Coronavirus Bible Study Series: September 16, 2020
Winning At Warfare
The Battle In The Mind Part 1
Synopsis of Bible Study September 16, 2020
Delivered By Pastor Lee Bynum, MDiv.
Today I want to begin a conversation around “Winning at Warfare”, five battles Christians face. In Part 1 we start with the Battle in The Mind. What is so important about the battle of the mind? Well Ephesians chapter 4:23 says and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
Ephesians 4:23
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind
I. Introduction:
The fact is that every spiritual battle that you face, starts in your mind. The mind is a powerful tool that can be our greatest ally or our greatest foe. Our mind is a powerful thing. Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote a book called “The Invisible War” it is the battle of your mind and that battle is vision and it is an intense battle of your mind relenting and its an unfair battle because Satan never plays fair. He has caused a traffic jam on the road of your mind that will frustrate you and cause you to come to a place of fatigue and exhaustion. Many of us are trying to figure out why we are so tired; it is because of dealing with so many different attacks in your mind. The reason why the battle is so intense is because your greatest asset is your mind. I believe that whatever ultimately gets in your mind gets in you. What we need to learn and to teach others is how to guard our mind, how do I do that? I strengthen and renew my mind because the battle of sin starts with your mind every struggle everything you have gone through and seen in your life it all began as a seed that was planted in your mind. Now 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 speaks to that.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Weapons are not carnal, but we often think about weapons and we think about well maybe it is the easiest way to just fight someone or fight this battle in my flesh but let me help understand something. The Bible says for casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself, here is what the battle is against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity. So, the question becomes what is a stronghold?
II.WHAT IS A STRONGHOLD?
A stronghold is a mental block; something in your mind that prevents what God wants to put in your spirit and your mind from coming to pass. The Apostle Paul says that our job in this battle is to destroy strongholds. How do I destroy the mental block in my mind?
Paul is referring to pretension’s arguments set up against the knowledge of God this is a mental battle stronghold that can be one of two things. It can be a world view with all the different isms or mental strongholds that are set up against the knowledge of God such as materialism, secularism, relativism, atheism. A stronghold can also be an attitude such as worry, seeking approval, fear, insecurity because all the things that are blocked in our minds that are blocking get this the revelation of Gods truth must be torn down. The Bible talks about different states of mind its interesting that throughout the word of God it fascinating.
“State Of Mind” Examples:
1.The Trouble Mind 2 Kings 6:11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”
What does it mean to have a troubled mind? In a season like this when there is so much going on the spectrum of the mental health and how the devil likes to use these mental battles and convolute them in our own mental health issues. In seasons like this a lot of people are troubled in their mind because often these imaginations are when you become overly suspicious of things around you because your mind is troubled trying to figure out who’s with me or who’s not with me.
2. Depraved Mind: 1 Timothy 6:5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.
Men of corrupt minds destitute of truth these are people that are just to prey. It takes a depraved mind to do some of the stuff we see on television when you look at the news and say how could someone do something like that, its because a mind has become depraved.
3. Sinful Mind: Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be
Whenever we sin we are missing the mark and what that says is that my mind is full of carnality and therefore how in the world can I fulfill the purposes of God if I’m viewing my reality through a carnal mind.
4. Dull Mind: 2 Corinthians 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
It suggests the dull mind that there is this light glorious gospel. I want you to imagine the mind being blind and the word of God being revelation of light and its saying that there’s a sense that the mind is so dull there is no light there is no illumination there is no revelation. You talk to a lot people who have dull minds; they never were enlighten in their minds because the God of this world meaning Satan has blinded their mind. You can talk to them all day long, but their mind is blinded. They know what the truth of God’s word is, but they do not want to hear it.
5. Blinded Mind: 2 Timothy 3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
The battle in our mind people of God, listen to this carefully. If were going to win at warfare you must realize that every single day the devil is looking for a portal to enter the mind through your ear gate, through your eye gate, through your mouth gate and he’s trying to get in your head, because if he gets in your head he starts the battle in your mind. The word of God, which is designed to bring revelation and truth, you shall know the truth and it shall make you free. If he keeps you bound in your mind. There are four principles for winning the battle.
III. FOUR PRINCIPLES FOR WINNING THE BATTLE OF YOUR MIND
1. Don’t Believe Everything You Think. That is hard but I want to think it this way because this is the way I want to live it out. But in warfare you must understand that the devil can manipulated your mind convolute your mind make a lot erroneous truths and you will be chasing conspiracy theories because you think a thing is right doesn’t make it true that how the battle in the mind happens. You must get to a place in your life where you are open to learning and growing saying Lord dispel these erroneous things that have been placed in my spirit in my mind.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?
If we tell ourselves things that are not true, all the time like I’m okay nothing’s wrong all is well telling ourselves its no big deal. You must understand that you are not being real until you can publicly admit how unreal you really are most of the time. Listen, its okay to say I am hurting, I am in pain, because the brain is fascinating.
Did you know that the optic nerve is the only nerve that goes directly to the brain? It sends more impulses from your brain forward than from your eye backward which means that your brain is telling you what to see. How we interpret our reality that is why you have to guard your mind from trash.
2. Guard Your Mind From Trash: Trash in trash out.
Proverbs 15:14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.
Some people have an appetite for just straight foolishness. A nutritionist will tell you that there are three kinds of food for your body, brain food, junk food, and toxic foods. The same applies to what you see hear and what you allow your mind to receive. That is why the same applies in Psalm 101:3.
Psalm 101:3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.
3. Never Stop Learning
If you are going to win the battle in the mind your mind never stops learning, meaning you must be a perpetual student. Never get to a place where you are unteachable. As you well know the word disciple means student, pupil, and learner. You cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ and not be a learner
Matthew 11:28-29 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For when you take a yoke and share that burden and lighten the load every time when you take that burden and say, Lord I want to learn form you and I want to give this to you as a matter of fact. When I come into relationship with Him things aren’t as heavy as they use to be because I’ve learned how to exchange it over to Him that’s humility. You must get to a place where you let God stretch your imagination.
4. Let God Stretch Your Imagination: Did you know that in our mental space God has given us the gift to dream to envision things before they become reality? Think about it, an architect first imagined every building that we see. Think about how powerful the mind is, you are seeing stuff now imagining and envisioning stuff that is in your next dream for the next 10 years. Have you thought about it have you written it down, have you said, Lord let me utilize the power of this mind you have given to me? Let look at some Biblical examples of this.
IV. BIBLICAL EXAMPLES
1.John Baptist: The famous wilderness preacher who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, started out confident and servant.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Once John found himself in jail look what happened to his mind, how his mind was attacked and questioned. If Jesus was really the Messiah and John sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he really was the one?
2. Simon Peter: Watch the attack on the mind of one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus known for his boldness. You know Peter who was commanded by Jesus after receiving the revelation that I am giving you the keys flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father in heaven. I mean all this great revelation.
Matthew 16:15-17 15 Then Jesus said to his followers, “And who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah. No one taught you that. My Father in heaven showed you who I am.
When Jesus was arrested Peter wrestled between faith and fear. He denied knowing Jesus with cursing and swearing why because his mind was thinking about the consequences of what could happen. Peter being so certain of his faith before, yet Jesus knew that he was not right. He thought He should pray for Peter’s faith saying I know the devil wants to sift you, but I pray for you that your faith will fail not.
Luke 22:32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Peter’s faith brought him back to Jesus. He not only reconciled him but asked him to feed his lambs.
3. Elijah: When we talk about the mind the prophet Elijah comes up. He was known as the prophesying, subsequently being fed by ravens and a widow before his challenge to prophets of Baal or mount Hermon. His faith moved the Lord God to answer by fire. Elijah killed the false prophets and prophesied rains but when the king’s wife Jezebel heard about all of that she threatens him, threaten his life. Elijah’s humanity kicked in then the battle started in the mind and he ran for his life set under a broom tree and bush wrestling for his faith and he got to a place in his mind that he ask God to let him die. But the Lord responded with compassion by feeding him in grace and given him a new purpose. When you get to those places in your mind, it does not mean that something is wrong with you. Everybody has those mental challenges everybody goes through those battle but here is the deal how do I overcome the battle in the mind?
V. HOW DO I OVERCOME THE BATTLE OF THE MIND
1. Take Every Thought Captive: every negative thought comes that I should quit, I should sell my business, I should just give up, walk away, I cant do this, you’ve got to say to that thought you are under arrest. You cannot let it simmer you must go after it right away because while you are at home there is so much that can trigger things in your mind that you have to face. Do not let the thought linger, if you let it stay to long it gets in your head. Arrest the thought on the spot, do not wait.
2. Fight Back With Scripture: We all know Jesus’s encounter while he was fasting for 40 days and he was tempted. We all know this story when Jesus was tempted by the devil, when the devil came at Jesus you know that His bounce back was His fight back the word. Stop trying to converse and negotiate with the devil. Stop trying to philosophize with the devil. The one weapon that you have it is the word of God, it is written. When you are battling in your mind you cannot be tempted to ideas and arguments believing that this is the way to gain the upper hand. Your weapon is the word and the enemy does not want you to use it.
3. Don’t Try To Distract Yourself: stop trying to use distractions, because distractions don’t make the attack go away. We think if we do not think about it, it will go away. You must take authority and remove the distraction that’s because you know if you see a roach that’s right a roach in a house and you turn on the TV and begin to watch that doesn’t mean the roach will leave your house. No, you have got to deal with the roach because deliverance is not in distractions, you must confront it and deal with it. You cannot fix it until you face it.
4.Refuse To Give Up: Somebody reading this right now this is for you. You need to understand that this change does not happen overnight. You cannot reverse what has festered for years in one day. It is a process, and we have been talking about process a great deal. The wall of many patterns of worry, anxiety, and pessimism, have been growing for years in your life and while God can change it overnight God also knows that the lesson, listen is not in the miracle but in the journey. The lesson in the journey is vital for you to maintain the victory and we often give up the fight on the eve of the victory. Do not walk away before you are about to get the victory. Because once you quit your mind will quit. When your mind quits everything else quits and that is why Gods word is true and when you base your life on the word and you let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus. Let us look at Ephesians 6:17.
Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
5. Snap Out Of It: I want you to here this final point. Snap out of it child of God. These attacks in your mind is nothing but strongholds, these are blockers trying to prevent the purposes that God has for your life and there comes a moment you must snap out it. Sometimes circumstances will cause it but there will be moments internally where you must realize that this is nothing but an attack on my mind. Jeremiah writes two books Jeremiah and Lamentations, and he says something so powerful if you read lamentations chapter 3. He talks about I was going through a situation in my mind and he’s very honest about the experience and he’s dealing with a wormwood and the gall and he says its just a crazy mental space but if you pay attention to what he says this I recall to my mind and therefore I have hope. There is a moment he says I snapped out of it. This I recall to my mind and therefore I have hope. Who am I talking to right now? You must snap out of it. I know what’s happening I know you’re being attacked and I know the devil is trying to get you to walk away from school, business, relationship etc but you need to recall his word in the back of your mind and therefore you have hope and Jeremiah goes on to say that because of the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed great is his faithfulness see his mercies are new every morning and that’s what I love. When I am being attacked in my mind I must take authority as a child of God and snap out of it and pray over your mind today, just lift one hand and lay the other hand on your head and ask the Father to remove every attack of the mind, every mental attack, every image of every picture the enemy puts in your mind, every ill thought, every bad teaching you come against it right now in Jesus name. AMEN.
Stay Informed.
Stay Safe.
Be Encouraged!
