The Armor - Your Mind
Ephesians 6:17
Message #11
The mind is a terrible thing to give over to the devil, especially when it is a Christian’s mind, and I want you to know right up front that your spiritual enemy wants control of your mind;
If he can INFLUENCE your mind
If he can INFILTRATE your mind
If he can WORM his evil intentions into your mind – then… he’s got you!
His only job, his only desire, his only role in his existence is to destroy your life. That centers on his ability to control or influence your mind. Your mind is the area of the most intense spiritual battle because WHERE you set your mind is WHERE you go.
I spent years in the mortgage business, in the real estate business before I retired from working to start this church. There’s a well-known truth in the real estate world, and that is if you get the wife to buy that house in her mind, if you get her living there – in her mind – then you have sold that house. Because once she is living there in her mind, she is physically moving there and her husband with her if he wants to stay married.
Because where you set your mind is where you go.
Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)
7 For as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he . . .
Today we want to talk about the power of your mind and the intense spiritual battle for the control of your mind.
We’ve been looking at the spiritual armor in Ephesians Chapter 6, and we’ve got all the way to the helmet of salvation, the fifth of six primary articles of armor. Paul has been using a Roman soldier to illustrate the article of armor, the things we should “clothe ourselves with” or “take up” for the battle in order to stand firm among the barrage of attacks of the enemy in the evil day. And when you would say, “When is the evil day?” I would say, “When the enemy is attacking you.” And for some of you, that is today.
In the evil day when he attacks you, you have to be able to stand firm, and Ephesians Chapter 6, in the armor section, tells us how we can do that. Either by putting on or taking up what we have already seen so far. Truth. Put on truth, live in truth, and immerse yourself in truth. Put on righteousness. Live in righteousness, immerse yourself in righteousness. Put on peace. It’s like a clothing idea. You just clothe yourself in the peace of God. Last week we saw “take up” faith, hold up the shield of faith.
Today, Ephesians 6, verse 17 says,
Ephesians 6:17 (NLT)
17 Put on salvation as your helmet . . .
The NLT uses the phrase “put on,” but the literal is “take up” – meaning to “take up” (or to pick up something to use) your helmet of salvation because there’s a war on, and the enemy wants control of your mind. You know, if you’re sitting somewhere safe, you might have your helmet next to you. But when the barrage comes, you put your helmet on. A soldier’s helmet is meant to protect his noggin physically. But in the spiritual battle, the helmet of salvation is meant to protect your mind. This is because in the battle between hell and heaven, whoever gains control of your mind, gains control of you. Where your mind goes is where you go.
So, here’s the first thing we’ve got to know about the helmet of salvation. SALVATION is not just going to heaven. Contrary to what you might think or what others you know might think, salvation does not refer only to a person’s acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Savior. The word translated salvation equally refers to God’s ongoing work of rescuing us and delivering us by his mighty power. Here in Ephesians, Paul is telling believers – saved people – to take up their salvation to protect their minds, and he’s not referring to our initial receiving of Jesus as our Savior for the forgiveness of sin and our entrance into heaven.
Salvation does start there, but that initial act of placing our faith in Jesus Christ is not what Paul is saying to take up here in order to stand firm in the spiritual battle.
Far too often, Christians view salvation as only that “moment of faith” that gets them into heaven. And salvation does occur in that moment of faith, and the forgiveness of your sins is instantaneous. But that is only the initial result of your salvation. This initial result is called justification. Justification is the removal of the penalty of your sins and God granting to you the righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). But your salvation does not end there.
After the initial result of your salvation (called justification) comes your sanctification. Sanctification is an equal result of your salvation. Salvation is not a “multi-step” event. Sanctification is God’s ongoing transformation of your life. God accomplishes your ongoing transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit living inside you. And please listen very closely here, sanctification is no less a result of your salvation than justification is.
Again, sanctification is NO LESS a result of your salvation than justification is. Salvation is one result that involves three events in your life. Salvation and justification are equal.
The initial result of your salvation is justification. The removal of the penalty of your sin.
The ongoing result of your salvation is sanctification. The ongoing transformation of your life.
And it is in the process of your sanctification where the spiritual battle rages. And then the final result of your salvation is glorification. (All of these are in Romans 8:29-30) Glorification is you being made like Jesus when you see him face to face.
Justification is the initial result…
Sanctification is the ongoing result…
Glorification is the final result of your salvation.
But all three of these events are the singular result of your true salvation. The other two are not optional. Sanctification is not optional Sanctification is only optional if you are not justified. True salvation brings all three of these events: justification, sanctification, and glorification. It brings that initial cleansing of sin, an ongoing desire to be transformed by the power of God, and a looking forward to being glorified in the presence of Christ.
The problem is that many Christians hit the pause button after their initial result of justification. Far too often, we see someone get saved and then basically continue living and thinking just as they did before they were saved. They fail to grasp that the ongoing result of salvation is an entirely new way of thinking and an entirely new perspective of this life.
It’s not the earning of salvation; it’s the fruit of salvation. It’s not us earning anything; it’s the natural outcome when you have the power of God lit up in your life. It’s going to show. He’s a big God, powerful God, radical God. If he’s loosed up in your life, you’re going to know it, and it’s going to show. And so, this transformed life, this renewed mind, this new way of thinking, this new perspective, is the fruit that naturally happens when God takes over your life.
That is why Paul is saying (to saved people) take up your salvation; he is referring to your sanctification. He is referring to that part of your salvation that is an ongoing transformation of your life because this is the part of your salvation (the area) where the enemy focuses his attack. The enemy can’t change the fact that you’ve been justified. If you are truly saved, you are permanently saved. If you are truly saved, then he can’t change the fact that you are going to be glorified. But he can certainly get you to destroy your own life instead of being transformed in your sanctification. And not only can he get you to destroy your own life, but he can use you to damage or destroy other lives around you.
To stand firm against the enemy’s plan to bring destruction into your life, you’ve got to protect your mind with your salvation. You’ve got to use the transformation that God is bringing into your life to protect what hits your mind and to determine what directs your mind. You use salvation to block what you don’t want going into your mind, and you use it to direct your mind, to focus your mind on what you do want in your mind. It shields your mind.
Colossians 2, verse 6, connects the equal results of justification and sanctification in your salvation.
Colossians 2:6 (ESV)
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
In the same way that you received Christ, continue to walk (order your life) in him. Consider the “role” that your mind plays in the spiritual battle. Your mind is the control center for your choices, and your choices determine your life or your destruction. Your choices determine your direction. Your mind determines the choices. That’s how central your mind is to the spiritual battle. We need to get really clear on this – WHERE you set your mind is WHERE you go.
Now, like so many of God’s truths, the world has corrupted this truth. For example, some people will tell you – you can have anything you want – by just setting your mind on it, and the universe will bring it to you. But what is true is that if you set your mind on gaining all the material things of this world, it will lead your life to destruction. That is true.
But think for a second about how all-encompassing the role of the mind is to the spiritual battle. Let’s go through all six articles of armor and the seventh area, which is where the battle is fought, and see how critical a role the mind plays (Ephesians Chapter 6).
1). Living in TRUTH is a function of the mind
2). Living in RIGHTEOUSNESS is a choice made with the mind
3). Living in PEACE is a function of the mind
4). Holding up FAITH is a choice made with the mind
5). We’re talking about APPLYING your SALVATION to your mind
6). Using the SWORD of the Spirit begins with your mind
7). And the big seventh area where the battle is fought, PRAYER, which begins in your mind
Your mind is absolutely crucial to every area of the spiritual battle, and the enemy has successfully kept the importance of this truth away from most Christians. We think we can put anything we want in our minds and still be following Jesus. We think we can think whatever we want and set our minds on whatever we want and not be affected spiritually. We need to accept the fact that what we put in our minds actually affects our lives. But where you set your mind is where you go. What you put in your mind determines your choices and your choices determine whether you follow Jesus, or the world, or the flesh, or the enemy himself. What goes in your mind matters.
In the Bible, the phrase “set your mind” means: to continue thinking in a certain direction – or to fix your attention in a certain direction.
Greg Laurie used to always use this cute little saying about temptation, “You can’t stop a bird from landing on your head – but you can stop it from making a nest in your hair.” And what he’s saying is, sometimes the enemy will get a thought to go through your mind, and right at that moment, you decide whether to set your mind on it or reject it. You either reject it with extreme prejudice, you reject it aggressively, or you embrace it, and you continue thinking about it. When you continue thinking about it, you’re setting your mind on it. To set your mind means to focus your attention, to fix your attention in a certain direction.
To “set your mind” means “to continue thinking in a certain direction.” Turn over to Romans 8, verse 5. Romans 8 is the power. If you’ll just study Romans 5,6,7 and 8 you’re good. Five is about justification by faith, six is about your position in Christ, seven is about your problem with sin, and eight is about your power to overcome sin – namely the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:5(a) (ESV)
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh . . .
Look closely. Those who are living according to the flesh (which leads to their destruction) are doing so because they set their minds on the things of the flesh. And when the Bible says “things of the flesh,” it’s not just talking about sexual sins and lust. The flesh is anything that comes from your sin nature.
Galatians 5:19-21 lists some common “works of the flesh.”
Sexual Immorality Impurity Lust Idolatry Sorcery (drugs) Hostility Anger
Selfish ambition Dissention Jealousy Envy Drunkenness …and sins like these
If you set your mind on the things of the flesh, you will live according to the flesh, and you will be destroyed by living for the flesh. THAT is the enemy’s desire for you.
But then we read in Romans Chapter 8:
Romans 8:5(b) (ESV)
5 . . but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit
Again, notice closely, those who are living according to the Spirit are doing so because they are setting their minds on the things of the Spirit. If you set your mind on the things of the Spirit, you will live according to the Spirit, and you will have abundant life by living for God, and that is God’s desire for you. Do you see how critical a part of the spiritual battle your mind is?
And then, just to make sure we have every chance to hear what God is saying, Romans 8, verse 6, says the following:
Romans 8:6 (ESV)
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
There’s a simple math formula here:
Mind on FLESH equals death
Mind on SPIRIT equals life
And then Romans 8, verses 7-8, really wrap it up for us.
Romans 8:7-8 (ESV)
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
That is exactly what the enemy wants for your life, and that is exactly why we must protect our mind with our salvation. The problem is we don’t want to accept the fact that what we put in our mind, affects our lives.
Our son David just returned from some additional training. Before being stationed with a S.E.A.L. Team in San Diego, they put them in four separate virtual reality rooms with a video screen on the walls and ceiling and a real Humvee sitting in the middle of each room and all four rooms interconnected, and the virtual reality got all the senses going – the movement, the smells, the sights and sounds of battle. All of it was so real it made your body react in the same way it would react in a real battle situation. (It’s called tache psyche.) In other words, they were reacting more to the stimulus that hit their mind than what was actually real. In fact, the stimulus that hit their mind became their reality.
And so it is with you. Your body responds more to what is in your mind than to what is really real. The devil wants to put stimuli in your mind that will become an opposite reality of God for you so that you will respond to false reality from hell instead of true reality of heaven.
Now we know they use this truth to make suspense movies, but do we really consider that what we put into our mind determines our reality? Please hear me when I say the enemy of your soul knows this truth very well. Just think of the ungodly influences he tries so hard to shove into your mind. He is constantly trying to put things into your mind that distort your reality about God and about whom you are in Christ. His scheme is to get you to believe his false reality over God’s true reality, and then he will sow destruction into your life. And if you don’t understand the crucial role that your mind plays in this eternal battle, then you will swing the door wide open and allow him to manipulate you and use you.
Do you remember the famous rebuke that Peter got when it seemed like Jesus called him Satan? Let’s look a little closer at it. Turn to Mark chapter 8. Jesus and the disciples were up at Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus was explaining that the time had come for him to be rejected, arrested, and killed, but after three days, he would rise again. And we pick it up in Mark 8, verses 32-33.
Mark 8:32–33 (ESV)
32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Now, Jesus was not really calling Peter “Satan.” But he was clearly implying that Satan was using Peter. Why? Because Peter was not setting his mind on the things of God - but on the things of man.
So, here’s a quick question for you. Do you understand that what you set your mind on can actually open the door for Satan to use you? If it can happen to the Apostle Peter, it can happen to us.
We must realize the battle for our mind may be the most important spiritual battle for us to win.
Here’s what Charles Stanley says this in his book, “When the Enemy Strikes.”
Charles Stanley: The mind is the real spiritual battleground on which the enemy fights his strongest, dirtiest, bloodiest, and most important battles! We must protect our thought lives.
Guys, nobody can govern your thought life but you, and your thought life is the real spiritual battleground where the enemy is fighting his strongest, dirtiest, bloodiest and most important battles.
As a Christian, you have the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT and the POWER of the WORD OF GOD at your disposal to govern your thought life. But even with all the power of heaven available to us, we still must MAKE the CHOICE! And we must make that choice dozens – if not hundreds – of times a day. It is so critical that we learn how to protect our mind with our salvation.
So, don’t we have to get to the HOW? Don’t we have to know how to be transformed by the renewing of our minds?
Yes, we must learn how, but we just don’t have time to get to that in this message. So, can we do one more week on HOW to begin to be transformed by the renewing of our minds?
What I can tell you, to close today, is this. If we ever hope to win the spiritual battle for our mind, we must begin by truly believing this statement: “I cannot think like I think, I must think like God thinks.”
“I cannot think like I think
I must think like God thinks.”
Your transformation begins when you stop thinking the way you think, and you begin thinking the way God thinks. We have got to retrain our brain.
Alright, let’s finish where we’ll start next week.
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind . . .
This is the same scripture we’ve been leaning on in just about every message. Do not be conformed to this world. It means “don’t think like this world, don’t act like this world.” Instead, be transformed. That means “get a new nature (a God nature).” And HOW does Romans 12, verse 2 say to get a new nature? By renewing your mind.
Our salvation will save us from being conformed to this world if we will fight the good fight, and our salvation will transform us if we will do our part in the sanctification process. And all of it comes from a complete renewal of our mind which we will focus all of our time in next message.
It is a battle. It’s a battle that is fought one thought at a time. As 2 Corinthians 10 says:
2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (ESV)
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
It’s a battle, one thought at a time. But the blessings of victory are immeasurable, and the cost of defeat – unthinkable.
If he can INFLUENCE your mind
If he can INFILTRATE your mind
If he can WORM his evil intentions into your mind – then… he’s got you!
His only job, his only desire, his only role in his existence is to destroy your life. That centers on his ability to control or influence your mind. Your mind is the area of the most intense spiritual battle because WHERE you set your mind is WHERE you go.
I spent years in the mortgage business, in the real estate business before I retired from working to start this church. There’s a well-known truth in the real estate world, and that is if you get the wife to buy that house in her mind, if you get her living there – in her mind – then you have sold that house. Because once she is living there in her mind, she is physically moving there and her husband with her if he wants to stay married.
Because where you set your mind is where you go.
Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)
7 For as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he . . .
Today we want to talk about the power of your mind and the intense spiritual battle for the control of your mind.
We’ve been looking at the spiritual armor in Ephesians Chapter 6, and we’ve got all the way to the helmet of salvation, the fifth of six primary articles of armor. Paul has been using a Roman soldier to illustrate the article of armor, the things we should “clothe ourselves with” or “take up” for the battle in order to stand firm among the barrage of attacks of the enemy in the evil day. And when you would say, “When is the evil day?” I would say, “When the enemy is attacking you.” And for some of you, that is today.
In the evil day when he attacks you, you have to be able to stand firm, and Ephesians Chapter 6, in the armor section, tells us how we can do that. Either by putting on or taking up what we have already seen so far. Truth. Put on truth, live in truth, and immerse yourself in truth. Put on righteousness. Live in righteousness, immerse yourself in righteousness. Put on peace. It’s like a clothing idea. You just clothe yourself in the peace of God. Last week we saw “take up” faith, hold up the shield of faith.
Today, Ephesians 6, verse 17 says,
Ephesians 6:17 (NLT)
17 Put on salvation as your helmet . . .
The NLT uses the phrase “put on,” but the literal is “take up” – meaning to “take up” (or to pick up something to use) your helmet of salvation because there’s a war on, and the enemy wants control of your mind. You know, if you’re sitting somewhere safe, you might have your helmet next to you. But when the barrage comes, you put your helmet on. A soldier’s helmet is meant to protect his noggin physically. But in the spiritual battle, the helmet of salvation is meant to protect your mind. This is because in the battle between hell and heaven, whoever gains control of your mind, gains control of you. Where your mind goes is where you go.
So, here’s the first thing we’ve got to know about the helmet of salvation. SALVATION is not just going to heaven. Contrary to what you might think or what others you know might think, salvation does not refer only to a person’s acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Savior. The word translated salvation equally refers to God’s ongoing work of rescuing us and delivering us by his mighty power. Here in Ephesians, Paul is telling believers – saved people – to take up their salvation to protect their minds, and he’s not referring to our initial receiving of Jesus as our Savior for the forgiveness of sin and our entrance into heaven.
Salvation does start there, but that initial act of placing our faith in Jesus Christ is not what Paul is saying to take up here in order to stand firm in the spiritual battle.
Far too often, Christians view salvation as only that “moment of faith” that gets them into heaven. And salvation does occur in that moment of faith, and the forgiveness of your sins is instantaneous. But that is only the initial result of your salvation. This initial result is called justification. Justification is the removal of the penalty of your sins and God granting to you the righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). But your salvation does not end there.
After the initial result of your salvation (called justification) comes your sanctification. Sanctification is an equal result of your salvation. Salvation is not a “multi-step” event. Sanctification is God’s ongoing transformation of your life. God accomplishes your ongoing transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit living inside you. And please listen very closely here, sanctification is no less a result of your salvation than justification is.
Again, sanctification is NO LESS a result of your salvation than justification is. Salvation is one result that involves three events in your life. Salvation and justification are equal.
The initial result of your salvation is justification. The removal of the penalty of your sin.
The ongoing result of your salvation is sanctification. The ongoing transformation of your life.
And it is in the process of your sanctification where the spiritual battle rages. And then the final result of your salvation is glorification. (All of these are in Romans 8:29-30) Glorification is you being made like Jesus when you see him face to face.
Justification is the initial result…
Sanctification is the ongoing result…
Glorification is the final result of your salvation.
But all three of these events are the singular result of your true salvation. The other two are not optional. Sanctification is not optional Sanctification is only optional if you are not justified. True salvation brings all three of these events: justification, sanctification, and glorification. It brings that initial cleansing of sin, an ongoing desire to be transformed by the power of God, and a looking forward to being glorified in the presence of Christ.
The problem is that many Christians hit the pause button after their initial result of justification. Far too often, we see someone get saved and then basically continue living and thinking just as they did before they were saved. They fail to grasp that the ongoing result of salvation is an entirely new way of thinking and an entirely new perspective of this life.
It’s not the earning of salvation; it’s the fruit of salvation. It’s not us earning anything; it’s the natural outcome when you have the power of God lit up in your life. It’s going to show. He’s a big God, powerful God, radical God. If he’s loosed up in your life, you’re going to know it, and it’s going to show. And so, this transformed life, this renewed mind, this new way of thinking, this new perspective, is the fruit that naturally happens when God takes over your life.
That is why Paul is saying (to saved people) take up your salvation; he is referring to your sanctification. He is referring to that part of your salvation that is an ongoing transformation of your life because this is the part of your salvation (the area) where the enemy focuses his attack. The enemy can’t change the fact that you’ve been justified. If you are truly saved, you are permanently saved. If you are truly saved, then he can’t change the fact that you are going to be glorified. But he can certainly get you to destroy your own life instead of being transformed in your sanctification. And not only can he get you to destroy your own life, but he can use you to damage or destroy other lives around you.
To stand firm against the enemy’s plan to bring destruction into your life, you’ve got to protect your mind with your salvation. You’ve got to use the transformation that God is bringing into your life to protect what hits your mind and to determine what directs your mind. You use salvation to block what you don’t want going into your mind, and you use it to direct your mind, to focus your mind on what you do want in your mind. It shields your mind.
Colossians 2, verse 6, connects the equal results of justification and sanctification in your salvation.
Colossians 2:6 (ESV)
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
In the same way that you received Christ, continue to walk (order your life) in him. Consider the “role” that your mind plays in the spiritual battle. Your mind is the control center for your choices, and your choices determine your life or your destruction. Your choices determine your direction. Your mind determines the choices. That’s how central your mind is to the spiritual battle. We need to get really clear on this – WHERE you set your mind is WHERE you go.
Now, like so many of God’s truths, the world has corrupted this truth. For example, some people will tell you – you can have anything you want – by just setting your mind on it, and the universe will bring it to you. But what is true is that if you set your mind on gaining all the material things of this world, it will lead your life to destruction. That is true.
But think for a second about how all-encompassing the role of the mind is to the spiritual battle. Let’s go through all six articles of armor and the seventh area, which is where the battle is fought, and see how critical a role the mind plays (Ephesians Chapter 6).
1). Living in TRUTH is a function of the mind
2). Living in RIGHTEOUSNESS is a choice made with the mind
3). Living in PEACE is a function of the mind
4). Holding up FAITH is a choice made with the mind
5). We’re talking about APPLYING your SALVATION to your mind
6). Using the SWORD of the Spirit begins with your mind
7). And the big seventh area where the battle is fought, PRAYER, which begins in your mind
Your mind is absolutely crucial to every area of the spiritual battle, and the enemy has successfully kept the importance of this truth away from most Christians. We think we can put anything we want in our minds and still be following Jesus. We think we can think whatever we want and set our minds on whatever we want and not be affected spiritually. We need to accept the fact that what we put in our minds actually affects our lives. But where you set your mind is where you go. What you put in your mind determines your choices and your choices determine whether you follow Jesus, or the world, or the flesh, or the enemy himself. What goes in your mind matters.
In the Bible, the phrase “set your mind” means: to continue thinking in a certain direction – or to fix your attention in a certain direction.
Greg Laurie used to always use this cute little saying about temptation, “You can’t stop a bird from landing on your head – but you can stop it from making a nest in your hair.” And what he’s saying is, sometimes the enemy will get a thought to go through your mind, and right at that moment, you decide whether to set your mind on it or reject it. You either reject it with extreme prejudice, you reject it aggressively, or you embrace it, and you continue thinking about it. When you continue thinking about it, you’re setting your mind on it. To set your mind means to focus your attention, to fix your attention in a certain direction.
To “set your mind” means “to continue thinking in a certain direction.” Turn over to Romans 8, verse 5. Romans 8 is the power. If you’ll just study Romans 5,6,7 and 8 you’re good. Five is about justification by faith, six is about your position in Christ, seven is about your problem with sin, and eight is about your power to overcome sin – namely the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:5(a) (ESV)
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh . . .
Look closely. Those who are living according to the flesh (which leads to their destruction) are doing so because they set their minds on the things of the flesh. And when the Bible says “things of the flesh,” it’s not just talking about sexual sins and lust. The flesh is anything that comes from your sin nature.
Galatians 5:19-21 lists some common “works of the flesh.”
Sexual Immorality Impurity Lust Idolatry Sorcery (drugs) Hostility Anger
Selfish ambition Dissention Jealousy Envy Drunkenness …and sins like these
If you set your mind on the things of the flesh, you will live according to the flesh, and you will be destroyed by living for the flesh. THAT is the enemy’s desire for you.
But then we read in Romans Chapter 8:
Romans 8:5(b) (ESV)
5 . . but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit
Again, notice closely, those who are living according to the Spirit are doing so because they are setting their minds on the things of the Spirit. If you set your mind on the things of the Spirit, you will live according to the Spirit, and you will have abundant life by living for God, and that is God’s desire for you. Do you see how critical a part of the spiritual battle your mind is?
And then, just to make sure we have every chance to hear what God is saying, Romans 8, verse 6, says the following:
Romans 8:6 (ESV)
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
There’s a simple math formula here:
Mind on FLESH equals death
Mind on SPIRIT equals life
And then Romans 8, verses 7-8, really wrap it up for us.
Romans 8:7-8 (ESV)
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
That is exactly what the enemy wants for your life, and that is exactly why we must protect our mind with our salvation. The problem is we don’t want to accept the fact that what we put in our mind, affects our lives.
Our son David just returned from some additional training. Before being stationed with a S.E.A.L. Team in San Diego, they put them in four separate virtual reality rooms with a video screen on the walls and ceiling and a real Humvee sitting in the middle of each room and all four rooms interconnected, and the virtual reality got all the senses going – the movement, the smells, the sights and sounds of battle. All of it was so real it made your body react in the same way it would react in a real battle situation. (It’s called tache psyche.) In other words, they were reacting more to the stimulus that hit their mind than what was actually real. In fact, the stimulus that hit their mind became their reality.
And so it is with you. Your body responds more to what is in your mind than to what is really real. The devil wants to put stimuli in your mind that will become an opposite reality of God for you so that you will respond to false reality from hell instead of true reality of heaven.
Now we know they use this truth to make suspense movies, but do we really consider that what we put into our mind determines our reality? Please hear me when I say the enemy of your soul knows this truth very well. Just think of the ungodly influences he tries so hard to shove into your mind. He is constantly trying to put things into your mind that distort your reality about God and about whom you are in Christ. His scheme is to get you to believe his false reality over God’s true reality, and then he will sow destruction into your life. And if you don’t understand the crucial role that your mind plays in this eternal battle, then you will swing the door wide open and allow him to manipulate you and use you.
Do you remember the famous rebuke that Peter got when it seemed like Jesus called him Satan? Let’s look a little closer at it. Turn to Mark chapter 8. Jesus and the disciples were up at Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus was explaining that the time had come for him to be rejected, arrested, and killed, but after three days, he would rise again. And we pick it up in Mark 8, verses 32-33.
Mark 8:32–33 (ESV)
32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Now, Jesus was not really calling Peter “Satan.” But he was clearly implying that Satan was using Peter. Why? Because Peter was not setting his mind on the things of God - but on the things of man.
So, here’s a quick question for you. Do you understand that what you set your mind on can actually open the door for Satan to use you? If it can happen to the Apostle Peter, it can happen to us.
We must realize the battle for our mind may be the most important spiritual battle for us to win.
Here’s what Charles Stanley says this in his book, “When the Enemy Strikes.”
Charles Stanley: The mind is the real spiritual battleground on which the enemy fights his strongest, dirtiest, bloodiest, and most important battles! We must protect our thought lives.
Guys, nobody can govern your thought life but you, and your thought life is the real spiritual battleground where the enemy is fighting his strongest, dirtiest, bloodiest and most important battles.
As a Christian, you have the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT and the POWER of the WORD OF GOD at your disposal to govern your thought life. But even with all the power of heaven available to us, we still must MAKE the CHOICE! And we must make that choice dozens – if not hundreds – of times a day. It is so critical that we learn how to protect our mind with our salvation.
So, don’t we have to get to the HOW? Don’t we have to know how to be transformed by the renewing of our minds?
Yes, we must learn how, but we just don’t have time to get to that in this message. So, can we do one more week on HOW to begin to be transformed by the renewing of our minds?
What I can tell you, to close today, is this. If we ever hope to win the spiritual battle for our mind, we must begin by truly believing this statement: “I cannot think like I think, I must think like God thinks.”
“I cannot think like I think
I must think like God thinks.”
Your transformation begins when you stop thinking the way you think, and you begin thinking the way God thinks. We have got to retrain our brain.
Alright, let’s finish where we’ll start next week.
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind . . .
This is the same scripture we’ve been leaning on in just about every message. Do not be conformed to this world. It means “don’t think like this world, don’t act like this world.” Instead, be transformed. That means “get a new nature (a God nature).” And HOW does Romans 12, verse 2 say to get a new nature? By renewing your mind.
Our salvation will save us from being conformed to this world if we will fight the good fight, and our salvation will transform us if we will do our part in the sanctification process. And all of it comes from a complete renewal of our mind which we will focus all of our time in next message.
It is a battle. It’s a battle that is fought one thought at a time. As 2 Corinthians 10 says:
2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (ESV)
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
It’s a battle, one thought at a time. But the blessings of victory are immeasurable, and the cost of defeat – unthinkable.