Greetings to all who are here. This study is called "Casting Down Imaginations," and it is the follow-up to a study I did a couple weeks ago. It won't be anything too dramatic or new, just sort of a "binding up the work" begun in a previous meeting. At the same time, it's independent enough to stand on its own, so if you missed that one, "The Chastisement of Our Peace," that's perfectly fine. That study was about peace in a Christian's life, and using that gift of the Holy Spirit to combat and overcome temptations. During the "practical" section, however, when we were discussing ways to foster that peace, and to avoid false thoughts, I suggested mostly external things, such as "setting no wicked thing before your eyes," (Psa 101:3) and to meditate on God's glory as He has revealed Himself both in the heavens and on earth.

That by itself may be quite enough, however we can also approach it from the other angle - from the inside out. If we can "ambush" temptation from both sides, the external and the internal, it won't have anywhere to run - it'll be caught in the middle and crushed, and then maybe we won't find ourselves falling again into the same sinful habits and actions. We can rebuke fear in the name of Christ. However if the fear runs off and finds a place to hide in some dark corner of our minds, then, when we least expect it, it can sneak out again and torment us.

It need not be that way. If our insides match our outsides, then when fear tries to hide in our minds, it will find a holy temple, and it won't be able to enter there either. We will be armored both inside and out.

Look at this. Concerning the ark that preserved Noah's life: "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." (Gen 6:14)

And if we look at the other Ark, the Ark of the Covenant, we find: "And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about." (Exo 25:11)

Now we know an "ark" is a container for something precious. Noah's ark contained all of humanity's future. The Ark of the Covenant contained God's holy Law, and this covered by a "mercy seat," a promise of redemption. About the Ark of the covenant specifically, we find that it was to be adorned with a "crown of gold," and that is no coincidence at all.

What is the one truly irreplaceable part of a man? Any organ can be replaced (if the technology is present), and we can already transplant the heart. But if we switch brains with someone, we sort of become that person. The brain is the seat of consciousness, it generates the mind, the thoughts - all the personality. Would the soul and spirit go with it? Well, that may be a deeper topic than we can cover tonight :)

Essentially, our mind is where we make our decision about God. In Revelation we find that the "sealing angel" cries out: "Saying, 'Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.'" (Rev 7:3)

Service must be intelligent, an intelligent faith, not for traditions or comfort's sake. These are not acceptable forms of worship to our Father

Now in the same way all the "arks" mentioned in the Bible (probably the one that carried the young Moses also) were sealed on the inside and out, so must we be "sealed" on the inside and out. We must be so settled into the truth that no temptation, no doubts, no fears will shake our confidence. That's when you're a "grown up" saint. It is to these the Word speaks: "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God." (Heb 6:1)

It doesn't mean to leave the basics behind, but just to recognize that they ARE basics, and to move on to the spiritual "meat" of Christianity. We've had 2000 years, and some of us are still undecided on whether or not to immerse someone for baptism.

If we "guard our gates" and watch our spiritual intakes, carefully discerning what is meet for a Christian's senses, we do well. But that by itself is not a complete sealing. We still have our insides to deal with, to cover with pitch (which is watertight) and with gold (which is precious and bright and reflects light easily). The Pharisees were very good at the outward things. They even added on their OWN rules to "force" themselves to keep the Law properly. Of this, Christ addressed one of them thus:

"And the Lord said unto him, 'Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not He that made that which is without make that which is within also?'" (Luke 11:39-40)

Rightly done, keeping the outside clean will eventually have an effect on the mind and heart, that is true... but that's sort of a backwards way of going about it. God changes the heart first, and then the actions, works and so on follow the faith. Had the Pharisees had their insides clean, they would naturally have done good outwardly, and they wouldn't have had to try to "force" themselves to keep the Law. There is no force at all in true religion. Remember that the next time you're trying to energetically "convince" someone that your opinions are right :) Yes, speak to them if you feel they are wrong, but do it in a loving, patient and civil manner, of course.

So how do we get this "inner peace" I spoke of last time? How do we seal our insides, so that it will be natural for us to keep our outward actions clean? I gave this verse at the conclusion of the previous temptation study: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." (Phil 2:5)

Sounds good... but first we have to clean house. We have to make sure we are truly willing to receive Him there, and then He can get about dusting and sweeping and mopping - and rewiring, in some cases. That means doing this (one of tonight's main verses): "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Cor 10:5)

There's a verse we don't hear very often... "every thought?" How scary :) Sounds almost like a "1984"-style mind control doctrine. This isn't something we should go evangelizing with, probably - at least right at first. Paul wrote this letter to Christians who were already established, and is very much part of the "meat" rather than the "milk" of Christianity. I doubt we'd get away with it if we went around telling people with no prior Christian experience to let Christ control their minds.

But is that what this verse really means? Not if we look at it carefully. The verses before it say: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.)" (2 Cor 10:3-4)

Who does the walking? Who does the warring? We do. Every step is our decision: every "casting down" is our choice. WE bring the thoughts captive to Christ - the ideal. It isn't that Christ controls our minds, He has set the standard, and we are to consciously, joyfully walk behind; we are invited to control _ourselves_, self control is one of the fruits of the Spirit in fact, but we do this with wisdom, knowing what the goal is, and what each step should be. It's a narrow path, but it is a straight one.

One of the main things I want to study tonight is that first part of 2 Corinthans 10:5, where Paul says a Christian will walk the path "Casting down imaginations." What does that mean? What's an imagination? I know it sounds like a silly question, but if we are to leave the basics behind and "move on unto perfection," we should know fully well what those basics are first!

Looking at the word, we find that the first part is "imag" or "image." An "imagination" is that part of your mind that generates images: pictures and concepts. As with all things, this is a great blessing, and can be a great curse. How would our memories function if we couldn't call them to mind in a meaningful way? We'd be like goldfish... swimming around in circles and forgetting everything that happened 30 seconds before. Free will would be pointless, and concepts like eternal life would be meaningless. So let's leave that distrubing "image" behind, and look at some examples of images in Scripture.

The first time the word is used is, not coincidentally, at the beginnings of the world. "And God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.' So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." (Gen 1:26-27)

And we are constantly reminded of this, that man retains some of this "image of God" even after his fall. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man." (Gen 9:6)

The next time we meet this word is in the Decalogue. And in fact it's the second one listed... must be important: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth..." (Exo 20:4)

Now if we stopped there, we might have a misunderstanding of this commandment. Is every sculpture a sinful idol? Every 3D work of art a blasphemous heresy? What makes that so much more dangerous than a painting, or a sketch? We have to read the whole thing.

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." (Exo 20:4-5)

Now that makes a lot more sense. Don't make any images for the purpose of worshipping them. Now we can logically see how that would be dangerous! How can a God that we don't respect or trust save us? Images in themselves aren't bad things.

"And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat." (Exo 25:18)

"Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays." (1 Kings 10:18-19)

That king was Solomon, by the way, and there were "images" of lions right at his very throne. Every time you see an image spoken of in Scripture in a disapproving way, it is because that thing has been "set up," or "bowed to," or "put in a high or secret place" for the purpose of worship. These are the images that were to be broken in pieces, and this - in a spiritual sense - is exactly what Paul was talking about in his second letter to the Corinthians.

Let's look at another example, and I think it's probably the most plain one in all of Scripture, of an image that "exalteth itself above the knowledge of God."

During the Babylonian captivity, king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and the prophet Daniel told him both what it was, and what the interpretation of it was. Daniel said: "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay." (Dan 2:31-33)

Daniel goes on to interpret: saying that the four levels of the statue were four main kingdoms, from Babylon down to the end of the world, and that Nebuchadnezzar's was the first, the "head of gold," and the others from then on down would succeed him, but be inferior. We will return to the dream in a bit, but let's see what the haughty king did with that knowledge: "Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon." (Dan 3:1)

Do you see what he was doing there? Daniel told him that his kingdom was only the head, and that although it was gold, the most precious of the four metals, it was temporary, and would be replaced. But seeing the imagery in this, the king makes an image ENTIRELY of Gold, as if to say, "We'll see about that! I want ALL the kingdoms of the earth to be of my making, my dynasty, forever, right down to the toes." Being told his kingdom would pass away was not what he wanted to hear. And furthermore, he wanted everyone to acknowledge his opinion on the matter.

He wanted everyone to bow down to two things: his actual image of gold, and his "imagination," his ideas for an everlasting kingdom in his name.

"And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." (Dan 3:6)

Now we should know the rest of this story. The three Israelite boys, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego would not bow, and they were cast into the furnace, but were saved from the fiery death. This miracle humbled the king greatly, and so there was peace for a time. That is what happened concerning the actual "image" but let's go back to the dream now and see what happened with the "imagination" of it.

"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces." (Dan 2:34) And the interpretaion of this was such. Speaking of the toes, the last, mixed kingdoms: "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." (Dan 2:44)

It was for this reason that Nebuchadnezzar put up that statue completely of gold. He wanted HIS kingdom to be the one that stood forever, but the Rock of that dream had other ideas.

Now: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Remember the beginning of the study, where we were talking about being sealed both inside and out? By this means we go on unto perfection, and here we see that all Scripture is for that very purpose - to equip us to do this. That means that if we are studying images and imagination, that Daniel passage, which speaks of just those things, will have some application for our Christian lives today too.

With all the talk of kingdoms and ages and nations that Daniel interpreted that dream to mean, perhaps we can gather a more fundamental, basic meaning from it also. Not at all do we invalidate that amazing and useful prophecy, but by this I mean there should be a way we can apply it to our daily lives as well. And the way is this: that statue had a head, a chest, arms, a torso and legs. That statue was in the shape of a MAN.

As it was his kingdom being disputed, I would venture to say that Nebuchadnezzar has set up an image to his "self," and wanted everyone else to bow to it. Would you see light and an application in that?

Perhaps we can see ourselves in Nebuchadnezzar. For self, our own opinions, desires and plans are in many cases the biggest barrier to being able to to God's will.

"Jesus saith unto them, 'Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?' And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." (Mat 21:42,44)

As in the king's dream, Christ is the "Rock made without hands," and He who will establish the eternal Kingdom. But to gain entrance to this kingdom, we must "fall on the stone" and "be broken." That's an unusual passport! The reason is because of our sin nature. Our faulty minds, our warped imaginations. Scripture teaches: "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isa 64:6)

Now don't get discouraged. That's a picture of us _without_ Christ, just as with the New Moon analogy I gave last study. In Christ, we reflect the sun, the light, and we are beautiful indeed. But of ourselves, the point stands. We don't even know what righteousness IS, so even less can we do it. He must do it IN us, but in order for that to happen, by faith we have to cast down our high-mindedness, bring our imagination into conformity to His will, every thought captive to Christ.

We're a broken people, you see... as long as we're in the world. And on Christ, we must fall so He can "set the bone properly," as it were, so that we can walk upright. If we won't do this, though, we'll be a part of that big man-shaped statue He'll crush when He returns, and a broken man can be healed; but a man who's been reduced to powder... they get sprinkled over the oceans.

False thoughts in the shape of a man, in the shape of "self," need to be broken as surely as that calf the Isralites were worshipping at the foot of Sinai. "And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount." (Deu 9:21)

That is how we cast down imaginations that are contrary to God's will for us.

Self control in both body and mind isn't such a bad thing, if you can see the results in your life - refining you and making you more like Christ every day that passes. Every temptation you say no to, every false thought you rebuke rather than dwelling on... it gives you more strength, more practice for next time. Yes, Satan will send you stronger and stronger tests, getting more subtle and dangerous.

But this is not something to fear! The more powerful the temptation, the more strength Christ provides for us to deal with it. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Cor 10:13)

The more Satan tries to destroy us, the more powerful he is actually making us. Every temptation, every curse, our Father will turn into a blessing.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28)

Now, it doesn't say that all things that happen to us are good of themselves. It says all things work TOGETHER for good. If I'm hungry, I won't go chewing on flour, sprinkling salt into my mouth, swallowing yeast and chasing that with some vegetable oil. I might, however, decide to bake bread. Those ingredients by themselves are awful to our tastebuds... just as some of the experiences our Father allows to come upon us are painful. When we see the bigger picture, however, we will understand that nothing happened to us that wasn't for our good. In Christ, nothing bad CAN happen to us except it be for a reason.

"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:19) When we start thinking this way, we begin to develop that "peace," we spoke about earlier. Should our house fall around us as it did with Job, this will be said of us: "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." (Job 1:22)

We can "push the battle to the gates," and deal with temptations while they are still loose; stray thoughts, before they fasten upon our minds to bring forth actions. We just need to get past the man-shaped statues that many still have in their minds: "My kingdom, my wants, my plans." That was what caused Lucifer to fall: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.'" (Isa 14:12-14)

Not content with where God has placed him, he decided he was going to do things his own way. And what will happen to him? "Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee." (Eze 28:18)

The statue of "self" will be brought to dust and ashes in even the most powerful angel... how much more will WE be ground to powder, who think we are so mighty and smart and self-sufficient. Know that your very atoms are held together by grace. A most humbling thought.

"For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." (Rom 14:11) Everyone will bow one day. The difference between the saved and the lost is simple... basic and easy. Some will bow NOW, while they have the free will to do so. The others will have the confession pressed from them like wine from grapes.

"Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after." (1 Tim 5:24) Let us all be in that first group! I don't want my sins following me to judgment (that's really bad news), I want them put away now, and covered in blood - buried in the deepest sea, never to be remembered again.

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16) While we have life, and freedom, let us confess our flaws to each other, and our sins to God, that we may walk daily in the newness of life. If we are "open" about our shortcomings, we can be healed of them. When we are unashamed to say, "Father, I need help," we have cast down that "me-shaped-statue," or at least one of the biggest ones: pride. Lucifer, Nebuchadnezzar, the Pharisees who are clean on the outside only, these are our examples, but of what NOT to do.

We are to be sealed on the inside as well as the out, and then we can say this: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." (1 John 5:3) We'll delight in what He wants us to do! How can we ever fall if we actually have fun doing the right thing? :) Our desires will be His desires, and we will have fulfilled the teaching: "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Cor 2:16)

When we do that, we'll find ourselves not _wanting_ to do the wrong things, and as the insides are clean and sealed, so will the outward actions follow. We will then go forward every day discovering what our flaws are, and instead of falling into self pity, we will rejoice that our Father has revealed a defect He wants us to be free of, and so we move on, "casting down" that imagination - that false thought or tendency.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Isa 26:3)

When a man asked Christ to give him a _simple_ answer: "What must I do to inherit eternal life," the Messiah answered in a like manner: simply. "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." (Luke 10:27)

With all our soul, strength and, yes... mind, we are to love God. It starts from the inside, and the first step is to say, "I can't do this, I can't even control my own mouth, much less my mind. I need your help - yes, YOU must do it in me." When we do this, we start walking towards a grand future. What fears, or doubts or temptations can reach us if we start having control over our very MINDS? We have life eternal, and an inheritance far greater than even the best of us can possibly "imagine."

David.