ENEMIES OF FAITH – A DIVIDED MIND
Faith is the victory that overcomes the world – but there are enemies of faith which we need to look at in order to combat them – the first we are going to look at is “A Divided Mind”
James 1:5-8 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Double-minded man = two-spirited, i.e. vacillating (in opinion or purpose)
Unstable = uncertain
His ways = a road; by implication, a progress (the route, act or distance); a mode or means:--journey, (high-)way
In other words a divided mind cause us to be uncertain – lacking – unable to maintain a victorious life – one of the main cause of a divided mind is worry -
We have an old English meaning for the word, “worry” which gives us the best definition of what the word really means: It means to keep on messing with it...to keep bringing it back up...something that has your attention that you should leave alone. The bible doesn’t use the word, “worry”...it uses the words, “careful”, or “cares”. The Greek words that are used are – merimano and merimna. The definition for there words are: to be anxious about - ’care, anxiety, worry’ its root is the means "to divide, to separate." Positively merimano conveys the idea of focused care. Negatively it conveys the idea of distraction in occupying the attention of the mind.
Man was Created to be Single Minded – Matthew 6:24-34
Matthew 6:24 No one is able to serve two lords; for either he will hate the one, and he will love the other; or he will cling to one, and he will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and mammon.
The word "able" in this text is the Greek word duvnamai and means "ability" or "capacity." Jesus is saying that a human being has been created with a capacity to serve only one lord or master. He cannot and does not have the capacity to serve two.
Jesus says, "You are not able (do not have the capacity) to serve God and mammon. The word mammon is from an Aramaic root meaning "materialism." Here Jesus personifies mammon as being the god of materialism. Materialism involves both physical things as well as ambitions and desires for them. Jesus is saying that a human being is created with the capacity to serve either God or the material realm, but is unable to serve both.
Therefore Seek First God
Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Notice how 25 starts: Therefore - meaning "On the basis of the truth I just stated." Jesus follows this with His teaching on not be anxious about the things pertaining to life because a human being has been created with the capacity to serve only one realm or master. He then presents four commands:
• "Do not be anxious for your life..." We are commanded to not have the attention of our minds occupied with the things about our life, even the necessities.
• Look ("To consider, to study") at the birds of heaven, that they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor do they gather into barns, and your heavenly Father is feeding them; do you not differ more than they?
• Observe ("To examine, to observe") the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not labor nor do they spin; but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself as one of these. And if God clothes in this way the grass of the field, which is existing today and tomorrow is being cast into an oven, will He not much more clothe you, little faith ones?
• "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Since we have been created to have the capacity to seek and serve only one master, we are commanded to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Since our Father knows that we are in need of earthly things, they will be given to us by God while we focus our attention on the things of the Lord. Note that He did not say we would get what we want, but that we will have our needs taken care of.
Jesus is presenting throughout these scriptures that trust in the Lord is the key to dealing with the necessities of life. We do not have the capacity to be occupied with our necessities and to trust the Lord at the same time; but when we occupy our minds with the Lord, He makes sure that we have what we need for life. This fact and teaching is extremely important. There are many believers today who find themselves occupied with many things all week - On Sunday they attend church, but experience frustration over not growing in the Lord. This happens because our minds are occupied with the things of the physical realm even while we are sitting in church. We simply have not focused on the Word and as a result do not experience the transformation of the mind.
Our Reception of the Word dictates our Fruitfulness
Luke 8:4-11, 14 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold." When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?" And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that’ Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’ "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. –
14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
Luke 8:18 Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."
There are four different ways in which a person can hear the Word of God presented. Of the four, only one produces fruit. This means that there are three conditions where the design of the word is not brought to completion:
1. The first occurs when a person’s heart is so hard in resisting God’s Word that the Word of God does not penetrate his heart and therefore can be and is removed by Satan.
2. The second condition occurs when a person hears the Word with excitement but does not allow it to take root within himself. Consequently, he only lasts until trials come. Those trials then cause him to fall away from the things of the Lord.
3. The third heart condition is presented in Verse 14. This occurs when a person hears the Word of God but continues "under" the influence of the "cares, riches, and pleasures of life" which then choke out the influence of the Word of God.
This parable teaches us that the Word of God will not bear fruit if a person who is hearing the Word of God remains under the influence of the "cares" of this life.
Satan’s Scheme
1 Peter 5:5-8 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
We need to understand two concepts of the Christian life - Salvation is the first – but the second is that of Growth and Change. After a person is saved by receiving the Spirit of Christ, he begins to grow by the inward working of God’s Spirit Who abides within him. The growth process takes place within the arena of the mind. Romans 12:2 "And do not continually be conformed to this age, but be continually transformed by means of the renewing of your mind, for you to prove what is the good, well pleasing, and perfect will of God."
A believer’s spirit is saved and sealed; the only area in which Satan can attack is the mind. Satan is fighting for the "occupation of the attention of the mind" . The mind is the arena where God ministers His Word and brings healing from the affects of sin we have an adversary who desires to devour us through attempts to occupy the attention of our minds. Satan will use any goal, any ambition, any activity, and any material thing to occupy the attention of our minds; so that we will not be receptive to God’s Word; and, consequently, we will not grow or be changed.
We can now understand the importance of Peter’s teaching in 1 Peter 5:5-8 where He says, Be sober, be watchful, because your adversary the devil, is walking around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour."
Peter says verse that we should submit to God’s humbling process - having cast all of our care – (Peter presents this Greek word merimna – to cause division) upon the Lord. We are to cast all of the things that are occupying our minds onto the Lord because our adversary, the devil, is walking around as a roaring lion. The Lord is concerned for us because Satan is looking to devour God’s people, not spiritually, but mentally by dividing the mind and causing us to become “double minded”
Three Phases of Satan’s Psychological Attack
We know from Job 1,2 that Satan "scouts" God’s people just as an army scout surveys the opposing army before an attack. Satan scouts us in order to accuse us before God. He plans his attack upon our minds using those things he perceives as our weaknesses.
Luke 10:38-42 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
Luke sets the scene by introducing the two main people in this teaching, the first being Martha, who welcomes Jesus into her home. The second is her sister, Mary. Luke uses an aorist participle in Verse 39 to show that when Mary hears the Lord, her position is beside or alongside of His feet. Luke also uses an imperfect tense verb to indicate that the habit of Mary’s life in the past has been that of "continually hearing His Word."
Martha is "distracted" concerning much "service." - this text is pointing out that self-imposed, humanly motivated "service for Christ" can be a distraction from the top priority of the believer, which is the hearing and studying of God’s Word. The situation is so upsetting to Martha that she comes in and "stands over" Jesus saying, "Lord, is it not a concern to You that my sister left me alone to serve?" Martha thinks she must do all of the work herself because Mary is sitting down listening to Jesus. Martha’s next statement is, "Therefore speak to her in order that she might give help to me." In His response to her, Jesus says, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled concerning many things." The Greek word translated "anxious" is the word merimnavw - the occupation of the attention of the mind. The Greek word translated "troubled" is turbavzw and means "to stir up and trouble the mind."
From this story we see the three phases of Satan’s psychological attack on God’s people
The first phase is the occupation of the attention of the mind. Martha notices that Mary is not helping her.
She dwells on this until she reaches the second phase – distracted. The word "distracted" perispavw means "to draw around" as in pulling a net up and around fish. The facts of her circumstance catch Martha’s attention. She is working in the kitchen alone and Mary is not helping her. The circumstances then surround her, or draw a net over her. The attention of her mind has been distracted and her circumstances have captured and consumed her.
This leads to the third phase - the outward expression of frustration and/or anger in speech, face, and body language. This entire incident starts with the attention of Martha’s mind being occupied with her circumstance. Her circumstance then captures her as a net would capture a fish. The end result is that she storms into the room and stands over Jesus expressing her frustration.
Satan has succeeded in capturing her thoughts to the extent she is unstable in her ways – this is the plan of Satan – steal the victory from God’s people by dividing the mind. Satan is not fair. He will use loved ones; he will use life’s circumstances; he will even attempt to use service for Christ as a way to divert a believer’s attention from the hearing of God’s Word.
CONCLUSION - SEND YOUR WORRY TO GOD
“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” - This verb refers to the act of "throwing or casting" something. It is in a form that refers to a one time deal. We are told to "once for all, throw our burdens to Jesus!" Notice how much we are supposed to give to the Lord. "All your care" He tells us to give Him everything - We are not so much as to keep even the smallest part of a burden to ourselves. How can we do this? With the absolute confidence that He cares for us this verb is in the "Present Tense, Active Voice and the Indicative Mood." You may wonder what this means for you, well Present Tense means ongoing activity. Active Voice means the Lord Himself is involved. Indicative Mood means that it is a fact! Put it all together and we find that Jesus Christ, Himself, is actively involved in caring for us.
Psalm 55:22 - “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall SUSTAIN you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved (shaken)”.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 - “Blessed (happy) is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and WILL NOT FEAR when heat comes; but its LEAF WILL BE GREEN, and will NOT BE ANXIOUS in the year of drought, NOR WILL CEASE FROM YIELDING FRUIT.”
Phil. 4:6 - “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
