Your Mind – The Battlefield

YOUR MIND – THE BATTLEFIELD

Eph. 4:23

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A police officer jumped into his squad car and called the station. “I have an interesting case here,” he said. “A woman shot her husband for stepping on the floor she had just mopped.”

2. “Have you arrested her?” asked the sergeant. “No!” “Why not?” “Because she’s in the house and the floor’s still wet!” [Rose Mattix]

B. IDEA & TITLE

1. The Lord Jesus warned us there would be “wars and rumors of wars.” He was right. But the wars aren’t only in Ukraine or the Middle East, we have wars within our very beings – 2 natures warring against each other (Rom. 7:23; Jam. 4:1). The fallen nature of Adam wars against the new nature of Christ.

2. We ourselves play the decisive role of which side will dominate. So tonight we’re looking at the idea, “Your Mind – The Battlefield.”

I. IT’S IMPORTANT WHAT YOU THINK

A. OUR MINDS ARE A BATTLEGROUND

1. Prov. 23:7, “As [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he.” A fine Christian businessman confided in his Pastor, “I’ve been having vulgar, disturbing thoughts. I try to control my thinking but nothing seems to work. Can you help me?”

2. A young Christian writer confides that when he gets in certain situations or hears certain music, they trigger memories from his former ungodly lifestyle which troubles him.

3. I’ve even had times, during worship, when I had a blasphemous thought come into my mind. This is the enemy’s way of trying to discourage you or make you doubt you’re a Christian.

4. Let me ask you, “Is it a sin to be tempted?” If Satan puts an evil thought in your mind, are you automatically guilty for that thought being there? No! If, however, after the initial thought (from Satan) – you CHOOSE to keep thinking about it, then it becomes a sin.

5. An analogy: “You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair.”

6. We have 2 natures at war in us: the old fallen nature (connected to our bodies) and our new nature from Jesus.

7. ILLUS. a. There was a man in Alaska who had two dogs (one black & one white). He had a dog-fighting-pit with the 2 dogs, and people gambled for which dog they thought would win.

b. Sometimes one would win, sometimes the other, but the owner always seemed to know which would win. A close friend asked, “How do you know which will win?”

c. He said, “The one which I feed that day is the one that will win.” It’s the same with us; if we feed our lower nature, it will get stronger. If we feed our heavenly nature, it will get stronger. Paul said, “Make no provision for the flesh” Rom. 13:14.

B. CORRECT THOUGHT LIFE: 1ST STEP IN A CHRISTIAN’S PURSUIT OF HOLINESS

1. Eph. 4:23 says, “to be made new in the attitude of your minds and put on the new self, created to be like God....” See also Col. 3:10. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Rom. 12:2.

2. Critically important is Rom. 8:6, “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” We’re supposed to “put off” our old nature and “put on” the new nature of Christ.

C. FAULTY THINKING WILL LEAD TO FAILURE

1. In many great underground caves are huge stalactites and stalagmites. These immense stone pillars were formed over thousands of years by single drops of water, each leaving a tiny amount of sediment. It’s the same with our tiny thoughts slowly forming our character.

2. SOW..................................REAP

A thought........................an act

An act.............................a habit

A habit...........................a character

A Character....................a destiny

3. The believer’s goal? “We...take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” 2 Cor. 10:5. How do we establish new patterns of thought?

II. HOW TO SIFT YOUR THOUGHTS

We must learn how to constantly sift our thoughts; to keep the good and reject the bad. The battle ground is the mind. That’s where your temptation will start.

A. THE PROBLEM OF IMPURE THOUGHTS

1. This was the problem which brought on the flood of Noah; "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time," Gen. 6:5.

2. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’…" Mt. 15:19-20.

B. THE NEED: DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THOUGHTS

1. "For the Word of God... judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" Heb. 4:12. "If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged by the Lord" 1 Cor. 11:31.