Enemies of the Mind – Part 3
What a wonderful trust the Lord God has given us in His Son, our Lord Jesus, that we should be called Sons of God!
1John 3:1-3
1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (How are you known by the world?)
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
What a wonderful hope we have! One that is so far superior than any other, since, hope that is seen is really no hope at all (Romans 8:24)! If this hope belongs to you, then you are working hard on purifying yourself, right? Where does that purification begin to happen? That’s the topic of today’s lesson. Let us read:
Rom 7:18-25
18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God-- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Notice the reasoning process Paul goes through here. This is how we need to learn to see ourselves if we are going to guard our heart and mind in Christ! Remember, outside of Jesus you were dead in your sins! That’s right! Our bodies are condemned, but your soul is saved in Jesus if you have obeyed the Gospel and purified yourself. Jesus did not come to save your body but your soul/mind. Therefore, we need to guard our mind in Christ, through the scrutinizing of the Word of God and discipleship. This is how you will be able to surrender to the working of the Holy Spirit and keep the peace in you:
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
IV - Divided Allegiance (Double Mindedness)
Just like Paul was expressing in Romans 7, we have a dual nature about ourselves. I know it may seem to you at times that you are drawn in two opposite directions! But if you allow that to happen, you will snap, just like a rubber band would if stretched too far.
Divided
Allegiance causes severe mental frustration!
Jesus said:
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:24)
If you cannot make up your mind as to who you will follow, you will be tormented by your own divisiveness. God also is upset by this double state of mind:
1 Kings 18:21
Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.
You cannot just sit there and do or say nothing, like the people of Elijah’s day. You need to get hot or cold; not remain lukewarm:
Rev 3:15-16
[15] I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! [16] So, because you are lukewarm-- neither hot nor cold-- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
This luke-warmness may be comfortable to you, because you are neither committing to one side nor the other, you are sort of straddling the fence! You want your thinking to stay in shades of grey! However, this state of mind produces instability of the mind, which leads to lack of emotional control, not to mention lack of self-control all over:
James 1:5-8
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
As you can see, a divided mind soon succumbs to instability in all it does. Even the word for a form of psychosis that is the most common, schizo (to split) phrenia (mind), means “split mind”.
“A person can become so
disillusioned with his environment that he will withdraw into a world of his
own fantasy.” – Wayne Jackson
Battling
Duality:
How can we battle this duality that assaults us every day? We need to think like Paul. Imitate his style as we read in Romans 7:18-25:
1- You know there is nothing good in you. Are you convinced of that, or are you trying to salvage something from your past that does not belong in Christ?
2- Know the difference between the desires that come from the sinful ‘you’ and the thoughts and convictions that come from the inner man! Which one do you want to make stronger?
3- Delight
in the Word of God in your inner being! Force your body to get into the Word of
God and delight in it! Even though Paul wanted to please his flesh, like all of
us, through spiritual discipline he forced and beat his flesh into submission (1
4- Don’t let sin overthrow your mental conviction! Don’t allow emotions to rule you! Don’t let your mind become a prisoner by straggling thoughts lead by vain emotions (2 Co 10:5). Those thoughts need to be captured and made obedient to Christ by your inner being!
5- Realize you are a wretch without Jesus! Don’t think you can overcome yourself, since in your very nature you are a slave to sin. Jesus is able to make us slaves to righteousness since we have overcome the world in Him (1John 5:4).
6- So then, pledge allegiance to the right influence in your life: your Savior and Lord Jesus; and not to the flesh, who is influenced by Satan.
References:
1Co 9:24-27
24 Do you not know that in a race all the
runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the
prize.
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes
into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do
it to get a crown that will last forever.
26 Therefore I do not run like a man running
aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so
that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the
prize.
2Co 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against
the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ.
1Jo 5:3-5
3 This is love for God: to obey his commands.
And his commands are not burdensome,
4 for everyone born of God overcomes
the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he
who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Fortify Your
Mind
Once you have trained yourself by the daily use of the Word (Hebrews 5:14) you can prepare your mind for action (1Peter 1:13-16):
1- Set your mind (think) on things above – Colossians 3:2-3
a. If you are constantly training yourself with the Word, your thoughts will be transformed to comply with the Word of God!
b. Remember your earthly nature has died! Voluntarily! (See point 3)
c. Now your life is hidden (Grk: kept secret; concealed) with Christ in God; it is no longer about the pursuit of earthly goals!
d. Love God with all your mind – Matthew 22:37
i. Loving God with your entire being means giving Him every thought and purpose and decision you have made in your mind.
ii. This is possible when your mind is in control as opposed to your heart. When you are objective as supposed to subjective.
2- Prepare your mind for action!
a. Be self-controlled – Let your inner being guide you (conscience) and lead you with the help of the Holy Spirit. Don’t be run by your emotions and certainly don’t allow your convictions to be influenced by your feelings. They cannot be trusted! (Jeremiah 17:9)
b. Be alert – The Devil is looking for opportunity to tempt and harm you. You must be looking for opportunity to do good.
c. Set your hope fully on the grace of Jesus – Don’t depend on the false hopes of this world or on other people to give you what you need. Depend on the grace God has given you through our Lord Jesus and delight in the fact that you have a hope in Heaven for sure!
3- Completely surrender to Christ – Galatians 2:20
a. If there is any division within us we will certainly waver in our loyalty and fail (Luke 11:17).
b. Our surrender (dying to self) has to be complete so that in everything we may give God the glory.
c. There cannot be allegiance to anything else in your mind other than to God, His Kingdom and His Son if your hope in Heaven is to be secure. That means no allegiance to:
i. Careers
ii. Jobs: Co-worker or Boss pressures
iii. Family matters or pressures
iv. Social pr political pressures: Peer pressure
v. Internal desires or aspirations that belonged to you when you were in the world.
References:
Hebrews 5:13-14 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant,
is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is
for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
1 Peter 1:13-16 13 Therefore, prepare your
minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be
given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not
conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as
he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." {16 Lev.
11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7}
1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil
prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Colossians 3:2-3 2 Set your minds on things
above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with
Christ in God.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified
with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in
the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me.
Luke 11:17
Jesus knew their
thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined,
and a house divided against itself will fall.”
By fortifying your mind you will guarantee mental health and therefore, spiritual health which will help you defeat the enemy since you know you have won the war in Christ Jesus.
Satan is all about illusions, and illusions are born in an unhealthy mind, particularly one that is divided in allegiance.