Christian Quotes

It seemed to be a typical day in Israel. Jesus was teaching the people as a crowd of scribes and other religious leaders looked on. We don’t know what the weather was like on that particular day, whether it was cool or hot, whether there was a breeze or not, but we do know that the religious leaders were getting pretty hot under the collar. With consummate skill, Jesus had just silenced one religious group, the Sadducees, who had come to the popular young Rabbi thinking they were going to outsmart Him. Suddenly, out from the crowd stepped a scribe with a question that he thought would put Jesus to the test.

If you have your Bible, maybe you’d like to follow along as I read to you from Matthew’s account of this story. Matt. 22:34-37:

“But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer [a scribe who had the particular job of interpreting the law], asked him a question, tempting him [or testing Him], and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy MIND.”

Jesus singles out loving God with the totality of our being—heart, soul, and mind—as the GREATEST commandment. Out of all the commandments in the Old Testament, loving God is the greatest, Jesus says.

Our Lord was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. This is what it says:

“Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD. And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might [or strength].”

Now for whatever reason, when Jesus quotes that verse from Deuteronomy 6, He changes the word “might” to “mind.” “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy MIND.”

I want to talk about that for a few moments tonight: loving God with all our MIND.

That’s something we don’t hear much about isn’t it—loving God with all our mind. We often talk about, and hear others talking about, and hear sermons about, loving God with all of our hearts; but seldom do we hear about loving Him with all of our minds. So I want to do that tonight. I want to explore with you what loving God with our minds might involve. If Jesus considers loving God with all our minds as one aspect of the GREATEST commandment of all, then maybe we should give some thought to how we can fulfill that commandment.

God is a rational, intelligent being and He made us in His image—rational, intelligent beings. And He expects us to use our minds, to renew our minds, to exercise our minds, to store our minds—as a way of loving Him.

Gene Edward Veith in his book, Loving God with All Your Mind, says:

“Christians should use and develop their minds. The mental faculties of the human mind—the power to think, to discover, to wonder, and to imagine—are precious gifts of God. The Christian who pursues knowledge, seeks education, and explores even the most ‘secular’ subjects is fulfilling a Christian vocation that is pleasing to God and of great importance to the church. The Bible, by precept and example, affirms this and opens up the whole realm of human knowledge to the Christian.”

Notice what he says in that last sentence: that the Bible, by both teaching and example, affirms and opens up the whole realm of human knowledge to the Christian.

J. P. Moreland, professor of Philosophy at Biola University, says in his book Love Your God With All Your Mind, “According to the Bible, developing a Christian mind is part of the VERY ESSENCE of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus.”

Moreland also states: “If we are going to be a wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community that values the life of the mind.”

So let’s quickly look at some Biblical examples and teachings that show the importance of using and developing our minds as part of our Christian walk.

Jesus

Let’s start with Jesus Himself. In the Gospel of Luke chapter 2 we get the only glimpse any where in Scripture of Jesus in his boyhood. At 12 years of age, we’re told, he accompanied Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem for the Passover celebrations; but on the journey home, He turned up missing. Verse 46 says, “And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.” Jesus was listening and asking questions. In other words, he was USING HIS MIND!

Dropping down to verse 52 it says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

“He increased in wisdom.” What is wisdom? If you’re in my Sunday School class you’re fed up of hearing this definition: Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge to life situations. Now clearly, a person can have lots of knowledge, but not have the wisdom to apply it. And that’s kinda sad. We all know those kinds of people. But by the same token, if you don’t have much knowledge, then it doesn’t matter how much wisdom you have, there’s going to be a gap somewhere in your life. So wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge, but all the wisdom in the world isn’t going to get you very far if there is no knowledge in your noggin to apply to life situations. So it says “Jesus increased [He grew] in wisdom and stature.”

We know from reading the gospels that Jesus was very skilful in debates with the religious leaders, and no doubt this was the result of deep study of the Scriptures and even of the various Jewish writings and traditions that surrounded Him. I mentioned a few moments ago that before the lawyer questioned Him about the greatest commandment, He had successfully silenced the Sadducees. It’s interesting that he was able to do so because He had evidently studied Sadducean theology and had prepared Himself with counter arguments.

Let’s look next at the mind as it relates to spiritual transformation.

Spiritual Transformation. Romans 12:1-2

The Bible reveals that the mind plays a vital role in spiritual transformation. The more we inform our minds about the ways and purposes of God, the more we become like Him and UNLIKE the world. This is one of the main ways that we are to love God with our minds.

A key passage on this is Romans 12:1-2. You know these verses so well, but let me read them to you once again:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by…” by what? By prayer? By praise and worship songs? By attending church?

“by the renewing of your mind”

Now don’t get me wrong here. Prayer will help you. Worshiping and praising God will definitely help you. Attending church will help you in your spiritual walk. All of those things are important. But they are not what Paul is talking about here in this verse. He says, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

What Paul picks as central for spiritual renewal is the need to transform your mind, give yourself a new set of concepts and beliefs. As human beings, we almost never violate our beliefs. We hardly ever act against what we really believe. J. P Moreland says that “beliefs are the rails upon which our lives run.” And so if our lives are to be transformed, we will need to inform our beliefs and change our beliefs about certain things. We must use our minds to think different from the world, not allowing the world to push us into its mold and into its ways of thinking.

The verse finishes: “that ye may PROVE what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” How do we prove, test, make clear what the perfect will of God is? By using our minds!

Defending the Faith

Another important way we love God with our minds is by becoming intelligent witnesses and able defenders of the faith. A key verse here is 1 Peter 3:15:

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”

What we need to understand in this verse is that the phrase translated “give an answer” is based on the Greek word “apologia” which means TO DEFEND SOMETHING. In other words, this word would be used to describe a court room situation where you would offer positive arguments for your position, and also you would be responding to negative arguments. That word “apologia” is where we get our English word “apologetics.” If you look up APOLOGETICS in the dictionary, you’ll find something like this: “The branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines.”

And if you thought that apologetics was limited to theologians or well-known and well-educated Christian thinkers like C. S. Lewis or Josh McDowell, think again. Peter says that we ALL should be involved in apologetics as part of our Christian calling. It’s not an option…it’s our duty as Christians, Peter says!

Further, when Peter says that we are to be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks a REASON for the hope that is in us, that word reason, in the underlying Greek means “evidence or argument which provides rational justification for some belief.”

So when we are asked about our religion, Peter says we had better be ready with some good answers; we had better have our minds stored with reasons why we believe certain things and why we don’t believe certain other things.

That’s why it’s SO IMPORTANT that we pass on to our children the REASONS why we believe certain things, and that when they ask us those very pointed questions that only small children know how to ask, that we don’t just give off-hand answers like “because that’s what the Bible says,” or “that’s what we believe at our church,” or worse still, “I don’t know, but that’s just the way I’ve always believed.” If you force your children to live your lifestyle without good, rational, Biblical, principled reasons, chances are they’ll be easily persuaded into a different way when they get older.

This also affects the way we do evangelism. Notice how Paul practiced what we have just been talking about when he did evangelism:

Acts 9:29 “And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against [or debated with] the Grecians.” He used apologetics.

Acts 17:2 “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days REASONED with them out of the Scriptures.” He used apologetics.

Acts 17:17 “Therefore disputed he [this is Paul again] in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.” He used apologetics. This is how Paul did evangelism. He presented reasons and arguments for the Christian faith. And the only way you can do that is to use your noggin, to THINK like a Christian, to meditate on the great truths of the Christian faith. When someone presents an argument that you can’t answer, don’t just shrug it off; go home and study it out until you do have the answer.

Acts 18:4 “And he REASONED in the synagogue every Sabbath, and PERSUADED the Jews and the Greeks.” That’s how Paul did evangelism. He REASONED and he PERSUADED. Over and over again we find Paul using his intellect to persuade others to come to repentance and faith. And incidentally, what is repentance?  A CHANGE OF MIND!

Acts 18:19 “And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and REASONED with the Jews.”

Acts 19:8 “And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, DISPUTING AND PERSUADING the things concerning the kingdom of God.”

Do you get the picture here? Have you an I equipped our minds so that we can give an answer to every one who asks for reasons why we believe what we believe and why we do what we do? May God help us!

If have time, mention here that Peter started out in the early chapters of Acts as an “unlearned and ignorant man” (Acts 4:13). But did he stay that way? NO! When he wrote his first epistle some thirty years later, he had changed. Many liberal scholars deny that the apostle Peter could have written 1 Peter because it is written in a highly educated, intellectual Greek style unlikely to be within the capabilities of a simple fisherman. It seems obvious, then, that Peter had practiced what he preached and from the time of Acts 4:13 to the time he wrote his epistle, had devoted himself to intellectual cultivation as part of his discipleship unto the Lord Jesus Christ. The care and precision of the argument of 1 Peter reveals a carefully trained mind. Why should we do any less?

Oh, and don’t forget the meekness and fear part! J

Other Biblical Examples

The bible gives other examples of people who used their minds for God’s glory. We’ve talked about Jesus and Peter and Paul. What about Moses. The Bible tells us that he was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And no doubt that intellectual training stood him in good stead as the leader of God’s people at a critical point in their history.

What about Daniel and his three friends. Remember them. They studied in the Royal Academy of Babylon. Even though the subject matter was secular and in many ways contrary to their biblical worldview, they applied themselves so well to their studies that at the end of their three year program, when they took the final exam, they were found to be TEN TIMES BETTER than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all the kingdom. Ten times better!!!

What was their secret? Why were they able to run circles around all the others there at the Royal Academy of Babylon? Daniel 1:17 tells us why:

“As for these four children [or youths], GOD GAVE THEM KNOWLEDGE and SKILL in all LEARNING AND WISDOM.” Did you hear that? GOD gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom. But, you say, they were learning mostly pagan stuff, or at least what we would call SECULAR learning. Yes, they were! God is the source of all knowledge and truth, and if our minds are dedicated to His service, as were Daniel’s and his friends’, then God will help us to acquire learning, even secular learning, so that we can put it to godly uses.

As J. P. Moreland says, “According to the Bible, wisdom comes from studying ants as well as learning Scripture (Proverbs 6).”

In 1756, John Wesley—you guys know by now I can’t do a prayer meeting talk without slipping John Wesley in somewhere—in 1756 John Wesley delivered an address to a gathering of preachers on how to carry out the pastoral ministry with joy and skill. In his address, Wesley cataloged a number of things that should be part of the minister’s life: cultivation of a disposition to glorify God and save souls, a knowledge of Scripture, and similar notions. However, at the very beginning of the list, Wesley focused on something rarely mentioned by pastoral search committees:

“Ought not a minister to have, FIRST, a good understanding, a clear apprehension, a sound judgment, and a capacity of REASONING with some closeness?”

Time and again throughout the address, Wesley admonished ministers to train themselves in logic, metaphysics, natural theology, geometry, philosophy, history, literature. Wesley believed that study in these areas, especially philosophy and geometry, helped train the mind to think precisely, a habit of incredible value when it comes to thinking as a Christian about theological themes or Scriptural texts. Wesley said,

“To imagine none can teach you but those who are themselves saved from sin is a very great and dangerous mistake. Give not place to it for a moment.”

J. P. Moreland backs this up:

“We often read the Bible, hear the news, listen to a sermon, or talk to friends, yet we don’t get much out of it. One central reason for this may be our lack of knowledge and intellectual growth. The more you know, the more you see and hear because your mind brings more to the task of seeing and hearing. In fact, the more you know about matters outside the Bible, the more you will see in the Bible. Why? Because you will see distinctions in the Bible or connections between Scripture and an issue in another area of life that would not be possible without the concepts and categories placed in the mind’s structure by gaining the relevant knowledge in those extrabiblical areas of thought. Thus, general intellectual development can enrich life and contribute to Bible study and spiritual formation.”

I’m afraid sometimes we Christians think God is in favor of ignorance, but as I hope we are seeing from these scriptures, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Church History

Historically, at least up until the last 100 years or so, Christians have been able to out-think their critics. The early Church writings (the next generation after the apostles) produced writings that showed great intellectual strength. Even during the Dark Ages when ignorance abounded, the monasteries kept learning alive. Some of the greatest men of science have been Christians—Sir Isaac Newton, Blaise Paschal. The early settlers (Pilgrim fathers) were men of great learning and intellect, taught their children to read early, and founded universities—they highly valued the cultivation of the intellect. Puritan Cotton Mather proclaimed, “Ignorance is the Mother not of Devotion but of HERESY.” Jonathan Edwards is still widely regarded as one of the greatest thinkers in American history. Perry Miller described Edwards as the first and greatest homegrown American philosopher, and yet at the same time he was also one of the greatest revivalists and gospel preachers this nation has ever known.

Billy Graham was asked what he would do differently if given the chance:

“I would have studied more. I would have gotten my Ph.D in anthropology.”

John Stott was asked to give advice to the next generation of Christian leaders:

“I’d want to say so many things. But my main exhortation would be this: Don’t neglect your critical faculties. Remember that God is a rational God, who has made us in His own image. God invites and expects us to explore His double revelation, in nature and in Scripture, with the minds He has given us, and to go on in the development of a Christian mind to apply His marvelous revealed truth to every aspect of the modern and post-modern world.”

Conclusion

In conclusion I would like to say how thankful I am that the mentors of my early Christian life taught me the value of cultivating my mind as part of my Christian calling. I remember not long after I became a Christian, they gave me a stack of books to read that was quite formidable. One was the two-volume life of Hudson Taylor, the missionary to China. Each volume was around 600 pages!

I also remember some time after that being told that once in a while it’s good to stretch one’s mind by reading something that is a little over one’s head. And the book that was given to me was The Justification of God by P. T. Forsyth. If you’ve ever read anything by P. T. Forsyth you know what I’m talking about. Here’s the first sentence from the first chapter as an example: “A first-rate calamity to humanity like a European war is to the Christian insight the suicide of natural civilization, which always tends to die dissolved in its own keen dialectic, or stupefied by its own crude surfeit.” And remember, I was about 18 at the time and a fairly new Christian! If I remember correctly, I persevered, and went on to read several other P. T. Forsyth books.

One of my favorite authors that has remained so over many years is A. W. Tozer. Read any of his books and you will immediately feel like you are treading on holy ground, but you will also feel like you are listening to someone who knows what he is talking about because he spent time thinking deep thoughts about God. His biographer tells us that he read the works of Shakespeare on his knees and asked God to help his mind to grasp that stuff so that he could be a better thinker. He read the writings of other literary geniuses. He put his mind to work for God! Here’s a quote from one of his books, The Knowledge of the Holy: “It is impossible to keep our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate.  If we would bring back spiritual power to our lives, we must begin to think of God more nearly as He is.”

Another long time favorite has been Oswald Chambers. He loved God intensely with his mind. He wrote extensively about the Christian’s need to use our minds for God. Here’s one short quote: “Never stop learning.  People stagnate, not through backsliding, but because they stop learning and harden into a wrong mental poise.”

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8)