinking all around us, and what we need to do to keep our bearings with God!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Revelation 18:2-3
• Revelation 17:1-2
• Revelation 18:3-7
• Revelation 12:9
• Psalm 53:1-3
• Psalm 111:10
• Genesis 9:2
• Psalm 34:4
• Proverbs 16:3
• Psalm 34:4-9, 14-19
• Proverbs 9:6-19
• Proverbs 28:13-14
• Deuteronomy 12:28-32
• Deuteronomy 13:1-9
• Matthew 10:28
• 2 Timothy 1:7
• Revelation 21:8
• Proverbs 1:7-20, 22-33
• John 7:13
• 1 John 2:15-17
• Ephesians 2:2-3
• James 4:1-8
• Revelation 18:4

Scripture referenced, not quoted:
            Deuteronomy 12:30-32

Also referenced: Book:
            I'm Ok, You're Okby Thomas Harris

FRC:cis
Transcribed: 12/03/2003
Reformatted/Corrected: bo—8/29/18