THE BATTLE OF THE MIND
8/5/07
THE DEVIL HAS A PLAN OF ATTACK!
HE HAS A DELIBERATE, WILLFUL PLAN AGAINST YOUR LIFE.
HE HAS A GOAL: TO DESTROY YOUR BODY, MIND, SPIRIT OR ALL THREE.
HIS PURPOSE IN DOING THIS IS TO KEEP GOD’S PURPOSE FROM YOU, DENY GOD THE GLORY HE MIGHT RECEIVE FROM YOUR LIFE, AND ULTIMATELY DESTROY YOU.
HE SEEKS TO REPLACE GOD WITH HIMSELF IN YOUR LIFE.
THE DEVIL DESIRES NOT ONLY TO DESTROY WHAT YOU HAVE---YOUR POSSESSIONS, YOUR CAREER, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR REPUTATION.
HE SEEKS TO DESTROY WHO YOU ARE!!
HE WANTS TO DEMOLISH YOUR CHARACTER.
HE SEEKS TO DESTROY YOUR PEACE, JOY, HAPPINESS, CONTENTMENT, ENTHUSIASM FOR LIFE, WILLINGNESS TO TAKE GODLY RISKS, GENEROSITY, AND ALL OTHER EMOTIONAL STATES THAT ARE HEALTHY AND GOOD.
THE DEVIL HAS ATTACKED EVERY BELIEVER THAT HAS EVER LIVED.
YOU ARE NO EXCEPTION.
AS LONG AS YOU ARE ALIVE AND THE DEVIL EXIST, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE SPIRITUAL ATTACKS.
WHAT IS A SATANIC ATTACK?
IT IS A DELIBERATE, WILLFUL, INTENTIONAL, AND WELL DESIGNED ACT TO BRING HARM TO A PERSON IN ANY WAY.
5 AVENUES OF ATTACK
PHYSICAL, MENTAL, ECONOMIC, RELATIONAL, OR SPIRITUAL
THE STORY OF THE BOW AND ARROW VERSES THE DAGGER AND SPEAR.
A GROUP OF ARCHAEOLOGIST WENT TO A PARTICULAR TROPICAL RAIN FOREST TO SEARCH FOR ANY USEFUL ARTIFACTS.
IN THE PROCESS OF SEARCHING ONE MAN FOUND WHAT APPEARED TO BE A DOORWAY, HE CALLED HIS CO-WORKERS TO HELP HIM UNCOVER IT, AND THEY DISCOVERED THAT IT INDEED WAS A DOORWAY.
UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION THEY DISCOVERED THAT IN ADDITION TO THE DOOR WAS AN ENTIRE VILLAGE OF PEOPLE CENTURIES AGO WHO LIVED HERE.
AS THEY SEARCHED THEY FOUND A WALL LIKE A FORT, BOWLS, UTENSILS, A MATHEMATICS SYSTEM, AND A VERY INTELLECTUAL PEOPLE.
BUT THEY WANTED TO KNOW WHY THESE PEOPLE HAD VANISHED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
THEY DISCOVERED THEIR WEAPONS--SPEAR, DAGGER.
THEN THE DISCOVERED THEIR ENEMIES, AND THAT THE ENEMY HAD A MORE ADVANCED WEAPON THAN THEM.
THEIR ENEMIES WEAPON WAS THE BOW AND ARROW!
AND BECAUSE THE ENEMY HAD A MORE PROFICIENT WEAPON THIS INTELLIGENT, STRONG PEOPLE WAS KILLED OUT AND DISAPPEARED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
THE ENEMY HAS A NEW WEAPON-THE BATTLE OF THE MIND.
Rom 7:23
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
(NKJ)
Abraham Lincoln said, “ I am not a man I am a civil war.”
He was referring to the battle that was raging in his mind.
This is an invisible enemy. Unseen.
98% of the battles you fight will be won or lost in your mind first.
SET YOUR MIND AND THE COURSE OF YOUR LIFE WILL FOLLOW.
2 Cor 3:14
14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
(KJV)
2 Cor 11:3
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
(KJV)
Phil 4:7
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
(KJV)
2 Pet 3:1
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
(KJV)
Rom 8:5
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
(KJV)
Rom 8:6
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
(KJV)
Rom 8:7
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
(KJV)
Rom 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
(KJV)
Eph 4:23
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
(KJV)
MARTIAL ARTS-They teach a technique that you can defeat an unseen enemy.
It is in the area of this unseen realm that ushers in fear; if we cannot see it the enemy uses intimidation against us; our mind.
THE F.E.A.R. FACTOR
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
And fear is faith in reverse! If you have fear you can have faith!!
Fear is faith in the enemy!!
2 Tim 1:7
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
(KJV)
Sound mind
4995 sophronismos (so-fron-is-mos’);
from 4994; discipline, i.e. selfcontrol:
KJV-- sound mind.
4994 sophronizo (so-fron-id’-zo);
from 4998; to make of sound mind, i.e. (figuratively) to discipline or correct:
KJV-- teach to be sober.
THIS CAN BE BUT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE POWER THAT THE ENEMY HAS OVER YOU-MIND POWER!
Rom 8:5-11
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
(KJV)
Rom 8:5-11
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (NIV)
THREE MINDS
UN-REGENERATED MIND-SINNER.
SPIRITUAL MIND-REFERS TO A CHRISTIAN WHO IS THINKING ON SPIRITUAL THINGS.
CARNAL MIND-REFERS TO A CHRISTIAN WHO IS THINKING ON FLESHLY THINGS.
1 Pet 1:13
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
(KJV
Eph 6:17
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (KJV)
Numbers 19:1-22:1
Deut 3:1-12, Deut. 4:47; 31:4,
Josh 12:4
The memory of this great conquest lingered all through the national history
THE TWO GIANTS
GOLIATH-SEEN --WE COULD SEE HIS WEAKNESS
*** WE’VE FOUGHT OUR GOLIATH’S
OG-UNSEEN- BUT HE’S CHANGED HIS STRATEGY
God doth encourage Israel with comfortable words, and enabled them
to do the deed in conquering the enemy (vers. 2, 3).
(2) Then Israel (thus encouraged and enabled by the Lord of Hosts) went
forth in the strength of the Lord (<197116>Psalm 71:16), and smote them taking
all their cities and villages, walled and unwalled, and their whole country,
destroying all ages and sexes, and taking the spoil of all their cattle (vers.
4-10).
His formidable stature might have made
Israel to fly, as niter Goliath made them, for want of faith (<091724>1 Samuel
OG
(`ogh; Og): King of Bashan, whose territory, embracing 60 cities, Og is described as the last of the REPHAIM (which see), or giant-race of that district, and his giant stature is borne out by what is told in
Deut 3:1-2
1 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
2 And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.
(KJV)
Deut 3:11
11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
(KJV
Because they could not see him he had a deceiving invincibility to them.
Believe it or not, there was a time when Moses was afraid. Yes, the greatest leader of all time--the man who fought and vanquished Pharaoh, split the sea, challenged the angels on High for the rights to the Torah--this spiritual colossus was afraid.
Who and what could possibly frighten Moses?
In the end of Numbers 19:1-22:1) we read that God reassured Moses, "Do not fear him."
Why did Moses need reassuring? The story is this.
The Israelites were about to go into battle against Og, King of Bashan, a mighty warrior, a man who was literally a giant.
And Moses was afraid to such an extent that the Almighty had to assuage his fears.
An exceptional giant, Og ruled a country with sixty strongly fortified cities.
His kingdom, extending from the Jabbok River to Mount Hermon, enjoyed a good, year-round climate.
Bashan was also blessed with an exceedingly rich soil that yielded abundant crops, and its lush pasturelands produced many choice cattle.
Consequently, in ancient times it became a byword for fruitfulness.
The lord of this ideal land, according to Josephus, stretched to a colossal height and possessed great strength.
"Now Og had very few equals, either in largeness of his body or handsomeness of his appearance," he writes. "He was also a man of great activity in the use of his hands, so that his actions were not unequal to the vast largeness and handsome appearance of his body; and men could easily guess at his strength and magnitude when they took his bed at Rabbath, the royal city of the Ammonites; its structure was of iron, its breadth four cubits, and its length a cubit more than double thereto."
Og lived not at Edrei but at Ashtaroth, his principal capital.
So, when he heard the stunning news of Israel’s crushing defeat of his brother Sihon, and that Jair and his army were marching on Edrei, a few miles southeast of Ashtaroth, he rushed to that city’s defense.
Had he stayed put inside his subterranean city, which lay about seventy feet below the surface of the hill, "it would have been impossible, humanly speaking, for the Israelites to have conquered him,".
"The only hope they would have had of taking the place would be by a long siege, and that would hardly have been possible to maintain, because they could not, without great difficulty, invest the city.
The only real hope of taking the city was by drawing them out into the plain.
It would require no small amount of skill to entice these people from behind walls; and it is more improbable that such a people should of their own free will risk a battle in the open plain."182
But Graham prefers to believe that "some almost miraculous interference in favour of the Israelites" occurred.183
He believes this interference was huge swarms of hornets that providentially drove Og and his Amorites out of their underground stronghold.
For his evidence the historian points to Joshua 24:11-13. In this little noticed passage, Joshua reveals that these highly combative insects with their powerful stings played an important role in this and many of the Israelites’ later campaigns.184
Thus discomforted and driven out of their unusual city by an army of angry hornets, Og and his Amorites divisions confronted Jair and his smaller men on the plains.
In the ensuing battle, the Hebrews slew the giant king and his sons, slaughtered most of his army, and took possession of Edrei.
We know little else about them except that they were warlike, even amongst themselves; that they possessed phenomenal strength; that some of them were men of good intelligence and ability, like Sihon and Og.
Just how tall they were we do not know. But we may get some idea from Og’s bed.
They took it to Rabbath, the royal city of the Ammonites.
There it became a famous "museum piece." It drew curious crowds for many centuries, probably even down to the time of the Babylonian captivity (c. 586 B.C.).
This great bed, reports the chronicler of Deuteronomy, measured "nine cubits long and four wide, according to the common cubit," i.e., thirteen-and-a-half feet by six feet.
"Allowing the bedstead to have been one cubit longer than Og, which is certainly sufficient, and allowing the cubit to be about eighteen inches long, for this is perhaps the average of the cubit of a man, then Og was twelve feet high," says Adam Clarke.
DON’T TRY TO FIGHT WITH FLESH AND BLOOD FOR THAT WILL FAIL YOU.
WAR ACCORDING TO PROPHECY---
Matt 16:18-19
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
(KJV)
2 Cor 4:3-4
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
(KJV)
THIS IS THE LAST GIANT WE HAVE TO FIGHT BEFORE WE ENTER INTO THE PROMISED LAND.
Eph 6:11-13
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
(KJV)
